“Don’t let these criminals escape!”

  “Make sure the Celestial Dragons are safe!”

  Outside the au house on Isnd 1, a rge group of heavily armed Marines had pletely surrouhe area in multiple yers. Rear Admiral Mace, the anding officer of the Sabaody Archipego Naval Base, noticed that when Linlin, Roef, and the others emerged, the Celestial Dragons were o be found.

  “Damn criminals! Do you know what kind of severe crime it is to offend the desdants of the creators?” Rear Admiral Mace, his eyes burning with rage, gred at Linlin and shouted, “Where are the Celestial Dragons? What have you doo them?”

  He couldn’t believe what was happening. He had been sitting peacefully in his office, drinking tea, when disaster struot only had the Celestial Dragons been attacked, but there were eves that one of them had been killed.

  For Mace, it was as if the sky had fallen. The Celestial Dragons had been harmed right uhe Navy’s nose, and as the head of the naval base in Sabaody, he knew he would be held responsible. He feared being made the scapegoat and was desperate to at least save the remainiial Dragons to mitigate the sequences and protect his family from being implicated.

  “If you want to know what happeo the Celestial Dragons, why don’t you go in and check for yourself?” Linlin smirked, taunting him. “Maybe, on a whim, I killed them all!”

  Tall and imposing, with a horned hat and tight-fitting jeans, Linlin wore a floral shirt that atuated her striking figure—pletely different from the chubby appearance she once had.

  “Damn it—"

  “She’s too bold!!”

  “Open fire!!!”

  'Bang... bang...'

  Hearing Linlin's words, Rear Admiral Mad the other Marines, seething with anger, aimed their ons at her. The young girl before them, who seemed te to be human and possibly a giant, had ehem. If the Celestial Dragons were harmed or couldn’t be rescued, the Navy stationed on Sabaody would pay the price.

  Without hesitation, the Marines raised their guns and rocket unchers, aiming at the audacious criminals, and pulled the trigger.

  'g!'

  A bright fsh of steel followed by the metallic sound of a sword being uhed echoed through the air. Linlin had drawn her rge, curved sword from her waist, the bde gleaming in the light. Her on, Napoleon, fed by El, was undoubtedly among the fi bdes, ranking high within the 21 Great Grade Swords.

  “Well, since a battle’s iable, it wouldn’t hurt to kill some Marines and gather some blood for ste. I’m sure Gerd won’t mind,” Linlin smiled mischievously as she spoke.

  'Ssh... g... boom...'

  Laughing as she wielded Napoleon, Linlin took a few steps forward, pletely unfazed by the bullets raining down ohe projectiles ricocheted harmlessly off her body. Though she could easily deflect the on fire, she nontly sliced through the shells with her sword to avoid being covered in soot.

  “Linlin, don’t get too excited…”

  “Oars, hold back for now... leave these guys to us!”

  “As long as they’re alive, it’s fine, right?” Nef, Rock, and Jien chuckled, effortlessly dodging the ining bullets as they prepared to ehe Marines.

  But Linlin refused to let them take over. “No way, you guys are too slow!”

  Dodging a rocket with ease, Linlin deed their offer. After spending years with El, lying low and only occasionally hunting pirates, she was eager to use the Sabaody Archipego as a stage to annouhe Fallen Angel Pirates' grarao the world. Her fighting instincts had long been suppressed and were now ready to burst out.

  “Finger Pistol!”

  Nef moved with lightning speed, instantly appearing in the midst of the Marines.

  'Bam... bam...'

  With a flick of her fingers, her strikes pierced through the soldiers’ chests like bullets, leaving them screaming as they colpsed to the ground.

  “Ada~ Ada~ Shadowless Kick!”

  Rock, t over four meters tall, lunged forward, his long legs blurring as he unleashed a barrage of kicks.

  'Boom... boom...'

  His powerful strikes sent Marines flying like ragdolls, uo even fire their ons before being knocked away.

  “Fish-Man Karate: Water Shot!”

  Jien, the Fishman, flicked his wrist, creating a small pool of water in his palm. He whipped it forward, and the water droplets turned into sharp projectiles, pierg through the Marines’ bodies oer another. Screams echoed as they fell.

  'Gasp—'

  “What’s happening?”

