Two consecutive Ice Pistol shots struck Strawberry, and two splashes of frost bloomed across his chest. At the same time, the force of the blows knocked him back onto the warship's deck.
Thunder Fortress had just undergone maintenance. Vane had no intention of turning his own deck into a battlefield.
"Rear Admiral! Are you alright, Rear Admiral?!"
Seeing his superior knocked back, the branch Captain hurried forward to check on him.
"I'm fine. All of you, fall back."
Midair, the moment Strawberry heard the voice, he immediately activated Tekkai. The two Ice Pistol strikes hadn't caused him much damage.
Though uninjured, Strawberry was far from pleased.
He had assumed the troublesome one would be Nation-Slayer Vane. He hadn't expected that not only were there numerous Devil Fruit users aboard the enemy ship, but there was also a second-in-command as difficult to deal with as Bonez.
In the blink of an eye, Bonez leapt onto their deck.
"Two-Sword Style!"
Strawberry struck first. With both blades, he unleashed a torrent of flying slashes. Like a raging storm, even a single leaf would be shredded into fine threads.
A metallic sheen spread across Bonez's body. He closed his eyes and allowed the slashes to rain down upon him.
Clang clang clang…
Fierce collisions sparked continuously across his body.
"Your flying slashes are useless."
With a light step, Bonez spun several times in midair, then descended in a single-leg downward slash.
Strawberry noticed that the leg coming down at him had turned into a blade, further confirming that his opponent was a Devil Fruit user.
"Two-Sword Style! Flying Leaf!"
Clang! Splat!
A trace of blood splattered. A small wound appeared on Bonez's calf. From this single cut, Bonez judged that Strawberry's strength surpassed that of Six-Gold Kingdom's Sword Schmitt.
Strawberry remained uninjured, but his Navy coat was sliced cleanly in two by Bonez. The large characters for "Justice" on it were completely severed.
"Support the Rear Admiral! Open fire!"
The other Marines snapped back to their senses and began firing their rifles at Bonez. One even pulled out a rocket launcher and fired it.
Bonez didn't move an inch, letting the bullets strike his body.
These rounds couldn't even qualify as a tickle. Even a rocket exploding against him produced nothing more than a slight vibration.
His body had endured Electivire's electric shocks and Charizard's flames. A mere rocket blast was trivial.
"My body is harder than steel… If you can wound me, it means your swordsmanship has some skill. A Navy Headquarters Rear Admiral truly lives up to the title."
After his fierce battle with Schmitt, his body had grown even tougher. If Schmitt came again, he wouldn't be able to break his defense so easily.
"N-No, impossible! How can it have no effect at all?!"
The branch Captain stared in disbelief at Bonez chatting casually amid a storm of gunfire.
"Fight! Fight!"
Another towering black figure charged out—it was Dice, who loved taking hits the most.
With a single shoulder charge, he sent over a dozen Marines holding rifles flying. No one disturbed Bonez anymore.
Dice charging into the Marine ranks was like a tiger among sheep. One punch, one small fry. His massive hands, long enough to hang past his knees, turned into electric fans, rapidly clearing out the Marines.
"Two-Sword Style! Crimson Leaf Slash!"
The Flame-Flame Fruit really was useless.
Strawberry's blades somehow sparked with fire as they cut.
Bonez transformed all ten fingers into blades and began trading blows with him.
For a time, the clanging of steel rang endlessly as sparks burst between them.
Under their rampage, holes and gashes appeared all over the Navy warship's deck.
"Light Phantom."
On the other side, Baccarat clapped her hands. A large bright lamp appeared in the air between the two ships. The previously dim light immediately turned bright, allowing everyone to clearly see the battle between the two.
At the same time, it was the Rocket Team grunts' turn to counterattack the enemy deck. Though fewer in number, their strength far surpassed most of the Marines—especially with their overwhelmingly powerful "officers" assisting them.
Dice led the charge in front, while Charizard circled constantly in the sky.
Even Perona, barely five or six years old, watched happily from the deck and directly sent out her Negative Ghosts through the Marines' bodies. Those Marines immediately collapsed to the ground, feeling they ought to become useless seaweed or aquatic plants instead.
And then there was no "then." They were promptly cuffed by Rocket Team grunts using handcuffs crafted by Meowth.
Not the heavy shackles of the pirate world—these were the kind modern police officers use. Meowth had forged a large number of them with Charizard's flames precisely for moments like this.
Extremely lightweight—each person could carry over a dozen.
"Cuff them all!"
"This thing's way better than rope."
The compliant got one hand cuffed. The unruly got both hands and feet locked together.
Watching his comrades being cuffed one by one, Strawberry felt intense anxiety.
The dark-skinned man before him was weaker than him, yet undeniably troublesome.
Opponents with strong defenses were the worst. They might not be stronger overall, but fighting them was truly exhausting!
Strawberry leapt back and sheathed one of his swords.
"One-Sword Style—Great Devour Slash!"
This strike could be called Strawberry's strongest technique. The blade flashed with extreme speed.
Bonez immediately braced in place, his entire body turning dark and gleaming.
Slash!
A long wound split across Bonez's chest, blood steadily seeping out.
"Broken through again… I've lost."
Bonez was already accustomed to pain. This wound wouldn't make him collapse on the spot.
The moment Bonez was defeated, Vane stopped slacking off and leapt onto the warship's deck.
Strawberry immediately raised his sword and pointed it at him. As long as he defeated this captain, victory would still belong to the Navy!
"Great Devour Slash!"
Vane gripped his sword hilt, locked onto the moment, and drew in an instant.
"Frost Breathing—White Frostfall."
Vane's figure suddenly vanished from Strawberry's sight. A biting chill spread through the hands gripping his sword.
The next second, frozen blood sprayed up from his shoulder.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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