57 Chapter 56

<Being a marine restricts my action, just as you say. Public image is of importance to the organization, and demotion at the current moment may not be favourable.>

Dragon's hand, which were bent to resemble a dragon's claw, rushed toward where my head lied. I tilted my head at the last moment to avoid it, before immediately forming the intensely swirling 'White Ball' on my palm.

<However, being a marine allows me to act in the open. With that in mind, the two of us compliment each other quite well.>

Before my White Ball crashed onto Dragon's torso, Dragon showcased the rapid movement of his hand that was about to grip onto my wrist. I, thinning out my wrist by morphing it into smoke, wavered around Dragon's grip and blasted the White Ball at his body.

BOOOM!

Dragon grinned at me. His abdomen, where the cloth was shredded apart due to my attack, was coated by the Armament Haki.

<Countless individuals are abducted to Sabaody Archipelago and are sold off to the World Nobles. They probably have a route in which they travel by, however, the higher-ups in the Marine seem to be concealing the information on purpose. I need you to undermine that for me, Dragon.>

<Such attempt may be futile in the end, Smoker. The World Nobles are... I'd say, 'addicted' to the entertainment produced by the Human Auction shop. Even if we were to deal with this matter by preventing the arrival of slave ships to the shop, they may develop another pathway to circumvent our interruption.>

Dragon lowered his body, and embedded his dragon-claw-like hand on the ground.

"Dragon's Breath."

The ground underneath us burst into pieces. Losing my footing, I quickly jumped up to the sky, just as those pieces began to swirl within the abruptly generated wind. Then, one by one, those huge chunks of ground were thrown at me. Morphing my body into smoke, I effortlessly dodged them, before placing my feet on the final chunk of the ground. Propelling myself, I flew at Dragon, who was already ready to receive my blow.

""White Blow! / Dragon's Claw!""

BOOOOOM! Two haki-imbued attacks collided, and the pressure generated from such collision knocked the spectating pirates off their feet.

<Heh, tell them to give it a try. My public actions against the slavery will earn many's attention without a doubt, and if they wish to find a way to circumvent just as you say... they too will have to work in the open. Either way, this is a chance—to reveal the corrupt nature of the World Government.>

It was initially an equal clash. However, as the struggle continued, I found myself gradually being pushed back by Dragon's attack. Then,

WHOOSH! His black-coated hand that pushed against my smoke-filled hand, suddenly developed a vibrant energy around it.

My eyes widened, 'Armament Haki Emission...!'

Haki. It is the manifestation of one's willpower, the ability possessed by those who stand on the apex of the world. For the past two years, I learnt the basic concept of haki from Garp-sensei, of how to focus my will bring out its best potential within a battle. And I truly tell you—it was far harder than the mere physical training.

Haki, it is difficult to gain a substantial improvement in this aspect through the training alone. It is the strength attained by going through the gruesome battles that invoke despair out of many. The moment Dragon brought out the 'Emission'—the advanced technique of Armament Haki—my loss was guaranteed.

BOOM! I was driven into the ruined ground, and the clash—or the show—between the two of us ended.

"Here's my gift. Ensure to use this when you contact me." As the dust covered the two of us from our spectators, Dragon whispered while placing a small, White Den Den Mushi in my justice coat, "And finally, watch out for a small fly around you."

Turning around, he began to walk away.

"...Dragon," I, with my eyes shadowed by my ruffled hair, muttered, "Say hi to Saul for me, will you?"

Dragon momentarily froze with his back facing me, before resuming his walk.

__________

"Is that all you got?" Warmog stood with a wide grin on his face, as he faced the numerous foes in front of him.

Cipher Pol agents, marines, and civilians all alike, they were huffing in exhaustion. The royal guards, though their numbers severely paled in comparison to the alliance, with Warmog's imperative strength, the battle was still ongoing after hours.

"...Damn it." Rosinante mumbled to himself as he clenched his fist. His form was filled with bruises, and he, currently sprawled on the ground, was unable to stand back up. The other marines soldiers and Cipher Pol agents were still ongoing the never-ending clashes against the royal guards.

BANG!

Robin was standing among them. She grew multiple arms around her body, and with each of them gripping on a gun, she managed to snipe numerous enemies at once in the chaotic battlefield.

Garfield, who was found sitting on the ground, said to Warmog while sweating profusely, "Huff... huff... this strength... I must admit, I am unable to match you."

"Heh, good to see that you've regained your senses." Warmog, shrugging casually, then began to sprout, "But I'm a generous man. If you give up your weapons and retreat, I'm willing to spare you."

Garfield's eyes lit up upon hearing Warmog's statement. This man seemed to be considering the enemy's offer with delight. Then,

"Rahahaha!" Aramaki, whose body was painted with blood, stood up from the lying position. Warmog expressed his annoyance upon sighting Aramaki, but stood silently.

Aramaki, grinning, then said astutely, "I remember that a year ago, when you and I fought, you used knuckles as your weapons instead. And the reason why I lost back then... was due to those knuckles containing seastones as one of its materials. So..."

Warmog's smile died down, and Aramaki asked with certainty,

"Since when did you eat a devil fruit, 'Big Force?'"

Rosinante and Garfield both widened their eyes in surprise. Warmog stood silently for a moment, before chuckling once more,

"Heh, I see that you're sharper than I expected, Mad Bull."

Warmog's form began to transform. His body began to grow, and his arms turned into legs. His nose became longer and longer, and ultimately morphed into a trunk.

