Chapter 34: The Battle for Temasek

"LET FREEBIRD COMMENCE!"

Once those words echoed across the island of Temasek, chaos descended on the pirates like a massive tidal wave that swept them all in its momentum.

Several of the 'captured' East Traders sailors bursted out of their bindings from a mixture of cutting through it with hidden knives, to straight out breaking free through sheer brute force.

At the same as that was happening, the once-thought empty vessels fired their cannons on the pirate ships next to them, sending a couple of them sinking into the water depths while heavily damaging several others.

Then as one combined force, they drew their hidden weapons and charged straight at the pirates with great vigor, blades flashing and guns firing at all directions.

The pirate alliance also quickly retaliated, their respective captains shouting commands and orders to their crew to fight back with their own weapons.

What followed afterwards was a free-for-all with as much finesse as a drunk bar fight, with each combatant basically swinging their fists and armaments each other with no sense of rhyme or reason.

At first, the pirates had the advantage in numbers, at least 10 to 1. But as the battle proceeded, it quickly became very clear that it wouldn't last.

For there was a reason the East Traders was the most trusted non-World Government organization of the East Blue.

"RrraaaAAHHH!"

"Uwah!"

The bear of a man that was Scott swung his massive arm around in an lariat, sending several pirates flying and crashing with their fellow pirates, knocking them to the ground.

A few of them armed with muskets aimed at him intending to shower him in a volley of lead, only for the young Seline to knock them out with quick strikes from her meteor hammer.

"Don't run too far ahead!" She shouted over the chaos.

"Sorry!" He apologised as he quickly backpedaled back to his crew.

"Muskets! Up front!"

"On it!"

The opening within the pirates' guards were quickly exploited by their crew mates and they charged at them with their cutlasses and bayonet-armed muskets with a great flurry of iron and gunfire.

Once the voice of Draconis was heard shouting in the distance, the East Trader captains quickly and easily broke out of the bindings and started the assault on the pirates around them, making sure to steal their weapons of their own use.

With them taking the command, their respective crews quickly formed into a somewhat cohesive platoon and began fighting back as much of a one force as they were able.

Despite their overpowering numbers, the wild and uncooperative formations of the pirates made it easy for them to quickly turned the tide of them; it helped that Scott and Seline were easily taking them out by the dozens.

"Tch, you guys are so useless!"

That quickly changed when one of the pirate captains stepped forward; though he couldn't exactly called a pirate.

With his axe-arm at the ready, former marine captain Morgan walked through his crew of pirates; his eyes went to Scott and he let out a gruff huff.

"Take out the head, and the body will soon follow."

With that said, he dashed right through his men, shoving them to the side in his charge as he made his way towards Scott, swinging his weapon down on him with the intent of splitting him in two.

Scott quickly noticed him and moved to intercept his attack, swiftly catching the axe blade between palms before it could make contact; though it was quickly made apparent that he was struggling to hold it in place.

"You sure are confident." Seline noted as she readied her weapon, "

"You must be the former marine Morgan." Scott noted with gritted teeth.

"That's the great captainMorgan to you." Morgan growled.

"Not anymore. Heard you've got exposed for the power hungry tyrant that you are."

"You shut your mouth!"

Morgan pulled back his axe-arm before swinging to his right, aiming to cleave his opponent's head clean off his neck.

Scott was quick to back-step and avoid the attack, though the shockwave from it sent the pirates and sailors next to them flying and tumbling to the ground.

Scott then swung his fist at the disgraced marine in retaliation, Morgan blocking the strike with his axe-arm yet sending him skidding back from the force of the attack, which greatly angered him.

"Scott!" Seline cried out as she moved to assist her colleague.

"No, stay back!" He shouted at her, "Remember the plan! We each have to take on one of them!"

"Still—"

"Gotcha!"

"Grgk!?"

She was quickly interrupted in her tracks when a sharp single-edged blade was swung at her, forcing her to duck down to avoid it before quickly stepping back.

