【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 495 The battle begins

Lucci jumped onto the deck of the Sunny and stood there with Ace to watch the battle below. After the 100,000 people fell, this battle would become a stage for Luffy's crew to showcase the results of their two years of training. Lucci looked around, preparing to find a vantage point with the best view.

"So cool!!" Luffy shouted excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling as he looked at General Franky, brighter than the most dazzling stars. He excitedly circled around General Franky, shouting, "General Franky!! So cool! So cool!!"

Zoro, watching Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper excitedly circling around General Franky, bared his teeth and roared angrily, "You all better go fight!!"

"Isn't he a shipwright?!" Ace stared dumbfounded at the massive steel mech below. The story he told Luffy had actually come true?!

"How could the shipwright of the Pirate King be an ordinary shipwright?" Lucci chuckled, watching the Straw Hat crew below eagerly searching for their opponents. "It seems they're all eager for a battle."

"After all, we've only just reunited, and everyone needs a battle to release their excitement," Ace said with a smile, understanding their feelings.

"Captain Hody." Zeo, the shark-like merman, stared in disbelief at the rapidly changing situation in the square. One hundred thousand of them had been wiped out in an instant by just two people. The king, princess, and prince had also been rescued. The situation was dire; they couldn't possibly succeed. "What should we do now?"

"Those 100,000 people are nothing more than grunts. Even without them, I could still kill these guys." An orange octopus-like fishman with blue circles on his body said arrogantly. He didn't care about the group of humans in front of him at all, except for that brat he didn't want to provoke for the time being. "These guys aren't even worth killing. The only one I'm wary of is that guy."

The octopus-man, drunk, looked at the blond man standing on the prow of the pirate ship, muttered under his breath, and used his tentacles to scoop up a handful of poison and put it in his mouth to chew. "But defeating him is not difficult. I am the number one swordsman on Fishman Island!"

"That guy doesn't seem to want to fight." Suppressing his inner panic, Zeo said with absolute confidence, "Just ten pirates. We have the deadly medicine; dealing with a few pirates is a piece of cake!"

"Ah!!" Hody roared in pain as he swallowed another large amount of the drug. He didn't know what was wrong, and he couldn't believe it, but he knew that his impending reforms would be ruined by these stupid humans. Those two bastards deserved to die a thousand deaths!

Hody howled in agony as his body transformed once more. His white hair turned even whiter, his eyes turned bloodshot, and his expression became even more ferocious. His muscles bulged, and after a moment, he burst into maniacal laughter, feeling the unparalleled power within him. His eyes suddenly changed color as he roared, "Attack! Humans can't possibly defeat us!!"

"Yes, Captain!" the remaining merfolk officers shouted in unison.

Zoro placed his hands on the hilts of his swords, the three longswords resting silently in their sheaths, ready to strike. He surveyed the battlefield, looking at the few fishmen still standing opposite him, searching for the strongest among them. Finally, he found the answer in the drunken octopus swordsman.

"I hope this guy can put up a fight." Zoro stared at the orange octopus that kept pouring wine into its mouth, a faint smile on his lips. Finally seeing a swordsman opponent made him feel great; he had been itching for a fight for a long time.

Usopp raised his slingshot, ready to fire, his eyes fixed on the fishman charging towards them. He was no longer the same person he was two years ago. "Teacher Hercules, I will never forget your teachings."

Usopp, who was full of confidence, suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet shake. He looked down in surprise, and the next second the ground beside him suddenly collapsed, creating a huge crater.

"What's going on?" Usopp exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the collapsed ground. Just then, a strange, short fish-man suddenly flew out of the hole.

"Click, what's going on? Is someone else digging a hole underground besides me?!" Damo said in confusion. He had originally planned to turn the entire plaza into a trap, especially under the robot's feet, but as he was digging, he heard the same digging sound, and suddenly a huge force came from beneath his feet. "Whoa!!"

Usopp watched in surprise as Chopper burst out from where the fish-man had been thrown out. "Chopper! What form are you in?"

"This is horn enhancement!" Chopper replied, sporting two enormous reindeer antlers.

"Great! Let's work together to take down this hole-digging guy!" Usopp exclaimed excitedly.

Chopper grinned as he looked at Daruma, who had landed on a rock ahead of him. "Digging tunnels underground is one of my specialties!"

"Oh, Chopper! Can you turn into a shovel now!?" Luffy, who had been excitedly staring at General Franky, noticed Chopper with his giant antlers and exclaimed in surprise.

"That's not a shovel!" Chopper immediately retorted angrily, then happily told Luffy, "I've strengthened all seven transformation points in the past two years, so now I can transform into any form at will. The only one form I need is the monster form, which requires a Rumble Ball!"

"Wow! That's amazing!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly. Although he didn't understand Chopper's words at all, all he needed to know was that his crewmates had become stronger. Luffy grinned and looked at Hody again. He was about to take down this guy.

Hody noticed Luffy's gaze, his face darkening. They were just a bunch of lowly humans, daring to try and stop his revenge. Hody stood up and shouted in a deep voice, "Kraken! Get to the plaza!"

"Hoohoho!"

A giant orange octopus leaped down from the cliff behind Hody and landed directly in the center of the plaza.

Usopp looked up in surprise at the familiar octopus, then a relaxed smile appeared on his face. It was dried squid! Knowing it was dried squid, Usopp felt no more nervous.

Feeling the tremors coming from underground, and realizing that Chopper and that fishman were still burrowing underground, Usopp grinned and said, "We've already had experience playing whack-a-mole once!"

"Crouch down, Usopp!" Chopper burst out of the hole in an instant, knocking away the sideburned shark man who was trying to sneak up on Usopp from behind.

"Well done, Chopper!" Usopp grinned at Chopper, who burst out of the hole, completely ignoring the enemy who had just tried to ambush him. "Did you make the hole open?"

“No problem!” Chopper grinned, then turned his gaze to the shark-man with sideburns.

"Alright, I'm going!" Usopp grinned and shot the seed in his hand into the hole. "Ultimate Kill Star - Green Star! Skull Grass!" The next second, a huge explosion occurred in the hole, and the burrowing fishman was instantly blasted out.

"Was this your doing?!" Daruma glared angrily at his long nose, threw a poison into his mouth, and his body instantly swelled up, his eyes turning bloodshot.

Usopp, seeing the fishman's sudden change in expression, felt a little nervous and turned to Chopper. "Chopper, cover me! Huh?"

Usopp looked around in shock; Chopper was gone.