Chapter 345: Breaking Free, Part 3
"That's the situation."
Jonathan looked at Wapol calmly.
"I hope you'll cooperate with us. Once Axel is arrested, if we confirm that you were forced to accompany him, the Marines can arrange to send you back where you came from."
Jonathan still wanted to win him over.
Anyone capable of swallowing a Pacifista and reproducing its abilities was obviously dangerous. If Wapol resisted during the arrest, the situation could become unnecessarily complicated.
Wapol frowned.
He trusted no one except himself.
And right now, his own survival depended far more on Axel than on anything Jonathan promised.
Would the Marines truly send him home?
Wapol suddenly remembered what Axel had forced him to do during their journey.
Dress like a pirate.
Pose like a pirate.
Make sure plenty of people saw him while they stocked up on supplies.
At the time, Wapol had happily shown off without thinking much about it.
Now he understood.
That bastard planned this from the beginning!
The Marines had several common ways of dealing with pirates.
Capture.
Imprisonment.
Execution.
Release was rarely one of them.
Between Axel's threat and the possibility that the Marines would simply imprison him afterward, Wapol quickly made his choice.
He swallowed the last piece of Pacifista.
Then opened his mouth.
A brilliant light gathered inside.
Jonathan's expression changed.
"Move!"
Too late.
A laser shot from Wapol's mouth.
Whoosh!
The beam crossed the distance almost instantly and struck Sentomaru head-on.
Boom!
Sentomaru's body rocked from the impact.
But he remained standing.
Armament Haki coated his body as he endured the beam through sheer toughness.
Smoke rolled around him.
When it cleared, Sentomaru's face was furious.
"You bastard!"
He rubbed the spot where the beam had struck.
"That actually hurt!"
Then his expression changed.
"Wait. Wasn't that a PX laser?"
Wapol blinked.
He had apparently surprised himself too.
Then panic overtook curiosity.
He opened his mouth again.
Another beam fired.
Sentomaru swung his axe.
Clang!
The blade split the laser apart before it could hit him.
A rare grin appeared on Sentomaru's face.
"I'm pretty confident in my defense."
He pointed his axe at Wapol.
"So you really are working with that brat."
Then he called over his shoulder,
"Vice Admiral Jonathan, cover me. I'm taking him down."
Jonathan nodded.
"Be careful."
His gaze remained fixed on Wapol.
"That laser only appeared after he ate the Pacifista."
Sentomaru glanced back.
Jonathan continued,
"His ability may allow him to convert what he eats into parts of his own body, perhaps even reproduce certain functions."
His eyes narrowed.
"In any case, watch his mouth."
"Got it."
Sentomaru moved first.
He gripped his enormous axe with both hands and leapt toward Wapol.
Wapol stared up at the descending weapon.
Having spent most of his life surrounded by servants and luxury, he had rarely faced anyone attacking him with this kind of force.
He froze.
Sentomaru frowned.
Pathetic.
At the last instant, he changed the strike.
Instead of cleaving Wapol apart, he turned the axe sideways and smashed him with the flat.
Bang!
The moment the weapon touched Wapol, Sentomaru regretted holding back.
A violent force rebounded through the axe.
His injured hand split open again.
Blood sprayed from the wound between his hand and elbow.
Sentomaru's eyes widened.
That ability again!
Reflection.
More precisely, the Pacifista's imitation of Axel's Reflection.
Sentomaru looked toward Wapol.
The former king had both hands over his head and his eyes squeezed shut.
He looked completely terrified.
Sentomaru's face twitched.
This bastard is pretending?
He immediately swung again.
This time, there was no hesitation.
The Pacifista core Wapol had swallowed could imitate Reflection, but a single unit's defense had limits.
Sentomaru smashed straight through it.
Boom!
Wapol flew away.
"What?"
Sentomaru stared at his hand.
Jonathan arrived beside him and looked toward Wapol, who had been sent tumbling across the battlefield.
"Why did you knock him away?"
He frowned.
"That was our chance to capture him."
"I attacked based on what a PX should be able to withstand."
Sentomaru tightened his grip on the axe.
"Looks like he can copy the Pacifista, but he can't fully use its capabilities."
Jonathan's expression turned serious.
"Then capture him quickly."
He glanced toward the distant clash between Axel and Kizaru.
"The priority is still Axel."
Kizaru currently held the advantage, but Axel's ability was too unpredictable.
The longer the battle continued, the greater the chance that something unexpected would happen.
Wapol finally pushed himself up.
A long wound had opened across his body.
He barely had time to feel the pain before a huge black shadow came flying toward him.
"What?"
Boom!
The object slammed into Wapol and carried him backward dozens of meters before both crashed into a rock wall.
Wapol groaned.
He looked down.
A Pacifista.
One of those machines that had actually tasted rather good.
But that was not the important part.
Who the hell threw it at him?
Then a voice reached him.
A voice Wapol had grown far too familiar with.
A voice that had practically become the sound of his nightmares.
"Wapol!"
Axel.
"Eat them."
Before the words had even arrived, more damaged Pacifistas were already slamming into the rocks around Wapol.