Billy walked up to her with his two underlings next to him, a disgusting grin on his face as he rested his odachi on his shoulder; the same sword that helped him earn the name 'Orca Killer'.

"Well, well, talk about a cutie." The pirate captain laughed, "It's almost a shame that I have to cut you down."

"Tch, typical…" Seline grumbled, "Look, you can stop with the creeping; I'm not some country girl that is easily intimidated by the likes of you lot."

"Wow, boss; this girl has quite the attitude." One of his underlings noted as he stepped forward while unsheathing his cutlass, "Allow me to fix it for you—Grgk!?"

"You will not interfere!"

"Get lost, you posers!"

"Alright! Remember the plan!"

"Don't let anyone interrupt them!"

Two of Seline's own crew came rushing out, knocking away the two underlings before engaging in combat with them; the rest of her crew quickly followed suit, pushing away the other pirates around them.

"Captain Scott is fighting Morgan!"

"Quick, don't let anyone interfere!"

At the same time, the crew of Thrud also quickly moved to push back the pirates around the two large men.

That left the young female captain with the Orca Killer, and the bearded portly captain with the disgraced marine captain; each pair standing in the ring made by their respective crews clashing.

"Hoh, so this is your plan?" Billy mused as he balanced the odachi on his shoulder, "Isolating me from my men in order to fight me one-on-one? Quite a daring plan, if it is no one other than me."

"You will do well not to underestimate me, Orca Killer." Seline told him as she spun her meteor hammer in her hand, "I am way more skilled than a poser like you."

"Great timing; I was about to find a way to get to you." The captain of Thrud raised his fists in a fighting stance, "Thanks for coming to me instead."

"Don't be so arrogant, you pig!" Morgan shouted as he readied his axe-arm, "You face the might that is the Great Morgan!"

"Run away!"

"That guy's fucking terrifying!"

Instead of engaging their foes as commanded, the pirates were more focused on running away from them; to be specific, one of the East Traders's captains who was swinging a machete around like some crazed serial killer.

With a stone cold face unfazed by the carnage and terror he was inflicting on his opponents, Simon went at the pirates like a butcher to livestock, bisecting their limbs and even cleaving opened the head of one.

The scene of blood and gore greatly unnerved both the pirates and his allies, causing even his own crew to keep a wide breath from him.

"You…really know how to inflict fear on your enemies, Simon…" Flaun noted with a grimace.

"Forget the glasses guy! Get the girl!"

"She's at least not as terrifying—Grgk!?"

"W-What the hell!?"

When the escaping pirates decided to aim for the female captain instead, they immediately regretted that decision as she swiftly dispatched the first among them via slitting his throat open with one of her twin hatchets.

The rest of his friends quickly shared the same fate as she took them out just as quickly, all with a serene smile even as drops of blood were dripping from her cheek.

"Forget her! She's much more terrifying!"

"Fuck this ship, I'm out of here!"

Simon adjusted his glasses, unfazed by her disturbing appearance, "…I don't think you have the right to say that."

Once breaking out of their bindings, the two captains and their crew immediately went on the offensive, plowing through them with the ferocity of an enraged beast.

Like a tornado, they carved up the enemy lines in seconds and made their way towards their main targets, the ones that could turn the tide upon them if given the chance, the ones they need to take out immediately.

With the path cleared via the pirates running away with their tails between their feet, Simon made a mad dash towards the captain of this crew of thugs; the gold endowed man that was Eldoraggo.

But before he could reach him, the feather crowned Golasses got in his way; the mercenary swinging down his massive saber at him that Simon quickly blocked with his machete, though the weight behind the attack was pushing him back slightly.

"Hahaha! Nicely done, Golasses!" Eldoraggo laughed in glee, "Expect an increase in your pay once this is over!"

"Much appreciated." Golasses noted with a grin.

"Tch; guess it will not be that easy…" Simon grunted before calling out, "Flaun! That gaudy guy is all yours!"

