Pirates: I Rely Only on Myself

Noah and his group paid little attention to the impact of the deserted island incident.

Noah had confidence in his strength—unless the Five Elders all mobilized to hunt him down, he felt he had little to fear. Even if the odds turned against him, he could escape using Ari's wormhole ability or temporarily activate the Float-Float Fruit to leave from high altitude.

So, Noah chose to keep traveling with Galdino, Kuro, and the others, continuing their search within the White Mountain Kingdom for the elusive Sound-Sound Fruit rumored to be hidden there.

Days passed, and after more than a week, Noah's group had scoured eight islands within the kingdom. Finally, on the eighth island, they discovered the Sound-Sound Fruit lodged in a crack in a cliffside.

Having secured another Devil Fruit, Noah had no reason to linger in the White Mountain Kingdom. He set the course southward toward the Lost Sea.

However, just as the Wangcai exited the kingdom's waters, they found themselves facing a naval fleet.

Noah, sipping tea and reading the paper, paid little attention to the approaching Navy ships. After all, they were flying the flag of a merchant vessel.

Unfortunately, just because you don't seek trouble doesn't mean it won't find you.

"Stop your ship immediately and prepare for inspection!" blared a loudspeaker from a nearby Navy gunship.

Kuro glanced at Noah, who nodded in agreement.

The Wangcai came to a halt, and the gunship anchored beside them.

Moments later, a Navy commander in a Justice cape leaped onto the deck of the Wangcai.

Kuro put on a polite smile. "Commander, we're law-abiding citizens. Here are our commercial transport credentials and our travel permit…"

The commander took the documents, giving Kuro a quick look. Not seeing his face on any wanted posters, he nodded. "Just a routine inspection. May we enter the ship's interior?"

Kuro nodded. "No problem. I'll lead the way."

At that moment, a soldier whispered something to the commander, who glanced over at Noah and Galdino, seated not far away and still sipping tea.

Kuro quickly noticed and explained with a smile, "Mr. Galdino here is our hired escort for the journey."

"The bounty hunter Galdino, the Candle Man?" The commander seemed satisfied, as hiring bounty hunters to protect a merchant vessel was quite common.

But then, a sudden change occurred.

In an instant, the sea around the Wangcai froze solid.

Frost gathered across the deck.

"You visited that deserted island, didn't you?"

Noah brushed ice shards from his coat and looked up at the tall, imposing Navy officer before him.

"Vice Admiral, what makes you think that?"

"You have the scent of Paradise Mushrooms on you."

"Ah, so the Navy has someone with scent detection abilities?" Noah asked, smiling.

The look in Kuzan's eyes grew even sharper behind his glasses. "Perhaps you'd accompany me back to Marineford to assist in our investigation into the White Mountain Kingdom incident. If this is all a misunderstanding, we'll compensate your trading company for any losses."

"You're quite confident, Vice Admiral Kuzan!"

In the next moment, a surge of intense Conqueror's Haki exploded forth.

Boom! The hundred or so sailors on the Navy gunship instantly collapsed, unconscious.

"Are you resisting arrest?" The temperature around Kuzan plummeted.

"I'd like to see if you, the future admiral, truly live up to the name!"

Noah's Fist of Blazing Heat!

Boom! Noah's fist, hotter than ordinary magma, punched straight through Kuzan's ice gauntlet.

But Kuzan didn't back down; instead, he advanced, slicing toward Noah's neck with an ice blade.

Magnetic Wings! High-Frequency Vibrating Blade!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Despite Kuzan's constant reinforcement of the ice blade, Noah's vibrating iron blade tore through it with each strike.

Magnetic Iron Tornado! Cards in Noah's sleeve released tens of tons of iron sand, while his body shifted to a mimetic rubidium-magnet mode at full power. His blood flowed faster, transforming him into a human generator.

The iron sand whirled around, forming a terrifying iron-sand tornado.

Kuzan quickly created several ice walls, not to protect himself but to shield the ordinary sailors around him.

The Navy officers who had accompanied Kuzan from headquarters, led by his deputy, quickly evacuated the commander and other marines from the Wangcai, getting them out of the danger zone.

At the same time, Kuro, Galdino, and Arimoved away from the battle area between Noah and Kuzan, staying alert in case of a surprise attack from other Navy forces. They were also ready to provide backup to Noah if needed.

The iron-sand tornado and the blizzard collided fiercely mid-air.

Kuzan's face grew more serious. "Ice Spike Barrage!"

Five massive ice spikes shot up from the frozen ground, piercing toward Noah within the tornado.

Noah's body glowed with a bright red heat. "Meteor Furnace!"

Soaring high, he magnetically heated a massive amount of alloy steel dust until it melted, then compacted the molten metal into basketball-sized balls.

Hundreds of molten iron balls fell from above.

This all happened in an instant.

As Kuzan watched, a thought flashed through his mind of a certain colleague he found rather irksome. He raised his hand.

"Pheasant Beak!"

An icy bird shot up, meeting the rain of iron balls.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Noah's Observation Haki sensed a sudden threat, and he activated magnetic levitation to dodge a volley of seastone bullets fired from nearby.

'Other officers from Navy headquarters?' he thought.

The seastone bullets evaporated in flames.

Lillian appeared nearby on the frozen sea, flames blazing around her—a clear sign that Arihad quietly gathered the family's strongest fighters to prevent Noah from being overwhelmed.

Kuzan noticed the intense flames surrounding Lillian. "A Flame-Flame Fruit user?"

From the Navy ranks, a dual-sword-wielding rear admiral covered his long blades with Armament Haki and charged at Lillian with a powerful slashing wave.

"Don't think being a Logia type means you're untouchable!" The dual-blade rear admiral leapt forward, using Moonwalk as he attacked.

But Lillian remained calm, blue flames streaming from her hands. "I'm not just some cook who lights fires! Dragon's Roar!"

A dragon of deep blue flames instantly vaporized the incoming slash, surging toward the rear admiral.

Realizing the danger, Kuzan's face tightened. "Ice Age! Twin Thorns!"

The freezing aura lowered the dragon's temperature slightly, but the dragon's intense heat—reaching up to 4,990°C—was not something that could be suppressed in an instant. The follow-up ice spears only slowed the flames slightly.

This brief pause was enough for the rear admiral to react, quickly evading the dragon's path with a rapid series of Shave steps.

The dragon left a massive crater hundreds of meters wide where he had stood.

Meanwhile, Kuzan wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

He'd taken a hit from Noah's molten iron balls while protecting others. Although he'd used elementalization, the extreme heat still countered his ice abilities, causing him some harm.

Now, both sides watched each other warily.

On Kuzan's side were himself, two rear admirals, about a dozen headquarters captains, and several Navy ships.

On Noah's side stood Lillian, Ari, Galdino, and Kuro, along with Joshua and Monet, hidden high above, ready to strike. 

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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 shoutouts 𝘁𝗼:

•Leroy

• Jonathan Bailey

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 50+ chapters 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!

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