They had been thrown faster than sound.
Wapol's face twisted.
He loved eating.
He did not love being ordered to eat.
Unfortunately, Jonathan and Sentomaru were already closing in.
At their speed, they would reach him within seconds.
Wapol had no time to complain.
His mouth expanded enormously.
Chomp!
He swallowed the Pacifista in front of him along with a mouthful of rock and dirt.
Then he lunged toward the other two machines.
Chomp!
Chomp!
Both disappeared into his mouth.
Metal grinding echoed as he chewed frantically.
Jonathan and Sentomaru stared.
Sentomaru's mouth twitched.
"Does his stomach have no limit?"
Jonathan ignored the question.
His eyes sharpened.
"The more important question is whether the effects stack."
He vanished.
"Soru!"
Jonathan crossed the distance instantly.
His leg whipped out.
"Rankyaku!"
A cutting blade of compressed air struck Wapol.
Then came straight back.
Jonathan had expected it.
He shifted aside before the reflected slash could hit him.
Still, his expression darkened.
"Wonderful."
He looked toward Sentomaru.
"The abilities stack."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Marines positioned around the battlefield opened fire.
Prison Shells burst from their launchers.
Sea Stone-laced nets spread through the air and fell toward Wapol.
The nets never reached him.
They struck the invisible defensive force around his body and bounced away.
Jonathan frowned.
"Even Sea Stone doesn't work?"
Sentomaru stopped his advance.
"It wouldn't."
Jonathan looked at him.
"The PX ability isn't a Devil Fruit."
Sentomaru pointed toward Wapol.
"It's some technology Vegapunk created. Pacifistas aren't weakened by seawater or Sea Stone."
Jonathan's expression became even more troubled.
"So how do we deal with it?"
"The PX units run on a special energy source."
Sentomaru shrugged.
"Drain it, and the ability stops."
Jonathan immediately asked,
"How long does the energy last?"
Sentomaru answered casually,
"Under continuous combat conditions?"
"About a week."
Jonathan stared at him.
"A week?"
He sighed.
"That's useless."
The battle would be decided long before then.
"So brute force it is."
Wapol, meanwhile, had realized just how much stronger he had become.
His fear began disappearing.
His arrogance returned twice as fast.
He struck a ridiculous pose.
"Have you finally witnessed the power of the great King Wapol?!"
Jonathan's expression went blank.
Sentomaru looked annoyed.
Wapol pointed proudly.
"If you won't attack me, then I'll attack you!"
His mouth opened.
Light gathered.
Whoosh!
Another laser erupted.
This one was visibly stronger than before.
Sentomaru raised his axe.
Boom!
The beam slammed into it.
He deflected the attack aside.
It looked easy.
It was not.
His arms were numb.
Sentomaru stared at Wapol grimly.
This was the fourth Pacifista he had eaten.
And the laser was already nearly three times stronger than the first.
This idiot was becoming dangerous.
Wapol fired again.
Sentomaru charged straight through.
His axe split the laser apart.
Then his huge body accelerated toward Wapol.
He arrived in front of him and swung.
Bang!
"Aaaagh!"
Wapol screamed as the axe smashed into him.
"You bastard!"
He stumbled backward.
"How dare you treat King Wapol like this?!"
"I don't care if you're a king!"
Sentomaru pressed forward.
"The moment you helped a wanted criminal, you became a criminal too!"
Another blow landed.
Wapol barely managed to resist.
Sentomaru had already understood the weakness.
"You may have copied that brat's ability, but it's borrowed power."
He swung again.
"And you don't know how to control it!"
Slash!
The axe broke through Wapol's defense and carved another wound across his body.
Jonathan watched from nearby.
It seemed Sentomaru had the situation under control.
Unfortunately, that meant the only other battlefield available was Axel's.
Jonathan had absolutely no desire to go back there.
This fight was troublesome.
That one was suicidal.
Without sufficient strength, merely entering the area around Axel and Kizaru was dangerous.
Jonathan had considered ordering his Marines to fire Prison Shells at Axel.
But forget actually hitting him.
The violent pressure created by his exchanges with Kizaru was enough to blow the Sea Stone nets away before they could even get close.
Then Axel's voice rang out again.
"Wapol."
Jonathan immediately looked over.
"Eat those too."
Several more Pacifistas trailing black smoke came flying out of the battle.
They crashed into the ground around Wapol.
His eyes darted toward them.
A chance!
Wapol immediately abandoned Sentomaru and scrambled toward the machines using the crude evasive movements he had somehow developed during the fight.
Jonathan and Sentomaru both reacted.
Neither intended to let him eat another one.
At the center of the battlefield, Kizaru looked toward Axel.
"It's rather rude to keep getting distracted during our fight."
Every time Axel threw a damaged Pacifista toward Wapol, he had to divide his attention.
And every time he did, Kizaru attacked.
The result was visible.
New wounds covered Axel's body.
Reflection protected him from most of the damage, but Kizaru's stronger attacks could still push beyond what Axel could completely process.
Kizaru had taken advantage of every opening.
Axel smiled despite the blood on him.
