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Chapter 972: Sand Crocodile Killed in Battle?!
The World Government's artillery support brought unexpected joy to the nearly ten thousand ninja present, but it also left many with lingering fears.
They remembered that not long ago, the World Government was their enemy.
If these Demons hadn't appeared, if they had continued to resist stubbornly, perhaps this artillery fire, whose power was comparable to 'Small Tailed Beast Bombs', would have fallen on their own heads, or flown into their own villages?
The main issue was that the ninja villages of the Ninja World truly had no good way to deal with beyond visual range bombardment from dozens of kilometers away.
All they could do was find the location of the artillery formation by following the direction the cannonballs came from and try to take it out.
"They're here!!"
Ōnoki and Rasa, who were at high altitude, were the first to spot black dots appearing one after another on the horizon behind them.
Looking closer.
Those black dots were thousands of armored vehicles, forming a convoy stretching for dozens of kilometers.
Above them, cannonballs were still streaking across the firmament with a sonic howl, continuously falling into the Demon hordes in the distance.
Such a large commotion actually covered up the rumble made by the armored vehicles as they drove.
However, as the distance between the two sides grew shorter, the ninja naturally noticed the arrival of the true reinforcements.
While this artillery fire was good.
What they truly needed was someone to take over the defense line for them.
There was nothing they could do; they were truly on the verge of collapse.
Soon.
When the convoys of the Third Division and Fifth Division arrived about two hundred meters from the Ninja Alliance Army, they began arranging the armored vehicles side-by-side horizontally, quickly setting up temporary defense facilities.
At the same time, figures wearing black robes walked out of the team, seizing the time to draw large Alchemy Array patterns on the open ground.
They were Alchemists who loved combat and chose to join the Army.
And the patterns they drew weren't just simple outlines on the ground.
They used Alchemy to vibrate out Alchemy Arrays at different depths underground.
This would maximize the prevention of the Alchemy Arrays becoming ineffective due to the ground being destroyed in subsequent combat.
"Members of the Ninja Alliance Army, please listen to our command from now on and retreat behind our defense line in order. I repeat, members of the Ninja Alliance Army..."
Over a dozen armored vehicles equipped with Den Den Mushi with loudspeakers sped behind the ninja, repeating these reminders.
The ninja naturally had no objections; the personnel from the back rows immediately began to move.
Meanwhile.
Vice Admiral Charlotte Oven and Vice Admiral Dalmatian each dispatched a platoon of fifty military personnel to the frontline of the Ninja Alliance Army first.
This left the ninja higher-ups like Rasa, Chiyo, Jiraiya, Ōnoki, and Uchiha Fugaku completely bewildered.
And when they heard that an experiment was to be conducted, they became even more confused.
In the end, they could only watch as these fully armed black-clad soldiers fiercely opened fire on the Demons with the equally pitch-black long-barreled firearms in their hands.
Immediately, the battlefield erupted with gunshots.
Flashes of fire bloomed from the muzzles of the heavy automatic rifles.
These Army soldiers had no intention of letting go of the trigger from start to finish.
Beside them, the major serving as squad leader and the lieutenant colonel serving as platoon leader narrowed their eyes, carefully observing the changes in the Demons after being hit by bullets.
Soon, they noticed that the hit Demons gradually fell to the ground unable to get up, or if they did get up, they staggered, finding it difficult to maintain their body balance.
Effective!
The Academy of Science's speculation was correct!
Seeing this scene, the faces of the majors and lieutenant colonels were filled with delight.
Previously, Dean Vegapunk of the Academy of Science had proposed a guess.
Could the strength of Devil Fruits and the strength of Demons truly have something in common in certain aspects?
If so, would Seastone, which has a counter effect on Devil Fruit users, have the same effect on Demons?
If possible, it would be best to capture alive a few Demons for experimentation.
However, the current situation made this very difficult to achieve.
Because they were cornered here by the Ninja Alliance Army, there were no lone Demons at all.
But Sakazuki stated, isn't it just about finding out if Seastone is useful against Demons?
Just try it on the battlefield!
The method was simple: fire two rounds with firearms loaded with Seastone bullets and then observe the condition of the hit Demons.
From the current result, Vegapunk's guess was correct.
Seastone is indeed useful against Demons!
However, it doesn't have a fatal effect, but rather makes the Demons weak and exhausted, making it difficult for them to move for a short period.
Furthermore, the more bullets they were hit by, the stronger the effect. If it was only one or two, there wouldn't be much noticeable change.
After this news was sent back, the morale of the whole army soared.
After all, if Demons could be dealt with from a distance using firearms, how many people would be willing to draw a blade and engage in close-quarters combat with them?
Not to mention, the quantity of these Demons truly gave the feeling that they were endless and impossible to eliminate.
Therefore, the best choice was to eliminate them with cannonballs and bullets.
"Immediately have the higher-ups send down all the Seastone bullets!"
Charlotte Oven and Dalmatian immediately gave the order.
Not long after, the four Air Force warships flying in the air began dropping large quantities of metal boxes onto the position, which were then transported by the soldiers on the ground to each company, platoon, and squad unit.