"Got it!"

Flaun dashed past the two men and towards Eldoraggo with her weapon readied in her hand, her intentions and target were very apparently clear.

But she stopped in her tracks when she saw him taking a deep breath, and swiftly leaped to the side, just as a blast of sound roared out of his mouth like a cannon, carving up the ground in its path and blowing away any unlucky enough to be in its path.

That did little to deter Flaun, as she quickly closed the gap and swung her hatchet at the pirate captain, aiming straight for his throat for a swift kill.

Eldoraggo quickly parried away her attack and retaliated with a swipe from his golden claws, which she avoided with a great difficulty via twisting her body around before backpedaling a few steps back.

"You're quite the slippery one, lassy." The pirate captain noted with a grin, "But you won't get another chance like that again. Not with my Roar-Roar powers."

"It won't matter." She noted with a small smile, "I will end you."

"Hiyah~! Atah~!"

"Grraahh!"

*BANG**BANG*

"Guah!"

Bronz's wooden nunchucks smacked into the pirates' faces and sent them crashing into their comrades one after another in quick succession, forcing them to take their distance and take aim with their musket rifles.

But as they did so, Lee fired several shots into the ones wielding them with his pistols, knocking the firearms out of their hands and embedding lead balls into their bodies in various locations.

"To the ship! Quickly!" He called out to the running civilians before shouting an order to his crew, "Cutlasses, up front!"

""Aye-aye!""

By the time Draconis made his signal known, everyone had already partially out of their bindings and thus was able to quickly take down the pirates next to them and steal their weapons

They immediately got into a formation around the captains, forming a defensive line around them as the hostages were escorted onto the ship while pushing the pirates back.

"Damn, they are tenacious…!" Gord cried out as he pushed back a pirate with his cutlasses, "How many of these bastards are there…?"

"Guess Tentol really went all out when he recruited them…!" Sam noted while firing a round into the pirates, "It's a good thing we have the Signoria's crew with us, or we would have long been run over…!"

Among the ships employed by the East Traders, the crew of the Signoria was among the most experienced. Trained by Draconis himself, these veterans were as skilled as the average marine soldier, making them more than a match to the average pirate.

Thus they were the one leading the charge, with the other two crews quickly following behind and handling either flanks of their formations.

But the push would be halted when two more-than-average pirates joined the fray.

"Shit! Move!"

"GRRAAHH!"

"W-What the hell is that!?"

Like a spiked furry wrecking ball, Boo Jack came bowling towards them and crashed through the sailors, swiftly breaking the defense line in one destructive move.

But he was not done yet, as he immediately made a charge towards the hostages they were defending, who were unarmed and defenseless.

"Crap! He's heading towards the civilians!"

"Q-Quick! Shoot him!"

"Stop, damn it!"

They all opened fire on the portly pirate, but their bullets did nothing but bounced off of his pig styled armor, not leaving even a scratch on him as he barreled towards the civilians at top speeds.

And if he were to carry on through, he would no doubt smash into them, and crush their bodies under his spiky furry armor.

Fortunately, that would not be the case.

"Hah!"

"Burgk!?"

Before the pirate could get any further, Sen got in front of him and swung his foot down on him, slamming Jack into the concrete ground and forming a crater on impact, leaving the pirate unconscious from the attack.

As fast as he attacked, Boo Jack was quickly and swiftly taken out.

"Oh, nice one, Sen—Y-Your leg!"

"Tch, what kind of armor is that fatass wearing…!"

However, that victory came with a cost; the leg that he had used to kick him was covered in puncture wounds, holes now puncturing into his boots; nothing too deep but the number of them was quite worrying.

Though this was hardly a bother to Sen, who simply looked at his leg before putting it down with no fuss at all, as if he had simply got scratched up by some cat.

"Damn it…! Sen, fall back and get your leg treated!" Lee commanded, "The rest of you, cover him!"

"Relax; I'm fine."

