"Those are..."

  "Two pterosaurs?"

  "It's the Ace brothers!"

  "Finally, those two are back!"

  "Hey, that's great! Some reinforts have arrived!"

  The sudden developme everyounned.

  Seeing the two massive and ferocious a pterosaurs, many otlefield were visibly shaken. No one had anticipated that the Fallen Angels Pirate Crew had additional reinforts.

  For Hajrudin and the iant warriors, however, smiles of excitement spread across their faces, and their morale soared.

  "Apologies for being te!"

  From above, the elder braow transformed into a Quetzalcoatlus, bellowed down to the battlefield.

  "We couldn't help it! The training from the Blue Ogre and Red Ogre leaders was too strict!" The younger brother, Jace, who had transformed into a Pteranodon, ughed heartily.

  "Bahaha~ My brother and I had to give it our all to pass their trials!"

  Indeed, El had oraveled to Little Garden, the a isnd in the first half of the Grand Line, seeking to recruit the Blue Ogre and Red Ogre—the legendary leaders of the Giant Pirates who had dueled there for decades.

  Though the ogres deed to leave the isnd, El had leveraged his special ties to Elbaf, along with a generous of fine liquor, to persuade them to train the promising Ace brothers, who had already ed the Quetzalcoatlus and Pteranodon Zoan-type fruits.

  Impressed by the brothers' immeential, the ogres not only agreed but also took them on as students, vowing to help hoheir skills. After this battle, the brothers would return to Little Garden to resume their rigorous training.

  "Those two..."

  Steel Bone Kong's expression twisted as he reized the two massive pterosaurs. His face darkened as he realized the truth:

  One of them possessed the Quetzalcoatlus fruit, which had once beloo a top-tier CP0 agent. The other wielded the Pteranodon fruit, formerly the ability of an infamous vict Kong had personally captured and sigo Impel Dowernal Hell.

  Now, these abilities had been stripped away and hao the giant warriors of the Fallen Angels Pirate Crew, creating two immensely powerful flying fighters.

  "Quetzalcoatlus?"

  "That's Nosy's ability!"

  The CP0 agents froze, their faces pale.

  "So the Fallen Angels really steal someone else's Devil Fruit ability..."

  Teeth ched in rage, they couldn’t mask their growing fear. Their scalps tingled, and the air around them felt suffog.

  "g!"

  In the skies above, sword and scythe cshed violently. The Admiral Pegasus Horn, who had the powers of the Mythical Zoan Pegasus, struggled to hold his ground. With tremendous effort, he swung his bde to block the vicious scarlet scythe of the Lady Demon Irehe sheer force of the csh sent him reeling backward.

  "Whoosh!"

  Suddenly, a violent gust tore through the air. Horn’s hair stood on end as he narrowly dodged to the side, avoiding a deadly series of wind bdes that sshed through the space he had just occupied. One bde grazed his neck, leaving behind a deep, bleeding wound.

  "Damn you..."

  Hred furiously at the menag and bloodthirsty Lady Demon, who was relentlessly pressing her assault.

  "What? A Navy Admiral, and you're this weak?"

  The wings on her back quivered. It was Irehe airborne demon. Blood dripped from her lips as she licked them, her gaze pyful yet dangerous.

  "Don't uimate a Navy Admiral!!" Pegasus Horn was enraged, fpping his wings and charging forward. He had always believed his position as an Admiral was earhrough strength and reition. However, within Navy Headquarters, many officers clearly looked down on him. This was a thorn in his heart that never ceased to ache.

  "No, I’m not uimating Navy Admirals. I’m just uimating you!"

  Maintaining her hybrid beast form, Ireransformed into a scythe-wielding demo out a chilling ugh. In an instant, she became a whirlwind, brandishing her scythe as she unched a violent assault.

  "g! g!"

  In mere moments, two fierce figures cshed repeatedly, their battle raging in the sky. The bat was incredibly intense.

  "Tsk tsk, it seems like some truly formidable folks have shown up!"

  Watg the ferocious se of the two massive pterosaurs tearing a giant Sand Worm into pieces, Rocks couldn’t help but marvel. In parison, his earlier victory—killing Vice Admiral Bays of Navy Headquarters and g his Bird-Bird Fruit: Vulture Form ability—suddenly felt unimpressive.

  "Yahaha, since I’ve made my move, I ’t leave empty-handed!" Darkness spread all over his body as Rocks’ eyes burned with ing ambition. Fixating on the Saints Mars and Saint Denis before him, his gaze betrayed unabashed greed.

  As captain of the Rocks Pirates, he wasn’t in the habit of doing good deeds for free—certainly not just to help the Fallen Angel El out of trouble. No matter what, he was determio cim one or two top-tier abilities before leaving today.

  "These people..."

  Saint Mars' expression darkened as he stared at the dismembered Saint Ju Peter. Without hesitation, his fearsome form began to shrink at a visible speed, morphing into a terrifying, hunti hybrid. He had a hawk-like head, wings on his back, limbs transformed into sharp cws, and a long, serpeail trailing behind him. His aura was terrifying.

  Engulfed in fmes, Mars fixed his gaze on the menagly evil Rocks and roared at Saint Denis, "You’re no match for this guy! Go help Kong hold off Charlotte Linlin so Kong focus oraining him! We o elimihe Fallen Angel Pirates first!"

  There was no denying that Rocks’ Dark-Dark Fruit abilities were a major ter to them. Only someone like Kong, who, despite also being a Devil Fruit user, had immense physical prowess, could effectively hold Rocks at bay. Moreover, what Mars truly feared was that Rocks might ralize their regeive and near-immortal abilities.

  "Uood!" Saint Denis knew all too well how terrifying Rocks was. Also in his hybrid beast form, he didn’t hesitate, spreading his wings and taking off toward Linlin. But Rocks made no move to stop him, allowing Denis to leave.

  With a toothy grin, he looked at the hunting Saint Mars with an amused expression.

  "Yahahaha, as expected of the Five Elders who wield the highest authority in the Wover. Not a bad strategy!"

  Rocks had already decided to seize this opportunity to plunder powerful abilities and saw no reason to help the Fallen Angel El restrain suidable oppos. After all, fag two top-tier powerhouses simultaneously would be challenging, even for him.

  If Mars and Denis mao pin him down, it would hinder his goals.

  "But… Do you think you stop me, Old Man?"

  In the instant—Rocks let out a sinister ugh. Darkness enveloped his left hand as he directly locked onto Mars.

  "Dark Vortex!"

  Mars’ body trembled. His expression ged as he was involuntarily pulled toward Rocks. Opening his sharp beak, he unleashed a burst of radiant firelight. With terrifyihat ed the air, the bst hurtled toward Rocks.

  "Boom! Boom!"

  Bleam