As for Seastone bullets.
With the support of the minerals on Wano Island and the McClatchy Mechanism's ability to compress Seastone powder from seawater, the World Government was already capable of mass production on a large scale.
However, due to various concerns, they were ultimately supplied to various departments as 'special bullets' in limited quantities.
For example, Impel Down, the Ministry of Police Affairs, and Cipher Pol. Of course, the majority went to the Army's main battle force.
But now that it has been confirmed that Seastone bullets are effective against Demons, it is possible that the World Government will increase the manufacturing scale for them.
Meanwhile.
Just as the Third Division and Fifth Division were deploying defenses and preparing to take over the defense line from the Ninja Alliance Army.
Crocodile, located at the westernmost end of the Land of Swamps, was already unable to resist any longer, half-kneeling in a ring-shaped crater that was half scorched earth and magma, and half frozen earth and frost, barely alive.
Hong Lian and Esdeath's situation not far away was also not optimistic.
The giant Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox lay covered in wounds in the frost.
Esdeath barely supported her fatigued body with her Flower Sword, standing in front of Hong Lian.
Fortunately, Lilith and Naamah had no intention of killing them.
However, as for Crocodile...
"How boring. Besides that beautiful scream from before, he hasn't made a sound since, Naamah."
Lilith looked at the man below with a blank expression.
"The aura of fear emanating from him is also very thin. It seems he's another so-called human hero, Lilith."
Naamah recalled the human heroes from different worlds they had encountered over the past few hundred years; the result was always that they were thoroughly killed after being tired of playing with.
However, he had to admit that Crocodile was the strongest human they had ever encountered.
Although they still hadn't figured it out.
Why Crocodile had the aura of a Demon on him.
But it didn't matter.
Everything would become clear once they pulled out and ate Crocodile's soul later.
"Lilith, give him the final blow. There are still many humans in this world for us to play with, for us to kill..."
"Alright, Naamah, I've been looking forward to seeing the sight of his death for a long time~"
Lilith grinned.
As soon as she finished speaking, the two Demons each raised an arm and once again unleashed the fiercely burning Black Flame and the cold air-filled Black Ice towards Crocodile.
"Is this where it ends, my journey..."
Crocodile felt bitter in his heart. He truly hadn't expected to die in a place like this.
"That bastard Bullet, he's definitely going to laugh himself to death when he hears the news of my death in battle, right?"
Thinking of this, his heart was filled with unwillingness, yet he was helpless.
The next moment.
The sea of pitch-black fire and the pitch-black frost descended simultaneously.
ROAR!!!
(End of this chapter)
The World Government's artillery support brought unexpected joy to the nearly ten thousand ninja present, but it also left many with lingering fears.
They remembered that not long ago, the World Government was their enemy.
If these Demons hadn't appeared, if they had continued to resist stubbornly, perhaps this artillery fire, whose power was comparable to 'Small Tailed Beast Bombs', would have fallen on their own heads, or flown into their own villages?
The main issue was that the ninja villages of the Ninja World truly had no good way to deal with beyond visual range bombardment from dozens of kilometers away.
All they could do was find the location of the artillery formation by following the direction the cannonballs came from and try to take it out.
"They're here!!"
Ōnoki and Rasa, who were at high altitude, were the first to spot black dots appearing one after another on the horizon behind them.
Looking closer.
Those black dots were thousands of armored vehicles, forming a convoy stretching for dozens of kilometers.
Above them, cannonballs were still streaking across the firmament with a sonic howl, continuously falling into the Demon hordes in the distance.
Such a large commotion actually covered up the rumble made by the armored vehicles as they drove.
However, as the distance between the two sides grew shorter, the ninja naturally noticed the arrival of the true reinforcements.
While this artillery fire was good.
What they truly needed was someone to take over the defense line for them.
There was nothing they could do; they were truly on the verge of collapse.
Soon.
When the convoys of the Third Division and Fifth Division arrived about two hundred meters from the Ninja Alliance Army, they began arranging the armored vehicles side-by-side horizontally, quickly setting up temporary defense facilities.
At the same time, figures wearing black robes walked out of the team, seizing the time to draw large Alchemy Array patterns on the open ground.
They were Alchemists who loved combat and chose to join the Army.
And the patterns they drew weren't just simple outlines on the ground.
They used Alchemy to vibrate out Alchemy Arrays at different depths underground.
This would maximize the prevention of the Alchemy Arrays becoming ineffective due to the ground being destroyed in subsequent combat.
"Members of the Ninja Alliance Army, please listen to our command from now on and retreat behind our defense line in order. I repeat, members of the Ninja Alliance Army..."
Over a dozen armored vehicles equipped with Den Den Mushi with loudspeakers sped behind the ninja, repeating these reminders.
The ninja naturally had no objections; the personnel from the back rows immediately began to move.
Meanwhile.
Vice Admiral Charlotte Oven and Vice Admiral Dalmatian each dispatched a platoon of fifty military personnel to the frontline of the Ninja Alliance Army first.
This left the ninja higher-ups like Rasa, Chiyo, Jiraiya, Ōnoki, and Uchiha Fugaku completely bewildered.
