172 Chapter 172

"Friends of yours?" I asked after giving a look at the various marines surrounding me as I turned to look at Crocodile while gesturing towards them.

"I haven't sunk low enough to call marines my friends just yet," Crocodile replied with an offended scowl, his eyes turning in the direction of the vice-admiral, who seemed to be leading the marines.

"What is the meaning of this, Momonga?" Crocodile asked, his tone annoyed as he stared at the vice-admiral with a deadpan expression.

"We came to help you defend the city against this pirate," Momonga replied, lying through his teeth as he calmly stared at Crocodile.

"I don't remember asking for any help," Crocodile replied, seeing Momonga's lie from a mile away, but he didn't bother comment on it.

"And I'm currently in a bad mood, so it would be better for you to not get in my way and immediately leave this place," Crocodile added, his expression turning menacing as he blew a cloud of smoke while glaring at the marines.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Momonga resolutely replied, standing his ground and meeting Crocodile's glare. "We are moving under orders from up above," he added, giving Crocodile a meaningful glance.

Crocodile heard Momonga's words and scowled in irritation. "Then you better finish your business and disappear from my sight," he said as he turned around.

"You're on your own," Crocodile concluded as he turned to leave without bothering to elaborate on who he directed these words towards before doing so.

"How surprisingly honorable of you..." I said amusement in my voice as I watched Crocodile's shrinking back.

"I don't want to see the smug looks on the marine's faces if they succeed..." Crocodile replied as he began turning to sand. "That's all..." he concluded, fully dispersing and disappearing from my views.

"Vice-admiral Momonga..." I remarked, greeting the vice admiral and acknowledging his presence for the first time since he arrived. "Long time no see," I added, waving my hand towards him with a smirk.

"Don't act friendly with me, pirate!" Momonga exclaimed, unsheathing his Katana. "We are not here to mince words with you," he added, threateningly swinging his sword to the side.

"I can see that..." I added, raising an eyebrow as I looked at the familiar faces surrounding me. "Vice-admiral Momonga, vice-admiral Doberman, vice-admiral Onigomu, vice-admiral Dalmatian... and a shitload of marine officers," I muttered, giving each of the vice admirals a look.

"You guys sure know how to make a guy feel special..." I concluded with a bitter chuckle, already trying to figure out how I was supposed to get out of this one.

"We also just so happen to have a special place for you in impel down, pirate scum," vice admiral Onigumo said with an impatient expression, six spider-like thin limbs sprouting from his long hair, holding a saber each.

"Fair enough..." I replied, carelessly shrugging my shoulders. "But there's one problem. You see, I hear the Imped Down as quite chilly this time of year..." I added, unsheathing Trition as I lowered my posture, preparing to defend myself.

"And I just spent an entire month on winter island," I concluded, plunging my sword into the ground and channeling an Impact through it to stir the sand and create an improvised smokescreen.

I immediately jumped into the air, only looking behind me for a second to hurl several flying sword slashes at where the vice admirals were before I resolutely turned to look at the destroyed ceiling, intending to flee the scene.

As I was right now, fighting this many vice admirals was nothing short of suicide, not to mention I was already exhausted from fighting Crocodile, so fleeing, as unpleasant as it may sound, was my best option.

"He's trying to run. After him!" Momonga exclaimed with a scowl after deflecting my hurried sword slash as he jumped into the air, hot on my trail as he used Geppo to chase behind me, the other vice admirals following suit.

My ears twitched at the sound of the vice admirals flying right behind me, and I quickly took out my revolver, firing in their direction in an attempt to slow them down as much as possible.

However, warning bells suddenly began ringing in my head, urging me to look up as I neared the roof. I did that and sighed in exasperation as I saw yet another vice-admiral diving towards me face-first from above.

"Seriously, you people think too highly of me! Flaming Impact Fist," I exclaimed with twitching eyes as I sent a flaming punch towards Yamakaji, the fifth admiral, who appeared out of nowhere, flying towards me from above.

"That just goes to show much trouble and headaches you've caused us, young man," vice admiral Yamakiji said with a mellow smile as he tore through my flaming attack with a swing of his Katana.

"Thank you for the compliment," I said as the smiling vice-admiral finally reached me as I phased through his swing, spinning mid-air and kicking him down towards his colleagues, who quickly caught him as they continued to pursue me.

It didn't take me long to exit the casino through its collapsed roof, and I immediately began flying towards Rain Base's, heading towards Nanohana, where my crew waited for me.

I might not be able to fight these bastards on my own, but if Wilson and the others were there to back me up, then it would be a completely different story, whether I was exhausted or not.

I kept flying as fast as I could, occasionally phasing through the sword slashes the vice admirals sent towards me while occasionally turning around to return the favor whenever they started gaining distance.

This situation continued for almost an hour, even as the silhouette of Rain Base disappeared behind me, with the vice-admiral tirelessly flying behind me, without showing any signs of slowing down.

However, my newly-gained observation Haki suddenly urged me to slow down, and my ears twitched as I heard a familiar sound, dark clouds coalescing above my head, thunderously roaring as they did.