Chapter 35: Approaching the end

"This… is not how I expected this to go…"

"Hrggghh…"

Moments ago, I was in a duel to the death with Pin Joker of the Trump Siblings; a pirate whose bounty was worth at least in the ten millions, and one of the pirates we were ordered to leave to the captains.

Said pirate was currently lying in the pool of his blood, blood that was gushing out of the single and only wound I had managed to inflict on him.

The exchange was instant. Pin Joker first threw something in my face and blinded my vision with a thick smoke cloud that erupted from it. In the short moment I was distracted, he struck through the cloud with a stab aimed towards my neck.

The attack, however, was one that was extremely telegraphed so I easily dodged it before countering, mercilessly delivering an upwards cut that slashed his chest open, taking him out instantly.

It honestly felt kind of anticlimactic; considering how high his bounty was, I was kind of expecting him to at least be more than decent with his rapier.

Guess he truly was nothing but cheap tricks…

"At least he is taken care of. Now on to—"

""BALCK!""

A cacophony of screams echoed down the hallways where the cells were supposed to be, their tones of fear and horror which was the opposite of what this rescue mission was all about.

Something must have happened to Balck! Was another of the Trump Siblings here as well!?

I quickly dashed towards the source of it, Nanashi drawn and at my side, ready to strike down whoever was the cause of those screams.

What I was not expecting to see was the aftermath of a fight that I didn't think would happen.

Balck was in the similar position as Pin Joker; lying unmoving in the pool of his own blood.

And stepping over him towards the captives was his killer, Steve of all people wielding a bloody knife and slowly making his way towards the captives with a cold almost machine like expression.

Was Steve the traitor this entire time!? It was the glasses guy this whole time!? How cliche was that!?

Not only that, he even managed to kill Balck… Balck, one of East Traders's strongest fighters; and he took him out so quickly…

Who exactly were we facing here…!?

"Nami, take care of Sanji!"

"Wha—Luffy, wait!"

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

Luffy's arm stretched and his fist slammed into Steve, the traitor bracing and taking the attack to his gut, and not even flinching from it; an incredible feat considering Luffy's superhuman strength, which just further adds to the mystery of his real identity.

But that was not all he did, as before Luffy could pull back his hand, Steve grabbed onto his elongated arm and tugged, pulling the pirate off his feet and towards him, where he was preparing to stab him with his knife.

"I won't let you!"

"Grgk…!?"

Before he could do so, I quickly rushed forward and swung Nanashi at him. He quickly turned around and blocked my attack with his knife, which opened him up for Luffy to strike him with a flying lariat to his face.

The attack, however, did as little to him as the punch before; his expression remained still as cold and robotic as ever to an almost unnerving degree, even with his glasses bent and broke from the strike.

It was like he wasn't human at all.

"Steve, why did you betray us!? Dva trusted you, dammit!"

"Rein, that's not me! That's someone disguised as me!"

"Huh!?"

I glanced over Luffy to see a more injured Steve leaning against Dva, something that only made things even more confusing.

So, the Steve we were talking to this whole time was an imposter!? Someone who had the technique and equipment needed to pretty much change his appearance!?

I swear, this shit just keep getting weirder by the minute–

"Hmph!"

"Whoa!"

Then, with a twist of his knife, he parried my sword aside before spinning around and throwing Luffy into me, knocking both of us to the ground with the Straw Hat pirate captain bouncing off me like the rubber ball that he was.

I quickly got back onto my feet, as the imposter threw away his glasses before they blurred and appeared in front of me in an instance; his knife stabbing forward which I quickly blocked using my scale-covered forearm.

My questions should wait till after he was taken care of; preferable if he was knocked out so we could get some answers from him.

"Gum-Gum Bullet!"

Luffy ran out from behind me with his arm stretched out behind him, which quickly snapped back when he got in front of the imposter and sent his fist at him.

However, in a show of both skill and inhuman reaction time, he was able to dodge the attack, threw his knife to his other hand, and sliced the wrist of said fist with it, all in one movement.

"Grgk!"

As Luffy pulled back his arm from the sudden wound he received, the imposter took the moment of vulnerability to stab his knife towards the rubber pirate's neck.

I immediately intercepted, getting in front of him and grabbing the knife by its blade, before swinging Nanashi right at his neck; the imposter raising his arm and blocking the blade with it, the edge hitting his skin like it was hitting a metal pipe.

That technique was…! Not to mention the way he closed the distance…! He couldn't be one of them, could it…!?

Before the imposter could react, I tightened my grip on his weapon as I quickly wrapped my tail around his waist as tightly as I could, keeping him from getting away or closing in on me.

"Dva! Get everyone out, NOW!"

"R-Rein!? What about you!?"

"Don't worry about me! Just go!"

"B-But…!"

If my guess about him was right, I couldn't afford to let him go; the moment I do, this entire plan was shot and the East Traders would fall.

I need to hold him here, as long as I am able to!

"Dva, Rein is right." Steve told her, "You saw what happened to Balck; we need to get away when we still can."

"Steve…" Dva gritted her teeth before turning around, "You better survive, Rein! Or I'll seriously gonna be mad furious!"

"You got it…!"

"Gum-Gum–!"

"Luffy, no! Go with them!" I shouted at the rubber pirate, stopping him from sending out another punch.

No matter how strong Luffy was right now, he had no chance against someone like this at this moment, not without experiencing the Grand Line's harshness and getting stronger from it.

And if he was to get killed here, there was no telling what kind of ripple effect it would have on this world's future.

