The Disaster Raging in the Sky

"Prepare to fight back! Don't be afraid! It's just a slightly bigger monster! You've fought against Giants pirates before! If they can be injured—as long as it's a living creature, it can die!"

Inside the branch, the structure was pyramidal. Apart from the Vice Admiral who led the base, there were several Rear Admirals overseeing different aspects. At this moment, under the command of one Rear Admiral, the artillery crew was struggling to lift cannons and find the firing angle.

The fixed coastal defense cannons couldn't manage this task, but the mobile cannons were different. In this world, the development of gunpowder technology is quite skewed—so long as someone's physique was strong enough, even a regular cannon could be lifted and used as an anti-aircraft gun.

Some bazookas were also brought out from storage. Bazookas were part of the Marine's standard equipment, though rarely used since pirates generally didn't have armored units. And in this G-1 branch, the powerful coastal defense cannons were much more effective.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Muzzles flared with fire, but the Hydrachton in the sky was unharmed.

"Rear Admiral! We can't hit it! That thing is flying too high!"

Marines' tech tree is quite peculiar. Though they could fire in rapid succession, they still used old-fashioned flintlock designs with limited range. Without specialized weapons, the snipers probably wouldn't even know where their bullets would land at hundreds of meters.

Such high-precision weapons existed but were not widely distributed. So, facing the high-flying Hydrachton, they couldn't even graze it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom!

Bazookas and cannons fired in unison, reaching further, but Hydrachton displayed an agility that contradicted its massive size. The shells merely trailed behind it, not even leaving a speck of dust on its body.

"Wait for it to come down! It can't fly around aimlessly. If it wants to destroy what's below, it has to come down eventually..."

Hydrachton had circled the sky several times without making a move, which gave the Marines the false impression that it lacked long-range attack capabilities.

In truth, Hydrachton was merely assessing external threats. Though it appeared enormous and harbored terrifying destructive power within, it was, in fact, still a "child" not yet a month old.

Its basic knowledge was bestowed by Arceus, but it lacks understanding of the outside world. Besides the Mythical Pokémon, other newly born Pokémon experience a similar situation at birth, requiring a certain amount of time to absorb information about the outside world.

Hydrachton didn't know its place in the food chain. At this moment, it was trying to figure out whether it was the hunter or the prey.

And Marines' attacks gave it some clarity—these insects didn't seem capable of causing it any real harm. Once it determined it was in a safe position, it was time to launch an attack.

"Roar!"

A red light flashed in the eyes of its multiple heads. From its gaping maws, searing flames, compressed and concentrated, were unleashed, sweeping toward the ground.

As the flames traveled, they spread out, and in an instant, the eight streams of fire turned the area below into a sea of flames.

Hydrachton did descend slightly, but it didn't cause destruction with its massive body as the Marines had expected. It descended only to bring its target within range of its scorching flames.

Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out as the high temperatures ignited the ammunition piled below. In the blink of an eye, the square that had been full of Marine soldiers was turned into a purgatory.

...

"This... this... this isn't a monster we can fight..."

Many Marines had been resting in the base. When the alarm sounded, they grabbed their weapons and rushed to support their comrades. One soldier was just a step away from the gate when a blast of hot air suddenly surged in from the entrance.

The shockwave from the exploding ammunition threw him back into the room. As he clutched his head and struggled to stand, he saw only an empty battlefield. The soldiers who had been fighting outside were gone, leaving only charred marks on the ground.

Bloodstains evaporated rapidly under the intense heat, and a burnt stench filled his nostrils. No recruit assigned to G-1 Branch is unfamiliar with blood, but even as a seasoned soldier, recalling the previous scene and realizing where the smell came from caused his face to turn grim.

At this moment, he should have mustered the courage to keep fighting, but it felt like something was holding his feet back. Staring at the gate ahead, he just couldn't summon the courage to take that step forward.

They were human too, and fear was a natural response when facing an opponent against whom numbers were meaningless.

It wasn't until the sound of cannon fire echoed again that their officer snapped out of it and urged the soldiers to grab their weapons and head back into battle. As long as there was the sound of cannon fire, it meant someone was still alive, and the fight wasn't a lost cause yet.

...

Outside, under some bunker, the surviving Marine soldiers were still struggling to return fire. And as Hydrachton descended, the coastal defense cannons on the surrounding high platforms finally had a shot.

The coastal defense cannons were the same as the main guns on warships—heavy artillery with caliber exceeding 300 m. Their range and destructive power far surpassed the previous weapons, and they could pose a real threat to Hydrachton.

"Help... help me..."

"It hurts... someone save me..."

Between the blasts of cannon fire, the cries for help from the wounded reached the ears of the reinforcements. If this weren't the New World, where Marines were generally stronger and had at least some basic grasp of Haki, it would've been almost impossible to find survivors in this environment.

Some soldiers began rescuing the injured, while others searched for weapons that could be used to attack Hydrachton.

At this moment, Hydrachton wasn't paying attention to the small insects below. Amid the intense barrage of cannon fire, it was inevitably hit by a shell. The heavy coastal defense cannons, when they struck its body, were enough to cause injury, helping Hydrachton realize what could actually threaten it.

Many ants can bite an elephant to death—even someone as large as Oars couldn't withstand constant bombardment from cannons.

At the same time, the wounds on Hydrachton's back were healing rapidly. Though it didn't have the tough armor of a Tyranitar, it possessed an incredibly fast regeneration ability.

This came from the power of the Yamata no Orochi's fruit. For Hydrachton, the abilities of the Yamata no Orochi weren't just about having extra lives—it was far more complex.

Hydrachton flapped its wings and ascended again, rising out of the range of the coastal defense cannons. Then, it unleashed a stream of searing flames towards the cannon barrels below.

"It's useless! These heavy cannons can't be affected by mere fire! If you've got the guts, come down here!"

The operators of these cannons were in control rooms located further below, so the heat didn't affect them.

The fact that they could injure the beast was a good sign—they believed they had found a way to counter this monstrous dragon. But in the next instant, Hydrachton spewed a terrifying stream of purple corrosive liquid. The cannon barrels that had withstood the flames were instantly corroded, leaving large holes behind.

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