143. The Beast Tide Is Blocked, The Notorious Plague

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"Little ones, crush them for me!"

In the absence of Kaido and King, Queen took command of the battlefield, his voice cutting through the chaos as the Beast Pirates clashed with their enemies.

"Kill!!!"

At his command, tens of thousands of pirates surged forward, unleashing a barrage of firepower as they charged with ferocious intent.

"Take them down!"

"Show them the true power of Zoan users!"

On the other side, Wanokuni's forces countered without hesitation and unleashed their own feral offensive, demonstrating their strength.

With their enhanced physiques and mastery of Armament Haki, the Zoan legions fought with brutal efficiency, holding their ground against the relentless Wanokuni army.

"Is Wanokuni raising a bunch of monsters or what?"

Queen, standing back from the fray to observe like a tactician, couldn't help but grumble despite the Zoan army's performance. Though the Beast Pirates' ferocity gave them a slight upper hand, it wasn't enough to completely overwhelm their opponents.

The Beast Pirates' elite forces—thousands of Zoan users trained in Haki—should have been an unstoppable tide. Yet here, on the battlefield, they were only managing to contest Wanokuni's warriors, far from delivering the crushing stampede Queen had expected.

And this wasn't even Wanokuni's most formidable force. The core samurai ranks and the Amazon Lily warriors had yet to fully engage. Worse, other combatants, unaccounted for in earlier reports, were now revealing themselves.

One such area of the battlefield was engulfed by howling winds and a strange chill. Snowflakes began to fall, blanketing the scene in an eerie, wintry stillness.

Pirates stared in awe as the snowflakes shimmered, coalescing into the form of a black-haired figure. A saber materialized in his hands, seemingly forged from the snow itself.

Snowfall: Ten Thousand Blades!

The air filled with invisible sword energy that burst outward, scattering into delicate snowflakes. At first glance, they seemed harmless—beautiful even—but as they drifted toward the Beast Pirates, chaos erupted.

The snowflakes slashed through the ranks with merciless precision. Pirates screamed as bodies were torn apart, the deck quickly drenched in blood. Within moments, over two hundred pirates had been shredded by the unseen blades, their remains littering the battlefield.

Those who survived—missing limbs or grievously injured—lay sprawled on the ground, writhing and howling in agony.

"Damn it, it's you! Snow Warrior Lyon!"

Queen's furious roar echoed across the battlefield as he recognized the figure responsible for the massacre. But before he could act, a hulking figure beside him leaped into motion.

With a deafening bellow, Jack transformed into his mammoth form, his enormous tusks gleaming in the light. The deck groaned under his weight as he charged toward Lyon, trampling everything in his path. The impact of his steps sent shockwaves through the ship, tossing combatants into the sea like ragdolls.

Lyon, unfazed by the oncoming colossus, dissolved into a flurry of snowflakes, dodging the mammoth's charge with ease. Reappearing mid-air, he brought his saber down on Jack's back with a sharp crack, the collision echoing like a solid strike against steel.

Jack howled in pain, his massive frame shuddering from the blow.

Lyon landed lightly on a nearby sail, his sharp eyes fixed on the mammoth below. He analyzed the situation aloud, his tone calm and clinical. "Your skin is tough—too much for most weapons. But with Emission techniques, it's more manageable."

Despite Jack's immense power, it was clear he was being outmaneuvered and overpowered by the skilled swordsman.

From a distance, King, still engaged in his duel with Mihawk, chose not to intervene. The battlefield had shifted unpredictably, and this skirmish was no longer following the script of a decisive Beast Pirate victory.

Queen irritation boiled over as he watched Jack struggle against a mere reserve combatant. Ignoring the safety of his own men, he barked out a order.

"Fire! Deploy the biochemical weapons!!"

Hearing Queen's order, the pirates stationed on the bow hesitated, their faces pale. Fire the plague bombs now? In the midst of a chaotic melee? Wouldn't that also hit their own comrades?

"Shouldn't we inform the allies first, Lord Queen?"

"If you do not follow my orders, I'll kill you where you stand!"

He had no intention of explaining or warning anyone. To Queen, an unanticipated outbreak of the plague would ensure the virus spread even more effectively. Collateral damage—whether friend or foe—was irrelevant to him.

The important Zoan users and higher-ranking officers would likely remain unaffected, and as far as Queen was concerned, they could always recruit new subordinates. Winning the war was all that mattered.

With no other choice, the Beast Pirates began setting up the cannons, their faces grim as they prepared the plague bombs. Gritting their teeth, the artillery units fired.

The cannonballs arced through the air and landed across the battlefield. But instead of exploding with a bang, the shells released an mist, which spread rapidly in every direction.

Within moments, chaos erupted.

The gas infected everyone in its path indiscriminately: Beast Pirates who had charged into battle, the armies of Totto Land locked in melee, and even the disciplined soldiers of Wanokuni.

Bright green fluorescent patches began to appear on the infected, their symptoms escalating with terrifying speed.

Soldiers felt an unbearable heat coursing through their bodies as if they were being boiled alive. Pain consumed them, growing more intense with every passing second. Soon, blood gushed from their mouths. Within minutes, many collapsed, their wide, panicked eyes fixed in a deathly stare.

"Are they insane?!"

"What's going on?! Aren't we allies?!"

"This is Queen's plague bomb! That damn biological weapon of his!"

"It's Lord Queen's weapon! Quick, get your protective gear on!"

"Too late! I've already been hit—help me!"

Panic rippled through the infected ranks as the virus spread with horrifying efficiency. Warriors who had once fought with confidence now stumbled and fell, consumed by sickness and fear.

Even the Beast Pirates manning the cannons couldn't hide their dread. Watching their comrades fall alongside their enemies filled them with unease, their hands trembling as they prepared to reload.

But Queen was in his element, laughing uproariously as he surveyed the carnage. "Yes! That's it! Keep going! On the battlefield, the plague regiment is unstoppable!"

Excitement flashed in his eyes as he transformed into his massive Brachiosaurus form. The deck groaned under his weight as he leapt up and down, the ship lurching dangerously with each heavy impact.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the fray, a white-haired girl who had transformed into a white wolf blocked an oncoming attack with an ice shield. As her ice barrier held firm, she glanced back toward the source of the chaos, spotting Queen's rampage. Grabbing the arm of her smaller dinosaur-like ally, she said, "That lunatic has lost it again. Let's get out of here before it gets worse."

Queen's strategy, reckless as it was, began to shift the tide of battle. Wanokuni's forces, which had been holding strong, were now showing signs of infection on a noticeable scale.

Delighted, Queen's grin widened as his semi-mechanical body revealed yet another weapon. From beneath his metallic torso, a Gatling gun loaded with vials of biochemical plagues emerged, its barrels spinning with a menacing hum.

Cruelty gleamed in his eyes as he prepared to unleash another devastating barrage.

But just as he was about to fire, something caught his attention.

In the distance, from the direction of Wanokuni, an airship appeared, descending steadily toward the battlefield. A group of figures dressed in strange, distinct uniforms disembarked, their arrival radiating an unmistakable aura of power.