"Huh!? What are you saying!? I'm going to beat him up–"

"I'm not losing anyone else, damn it!"

"Nrk!"

My outburst immediately got him to shut up, my eyes met his as his expression shifted from conflicted to understanding in a short moment.

No matter how dumb Luffy was, he wasn't a complete idiot; so he should have realized how outclassed he was right now.

"Luffy, come on!" Nami shouted, "We need to get out of here!"

"…Alright." Luffy nodded before running to join the hostages as they ran off as fast as they could.

Surprisingly, the imposter made no movement to escape out of my hold; which made me worry over what he had planned for me.

Then, he looked at me straight in my eyes, his eyes devoid of any emotions that did not fit Steve's face at all, "You know who I am, don't you?"

"…You're an agent of Cipher Pol, aren't you?"

Cipher Pol, the World Government's secret police; an agency that dealt with all sorts of covert work from espionage to assassination, all for the purpose of 'keeping order'.

Their agents were trained to wield the Six Powers, a martial art that turned the user into a living weapon of death; one such technique was the Iron Body, that turned the body as hard as iron to weather any attack, which would explain why he was able to tank Luffy's attacks.

There was also how he was able to move so fast like he was teleporting, which was clearly the Shave technique; along with all of his attacks that were being aimed to kill, it all pointed at being of a more darker profession.

In other words, this whole fiasco was the work of the World Government; a fact that got me worried for all sorts of reasons.

The only reason Cipher Pol would get involved in anything, was if there was a possible threat to the World Government's order that needed to be 'neutralized' early; the best example was Ohara's research into the Void Century that got the entire island nuked.

In other words, the East Traders was currently seen as a possible threat to the World Government.

And if that was the case, then there was a high chance that even if we took back Temasek, they would just find another way to do it again.

"…Tch, how are a bunch of merchants in the East Blue so perceptive…?" The agent growled, "Then it looks like I have no other choice."

Before I could react, the agent let go of his knife before jabbing his finger towards me like a bullet.

I quickly twisted my body and barely managed to dodge the attack, but the movement had made me loosen up my tail's grip on his waist which allowed him to leap out.

In the air, he twisted his hips and swung his leg at me, a blade of wind flew out from it towards me which I quickly backstepped to avoid; the attack slicing cleanly into the stone floors.

Tempest Kick, Finger Pistol, Shave, and Iron Body; more than half of all the Six Powers, which meant he had to be quite high up in the agency's ranking.

That was not good for me, someone who had only trained for two years in swordsmanship and was no way on par to someone like Zoro.

There was no doubt that I would very likely die at his hands.

But regardless, I had to fight, to stall him as long as I could; in order to keep him from going after Dva and the others, to keep the East Traders from losing this fight.

This must be how Luffy felt when he faced off against Rob Lucci.

My grip on Nanashi tightened as I braced myself for the longest few minutes of my life.

""Grgk!""

Fists struck the cheeks of both Scott and Morgan, their cross-counter knocking both of their respective heads back upon impact.

Both their upper bodies were covered in bruises from the countless strikes they had each struck each other with, with Scott also having shallow cuts from the times he barely avoided the former marine's axe arm.

Yet among the two, Scott was the one still standing strong, while Morgan was the one panting and gasping from exhaustion.

It was starting to become very clear that Scott was more durable and much stronger than anyone Morgan had faced in his entire career outside of Luffy and Zoro, and it was starting to mess with Morgan's ego.

'Shit, how is the captain of a merchant ship so tough!?'

When Morgan first rose to the rank of lieutenant from his capture of the pirate captain Kuro, he had faced quite a lot of scrutiny from his fellow marine soldiers for it, to the point that they would verbally and physically harass him every day for it.

In response to that, he worked harder than ever before; training and strengthening his body to build up muscle mass, gaining achievements after achievements, and capturing or killing all criminals that entered his patrol route.

Within the span of a couple of years, he rose to the rank of captain and shut his harassers up, metaphorically and literally smashing their faces in when he found the opportunity to do so.

As such, he was extremely proud of the muscles he had gained and used to take down anyone that dared challenge him in a brawl.

And yet, here was someone that could not only take his blows, he could also dish them back out just as hard if not harder; and it rubbed him in the absolutely wrong way.

"I am fucking Axe-Hand Morgan, damn it!"

With a loud rage-filled roar, Morgan raise his axe arm up high in preparation to swing it down and split the portly man in half in the process.

But all that managed to do was open him up to get punched in the liver from Scott, knuckles digging into flesh and causing an immeasurable amount of pain to the former marine.

As his knees buckled from the intense pain, Scott quickly followed it up by a hook punch that struck Morgan's temple hard; the former marine's eyes dulled for a moment as he blacked out for a moment before the groggy feeling of a concussion kicked in.

With his head spinning, the former marine could do nothing as arms as large as his wrapped around his arms and waist and lifted him off the ground with a great heave.

"Well, I'm Scott, captain of the Thrud."

Then without an ounce of hesitation, Scott fell forwards and brought Morgan down with him in a body slam, slamming the former marine into the ground and knocking the back of his head onto hard concrete floor.

That last attack was too much head trauma Morgan could handle and his eyes rolled up as his head tilted limply to the side unmoving, leaving Scott the clear victory of the fight as he loudly declared for his men to hear.

"Axe-Hand Morgan has been defeated!"

It didn't take long for the result his victory to take effect; the pirates almost all dropped their arms and surrendered to his men, while several of them quickly fled the battle in a desperate attempt to escape.

Of course, those deserters were quickly rounded up before they could get far, allowing Scott's men to easily take back the port.

