Chapter 111: Demon vs Hunter (1)
[Water Seven]
'Shit, shit, shit!!! Fuck this all!!!'
Within the mind of Spandam, the new Chief Officer of CP9, chaos was ongoing.
'It's Who's-Who plus Rob Lucci we're talking about here!!! How the hell were they defeated by White Hunter's no-name lackies?!!'
The wipe-out of all Cipher Pols sent to Foolshout by the abrupt appearance of Douglas Bullet, along with the defeat of elite CP9 members by Hina and Bastille, placed Spandam in a tight position. After all, many considered him as incompetent, and that the reason why he was placed in such a high rank, was that his father was none other than Spandine, the previous leader of CP9.
Spandam needed to prove himself.
'This... this has to be my only chance.'
Tom, the shipwright under trial who were to be executed if he failed to fulfill his promise of building a sea train within 10 years. Spandam was recently given an order from the above to 'bring Tom's attempt to a failure.' In other words, the World Government viewed Tom's life to be more worth than his soon-to-be creation.
In a dark expression, Spandam secretly signalled with his left hand. An agent to his left nodded, and,
"Here we go~"
as Iceburg began to get the Puffing Tom started, said agent pointed his index finger at Iceburg, and blasted a silent Tobu Shigan. However,
Puk.
both Spandam and the agent found themselves shocked as a vine suddenly wriggled out and blocked the Tobu Shigan from reaching Iceburg. Simultaneously, Puffing Tom emitted steam from its top and began to move, which earned amazement from the audience.
"Who the fuck...?!" Spandam cursed as he quickly looked around. His eyes then found one individual—one with long and wavy green hair, much taller height than the others, and a muscular physique that indicated that he wasn't an average human.
"Ha?"
Said man, Aramaki, raised his eyebrow at Spandam as he felt the stare on him.
"Sir. H-he..." The agent next to him, upon realization, said, "That man is 'Green Bull' Aramaki, the known henchman of White Hunter himself!!"
"WHAT?!!"
At the same time, Robin sighed, "We've been found."
Aramaki chuckled, "Are you mad?"
Robin shook her head, before glaring at the CP agents, "You did what you have to do. If anything... blame those scums."
"Nicely said!" Senor Pink nodded in agreement, "Then what?"
Spandam and CP agents began walking out of the showcase, toward the back of the alley. Noticing their intent, Robin smiled darkly,
"We do what we always do... something that we're notorious for."
__________
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[Ryugu Palace]
Neptune, his sons, and merman army: unable to fight.
Likewise, the entire Red Hair pirates: in need of dire treatment.
If the current battle was a game of chess, Shirahoshi would've been a 'King.' All pieces have been wiped out from the board, and if everything went according to the rules of the game, Bullet should've accomplished his goal already.
"You..."
And yet, two men interrupted him. Bullet could confidently say, that he at the current moment was angrier than he ever had been.
BOOOM!
A punch soared through, attempting to strike Maynard who was directly lying on top of Bullet. However, Smoker, by quickly grabbing the boat and Maynard with his two hands and Uta with a third 'hand' that he generated using the white smoke, evacuated to safety in an instant, avoiding Bullet's fist.
As Smoker released Maynard, Uta, and the boat by his sides, Maynard unconsciously held his breath as he saw the impact of Bullet's punch. He found himself sweaty, upon thinking of what would've happened if he was hit with that.
Uta's heart shivered in fright as Bullet stood back up to his gigantic form. His shadow, stretching all the way from his feet to where Smoker, Maynard, and Uta stood, brought goosebumps all over her.
'S-Shanks...'
Uta couldn't deny it any longer. This monster... must've been the one who defeated Shanks.
"Waaaa!" Unable to hold it in, young Shirahoshi exploded into tears. Though she was young, she had an idea of what happened to her father and brothers. She tried her best not to let out a sound, but the fear brought by Bullet's presence made her lose control.
Surprised, Otohime tried to calm Shirahoshi down but her attempt had no effect on the huge mermaid princess.
Crack. The floor generated cracks as Bullet stood back up. His eyes flashed in hostility as they locked onto Smoker, promising violence. Then, he laughed,
"Kahahaha! I'd never have expected to meet you here of all places... White Hunter!!"
'White Hunter...?' Otohime's eyes widened in realization, finally coming to learn who Smoker truly is.
Uta too, took a step back from Smoker's side, flinching upon hearing the moniker from Bullet.
<Shanks, why are we leaving Skypiea now? I thought planned on staying for longer?>
<Well... you know how Beckman's the smartest one among us, right? He speculated that recently escaped hoards of pseudo-marines following 'White Hunter' will soon reach sky to escape eyes World Government.>
<Um... okay?>
Within the span of four years, three names were heard the most frequently.
First, 'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach. Freely sailing through the war-filled New World with an unknown motive, he has been recruiting pirates all across the sea and increasing his fame.
Second, 'Demon Heir' Douglas Bullet. Destroying and ruining everything that he came across, Bullet was a name that invoked fear in all civilians.