"Yeah, I'm not risking it; fall back and get patched up—!"

"Like I'll let you!"

"Look out!"

Before anyone could move, Bear King barreled towards him with his fist raised aiming at Sen with the clear intent of killing him with that one attack.

While everyone panicked at the pirate's sudden movements, Sen looked at the attack with an intrigued expression, and did not even make the attempt to dodge or even block.

"This is for my brother, you bastard—!"

"No, you won't."

But just as the pirate was about to hit him, Draconis got in front of Sen and blocked his fist with his sword, the sound on impact made from the parry wasn't that of metal against bone.

It was as if the blade was grinding up against solid stone, sparks flying as the old captain held his ground against Bear King's fist.

"…You do know that he couldn't even hurt me, right?" Sen pointed out.

"Just fall back, Sen." Draconis told him, "We still don't need your strength yet."

"Aye-aye."

With a great heave, Draconis pushed it away and forced the pirate to take several steps back as Sen made his merry way on board the ship with the other hostages.

Bear King rubbed his knuckles as he grinned, "That's some sword you've got there. To think it could hold its own against my fist."

"That body of yours…" Draconis noted, "You're a Devil Fruit user, aren't you?"

"Heheh, that's right." King slammed his fists together and the sound of stone hitting stone rang out, "I've eaten the Stone-Stone Fruit, making me a stone human; no blade nor bullet may harm me."

"I wouldn't bet on that." The old captain removed his hat and handed it to a member of his crew, "I've cut down far harder foes before."

"Well, there's no one in all of the East Blue as tough and as unbeatable as me!"

"We'll see about that."

"T-This is c-crazy…" Dva noted with a shaky voice, "To think Temasek would become like this…"

"Don't worry, Miss Dva. This Sanji will protect you from all harm." Sanji proclaimed with a smile, "Of course, Nami and Rein as well~!"

"Oh, thank you, Sanji." Nami lightly laughed.

"Can we all focus please?" Steve stated with a frown, "Even if the pirates are distracted, we still need to be careful."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, four-eyes."

"…You really don't care for men at all, huh…"

"Ushishishi, this turns out to be fun~!" Luffy chuckled.

I let out a long sigh as we ran down the alleyways towards the prison as fast as we could, all the while a cacophony of gunfire and clashing blades echoed in the background.

When we exited the warehouse, we were greeted with the sounds of battle along with shouts and cries ringing out from all directions; both familiar and unfamiliar.

If I were to describe it all in one word, it would be battlefield; to think that the familiar port would ended up becoming a war zone…

With Balck in the lead, we made our way through the streets towards the prison as swiftly as possible, making sure to keep a low profile via sticking the alleyways and dashing between buildings to keep away from the main streets.

Though that turned out to be unnecessary, for the streets were currently completely devoid of any pirates, or any person at all; looked like they deployed pretty much everyone to fight our main force.

"I guess we're little too overly cautious." Balck noted.

"I can't tell if Tentol is careless or just overly confident in his forces." Steve stated.

"At least this makes things easier for us." I pointed out.

With no need to sneak about the place, we booked it down the fastest path with no worries about anyone stopping us, and then only stopping when we reached our target just minutes later.

Hiding behind a corner, I peeked out at our destination, and the expected roadblock in our path.

The prison was built into the cliff's sides, its walls and cells dug out from the solid rock with only a pair of large metal doors to act as both its entrance and exit. Said door was currently being guarded by several armed pirates, both looking quite anxious with their finger on the trigger and darting eyes.

"…Is it wrong that I assumed he would not have posted guards at all?" I noted.

"No, you're not the only one to think that…" Dva muttered behind me.

"Guess Tentol wasn't stupid enough to leave his hostages unguarded." Balck stated, "Though this was not unexpected."

"So, how are we going to do this?" Steve asked, "Because that's the only entrance in."

And we couldn't just barged right through them, it would draw too much attention upon us; we would get overrun in no time at all.