"Hah… that bastard can really hit hard…" Scott groaned as he nursed his wounds.

"Not as hard as you can." Seline walked up to him and handed him the first aid kit, "Great job taking him down; it really changed the tide of the battle."

"What about you? Did you take down that Orca Killer?"

"Unfortunately, no. The moment you defeated Morgan, he just turned tail and ran; I currently have my men searching for him, but nothing so far."

The portly captain grimaced at the news; if they missed capturing even one of the pirate captains, there was a high chance they could get blindsided by him when they least expected.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about him." Seline told him, "When I fought him, his skills with that sword of his is third rate at best. He is of no real threat."

"So all those rumors about him killing an orca with a single sword slash…"

"Most likely fabricated. Overly exaggerated either by him or his crew."

In this Age of Piracy, it was common for pirates to spread false information about their exploits to elevate their infamy in attempt to make themselves appear like a bigger deal then they really were. Of course, they were quickly ousted when confronted by marines or by pirates of genuine renown.

It would appear that Orca Killer Billy was one such pirate.

"Guess we were overly cautious about him after all…" Scott noted, "But at least we have two of the major players down now."

"Yeah, but I sure hope the others are having a better time with theirs." Seline stated, "Especially with Flaun."

"Oh, I pity the one that has to deal with her."

Eldoraggo was beginning to regret having entered the East Blue Pirate Alliance; the amount of gold Tentol had promised him for joining up was not enough for him to deal with the woman in front of him.

"Oh, you aren't getting away~"

"Hyek!"

The gold adorned pirate ducked and allowed the spinning hatchet to fly over his and embedded itself on the wooden wall behind him harmlessly, but not without chopping out a few strands of his red mane in the process.

Flaun came running up and swinging the other one at Eldoraggo's throat, the pirate quickly leaped away to dodge the attack; the big smile on her face sending unwanted shivers up his spine.

"D-Damn you, bitch!"

In a frenzied panic, he let out a loud roar and fired out a blast of sound at her. She quickly jumped out of the way of the blast as it tore up the ground next to her, before running up to him and swinging her hatchet at his side.

Eldoraggo parried away her attack with his sharp nails before clawing down on her, Flaun jumping back to avoid the strike; the pirate then took advantage of the opening and began stabbing his hands at her in rapid succession.

Flaun weaved her body around the rush of stabs, using the flat side of her hatchet to block the ones she wasn't able to avoid as she was pushed back by the larger pirate.

Though from the relaxed smile on her face, it was clear that she was not at all pressured by the attack at all.

'W-Why is she smiling like that!? How is she unfazed at all!? Shit, shit! I need to kill her, right now!'

So when her back touched a wall, the large pirate immediately stepped forward and towered over her, making sure to corner her with no way for her to escape.

"Now die!"

Eldoraggo stabbed down right at the female captain, aiming to pierce her body and end her life right then and there.

But that did not happen; instead, Flaun shifted her body to the side and let the attack whiff past her and pierce into the wall.

And in that short moment in which his arm was still stretched out, she swung her hatchet down and severed his hand from his arm with one clean strike.

"GGRRAHHH!?"

A cry echoed out from Eldoraggo as he clutched his stump of an arm in pain, blood gushing out of the wound by the liters.

Flaun followed up on that as she swung her hatchet down on his thigh; thick blade smashed right through the golden armor and embedded itself deep into his flesh, causing him to cry out in sheer pain and drop to his knee.

Then, as the pirate stared at her with eyes filled with terror and fear, Flaun swung hard and cleaved into flesh.

Eldoraggo could only let out a short gasp before the thick blade of her hatchet reached the bone and severed his spine along with his head; his face forever frozen in an expression of sheer horror as his head rolled while his body collapsed limply to the side.

"NO!"

Golasses could only scream as he pushed away Simon before running towards Flaun with his massive sword in tow.

He wasn't able to take more than a couple of steps before being forced to turn around and block a machete swinging down at him; Simon pressing in close against the mercenary's sword and was pushing back him despite the size difference.

"Showing your back on your opponent? You are overestimating yourself too much, Molasses."

"Grgk…!"

Their blades struck each other, the sounds of metal smashing into metal ringing loudly across the battlefield as they took swings at each other, each strike fully intent to bisect the other with theirs.

And with each strike, Simon got even closer into his range of close quarters, which Molasses was in a disadvantage due to his massive size and choice of weapon.

So, when Simon swung down particularly hard at him, Molasses parrying away said attack before he moved away in order to create some distance between them so he could better utilise his greatsword better.

He was unable to do so as Simon quickly closed up any distance he was able to achieve and forced Molasses into close quarters combat with him; the mercenary having no choice but to focus on blocking his strikes and wait for another opportunity.

But that opportunity would never arrive for the mercenary.

*CRACK*

With a particularly heavy swing, Simon smashed his machete into Molasses's greatsword, breaking the massive blade upon impact and leaving the mercenary with the shattered stump of his weapon.

While left stunned by the sudden destruction of his weapon, Molasses wasn't able to react to Simon swinging his machete down onto the mercenary's collarbone, cutting through flesh and into bone.

He then pulled, his blade slicing down the shoulder and across his torso before exiting out from the hip; blood immediately spurting out from the wound in a grotesque spray of crimson.

Molasses dropped to his knees with a loud thump, his grip on his sword loosening as he stared blankly at Simon; a few droplets of blood had landed on his blazer, but his face remained as stone-cold as ever.

Then, much to the mercenary's shock, he stepped forward and walked past him, shouting out commands to his men and disregarding his current state.

