Don Krieg removed the cloak that he was wearing, unveiling a bulky golden suit of armor underneath.
Gears turned; bam! bam! bam!
An arsenal of firearms emerged from different parts of the suit.
"I am Don Krieg, and with this armor made out of Wootz steel, I am the strongest! Soon I will be the rightful ruler of the East Blue and then the Grand Line," he declared.
"If you aren't yet convinced, heh! Have a taste of my power!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!... ...
Bullets shot out of the guns, all aimed straight in Sear's direction.
Sear dodged them with relative ease. This was why he had chosen to exit the building; having ample space to freely move around, he could easily get out of the way and avoid anything shot at him.
Right after the gunfire ended, Don Krieg swung a long chain-mace at him. The chain extended a long distance in a matter of seconds. Sear avoided the spiky metal ball, but before he could catch his breath, Krieg rapidly flickered small explosives at him using nothing but his fingers.
In comparison to the balls' size, their destructive capabilities were massive. Sear escaped the blast range by rolling to the side. Just as he did that, a rain of spikes the size of an adult's fist hit him mercilessly.
Coming out of the fray, metal spikes were embedded in Sear's hands and feet. He had managed to deflect most, but unfortunately, a few did come through.
Don Krieg didn't stop to wait and see his foe's condition. Almost immediately, the metal ball struck the ground right in front of Sear, who had narrowly dodged it.
'Shit, I am not getting any chance to retaliate.'
Believing he had no time to hesitate, Sear immediately started utilizing the Radiant Sun Dance to its fullest.
Immediately, his breathing techniques started showing their effects. He dodged the relentless spree of attacks and retaliated with his own.
Slicing the air with his blade, razor-sharp compressed air soared at the man.
The slashes struck, but with no effect whatsoever. The armor tanked them with ease.
"Sigh, I have to get closer."
Just as he was thinking this, Don Krieg got into a stance.
In his hand, he was holding one of two of his detachable shoulder plates. Earlier, those spikes too must have come from these.
From the middle of the shoulder plate, a previously hidden central launcher fired a single cannonball.
An air slice from the kukri intercepted the ball mid-air. He assumed that was all it was—a single cannonball—but no.
"Oh no," Sear exclaimed, a visible worry on his face.
Upon being cut in half, a plume of suspicious gas began to leak out from the ball. Sear saw what was likely poisonous gas advancing towards him, blown by the wind.
In a panic, he made a U-turn and started felling. Any place safe from the poison would do.
As he was doing that, Don Krieg and his men subsequently put on gas masks. There was none for Alvida, but thankfully Krieg had waited for the exact moment when the wind would change course away from them before employing the poison gas.
Krieg trailed after the young man. He was in no rush, heading toward the warehouses... his henchmen followed suit.
All who were left were Alvida and her father.
The girl appeared dazed. The image of Sear and what he had told her had been lingering in her head, and nothing else.
Her lips twitched. Her facial muscles, heavy with uncontrollable sadness, became somewhat stable. That previously dry throat also reinvigorated.
Suddenly facing her father, "I won't do as you say!" She raised her voice, something unheard of before.
? ?
The man looked at his daughter in utter bewilderment.
"What did you say?! Have you forgotten who raised you? Your mother abandoned her husband and her daughter, that whore! You think this is unfair? If you are gonna curse someone, curse yourself! What a bad omen you have been in my life!"
Silence reigned between the two for a few seconds.
"No."
For the first time in her life, she snapped back at her bastard father.
"I am not willing to let you continue this any longer... this suffering. It's suffocating to be around you. I hate you."
Broken can be fixed. What is gained in adversity is either confidence or heartbreak. She had made her choice.
"I dare you to say it again," the man snapped.
Yet it didn't faze her.
"I said I hate you and, furthermore, you can go to hell!"
The man, unwilling to just take the shame, pulled on his daughter's hair.
The girl tripped and fell; her body was dragged onto the cold ground.
Constant verbal insults and physical abuse had already made her numb long ago, but today she had reached a boiling point.
She forcefully separated her father's hand from her hair. Afterwards, her fist landed squarely on his blob-like face.
That single punch was so powerful that the man staggered and tumbled meters away from the spot.
Subsequently, he dropped to his knees, clearly in unbelievable shock.