"Just as you said, I'm the elephant human, having eaten the Elephant Elephant fruit! Though I no longer possess the seastone weapon due to its risk, I've acquired the strength worth the trade!"

Garfield, overwhelmed by the fact that Warmog didn't even dare to go all out, unconsciously trembled on his spot. He, with his jaw dropped, watched as Warmog raised up his trunk at them. He whimpered, "D-dear marines… let's retreat. We need to bring more to fight this man—"

"...Well, this is getting interesting," However, it was a different story for Rosinante. He, ignoring Garfield's whimper and standing back up, then raised up his hand, "Turns out that I too am a devil fruit user."

Then, just before Warmog let out the loud noise through his trunk, Rosinante snapped his fingers,

"Silent."

And... nothing happened. Literally nothing. Warmog, the one whose trunks should've produced noises so loud that everyone around was knocked off their feet, generated no sound at all.

"Well done, Rosie." And Aramaki, cracking his knuckles, grinned before jumping at the huge elephant with his fist cocked back. Around the said fist, the trees rapidly grew all of a sudden, earning awe from many who sighted this scene. Then, Aramaki shot out the wood-covered fist at Warmog,

"Pertinacious Forest!"

The punch didn't slam onto Warmog in elephant form. Instead, the trees began to spread all around the huge elephant before the latter could do anything, before each root poked through his body.

"I've been waiting for this moment, for you to use your devil fruit." Aramaki said with his eyes locked with Warmog, "You were trickier to deal with a year ago, Big Force."

Warmog seemed to be speaking something, however, Rosinante's ability rendered him completely silent.

Then, Warmog thrashed his huge body. The latched-up roots of the trees were immediately ripped and separated due to his sheer strength. However, to Warmog's surprise, the roots regrew from Aramaki and latched onto his body once again.

"Rahaha! Power isn't the solution to my devil fruit," Aramaki remarked in amusement, "If you didn't possess a skin hard enough to block my entry, you should've dodged it instead."

Then, Warmog's eyes became bloodshot as the roots, sharpening their ends, penetrated through his thick skin. And in an instant, his body shrank as the roots began to absorb fluids off of his body. The trees that lied above those roots, on Aramaki's still-outstretched fist, grew at an incredible pace, and eventually grew to a size equivalent to Warmog in elephant form. On the other hand, Warmog's body was full of wrinkles—due to dehydration.

And as Warmog's body slowly reverted back to his human form, he muttered weakly, however, no sound was produced. In one moment, the battle has took a sudden turn.

CLANG CLANG CLANG! And naturally, this comeback has boosted the marines' morals. They fought with renewed strength, and the royal guards, who saw that their leader was rendered to a miserable state, began to look to their left and right shrewdly, trying to find a way to escape from this situation.

Garfield stood back up and glared at Warmog, acting as if his previous action didn't exist.

"Yesterday, I wasn't going all out. So what if you grew stronger over a year?" Aramaki said with confidence, "I grew even more than you did. After all, I'm the forest human, rahahaha!!!"

Tap. With such statement, Aramaki's palm was placed on Warmog's now-skinny belly. Then,

"Morning Wood!"

BOOM! The huge, straight trunk of wood suddenly burst out of Aramaki's palm, blasting Warmog all the way to the castle wall at the back. And as the dust died down, Warmog was found unconscious with the blood gushing out of his open mouth, and,

"A-ah... AHHHH!!!!" The king of Lulusia, Barnon. He was found trembling on his throne.

Aramaki, without any further word, turned back. Then, he slapped his hand with Rosinante, whose face held a similar grin on his face.

Garfield, adjusting his hat, said with a forced calmness, "W-well done, Ensign Aramaki."

__________

The pirates, wary of the man named Smoker, stayed away even after the clash between him and Dragon ended up in his loss. However, among them, one man with sunglasses over his eyes and bowl-hair-cut walked forth, while putting on the gloves on his hands. He was Vergo, one of the four elite officers of the Donquixote family who went by the code name 'Corazon.'

"I've sighted the White Hunter," Vergo spoke into a Den Den Mushi attached on his wrist, "Though he faced a one-sided defeat against Rebellious Dragon, his current status remains unclear. I will now advance and confirm his death."

<Beheheh! Man~, I wish I was there to spectate! Seeing a marine die is always pretty funny to watch, you know~!"

Vergo didn't respond. Placing his wrist back down, he now stood in front of Smoker, whose eyes were covered by his messy white hair.

<Go, go go, Vergoo~!! Show your might, hooray, hooray! Ohohohohoioioi, Corazonnnn!!!>

"...Nothing personal, White Hunter." Ignoring the ongoing noise from the mini Den Den Mushi, Vergo clenched his fist, planning to smash it straight onto where Smoker's heart lied, "But you're a nuisance in Doffy's path to ascension. If anything, be remorseful of your powerlessness—"

Vergo had to stop speaking, as Smoker, who was still lying on the ground, suddenly grinned.

That was the final thing he saw, before Smoker's form vanished from his sight.

Swoosh.

And then, a clicking sound. Smoker, standing behind Vergo, was found sheathing Shushi back. Vergo's head was fully severed from his neck, and that head, along with an arm, flew up in the air. The head fell back on the ground and rolled, and the arm,

<Hello~? Vergooo? Corazonn? Is it done? Can I report to Doffy—>

was now in Smoker's hand. Smoker brought his lips closer to the wrist of the severed arm, and spoke,

"Tell your 'Doffy' that Vergo is gone, forever."