"Round them all up! Do not let any of the pirates escape!"

"S-Sir, yes sir!"

It was like their fight was already over, like he was simply a lowly thug that was not not worth killing.

That indifference enraged him beyond all measure; while he had left the path of the sword to pursue monetary gains, he still had great pride in his sword skills and as a swordsman.

To be dismissed so easily like this, it hurt more than any wound ever could.

"RAAAHHH!"

"Captain Simon!"

With a loud roar, Molasses leaped back onto his feet, charged at the captain and swung his broken sword down on Simon with all the strength he had left, a desperate last ditch attempt to take the ship captain down with him.

But it was for naught for the broken sword was easily knocked out of the mercenary's hand, before a machete slashed opened his throat; Molasses fell to his knees while choking on his own blood before finally collapsing to the ground, death taking him mere moments later.

And like always, Simon didn't even flinch.

Bear King was known to have suffer no wounds through his entire pirate career; his Devil Fruit that renders his skin as hard as iron made sure of that.

No matter what struck his body, be it blades or bullets or even iron clubs, none of them could ever hope to leave a mark.

And yet despite all that was said…

"Grgk!?"

"No way… Captain King… got cut!?"

The large pirate could only stare in disbelief at the blood staining the collar of his coat where the sword had slashed into; and it wasn't just a simple cut either, the blade had broken through the skin and into his flesh.

No one, marine and bounty hunter alike, had ever gotten through his Devil Fruit's ability.

And yet this man, a middle-aged no-name, had managed to do just that, and with just a simple sword.

"This… this is impossible!"

King let out a roar as he swung his hard fists at the ship captain, Draconis avoiding and parrying away the wild strikes like a true seasoned master.

Then, as if to prove that it wasn't a fluke, he swung his sword and slashed King's forearm, once again drawing blood from the strike.

"H-How…? How are you cutting me!?" King demanded.

"A skilled swordsman can cut through even the toughest of armor." Draconis told him.

He then went on the offensive, blade flashing through the air as he slashed repeatedly at the pirate, drawing blood with each swing of his sword.

It became very clear that King had lost his only advantage, with his large stature now being a huge detriment as he struggled to avoid the strikes while desperately trying to protect his vitals from the sword's path.

'Shit…! Skill, my ass…! This has to be due to that sword…! No wonder it could withstand my attack…! In that case…!"

He quickly stepped back to make some distance between them, which was quickly closed via Draconis dashing forward after him with his sword ready to swing down on him.

But in that short moment, King had prepared his special technique; his fist radiated heat as it flowed a bright red, which he then swung right at the old captain.

"Hot Boiling Special!"

"Grgk!"

The red-hot appendage slammed into Draconis; he barely managed to guard against it with his sword as he was sent flying back upon impact.

But the heat from it was causing the blade to bend inwards, rendering his weapon unusable and effectively disarming him.

"Hah! Without that sword, you can't hurt me!"

King rushed at Draconis, fully confident that the old captain could no longer hurt him. But that proved to be a miscalculation as the pirate was grabbed by the arm before being thrown over his shoulder onto the ground.

Draconis then raised his hand up and shouted to his men, "Sword!"

On command, his crewmate threw him a saber which he easily grabbed out of the air and unsheathed in an instant. And when King got back onto his feet, he struck, swinging his sword and slashing into his torso.

And once again, the blade drew blood from the pirate's hard skin.

"W-What!?"

"Like I said, a skilled swordsman can cut through the toughest of armor."

Unlike the sword he had previously, the saber he was currently wielding was picked up from one of the many dead pirates lying about, meaning it was an average one that could be bought in any weapon shop.

The fact that he used such a mediocre weapon to cut him made it very clear to King that it wasn't the sword that allowed the old captain to hurt him; it was his genuine skill with the blade.

"A-Are you fucking kidding me!?" With a bellow, the pirate raised his fist, its skin turning bright red hot before he swung down at Draconis.

Instead of blocking like he did moments prior, Draconis instead moved out of the way of the attack and stabbed at him, the blade tip piercing deep into his thigh as King cried out in pain before dropping to his knee.

Draconis then walked up to him and placed the saber's blade up to his neck, the sharp edge resting on his throat and threatening to slice into it.

"B-Bear King is…!"

"The captain was… defeated…!?"

The sight of their untouchable captain on his knee and held at blade point was enough to make the Trump Pirates quickly lose their vigor, while the East Traders's morale couldn't be any higher.

In minutes, many pirates were taken out and rounded up, even those that attempted to escape the battle were quickly chased down and captured; it was a complete wipe out for the Trump Pirates.

"Surrender, Bear King. This battle is over."

Normally, when being forced to surrender, most pirates captains would often be swearing up a storm at the victor. But far from cursing at him, Bear King was actually smirking at the old captain.

"Over? Ha, just because you defeat me doesn't mean this battle is over!"

"Hey, what are you—hrgk!"

"Captain Draconis!"

Before Draconis could react, the pirate captain grabbed onto him by the neck; his men ran up to try to free their captain, but their weapons couldn't put nay a scratch on him.

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a Den Den Mushi, before shouting into it, "Fire the King Cannon!"

"T-The King Cannon…!?"

"Captain, please reconsider! We're still on the island!"

The sight of the surviving pirates all panicking at the mention of that weapon was enough to ring warning bells, and it rang even louder when Bear King just laughed.

"Bear King! What have you done!?" Draconis shouted, "What's the King Cannon!?"

"Hahaha! My super weapon that could obliterate islands!" Bear King boasted with a laugh, "It is only a prototype, but it should be powerful enough to wipe out this port and you with it!"