Third, 'White Hunter' Smoker. Previously considered the future Admiral of Marine for his astounding progress, the fact that he abruptly disappeared along with the countless number of other used-to-be-marines, and the fact that he mysteriously appeared in random locations all around the world before disappearing once more—brought many's attention.
And now, two of them were staring at one another in caution. Uta felt that breathing itself had become stringent from this bizarre and intense atmosphere that she had never experienced before.
Then, Maynard's eyes widened as the hairs on his body stood up, sending warning signals,
"Here he comes!!!"
Vroooooooooom. Conqueror's Haki emitted out of Bullet, spreading throughout the entire Ryugu Palace. The palace shook, and the supporting pillars threatened to crumble and fall at any moment. Maynard choked, while Uta and Shirahoshi swayed. Otohime, though sweating profusely from the pressure, held her ground with her hands clenched into fists.
Smoker's eyes grew colder as they stayed focused on Bullet. Then, as his cold eyes gave off a gleam, a counterwave came,
SHOOSH!
and in the blink of an eye, Bullet's Conqueror's Haki was no more, causing the ongoing vibrations all around to fall silent.
"What just..." Having experienced something novel, Bullet voiced confusion. Taking a step back, he was clearly shocked by the fact that...
'His Conqueror's... beats mine...?'
It happened within a split second, but Bullet knew. Just now, Smoker... he exerted his Conqueror's Haki at its full might, and overwhelmed Bullet's.
Bullet grimaced. The fact that the Haki of this strength was focused on him only without affecting Maynard, Uta, Shirahoshi, and Otohime, meant one thing: that Smoker has an astounding degree of mastery over Conqueror's Haki.
"Maynard."
As Maynard wiped sweat he didn't know he had, Smoker's voice broke the silence.
"Fisher Tiger's fighting down in the Fish Man island against someone. Go help him out."
"What—"
Smoker, casually grabbing Maynard by the back of the latter's shirt, threw him forth.
"S-SMOKERRRRRR!!!!"
Maynard broke through the wall and proceeded to fly—through the bubble dome that surrounded the Ryugu Palace, then through the dense layer of water, then through the bubble layer of Fish Man island.
Uta, Shirahoshi, and Otohime stood stoically, clearly dumbfounded.
"...Kahaha," Bullet then proceeded to laugh, trembling in excitement, "Your rumours didn't lie."
Smoker readied himself as he saw that Bullet's Haki began to spike once again,
"Entertain me... White Hunter!!!"
BOOOM! A shockwave boomed throughout the palace as Bullet was found in front of Smoker at the next moment, clashing fist to fist.
"Kyaaa!!!" Uta yelped as she was thrown off of her feet from the sheer air pressure. Eventually, she landed right into Shirahoshi's grasp.
And this was just the beginning.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The walls crumbled down and floors left cracks as Bullet brazenly threw Armament-Haki-coated punch after punch, destroying anything in his path. Smoker, with an equally Haki-coated arm, met Bullet's strikes with his own, knowing that dodging them would bring those behind him in trouble.
Bullet's eyes flashed in red, indicating the operation of Observation Haki. His eyes busily moved before he suddenly turned back and swung his arm,
Puff!
his arm severed Smoker's clone, one that puffed back into a mass of white smoke—
BOOM!
—then, Bullet found a fist to his face, which sent him crashing into a nearby wall.
"Hah!" Standing back up right away with a grin on his face, Bullet blocked an incoming punch from Smoker with his hand,
"White Blow."
BOOOM!
and an incredible mass of smoke exploded out of Smoker's fist, which blasted Bullet out of Ryugu Palace.
The light was entering from the hole generated by Bullet's flight just now. Smoker, staring at the exit, spoke to Uta, Shirahoshi, and Otohime who were watching him in awe,
"Don't worry. Though the situation below seems quite detrimental, I still feel that many are alive. Judging by particular presences that are more noteworthy than the others... 'Red Hair' Shanks and king Neptune haven't died, and the situation isn't as bad as it may seem."
Turning around, Smoker gave a confident smile, "I'll be back in a while."
Shirahoshi's eyes sparkled in wonder as she gazed at Smoker. To her timid self, witnessing Smoker's fearlessness against that monster gave her the courage to overcome the immense fear in her.
"WHITE HUNTER!!!"
As Bullet outside cried Smoker's moniker excitedly, Smoker's expression turned serious before his form disappeared from the palace—leaving Uta, Shirahoshi, and Otohime along with the unconscious Yasopp and Hongo.
"Geez, I've just fought two Admirals earlier. Go easy on me." Smoker, now standing outside, said as he rolled his shoulder against Bullet who exhibited a wide grin mixed with excitement and rage.
"Kahaha! I've also been fighting for a while now, if that helps."
At the next moment, as if they promised one another, the two of them vanished simultaneously,
PAZZZZZZ!!!
before the intense black lightning zapped across the entire area as Bullet and Smoker's fists met once again.