Chapter 247: Philistines

Chapter 247: Philistines



Jinbe felt remarkably comfortable on the Straw Hat crew. He had been worried there would be some tension between the earlier members and himself, especially after learning how his actions had indirectly and quite negatively impacted Nami's life.

Contrary to his worries, he had been accepted quite easily. Even Nami was warming up to him slowly, no doubt thanks to his immediate taking of responsibility for his mistakes in the past. He still felt guilty about Arlong's reign of terror in East Blue.

Jinbe was a tad surprised how eventful his short time with the crew has been. He joined up less than a week ago and they were already in an alliance with a Shichibukai against another Shichibukai and later one of the four emperors. Luffy certainly didn't do things by half

measures.

"Jinbe-dono, what is that beneath the water? Some manner of sea beast?" The boy sitting on Jinbe's broad shoulder asked.

Momonosuke had taken a liking to the whale shark fishman. His familiar clothing, calm demeanor, and imposing stature seemed to set the boy's heart at ease. As for what had set his nerves on edge to begin with, neither the boy or his father had deigned to tell anyone. It did strike Jinbe as odd that the boy felt could relax more easily in his presence than in his own father's, though.

Jinbe turned his gaze towards where the boy was pointing in the water next to the ship. His eyes widened in surprise and he hurriedly set Momonosuke back on the deck.

"Submarine to starboard!" Jinbe called out, drawing the attention of Nami, Brook, Chopper, and Merry.

Nami was quick to move, her newly improved Clima-Tact spinning in her hands. A massive pitch black cloud formed over the ocean to their starboard side, grumbling like an angry god. When the submarines breached the surface, Doflamingo's jolly roger was clearly seen painted on the side. This was more than enough reason for Nami to attack, but she waited to make absolutely sure they were dealing with an enemy.

The door on the tiny deck of the submarine burst open and a flamboyant woman stepped out onto it.

"Board them! Capture them! For the young master!" She cried out orders for her crew.

The woman, Giolla, didn't know that speaking such words would seal her fate.

*KRAKRAKRAKRAKRAKRAKOOM!

Sky splitting bolts of lightning fell like rain upon the submarine. Giolla and her crew were fairly insulated from the electricity standing on the wooden deck, but they still caught some of it themselves. The surging waves of electricity instantly fried the electronics in the

submarine in a catastrophic failure and began to sink.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Those aboard the Thousand Sunny recovered from the shocking sight and cheered.

...

A massive pit was all that remained of the beach where Admiral Fujitora's meteor strike hit. Three pillars of dirt and sand stood tall with it and the three individuals standing on them were untouched.

Law had had barely enough time to protect himself from the meteor and frantically searched for Cabernet, but she was nowhere to be found. Cabernet was perhaps his most important card in this situation and he had lost her!

"What the hell is your problem?! The new fleet admiral didn't teach you any manners?!" Doflamingo raged at Fujitora.

Law frantically dialed his den den mushi to contact Nami on the Thousand Sunny for an emergency evacuation. When he saw Fujitora starting to make another move he wondered if he'd even last long enough for them to reach him.

*BOOM* *CRUMBLE*

Fujitora lost his focus and his footing at once when his pillars cracked and collapsed beneath his feet. He drew his blade and blocked a flaming uppercut from a silver haired, black winged woman. Suddenly Cabernet shot back down into the pit much faster than she would naturally be able to fall, all without Fujitora making a noticeable move against her.

The rocks beneath Fujitora's feet rose back up and held him aloft. "You are strong, but much too sloppy, too predictable. Even all that strength can't resist the force of the planet itself,

though."

*flap Flap FLAP*

It turns out that Cabernet COULD resist the force of the world itself, albeit somewhat slowly,

as she flapped her wings with great effort.

"Uh oh." Fujitora said, pushing his rock platform away horizontally as Cabernet came

barreling past his previous position uncontrollably.

Law took notice of the fact that Cabernet sped up when Fujitora dodged. Perhaps Fujitora's devil fruit ability required constant focus? That was a weakness he could exploit.

Law expanded his room and vanished into the tree line just in time for Doflamingo's strings to

rip apart his own pillar of sand.

Up above, the light of a second sun was growing larger. Fujitora was bringing down another meteor strike. Law wondered if he would even be able to exploit an opening in this scenario, as it seemed rather unlikely he'd have the leeway.