"What!? Are you crazy!? You're destroy your men as well!"

"Like I give a damn! It's not like it could hurt me!"

It became very clear that Bear King only cared about defeating Draconis, that he was extremely confident that he would be the only one to survive the attack from that weapon of his; though that confidence wasn't unfounded considering his Devil Fruit.

Draconis could not let that attack pass, especially with the other hostages that were still unaccounted for—

"Captain! We have a problem!"

A cacophony of panicked voices sounded out from the Den Den Mushi, with one being particularly clear among them; and the words after caused the pirate captain smirk to disappear instantly.

"The King Cannon is unable to fire!"

"Unable to fire!? What does that mean!?"

"Sir! The cannon is—GWAHH!"

Gin slammed his weighted tonfa into the side of the pirate talking into the Den Den Mushi, sending him crashing face-first into the special cannon that he had wrecked just moments prior.

Meanwhile, Zoro was currently going through hordes of the pirates like a bull in a china shop, his borrowed blades slashing into their bodies like he was slicing up steak.

'To think there was such a weapon out here of all places… It's a good thing we found it when we did…'

They had been staying at the far outskirts of Temasek, taking care not to get spotted by the pirate ships guarding the perimeters; for a caravel like theirs, it would take only a single shot of a cannon to sink them.

About half an hour after the battle for Temasek started, Usopp took notice of another ship sailing on the outskirts as well, one that flew the jolly roger of the Trump Pirates.

On it was a unique artillery the likes they had never seen before; a cannon shaped like a screw fitted on a mechanical-looking base on wheels with a feed ramp that loads it with drill shaped cannonballs.

Which was also slowly being aimed towards them.

They barely managed to gather their wits together and quickly steer away the Going Merry just as the special cannonball smashing into the waters next to them as.

And it was a good thing they did, as the impact of it caused the sea to erupt in an explosion of salt water larger than any normal cannon could hoped to accomplish, with the aftershock generating waves that threatened to overturn the small pirate caravel.

It was a weapon with destructive power unlike any they had seen before, possibly matching up with the likes of the Buggy Pirates's Buggy Balls.

So when Usopp told them that the same weapon was turning towards Temasek, Zoro knew that they had to stop it from firing again.

Thankfully, their small vessel meant that their mobility was a lot faster, allowing them to avoid the cannon fire from their regular artillery as they made their way close to the vessel for Zoro and Gin to hop on board.

Leaping off the Going Merry's mast onto the deck, the two went straight for the weapon, fighting off the pirates that attempted to stop them from reaching it.

It didn't take long for Zoro to clear a path for Gin and for him to charge in and slammed his tonfas into its firing mechanism ; several more swings were enough to damage it enough that it would not function.

"Roronoa, I'm done here!"

"Alright, let's get out of here. Usopp! We need some cover!"

But as they were about to make a dash for it, a syrup-like fluid showered down from above them and engulfed them in an orb filled with it, the two of them gagging from the sudden lack of air while Zoro swung his sword around to no avail.

From the top of the orb of fluid rose a female figure, her face and parts of an upper body took on solid form, revealing a naked blonde buxom with full red lips that quirked up in a cocky grin.

She was Honey Queen, one of the Trump Siblings that Rein had warned them about the day prior.

"Oh, you hotties aren't leaving." She told them, "Not after destroying Bear King's precious King Cannon."

"Zoro! Gin! Special Attack—"

"No you don't, gas!"

"What the hell!?"

Before the long nose sniper could fire off a pellet, a big nose man in a fur-covered attire with matching helmet and goggles came rocketing down towards him from above, a trail of foul smelling gas shooting out of his behind like a rocket.

He was Skunk One, one of the Trump Siblings that Rein had warned them to be wary about.

The sheer bizarreness of his appearance gave Usopp pause to try and make sense of what he was looking at, which allowed the strange man to release a plume of the foul gas at him.

In response, Usopp quickly and rather clumsily got out of the crow's nest before the gas could touch him, falling onto the deck in his mad hurry to climb down the ropes.

"You will not get away with this, gas!" Skunk One shouted as he floated above the sniper, "No one mess with the Trump Pirates, gas!"

"What is that foul smell…!?" Usopp groaned as he pinched his nostrils in disgust, "Is that your fart!? Are you flying with your farts!?"

"How rude, gas! To compare my special gas to the likes of farts, gas!"

"Then why does it smell like one!? And why is it coming out of your ass!?"

"That's from the methane, gas!"

Having enough of the insults, Skunk unloaded another stream of gas at Usopp, the sniper covered his mouth and nose in disgust before taking off running.

He couldn't get far as the pirate rocketed towards him and swung his fist into the sniper's face, sending him flying into the mast. That was quickly followed up by another one that he narrowly avoided by ducking under it.

Usopp quickly got back up on his feet and took off running, his hands rummaging through his bag for ammunition as Skunk closed in from behind him with a trail of foul gas behind him.

"You won't get away from me, gas—!"

"Egg Star!"

"Bwuah!?"

An egg was fired from his slingshot and cracked into Skunk's face, spilling its foul contents that made the pirate gag from the smell and lose control over his propulsion, causing him to fly face-first into the railing.

Skunk One wiped the rotten yolk off his goggles, gritting his teeth in annoyance, "Why you little…!"

"Explosion Star!"

"Gas!?"

But before he could make a move, a pellet flew into him that bursted into an explosion upon impact; but it did little more than irritate him even further as he glared at Usopp from behind his goggles.

