"How dare these pirates?"
The Marines were completely stunned when they saw six Supernovas, including Capone Bege, openly fighting an Admiral and even attempting to kill him.
"Advance together and support Admiral Borsalino!"
Support the Admiral?
You people must think your lives are too long.
Supernovas might be toys to an Admiral, but to ordinary Marines they were almost godlike opponents.
Renji smiled slightly. He had no intention of joining such a suicidal charge.
What he needed to do was collect the attributes dropped by both the Supernovas and the Admiral.
He was already standing at the peak between Yonko Commander level and Admiral level.
This time, with just one more attribute, he would instantly break through and become an Admiral level powerhouse.
Renji followed behind the Marine formation and slowly approached the battlefield. Because he moved together with a squad, nothing about his presence seemed unusual.
"Those Marines rushing forward are useless," Urouge muttered after glancing at them.
He ignored the Marines entirely. The priority now was defeating Borsalino.
Urouge charged forward and threw a punch.
"Huh?"
Panic flashed across his face.
His fist passed straight through Borsalino's head.
Yet it felt like he had struck nothing at all.
Borsalino continued greeting the watch Den Den Mushi as if nothing had happened.
"That will not work."
X Drake shook his head helplessly.
"To fight a Logia user, you must use Armament Haki."
Armament Haki?
Aside from Drake, who had served in the Marines before, none of the new generation Supernovas had even heard of it.
"Forget it."
Drake sighed, then drew his sword.
A layer of dark purple energy covered the blade.
The coating looked unstable and lacked proper luster. It was obvious he had only just begun using it.
Still, it was enough to threaten a Logia user.
Seeing this, even Borsalino paused his attempt to answer the watch Den Den Mushi and turned his gaze toward Drake.
Drake grinned when he saw Borsalino react.
"See that? Borsalino responded. That means my Armament Haki can threaten him."
"I will use Haki to prevent him from turning into light. While I hold him down, all of you attack together."
"Everyone move!"
Renji nearly laughed when he heard that while blending into the Marine crowd.
A mere Supernova thinks he can threaten an Admiral.
And with such weak Armament Haki.
Ridiculous.
Still, Drake was correct about one thing.
Even weak Armament Haki forces a Logia user to respond. They can no longer ignore attacks completely.
"Move!"
Drake swung his weapon and thrust it toward Borsalino.
Borsalino clicked his tongue softly and stepped aside instead of blocking.
Seeing this, the six Supernovas' eyes lit up.
"So Drake was right."
"Great! As long as we stop him from using that annoying Logia ability, the six of us together can kill him!"
Renji shrugged helplessly while listening to their unrealistic confidence.
Ignorance truly bred fearlessness.
While they spoke, Renji quietly slipped away from the Marine formation and carefully moved closer to the battlefield without drawing attention.
Then he picked up the attribute that had dropped where Borsalino had been standing.
[You picked up 1 point of Agility.]
The moment the attribute entered his body, Renji felt an enormous transformation.
In an instant, the world seemed to change.
It felt like the sky had suddenly opened.
"So this is Admiral level power?"
Renji looked at his hands and murmured softly.
Previously, when he was at Yonko Commander level, he had confidence that he could devastate everything on an island.
Now he could destroy the island itself.
Not just the structures on it.
The island itself.
Renji then looked at the six Supernovas again with a trace of sympathy.
Now that he had personally crossed the gap between Commander level and Admiral level, he understood the difference more clearly than ever.
At his peak Commander level strength, he could fight an Admiral without being instantly defeated, but he would still be completely suppressed.
These Supernovas were far weaker.
They were three full tiers below Admiral level.
If Borsalino became serious, the outcome was obvious.
"Again!"
Drake continued commanding.
"None of us can defeat an Admiral alone. But there are six of us. We can make him suffer!"
"I will lead again."
"My Armament Haki will stop him from using his Logia body. Attack him while he is forced to defend!"
Drake rushed forward again with his sword.
The others followed immediately.
Scratchmen Apoo and Capone Bege remained behind as ranged support, waiting for Drake to force Borsalino into physical form.
Killer, Urouge, and Basil Hawkins charged forward behind Drake.
"Attack!"
As he approached, Drake swung his sword again.
"You people are becoming rather annoying."
Borsalino raised a single finger.
A deep black coating of Armament Haki appeared on it.
Its density and mastery were extremely high.
Even stronger than Renji's Haki.
Clang.
Metal collided.
Borsalino blocked Drake's blade with just one finger.
Drake was an Ancient Zoan user with monstrous strength that even many Fishmen could not match.
Yet that tremendous power was stopped by a single finger.
"How is that possible?"
Seeing Drake's shocked expression, Borsalino tilted his head.
"Supernovas are truly frightening."
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