And when they heard that an experiment was to be conducted, they became even more confused.
In the end, they could only watch as these fully armed black-clad soldiers fiercely opened fire on the Demons with the equally pitch-black long-barreled firearms in their hands.
Immediately, the battlefield erupted with gunshots.
Flashes of fire bloomed from the muzzles of the heavy automatic rifles.
These Army soldiers had no intention of letting go of the trigger from start to finish.
Beside them, the major serving as squad leader and the lieutenant colonel serving as platoon leader narrowed their eyes, carefully observing the changes in the Demons after being hit by bullets.
Soon, they noticed that the hit Demons gradually fell to the ground unable to get up, or if they did get up, they staggered, finding it difficult to maintain their body balance.
Effective!
The Academy of Science's speculation was correct!
Seeing this scene, the faces of the majors and lieutenant colonels were filled with delight.
Previously, Dean Vegapunk of the Academy of Science had proposed a guess.
Could the strength of Devil Fruits and the strength of Demons truly have something in common in certain aspects?
If so, would Seastone, which has a counter effect on Devil Fruit users, have the same effect on Demons?
If possible, it would be best to capture alive a few Demons for experimentation.
However, the current situation made this very difficult to achieve.
Because they were cornered here by the Ninja Alliance Army, there were no lone Demons at all.
But Sakazuki stated, isn't it just about finding out if Seastone is useful against Demons?
Just try it on the battlefield!
The method was simple: fire two rounds with firearms loaded with Seastone bullets and then observe the condition of the hit Demons.
From the current result, Vegapunk's guess was correct.
Seastone is indeed useful against Demons!
However, it doesn't have a fatal effect, but rather makes the Demons weak and exhausted, making it difficult for them to move for a short period.
Furthermore, the more bullets they were hit by, the stronger the effect. If it was only one or two, there wouldn't be much noticeable change.
After this news was sent back, the morale of the whole army soared.
After all, if Demons could be dealt with from a distance using firearms, how many people would be willing to draw a blade and engage in close-quarters combat with them?
Not to mention, the quantity of these Demons truly gave the feeling that they were endless and impossible to eliminate.
Therefore, the best choice was to eliminate them with cannonballs and bullets.
"Immediately have the higher-ups send down all the Seastone bullets!"
Charlotte Oven and Dalmatian immediately gave the order.
Not long after, the four Air Force warships flying in the air began dropping large quantities of metal boxes onto the position, which were then transported by the soldiers on the ground to each company, platoon, and squad unit.
As for Seastone bullets.
With the support of the minerals on Wano Island and the McClatchy Mechanism's ability to compress Seastone powder from seawater, the World Government was already capable of mass production on a large scale.
However, due to various concerns, they were ultimately supplied to various departments as 'special bullets' in limited quantities.
For example, Impel Down, the Ministry of Police Affairs, and Cipher Pol. Of course, the majority went to the Army's main battle force.
But now that it has been confirmed that Seastone bullets are effective against Demons, it is possible that the World Government will increase the manufacturing scale for them.
Meanwhile.
Just as the Third Division and Fifth Division were deploying defenses and preparing to take over the defense line from the Ninja Alliance Army.
Crocodile, located at the westernmost end of the Land of Swamps, was already unable to resist any longer, half-kneeling in a ring-shaped crater that was half scorched earth and magma, and half frozen earth and frost, barely alive.
Hong Lian and Esdeath's situation not far away was also not optimistic.
The giant Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox lay covered in wounds in the frost.
Esdeath barely supported her fatigued body with her Flower Sword, standing in front of Hong Lian.
Fortunately, Lilith and Naamah had no intention of killing them.
However, as for Crocodile...
"How boring. Besides that beautiful scream from before, he hasn't made a sound since, Naamah."
Lilith looked at the man below with a blank expression.
"The aura of fear emanating from him is also very thin. It seems he's another so-called human hero, Lilith."
Naamah recalled the human heroes from different worlds they had encountered over the past few hundred years; the result was always that they were thoroughly killed after being tired of playing with.
However, he had to admit that Crocodile was the strongest human they had ever encountered.
Although they still hadn't figured it out.
Why Crocodile had the aura of a Demon on him.
But it didn't matter.
Everything would become clear once they pulled out and ate Crocodile's soul later.
"Lilith, give him the final blow. There are still many humans in this world for us to play with, for us to kill..."
"Alright, Naamah, I've been looking forward to seeing the sight of his death for a long time~"
Lilith grinned.
As soon as she finished speaking, the two Demons each raised an arm and once again unleashed the fiercely burning Black Flame and the cold air-filled Black Ice towards Crocodile.
"Is this where it ends, my journey..."
Crocodile felt bitter in his heart. He truly hadn't expected to die in a place like this.
"That bastard Bullet, he's definitely going to laugh himself to death when he hears the news of my death in battle, right?"
Thinking of this, his heart was filled with unwillingness, yet he was helpless.
The next moment.
The sea of pitch-black fire and the pitch-black frost descended simultaneously.
ROAR!!!
(End of this chapter)