"That's it, gas…! You are fucking dead, gas!"

A burst of gas sent the pirate rocketing right at Usopp, slamming his helmet wearing head into the sniper's gut and forcing the air out of him while sending him crashing into the Going Merry's bow.

Coughing and gasping from the sudden lack of air, Usopp struggled to get back up when Skunk flew up above him and aimed his behind right at him.

"Taste the full might of my special gas! Gas!"

Usopp looked on in horror as a massive wave of gas started to erupt forth from the nozzle like a water hose, his mind racing as he desperately think of a way to get out of this mess.

He then recalled their spat in the beginning, the name of a certain flammable gas.

"Special Attack: Fire Star!"

His hands were like the wind as he grabbed the special ammunition, load it into his slingshot, and fired it right at the erupting nozzle; the pellet burst into the flames upon impact and ignite the extremely flammable gas.

"GASHHHU!?"

It took half a second for the flames to crawl into the nozzle, and another half second for the pack and Skunk One to erupt in a massive explosion, knocking the pirate out of the sky and falling into the sea below.

With the threat defeated, Usopp collapsed against the bow with a heavy sigh, his heart pounding in his chest from the near death experience as what he just did finally kicked in.

He had done it, he had defeated a million bounty pirate all on his own.

"I am the great pirate Usopp!" He cheered, "A brave warrior of the sea, dammit!"

Honey Queen's face paled when she saw her brother getting blown up in the air, her only protector aside from her grunts.

Despite her Devil Fruit being that of a Logia, she was the most cowardly of her siblings and lacked any form of combat abilities; trapping others in the fluid was probably the most offensive thing she could do outside of firing it like a water hose.

"Damn that Skunk One; to get taken out by some loser like that… No, as long as these two are trapped, we will be fine."

Unknown to her, she had jinxed herself to suffer the same fate as her brother.

"Three-Sword Style; Dragon Twister!"

"W-Wha—!?"

With his feet steady on Gin's tonfas, Zoro twisted his body and swung with all his swords, generating a maelstrom from within the fluid orb that burst it open.

Gin fell to the ground coughing and gasping for air, while Zoro landed on his feet if a bit shakily; he then turned towards Honey, the pirate lady was forced to returned into her naked human form after her confinement was broken.

As a Logia, she was naturally immune to all physical attacks on her body and thus she should have no need to fear their attacks on her.

And yet, as the pirate hunter slowly approached her with swords ready to slice her up, as impossible as that would be, all she could feel was fear.

So, like the coward that she was, she did the one thing she felt was right; she ran away.

"Fuck this! I'm out!"

Shifting into her fluid state, Honey Queen took off like a snake and dove into an open pipe that led down into the ship, where it was unlikely that she would return anytime soon.

The sudden desertion gave everyone pause, the pirates completely shocked at one of their executives' cowardly actions while Gin and Zoro were bewildered by their opponent running away like that.

Deciding not to think about it any further, the two turned their attention to the remaining pirate grunts on the deck, weapons ready to strike them down–

""We surrender!""

–Only for them to just as quickly dropped their weapons and raised their arms up in submission to them.

"…I think we just won."

"Yeah… I think we did."

"Dammit!" Bear King screamed as he threw the snail to the ground, "My King Cannon, destroyed…!? That's impossible!?"

"I take it that your last resort has just been rendered moot?" Draconis chuckled.

"Grr…!"

The large pirate squeezed his hand tightly, choking the elderly captain as he struggled to break free from his grasping.

"No matter… At the very least, I'm going to make sure you're dead first…!"

"Captain Draconis!"

The men of Signoria could only watch helplessly as their captain was getting choked to death in front of them; a few desperately kept firing their pistols to little effect.

And when all hope was thought to be lost, Draconis proved once more why he was one of the East Traders's strongest combatants.

"Hrmph!"

"GRAAH!"

With a swift thrust upwards, he pierced his saber right through the pirate captain's wrist, forcing him to release him as he let out a pained scream.

Draconis was forced to let go his embedded weapon as he dropped onto the floor gasping for air; he glanced about the battlefield before quickly dodging Bear King's fist swinging down on him.

He grabbed two abandoned sabers on the ground and faced the pirate captain, the large man yelling as he charged right at him with a red-hot fist.

"I didn't think I'll be using these again…"

After taking a long deep breath, Draconis lunged forward towards him with the two sabers at his side.

His arms were a blur as they swung at speeds that were thought to be impossible, and countless deep cuts spread throughout Bear King's body within moments.

The large pirate let out a pained cry before finally collapsing onto the ground unmoving, finally defeated.

"B-Bear King is down!"

"Captain Draconis won!"

His men cheered for his victory as the elderly captain let out a loud sigh, his borrowed weapons dropping to the floor as he felt the soreness spread through his arms; he wouldn't be able to hold anything heavier than a pen for at least a couple of days.

He was once again made extremely clear that he was truly getting up there in age, that he wasn't the same man that had mastered the twin sabers decades ago.

'But at the very least, we taken down two of the Trump Siblings… this battle will be reaching its end soon…'

"Help! We need help!"

A cry drew his attention, as a group of injured men and women came running out from the port towards them; the remaining hostages being led by Silvia and Dva with their hired help taking up the rear.

Bronz was the first to react, running down the ship and towards his daughter in a panic as the others quickly escorted the hostages onto the ship.

"Dva!? What are you doing here!?" He cried out, "Are you–!?"

"Now's not the time, dad!" Dva cried out, "Rein is going to die!"

"Huh!? What's going on!?"