"I agree."
Ama no Murakumo flashed toward him.
Axel intercepted it with the wooden sword.
"But something interesting is about to happen."
Kizaru frowned.
"Something interesting?"
He glanced toward Wapol.
"Your idea of interesting usually means trouble for everyone else."
Then he looked back at Axel.
"And you're relying on him?"
Wapol was currently screaming while running from Sentomaru.
Kizaru looked unconvinced.
"Even if he eats every PX here, do you really think someone like that will suddenly become useful?"
"At best, he'll go from an ordinary nuisance to a slightly stronger nuisance."
Axel shifted his wooden sword.
Kizaru's light blade slipped past his chest by a narrow margin.
Axel redirected the remaining force away from his vitals.
"I don't rely on other people."
Kizaru raised an eyebrow.
Axel glanced at him.
"But are you trying to arrest me or kill me?"
"You keep aiming for my vital organs."
Kizaru's mouth twitched.
"If I avoid your vitals, defeating you becomes far too troublesome."
He gave Axel his familiar lazy expression.
"And you don't look like someone who dies easily."
Axel sighed.
Kizaru hesitated.
"What now?"
"Nothing."
Axel stared at his face.
"I just feel something every time I look at you."
Kizaru waited.
"That face really is unpleasant."
Silence.
Kizaru's next attack became noticeably faster.
Axel laughed.
Still, whenever he created even the slightest opening, he continued throwing damaged Pacifistas toward Wapol.
One.
Then another.
Then another.
He did not stop until every Pacifista had been removed from the fight.
By then, Axel's condition had deteriorated badly.
His white clothes were almost completely red.
Blood covered his body.
Wounds of various sizes crossed his chest, arms, and sides.
Kizaru studied him.
"I still don't understand what you're doing."
His expression grew more serious.
"But in your current condition, even if you use that technique you showed at Marineford, your body won't survive the strain."
Axel stood with one eye closed.
The other remained barely half-open.
Blood ran past his crimson iris.
Fatigue radiated from every part of him.
Normally, he would have controlled his blood flow to hide the injuries.
Now he could not even be bothered.
Every unnecessary calculation was wasted effort.
Axel looked toward Wapol.
The former king had finally been overwhelmed by Sentomaru and Jonathan.
He had eaten several more Pacifistas and managed to hold them off for a while, but fear and poor combat instincts eventually ruined any advantage the borrowed power gave him.
Axel sighed.
"Wapol really is useless."
Kizaru glanced over.
"Hmm."
For once, he found no reason to disagree.
The man had certainly struggled.
But calling him impressive would have been generous.
Kizaru turned back to Axel.
"And yet you kept throwing Pacifistas to someone who was obviously going to lose."
His eyes narrowed behind the orange lenses.
"What were you planning?"
"Did you actually place your hopes on him?"
Throughout the entire fight, Wapol had spent more time screaming than attacking.
Even after consuming multiple Pacifistas, all he had managed was a temporary stalemate before Jonathan and Sentomaru subdued him.
It hardly seemed worth Axel suffering so many additional wounds.
Axel smiled.
"I already told you."
"I never placed my hopes on Wapol."
Kizaru's expression shifted.
"Then why?"
"Because none of that was for him."
Axel looked directly at Kizaru.
"It was for you."
Kizaru paused.
"For me?"
"Yes."
Axel nodded.
"If I hadn't kept doing that, how could I make you think about all the wrong things?"
Kizaru's brow furrowed.
Axel continued,
"You've been cautious around me since the beginning."
"You know that if I touch you, I can directly interfere with your body."
"And after what happened with the seawater, you've also been careful not to let me get access to enough of it again."
Kizaru remained silent.
Axel's smile deepened.
"If I didn't keep throwing those Pacifistas, you would've stayed in the air."
"With your personality, you'd have used your speed to harass me from a distance and never given me the contact I needed."
Kizaru's eyes sharpened.
Something clicked.
He looked downward.
The ground.
"You mean..."
His voice slowed.
"When you say 'touch'..."
Kizaru's expression finally changed.
"You mean the island itself?"
Axel smiled.
"Exactly."
Every time Axel had picked up a Pacifista to throw toward Wapol, he had deliberately remained in contact with the ground.
Again.
Again.
Again.
What appeared to be a reckless attempt to strengthen Wapol had been cover for something else entirely.
Kizaru's face darkened.
Axel continued,
"If I suddenly stayed on the ground for no reason, you would've become suspicious."
"If I stopped attacking you, you would've become suspicious."
"So I gave you something else to focus on."
"Wapol."
"The Pacifistas."
"My injuries."
"All of it."
His crimson eyes slowly opened fully.
"So that you'd think I was sacrificing myself to help him."
Kizaru stared at Axel.
The unease in his expression deepened.
Axel's smile disappeared.
"You were inside my plan from the beginning."
Kizaru tightened his grip.
"What exactly are you planning?"
Axel looked straight at him.
His exhausted crimson eyes gleamed.
"Exactly what you think."
He slowly raised his head.
"From this moment on..."
"I'm leaving."
....
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