The Royal Demon Rose

Unfortunately, Pica's warning came too late.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

...

One after another, his subordinates fell down, their faces wearing a strange expression of pleasure.

In a short time, nearly a hundred people had collapsed.

As Pica looked at the fallen individuals, a surge of anger rushed over him.

These were all elite members of the family!

But upon closer inspection, he couldn't find a reason. Many of these fallen individuals had no visible wounds.

At that moment, a faint floral fragrance entered his nose.

Pica's heart skipped a beat as he instantly understood.

"Be careful, the floral fragrance is poisonous!" Pica shouted loudly as a reminder.

Upon hearing his words, his subordinates quickly covered their noses.

But the falling didn't stop.

In no time, another hundred people collapsed.

Pica knew that they couldn't continue like this. If they did, everyone would perish here.

"Get out of the flower bushes!" Pica commanded.

"Retreat!"

"Be careful, don't get scratched!"

"Hold your breath!"

...

Upon hearing their leader's command, Pica's subordinates cautiously retreated from the rose bushes and reached the shore.

At that moment.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

...

The sound of cannon fire erupted.

The fleet led by Strala, the Marine commander, had arrived just in time. However, instead of approaching, they bombarded along the coastline.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Explosions rang out, accompanied by the agonized screams of the subordinates who had just exited the flower bushes.

"Ah!"

"Go back!"

"Quick, go back!"

...

Under the threat of the Marine's cannon fire, Pica's subordinates, desperate to save their lives, rushed back.

In their haste, many of them were scratched by the roses.

And due to the urgency of their escape, as soon as they left the range of the explosions and stopped, they gasped for breath.

In an instant, over a hundred people fell down.

Now, out of the four hundred elites left by Pica, in just a short time, over three-quarters were lost, leaving less than a hundred remaining.

Pica didn't expect things to turn out this unlucky. Just picking a random small island, he never imagined that there would be poisonous roses on it. And he certainly didn't anticipate the Marine blocking him at this very moment.

But he knew they couldn't continue like this.

"Phew!"

Pica let out a deep breath, and suddenly his whole body sank, mysteriously blending into the rocks of the small island.

"Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!"

Suddenly, the entire small island shook.

The next moment, a hundred-meter-tall menacing stone giant appeared.

The rocks on the small island, along with the rose bushes on them, were all absorbed into the stone giant, as if they were attached to it.

The stone giant casually reached out to the side.

A massive rock, over five meters tall, was lifted by its hand.

Pica knew that the immediate priority was to deal with the Marine. If the Marine continued their bombardment, all of his subordinates would be wiped out.

As for these rose bushes, as long as they were careful not to get scratched and avoided inhaling the floral fragrance, there wouldn't be any problems.

Pica weighed the stone in his hand and forcefully threw it toward the direction of the Marine.

The stone shot out rapidly, heading straight for the Marine warships.

Strala, standing at the bow of the ship, narrowed her eyes and placed her hand on the standard-issue longsword at her waist.

"Clang!"

The sword was unsheathed and sheathed!

"Battoujutsu: Ichidansatsu!" (Sword-drawing style: One-Sword Kill!)

A burst of energy shot out as the stone rapidly approached Strala

There was no movement, and the stone was instantly cut in half and fell into the sea.

However, this stone seemed like an opening act.

One after another, Pica threw stones towards Strala.

"Clang!"

The sword was unsheathed and sheathed!

"Battoujutsu: Raging Wind Slash!"

Sword energies crisscrossed, forming a massive net that cut all the flying stones into pieces, which fell into the sea.

"You wait here; I'll deal with him!" Strala ordered.

"Yes!" the Marine soldiers nodded.

"Moonwalk!"

Strala leaped into the air, stepping on the air, and headed towards Pica, cutting numerous flying stones along the way.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Accompanied by the faint sounds of his Moonwalk, Strala reached the small island in the blink of an eye.

Pica had already noticed Strala charging towards him. As soon as Strala landed on the small island, Pica delivered a powerful punch.

"Boom!"

The spot where Strala landed was directly hit, creating a large crater.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter!"

But Strala leaped upward, running along Pica's stone arm.

In no time, he reached the top of his head, then jumped forcefully, soaring into the sky. He faced Pica's stone head with a serious expression. His right hand tightly gripped the hilt of her sword, veins bulging on the back of his hand, as he made a powerful slash.

"Clang!"

The sword was unsheathed and sheathed!

"Battoujutsu: Double Slash!"

With this slash, countless sword energies stacked on top of each other and finally merged into a single one, descending from above, cutting Pica's body in half.

"Boom!"

The stone giant collapsed with a thunderous sound.

And inside the stone giant, Pica was also split in half, lying on the ground with wide eyes and an expression of disbelief, becoming a corpse.

However, on his chest, there was inexplicably a blood-red rose inserted, looking as red as blood and dripping with charm.

Strala seemed to have already known about it and didn't find it strange. He directly approached and cut off the split head.

Using the moonwalk, he returned to the ship!

"Mission accomplished, set sail!" Strala said in a deep voice.

"Yes!" the naval soldiers happily replied. This was the easiest mission they had ever done. No one died, they just fired a few cannonballs.

Meanwhile, in a hidden place on the small island.

A young man wearing golden armor, with blue hair and a handsome appearance, smiled as he watched the departing Marine fleet.

It was Pisces Aphrodite!

Of course, Arthur wouldn't only rely on Strala to deal with Pica.

Although he was not clear about Pica's strength, as the highest-ranking member of the Donquixote Pirates, Pica was at least on the level of a Captainl or even a Rear Admiral, even if he didn't have the same power he would have twenty years later.

On the other hand, Strala was only slightly stronger than an average Colonel, not powerful enough to defeat Pica easily, let alone win. Pica would easily escape.

Therefore, Arthur sent Aphrodite as a secret support to deal with Pica.

Aphrodite's Royal Demon Rose was responsible for killing Pica's subordinates. These roses were usually planted around Arthur's palace, but they were specially transported here to target Pica.

And while Strala and Pica were fighting, Aphrodite quietly took care of the remaining subordinates of Pica.

Pica himself was killed by Aphrodite's Bloody Rose, which pierced his chest during his fight with Strala.

It can be said that Aphrodite was the one who killed Pica and his subordinates.

However, it appeared to outsiders that Strala had done it!

Aphrodite tidied up any possible evidence on the battlefield, then looked at a large basket of fruits placed beside him.

Upon closer inspection, he unexpectedly found a fruit that had turned into a spiral-shaped tan color.

"Lucky!" Aphrodite laughed and picked up the fruit. He took out a box from his pocket and put the fruit inside.

Afterward, he walked to the edge of the coast and quietly waited for something.

Before long, an ordinary merchant ship approached from a distance.

However, the people on the ship appeared to be very sturdy.

When the merchant ship approached, Aphrodite lightly jumped and landed on the deck.

"Lord Aphrodite!" the crew members on the ship respectfully greeted.

"Let's go, back home!"

"Yes!"

The ship slowly set sail and headed towards the open sea.