"It's the traitor." Steve limped up to him, "He was disguised as me and ambushed them in the prison; he already took out Balck, and Rein is busy holding him back; but I'm not sure how long she will last…"

"Balck is killed!?"

That sent shockwaves of panic and fear over everyone at the docks; if the assailant was skilled enough to take out Draconis's right hand man, Rein was very likely to be killed as well.

And once she was dead, there was also a good chance he would be going after them afterwards.

Draconis was the first to react as he gave the commands, "Get the everyone on the ship, now! Prepare to depart!"

"No! W-Wait!" Dva cried out, "What about Rein!? We have to go back and save her!"

"If that man was able to kill Balck, then Rein has no chance of defeating him; and she knows it. We can't let the time she bought for us go to waste. Board the Signoria, now!"

"B-But we can't just–!"

"Dva." Bronz placed his hand on her shoulder, "Rein would want you to use the time she gave you to escape."

"Dad…" Dva gritted her teeth, "I know that, but… to just leave her to die…"

"…Wait." Nami glanced around before paling, "Where's Luffy?"

Those words caused everyone to look around, not seeing the straw-hat wearing pirate anywhere; which immediately got her into a panic over her lost captain.

Unknown to everyone, another had also left undetected, one that would end this battle for good.

The Cipher Pol agent leaped off a wall with a Shave and slammed his fist into my scale-covered forearm, the force behind it sending me crashing into the wall hard and causing me to drop my guard from the impact.

With me opened up, he immediately followed it up by a Finger Pistol aimed at my head; I barely managed to tilt my head to avoid the attack as it grazed my cheek, adding another cut onto many others.

Seizing the opening to strike, I swung Nanashi at his exposed torso, which he easily avoided with a Shave backwards before countering it with a Tempest Kick, sending a blade of wind flying at me.

I blocked the sharpened wind with great difficulty before barely parrying it away, with traces of it cutting into my thigh and drawing blood.

"This is… unprecedented. You shouldn't have survived this long."

This losing battle with the agent had gone on for several minutes now, but it felt like hours with how difficult it had been to even avoid his attacks.

With his Shave, he was way faster than anyone I had to fight against; the enclosed corridor making it even harder when he made use of the walls to make insane three-dimensional moves that kept me guessing.

It also didn't help that at some point, the bastard's attacks had managed to penetrate through my scales, completely negating my only protection against his Six Powers and adding more to my increasing injuries.

My clothes weren't fairing well against him either; my jacket was barely holding itself together at this point from the countless holes and tears, while my top and pants had many tears on the sides that were stained in blood.

At this rate, with the wounds adding up and my increasing exhaustion, it would only be a matter of time before the assassin would wear me down and finish me off.

Even so, I had to hold on as long as I could, to buy everyone enough time to get as far away from Temasek as possible; no matter how skilled he was, it would still be difficult for him to cross the seas, even if he could use Moon Walk.

With those thoughts running through my mind, I raised Nanashi towards him and got ready to resume our fight.

"Heh, what can I say? Being hard to take down is one of my best traits."

"…I miscalculated; you are way tougher than the reports claimed." The agent noted as he picked his knife up from the floor, "In that case…"

Said knife was then suddenly sent flying at me, I swung Nanashi in response to the surprise attack and knocked the projectile away. In the instant I did so, he closed in with a Shave and slammed his fist into me.

Bones broke under his knuckles as I felt my chest contract and cave in on itself upon impact, before the force behind the strike kicked in and I was sent crashing into the wall hard.

My eyes watered as I gasped for air, my insides burning with an intense pain I had never felt before as my grip on Nanashi nearly loosen from trying to keep myself from passing out.

That one strike hits way harder than any of his previous ones, it felt more like a hammer hitting you than a fist.

Was this his actual skill? Had he been holding back this whole time?

I could barely react when he once again closed in on me with another Shave, diving out of the way of another of his punches that broke through the wall upon impact.

"Tail Spike!"

Taking advantage of the opening, I countered with a stab aimed straight for his neck, only for his body to sway like a leaf in the wind and avoid the strike, before immediately countering by swinging his fist into the blade.

It shattered upon impact, sending shards of the metal flying and leaving me to gawk in shock at the broken sword in my hand, one that had barely half of its blade remaining.

"Nanashi…!"

Nanashi had been my trusted weapon for the past two years, my companion in combat that had never failed to hold its own against hundreds of battles.

And he had shattered it like it was nothing.

"Grgk!"

My shock instantly disappeared and was replaced with the overwhelming taste of iron, my eyes wandering down to see the agent's hand halfway inside my chest.

The pain kicked in a second later as I spat out the blood that was rapidly filling my mouth, my lungs practically burning from the fatal wound it had just received.

This was it; my end was upon me now.

Two years of training under Sen, two years of working under Silvia, two years of fights against marauding pirates, all of that only to meet my end by a Cipher Pol agent.

I had made my peace with this, of using my life to hold back someone way above my skill level as long as I was able; and I had already died once before, so a second time wasn't that scary.

At least, I thought I had made peace with it.

Yet now, as I looked at the unchanging mechanical expression of the Cipher Pol agent, all I could feel was frustration.

Frustrated that after all that had transpired in my time here, this was how I die; not be choice but by duty.

Frustrated that I couldn't leave a single mark on the agent, that all my training had only amounted to this.

Frustrated that despite a second chance in life, I did not grow past what I was before and remained locked behind a repeating schedule.

Frustrated that deep down, I still had something I wanted to do, something I wanted to find out.

That I still want to keep on living.

