Sear had run far from the poisonous gas.
For now, his breathing was relaxed, but blood was trickling from his wounds, made worse after an increase in heart rate. It was an unintended side-effect of fully unleashing his breathing technique.
There were three warehouses in the Don Krieg's base of operation, here at Goat Island.
The nearest one him, Sear knew, was where his boat was kept at. He didn't bother entering it, as the last time he went inside, he saw nothing unusual.
Further ahead, he saw another warehouse where there was evidence of battle.
The large main door was broken. Inside, there were five large cells in total, which were all empty, and the bars were all wide open. Bodies of criminals lined the floor.
He exited the place and moved toward the third and last warehouse, being completely clueless on what to expect from this one.
"Might as well check it out."
He entered and was immediately met by a strange sight. This warehouse, among other things, had only a single cell and a boy guarding it.
The boy looked like any other kid in the island, tanned and rough looking, though he had some muscles.
Inside the cell were similar children, mainly boys, about 12-14 years of age.
A question that immediately came to mind upon witnessing the situation was, "What's your deal?" Sear asked.
"That's supposed to be my line!!" the boy shouted.
Sear ignored his tantrum. "Out of my way. I am here to save them."
"Save? They aren't in any danger, though..." the boy scoffed.
"That's not for you to decide." It was a firm reply that the wannabe thug had a hard time refuting.
But brainwashing was ingrained in his core. "Everyone calls me a traitor, but it's for their own sake that I am doing this. instead of living as a street rat, being loyal to Don Krieg is far better."
The kids behind the bars clenched their fists; they were clearly uncertain and frustrated.
The two of them locked eyes, staring at each other.
The boy being no match, tried to reason; "Every other guard here except me has followed after that intruder—your comrade probably. Why not check how that person is doing?"
"....."
Not bothering with the conversation any longer, Sear shoved aside the wannabe thug.
Then Using his gun, he broke the lock on the cell.
"Nearly forgot about this bad boy," Remarking afterwards while caressing the gun.
Just as he was finished with getting the children out..
"I knew you would be here." Don Krieg appeared.
They were ready for a final confrontation.
Sear employed his breathing technique for the second time today.
'I have to finish this quickly before my body starts faltering' — it was the consequence of unleashing the breathing technique twice in a row.
To make it worse krieg wasn't a good matchup for a close-range swordsman like him.
So Without wasting any more breath, he charged head-on.
Krieg was also ready for a frontal assault. He wielded his Ultimate Battle Spear, transformed by locking his two shoulder plates together and activating a internal devices that produced a shaft and a blade, protruding through opposite ends.
Moment after Sear's kukri clashed with that Abnormal weapon; a explosive force was released from the spearhead, which the young man barely avoided.
It hadn't caught him off-guard, as he had already been aware of the ability that the weapon possessed.
Time and again the two weapons met, and the same thing occurred.
The stronger Sear impacted the spearhead, the bigger and more intense was the subsequent blast.
After many clashes, his skin was charred in places. It was nothing major, but it couldn't go on forever.
Sear arrived at a conclusion seeing the vigor with which his opponent was moving. 'This might be his prime.'
Remembering back, the version of Don Krieg that fought the MC, Luffy, was already pretty beat up; having had his fleet devastated by the world's strongest swordsman: Dracule Mihawk—not to mention the days he and his crew spent starving while being chased.
After a number of clashes, Sear was getting used to the explosions. Krieg noticed this too, so he operated the flamethrower fitted in his arm guard. To avoid the roaring flames, Sear ducked and sprang to the side.
As he was scurrying around the warehouse, keeping his head low, he came across something he wasn't expecting in this place.
"This boat! How is it here?"
His eyes fell on a familiar boat belonging to Old Ron and Jessy.
His heart skipped a beat. "No way!!"
The steam rising from his body suddenly intensified. "What did you do to them?" He demanded an answer.
Blood rushed through his veins; he was visibly boiling with anger. In an instant, all his sweat evaporated; only heat was being expelled through his fibers like nothing before.
There was a noticeable rise in the surrounding temperature.
It was with this monstrous strength of a charging bull that he attacked. The crime boss was taken aback, even struggling to keep himself steady.
Right after the impact, a corresponding explosive force was released from the spear—the most violent yet.
Sear narrowly escaped it. Seeing this, Krieg acted again, the angle of his spear twisted to strike the young man down.
Yet the sharp edge of the blade only grazed his forehead. After evading, he also retaliated.
*cling! Blades clashed.
*crack!
The spearhead, starting from its tip, broke and shattered into chunks and pieces. Though the mechanism within the main section of the weapon—the combined shoulder plate itself—was still intact, a blast ensued after the strike as normal.
Unrelenting, Sear continued his furious assault. Right at that moment, seeing the possibility of his defeat, Krieg stooped to his last resort.
From his left arm guard, a net made of metal was launched. Sear's kukri became entangled in the metal mesh while he was trying to parry it.
Amid the distraction, the man pointed his gun at the captive teens and announced, "Value their lives? You came to save them, right?" He took them hostage.
The young revolutionary stopped in his tracks. On the other hand, the boy, who had been guarding the prison cell all this time, was shocked.
It was a triangular confrontation; the distances between all three sides were almost equal. The boy begged, "Please, don't harm them, Don Krieg!"
At the same time, even as he was shaking, he stood in front of his terrified buddies, shielding them from the gun.
Ignoring him, the crime boss went on. "That boat! Seems like you were close to that couple. Sigh! I didn't really want to kill them, it's just business," he stated with a grin, but then his smile froze, having noticing something odd.
Sear, undeterred by anything, was walking forward, a step at a time; each step birthed a dark premonition and profound dread in the Don Krieg
As the young man reached closer and closer, he lost control over his emotions and was nearly about to press the trigger.
"I am sorry, guys." Seeing the end nearing, Gin gave a final apology.
bang! The trigger went off, but the bullet missed. An object had struck the gun—supposedly a brick.
Before Krieg could understand what happened, he saw the revolutionary coming his way, so he fired another shot at the children. Sear saw this and, without hesitation, threw his kukri at the bullet's trajectory, deflecting it.
Further, one more shot was fired, so he sprinted into the bullet's path. His palm blocked the bullet at close range, right after it left the barrel.
That bullet was lodged in his palm, leaving a terrific gash from which blood spilled. That was the case with his left hand; using his right, he punched a dent in the man's armor that pushed him back and left an imprint.
Krieg coughed heavily after what transpired.
"Y-You, Alvida! Why are you here?" he shouted in disbelief. "Your father, that useless scum. what happened to my men outside?!" he was try
Nearby, Alvida, exhausted after having run to this place, was accompanied by a number of people. Sear recognized them as the spies of the revolutionaries in the gang. It was not hard to assume what had happened to the remainder of the henchmen.
Nothing was going as the crime boss wanted.
And as it all happened, the boy after having his life saved, tossed the kukri that had landed near him, back to its owner.
With his blade in hand, Sear was ready to finish this fight.
Krieg's expression dropped, seeing the grim reaper advancing with eyes bulging in hatred.
What happened after couldn't even be called a fight.
With sheer force from his kukri, Sear cracked and smashed the armor, and he rendered the spear useless by cutting off the shaft. The transformed weapon dropped to the floor with a ting.
The man, having used up all his tricks and gadgets, tried to put up a fight with his gauntlets, but he was unsuccessful. His head was swiftly decapitated.