The news of Ichiji's defeat soon reached Judge.
"What's going on?" Yonji slapped the table and stood up, "Ichiji was defeated just minutes after heading out?"
Judge's face turned solemn as he immediately questioned the messenger, "How is Ichiji's condition now?"
"Report, Ichiji's condition is dire. He is still unconscious, and the doctors are performing emergency treatment," the messenger said nervously.
Judge paused for a moment, then turned to his other three children, giving an order, "Niji, Yonji, Reiju, all three of you go and wipe out Takumi's crew!"
"Understood," Niji sneered, activating his combat gear as he dashed off at high speed.
Yonji and Reiju quickly followed suit.
Soon, the three of them reached the ship, where only Enel was present.
In truth, Enel had already sensed their approach as soon as they left Germa's main battleship.
"A bunch of ignorant fools," Enel leaned against the front of the cabin, looking at Niji and the others dismissively. He frowned as he noticed their curled eyebrows, "Is that a family trait of yours, the curly eyebrows?"
"Seems like there is only one person here," Niji smirked, "In that case, leave him to me."
"But he's the one who defeated Ichiji," Yonji remarked with a faint smile, "Are you sure you can handle him alone?"
"Ichiji was defeated because he let his guard down. Hmph, an eighty-million bounty? What kind of threat could he be?" Niji said as he took out a blue canister. A flash of blue light appeared, and just like Ichiji earlier, Niji transformed...
His outfit changed into a blue battle suit, with a black cape bearing the number "2," yellow metallic gloves, and a belt with a lightning emblem.
"Another one?" Enel's lips twitched, "Are you some sort of magician family?"
"Hmph, mark my words, today will be the day you die," Niji grinned as he disappeared in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Niji appeared three meters above Enel, launching an Electric Needle attack, rapidly striking Enel with his knee while releasing a massive electric current upon impact.
However, just like with Ichiji earlier, Niji's attack passed through Enel's elementalized body, and even Enel absorbed the electricity released from his legs.
"This is hilarious," Enel laughed, "I am a god of lightning, and you think this pathetic electricity could hurt me? Who do you think you're mocking!"
With those words, Enel spun his staff and struck one of the thunder drums on his back. A lightning bird, faintly glowing with golden light, emerged from the drum with a shrill cry, instantly hitting Niji.
A scream echoed.
Niji's entire body turned charred as he fell to the ground.
Enel looked at him with disdain, "This is all you've got? What trash."
Seeing Niji's defeat, both Yonji and Reiju grew more serious.
"It seems this guy really has some skills," Yonji glanced at Niji, who was still breathing but in terrible condition. He then looked at Reiju, "Let's take him on together."
Reiju nodded slightly, and both of them pulled out canisters matching their hair colors. As they activated them, two beams of light—one pink and one green—flashed, and they transformed as well.
Enel watched them transform with an expression of complete disbelief.
Once Yonji was clad in his green battle suit and Reiju in her pink battle suit, complete with earmuffs, a blue scarf, a butterfly-wing-shaped cape, and white and pink boots, Enel finally spoke.
"I get it now. You guys are a family of entertainers. Should I be throwing money to reward your performance?"
"He's just an eighty-million bounty criminal. What are you so proud of?" Yonji snorted, exchanging a glance with Reiju.
The two of them moved simultaneously, attacking Enel from the left and right.
Yonji unleashed his Winch Guillotine, charging all his strength into his right arm and striking Enel.
Reiju, meanwhile, fired a barrage of arrow-shaped poison projectiles from her mouth.
Enel yawned in place. The poison arrows passed through his elementalized body without causing any harm, but the door behind him was heavily corroded by the venom.
"Damn it! Long Nose is going to nag me again..." Enel glared at Reiju angrily, "You dare damage the ship? You're dead meat!"
At that moment, Yonji's punch landed, also passing through Enel's body and instead smashing the already-corroded door and the adjacent wall.
As Yonji withdrew his fist, Enel grabbed his arm with a malicious grin. Lightning began to course through Enel's entire body.
"Agh!" Yonji screamed as he was electrocuted.
Releasing Yonji, Enel let him collapse limply to the ground.
Reiju, seeing both Yonji and Niji defeated, became even more tense. She flapped the butterfly-like cape on her back, taking to the sky.
She knew she was no match for Enel, and with Niji and Yonji lying at his feet, there was no way for her to take them away.
All she could do now was buy time and return to report to Judge.
"Pink Poison Arrows!" Reiju fired another barrage of arrow-shaped venom from her mouth.
After launching her attack, she immediately sped towards the main warship.
However, Enel dodged the poison with a flash step, appearing next to Reiju within seconds. He smirked coldly, raising his hand and touching her head with a lightning-charged finger.
Reiju screamed and went limp, falling towards the sea.
Initially, Enel wasn't planning to intervene, but just letting someone who damaged his ship drown felt like too lenient a punishment. With that thought, he swung his staff, batting Reiju away just before she hit the water.
He then returned to the ship, casually tossing Yonji and Niji into the air. With both hands gripping his staff like a baseball bat, he waited until they fell, then struck them away with a loud crack, sending them flying.
Meanwhile...
Judge had just left the dining room when he saw Takumi strolling in the distance, making him pause.
"You... You're Takumi?" Judge asked, his expression serious.
Takumi glanced at him, but before he could respond, the system's sudden notification echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Defeated the Vinsmoke siblings. Progress +30%. Current total progress: 40%. Reward: Bottle of Anti-Venom Pills. Note: Each pill lasts for one hour. The bottle contains 99 pills.]
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Takumi was well aware of who the Vinsmoke siblings were.
However, he hadn't expected to do anything and still ended up with a reward... It wasn't the first time he had completed a milestone without much effort.
Still, it saved him some trouble, which was always nice.