So, as the agent was pulling his hand out of me, I grabbed onto it as tightly as possible to the point my sharp nails pierced into his skin.

And, as he was stunned at my actions and left himself open, I stabbed the broken Nanashi into the one place I knew Iron Body could not protect.

For no amount of conditioning could strengthen one's eyeballs.

"GRAHH!"

For the first time since he made himself known, the Cipher Pol agent screamed in pain as the broken blade pierced deep into his left eye, blood pouring out by the litres from the eye socket.

He then slammed his foot into my gut and sent me crashing onto the ground with a kick, dislodging my sword from his eye and his hand from my chest.

With shaking legs, I got back up on my feet; broken and bloodied Nanashi pointing straight at the agent.

I had decided; I was not going to die here! I was going to live!

Then, I was going to the Grand Line with the Straw Hats!

"Grgk…! This… can't be…!"

His mechanical expression twisted into a scowl as he glared at me with gritted teeth in a mix of anger and humiliation.

A moment later, he swung his leg and sent a blade of wind towards me which I barely managed to dive to the side to avoid.

Then, his foot broke the ground as he blurred forward with Shave and his fist came flying towards me like a cannonball, which I barely managed to duck under as he smashed the wall with it.

I quickly got up and get some distance away from him as I readied my counterattack.

After seeing it the third time, I was positive that attack of his was basically a Shave propelled fist, so it could only come in a straight line; so even if it was impossibly fast, the way to counter it was clear.

So, when he turned towards me and blurred with Shave once more, I focused extremely hard on his fist as I tried to see the flow of his attack.

And when I barely managed to see the path of his fist, I immediately raised the broken Nanashi in front of me.

"Ramming Horns."

Broken blade scrapped against his fist as I shifted its trajectory barely so that it grazed my side instead of striking my ribs, before countering with a slash that left a shallow in his chest.

It was a shallow wound, but it was–

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

A fist suddenly stretched past my head, catching the agent by surprise as it slammed into his face hard, knocking him out of his Shave and onto the ground.

The rubber limb snapped back as Luffy came running in front of and raised his fists with gritted teeth, "How do you like that!?"

"L-Luffy!? What are you doing back here!?"

"To beat the crap out of him, of course!"

"Are you crazy!? That's impossible! He's too strong!"

"So what!? I'm still beating the crap out of him!"

"He'll kill you!"

"No, he won't! I'm too strong!"

All the pain in my body could not match the migraine I was facing with arguing against the embodiment of freedom and childish stubbornness that was Monkey D Luffy.

It was as if I was talking to a brick wall, a brick wall that was the main character and the hope to many others further down the line.

Like hell I would get him to killed here–

"And I can't just leave my crew behind!"

"…huh?"

The words rang in my head as I tried to processed what he had just said; did he just made me part of the Straw Hats already!?

Okay, what the hell!? When had that been established!? And how was I just finding this out!?

"Wait, when was I part of your crew!?"

"Since I say so. I've just never told you yet."

"That's not how recruitment works!"

"Says who?"

"Says everyone!"

I forgotten that Luffy's way of recruiting people was basically him wanting you and keep pestering you until you either accept or he willingly gave up; Sanji being the best example.

But to think he would just invite me of all people… it was kind of flattering to be honest–

"You!"

"Crap! Move!"

My thoughts were quickly interrupted as the agent quickly bounced back and sent a blade of wind flying at us; I quickly pushed Luffy away before diving to the side to avoid it.

He then appeared in front of me in a blur, grabbing me by the throat and slammed me into the wall. His free hand moved in a blur and a Finger Pistol pierced into my shoulder.

"Grgk!"

"I should have done this first–Grgk!?"

But before he could do more, Luffy's hands grabbed onto his back as his arms twisted around each other like a twisted rubber band.

"Gum-Gum Hammer!"

He then pulled the agent off me as his arm untwisted itself, causing him to spin as the rubber pirate threw him over his shoulder.

But before Luffy could slam him to the ground, he twisted along and landed on his feet before spinning around and freed himself from his grasp.

His foot broke the ground once more as he flashed forward with a Shave and slammed two fists into Luffy, knuckles digging into his rubber body and sending him flying down the corridor.

"Ngh…! Gum-Gum Rocket!"

His arm then stretched outwards and grabbed onto the bars of the cells next to us, before rocketing towards the agent and slamming his head into his gut.

The agent barely flinched from that attack with his Iron Body, before his hands grasped around Luffy's head and threw him towards the bars.

In a strange sort of luck, half of the rubber pirate's body went right through the cell bars before stopping, leaving Luffy kind of stuck between the bars.

No matter how hard he pushed or pulled, he could not get out of his predicament.

"You'll be next. First, you."

The agent stepped forward before blurring and appearing before me, lifting me up by my throat and pinning me against the wall once more.

I struggled against his grip as I tried to pull his hand off of me to no avail, all the while the agent raised his hand up and tightened his fingers for another five-finger Finger Pistol.

And this time, he might be going for the head.

"Die–"

"Rah!"

"Ngk!?"

A bandaged fist slammed into the side of the agent's head, sending him flying down the corridor the same way Luffy did moments prior.

Freed from his grasp, I dropped onto the ground and nearly fell over if an arm hadn't stopped me. I looked up at my savior and a huge sense of relief filled my heart.

For the strongest of us, my mentor Sen had arrived.

…
To be continued…

Yup! Done and dusted!

Man, this chapter took a lot out of me just from the fight scenes alone. And I am great with fight scenes!

At any rate, the next chapter would be the conclusion of the battle for Temasek. So stay tuned!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!