  “These guys... they’re monsters!”

  “The bullets are boung off her!”

  “Damn it, is she made of steel or something?”

  “Is this some kind of strange Devil Fruit power?”

  A Mariared wide-eyed, uo believe the sight before him. The girl, who resembled a small giant, didn’t even flinch when faced with their barrage of bullets. While she dodged or sliced through the rockets and shells, the bullets seemed to have no effect. She stood there, pletely unharmed.

  “All units, follow me!” Rear Admiral Mace’s eyes burned with determination and desperation. Without hesitation, he charged forward.

  “These criminals have itted unfivable crimes by offending the Celestial Dragons... Kill or capture, it doesn’t matter!” he shouted, rushing at Linlin with his sword drawn, coated in Haki.

  He khat if it were only about offending the Celestial Dragons, he might get away with a demotion if his superiors were le. But with one of them murdered, he, as the ander of the Sabaody Archipego base, would be held atable. He believed that dying heroically in battle might be a better fate than living through the disgrad punishment that would follow. At least his family would be spared.

  “Die!” Mace roared, his foot hitting the ground as he charged at Linlin with incredible speed, his sword slig through the air.

  'Ssh…'

  But in an instant, a massive hand appeared out of nrabbing him entirely.

  “Rear Admiral Mace!” The Marines' faces turned pale as they watched in disbelief. Their ander had been captured so easily.

  “Aaah…”

  'Crack… crack…' Mace’s bones were being crushed uhe pressure of Linlin’s grip. His eyes bulged, and his face turned red as he looked at the t figure of Linlin, who held him effortlessly. He screamed in pain as half of his blood was drained, and his body quickly aged and shriveled, being dry and frail—a horrifying sight.

  “Linlin-sama, don’t be so rash…” A voice called out from above. A thundercloud, Hera, desded from the sky, its face appearing in a human-like form. However, its eyes bore an unusual ripple pattern, different from Hera’s usual appearahe voice that came from it was not Hera’s typical tone.

  “Don’t take too much of their life force, or their souls will weaken,” the voice warned. As a result of the Soul-Soul Fruit’s powers, souls were measured in terms of lifespan. If Linlin draioo much of their lifespan with her Vampire Zoan ability, the souls collected by the Soul-Soul Fruit would be greatly diminished, leading to signifit losses.

  “Ma-ma-ma-ma~ I almost fot about you!” Linlin g the unusual Hera, theurhe life force she had just drained bato Rear Admiral Mace. He reverted to his younger self, but his body remained skeletal, his skin sagging like a dried corpse after losing most of his blood. Linlin tossed him toward Hera, chug, “I’ll leave the rest to you.”

  Before they had set off, Gerd had created a special soul e, different from a typical Homie, using part of her own soul. This e could temporarily inhabit Hera and i some of Gerd’s abilities, allowio manipute fear and incapacitate her targets, making it easy to extract their souls.

  'Zap... zap…'

  In a fsh, Hera, uhe trol of Gerd’s soul fragment, transformed into battle mode, with a menag, demon-like face. A rge hand, glowing with eerie light, emerged from Hera and passed through Mace’s lifeless body, extrag his soul.

  “Aaah!” Mace let out a final scream as his lifeless body fell to the ground.

  'Zap... zap...'

  Electricity crackled as Hera grinned wickedly, her demoni diving toward the terrified Marines who had withe se, paralyzed with fear. “Now... let’s feast!”

  “Rear Admiral Mace!!”

  “What is that thing?”

  “Damn it, avehe Rear Admiral!”

  The Marines, overwhelmed by fear and rage, fired at Linlin and Hera, some even charging with their ons drawn. But no matter what they did, their attacks had no effect.

  “What’s happening? Our attacks aren’t w!” they shouted in fusion.

  Bullets and bdes simply passed through Hera’s body, while on explosions did nothing to stop her advaheir ons were useless.

  “Life or death?” Hera’s eyes gleamed as an invisible wave of soul energy burst forth.

  “What... what’s going on?”

  “I ’t move…”

  “No—!”

  In an instant, the Marines within a teer radius froze iheir souls began to rise from their bodies as if being forcibly torn away.

  A massive, eerie hand reached out from above, sweeping over them. “Soul Harvest!!!”