As for the "Anti-Poison Pills" that the system had given him, they were now sitting in the system storage along with that one ton of Sea Prism Stone—stuffed away for future use.
"When did you arrive on the battleship? Where are your comrades?"
Just as Judge asked this, a commotion suddenly came from the main deck of the battleship.
Judge frowned, his grip tightening on his spear as his eyes scanned Takumi, wondering if his crew had come to cause trouble.
One of his men came rushing over, face grim. "Bad news, Your Majesty Judge! Reiju, Niji, and Yonji have all been defeated by the person on that suspicious ship."
"What?" Judge's eyes flashed with surprise.
The informant, drenched in cold sweat, continued, "Not only were they defeated, but they were also arrogantly thrown back here by the enemy. All three of them are severely injured, Your Majesty—you should come and see them immediately."
"Damn it!" Judge was furious but knew he couldn't afford to rush to his children's side right now.
The captain of the ship, the one who had defeated his four children, Takumi, was standing right in front of him. If the enemy was bold enough to come directly to his doorstep, he couldn't just let it slide!
With a dark expression, Judge tightened his grip on his spear, pointing it at Takumi, his voice heavy with anger. "What do you people want?"
Takumi responded calmly, "Just taking a walk after a meal."
Judge sneered, "Taking a walk? And you just happened to walk into the Germa Kingdom? Such a pathetic excuse! You dared to harm my children, and now you'll pay with your life!"
A murderous glint appeared in Judge's eyes. Lightning crackled at the tip of his spear, and with each swing, bolts of electricity danced in the air.
"Die!" Judge lunged at Takumi.
Takumi stood his ground, an amused smile playing on his lips as Judge approached. At the last moment, Takumi used Shunpo to easily dodge and then grabbed the spear's shaft in one swift motion.
Even though the spear was charged with electricity, it had no effect on Takumi, thanks to his insulated body—it posed no threat to him.
"You're not affected by electricity?" Judge was stunned.
Takumi sneered, launching a Night Guy kick straight into Judge's gut, catching him off guard.
Judge felt a surge of heat in his throat as he spat out blood, his body sent flying back and slamming into the stone wall at the end of the hallway with a loud crash.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?!" The informant was startled and hurried over to Judge's side.
With the support of his subordinate, Judge managed to stand up. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, glaring at Takumi with fury.
Hearing the commotion, more of Judge's men began flooding the area.
Takumi, silent and calm, walked towards Judge.
Judge kept his gaze fixed on Takumi, his voice cold, "Form a human wall!"
Immediately, his soldiers moved in front of him, forming a shield between Judge and Takumi. They faced Takumi expressionlessly.
Germa's "human wall" tactic involved ordering surrounding soldiers to quickly shield the commander from incoming attacks, effectively using them as human shields. It also served as a cover for launching surprise counterattacks. This tactic treated the soldiers as expendable tools.
Most of Germa's soldiers were clones. Though they varied in height and physique, they all had identical faces.
Using subordinates as human shields was nothing out of the ordinary for the Vinsmoke family.
As Takumi neared the five clone soldiers shielding Judge, more clones surrounded him, each wielding two guns.
"Attack!" Judge commanded.
Almost simultaneously, all the clone soldiers pulled their triggers, sending countless bullets flying towards Takumi.
Takumi drew his Sandai Kitetsu, using Shunpo to alter the trajectory of every bullet with his blade.
Within seconds, bullets ricocheted throughout the hallway. Apart from Takumi, Judge, and one short clone soldier, everyone else was struck by the stray bullets, sustaining varying degrees of injury. Most of them were killed outright.
The lone uninjured clone remained steadfast in front of Judge.
Takumi swung his sword, releasing an invisible slash that flew straight at the clone.
In an instant, the clone fell.
Judge, shielded by his soldier, didn't take the full brunt of the attack, but the diminished sword slash still injured him. He coughed up blood once more.
"What do you want?" Judge, leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway, clutched his chest and glared at Takumi, his expression weary.
Takumi answered indifferently, "I told you—just taking a walk after a meal."
Judge laughed coldly. "Taking a walk? And just casually destroying my Germa Kingdom in the process?"
Before Takumi could respond, Judge continued, "Enough with the games. Just tell me what you want. If it's within my power, I'll give it to you, but you must promise to spare me and my children."
Takumi remained silent.
At that moment, Kaku emerged from the opposite end of the hallway. Seeing that Takumi had already taken care of the Germa forces, Kaku quickly jogged over and used his ability to create a semi-transparent dome that encompassed both himself and Takumi.
"Captain, I found Germa's treasury, but the vault door has a passcode. I tried using Rankyaku to kick it open, but it didn't work," Kaku reported.
"What about Evil Spirit?" Takumi asked.
Kaku smiled, "A weapon like Evil Spirit shouldn't be used to open doors. I was just wondering how to get past that vault door, but it seems you've already dealt with the Germa people. Let's just have them tell us the passcode. Oh, by the way, I also found Germa's tech lab. Their technology is quite impressive. I have an idea, though I'm not sure if I should say it."
Takumi glanced at Kaku, his expression neutral. "Speak."
Kaku grinned and continued, "I was thinking—our ship is already well-modified in many aspects, but the hull isn't strong enough due to the type of wood we used. It makes the ship vulnerable to damage. If we could reinforce our ship with the same strength as Germa's vault, we'd be able to withstand a lot more attacks. And they have a ton of high-tech equipment here. We could upgrade the ship's interior too."
Takumi thought Kaku's idea made sense.
He gestured for Kaku to remove the soundproof dome.
Takumi looked at Judge, raising two fingers. "I'll let you live, but on two conditions."
Judge's face darkened. "What are they?"
"First, give us the password to the royal treasury. Second, use your technology to upgrade my ship."
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