"Maybe we can try baiting them away from the doors?" I suggested, "One of us can stay behind and create a diversion to draw their attention."

"Not a bad idea, but who would that be?"

"Someone strong enough to deal with all those men, but looks weak enough to not intimidate them at a glance–why are you all looking at me like that?"

The looks they were giving me were kind of creepy, if I was being honest; was there something I was not aware about?

Steve then pointed it out for me, "Um, Rein, all that matches you perfectly."

Dva nodded in response, "Yeah, you aren't that big–" "HEY!" "–so you appear to be weak. And you are clearly more than capable of taking out a few lowly thugs."

I hate to admit it, but they were right; my… lack of a height advantage made me look more like a damsel than a fighter, and many pirates had gone for me first on the assumption I was a weak girl.

If anyone was more fit to act as a decoy in this situation, it would be me.

"Alright then, I'll—"

"There's no need to think too much!"

"H-Hey!"

Before anyone could do anything to stop him, Luffy ran out of cover and made a mad dash towards the guards; said guards immediately took notice and opened fire on him, raining lead onto the Straw Hat pirate captain.

They immediately regretted that decision as the lead rounds sank into the rubber man's body upon impact, before rebounding back out of him and towards the guards like a shotgun, piercing their bodies at random spots with their own bullets.

"My turn! Gum-Gum Gatling!"

Arms stretched to at least ten times their length as Luffy sent a rush of punches at the pirates, knocking many of them off their feet with the rest of them stumbling about in shock at what just happened.

A few of them were able to quickly compose themselves as they quickly drew their blades and charged at him, before immediately regretting that decision as Luffy began to take them out one by one.

"Well, there goes the stealth option…" I noted.

"Luffy, you idiot…!" Nami groaned.

"There's no point in complaining about it now." Balck pointed out, "We just have to wing it."

Following the reckless fool, we charged in after the rubber man and helped him take out the rest of the guards; though by the time we joined in, most of them were knocked out, so we were left taking care of the stranglers that were attempting to flee.

After that, Sanji smashed the prison doors off its hinges with a strong back kick, revealing an empty staircase that descends down into the prison; which was strange considering how loud the commotion of us taking down the guards was.

"Where are the rest of the guards?" I asked.

"Maybe they're out for lunch?" Luffy noted.

"Don't be ridiculous." Sanji told him, "Something's clearly not right here."

"Indeed." Balck nodded in agreement, "Tentol isn't one for such careless mistakes."

"You're saying that, we might be walking right into a trap?" Nami asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Nami~! I will protect you~!" Sanji swooned over her.

"In any case, we need to stay alert." Balck told them, "Whatever comes our way, we need to be ready."

With those words said, we all immediately dashed in and descended down into the prison, our footsteps echoing in the empty hallways as Balck led the way towards the cells.

There was just barely enough light from the small windows to keep the hallways from being completely pitch black, though the ambiance of it made it even more unnerving than if it was actually dark.

Thankfully, the muted sounds of explosions from beyond the walls was enough to keep the atmosphere from being too horror inducing.

"Okay, past this corner—"

"Needle Sting!"

Balck swerved out of the way of the attacking sharp tipped feathers, most of us following suit with various degrees of success; Sanji being the only one that got hit by a couple of them as he moved to cover Dva and Nami.

"Sanji!" Nami cried out.

"I'll be fine, Nami." Sanji assured, "It's nothing but a—uah…?"

It was proven to be a bad call as he slumped onto her a moment later, his body losing all sense of control as he slagged like a ragdoll.

"Shit, there's poison in them!?" Steve cried out.

As if on cue, a dozen armed pirates came running out from behind the corner, forming a blockade in front of us, all armed with muskets and cutlasses that were pointed at us.

The man leading them was a pale man dressed like a jester with a long scar over his face and wielding a rapier, a wide smile on his face, "That's as far as you go, intruders!"

"As I feared, this is a trap." Balck turned to Nami who was struggling to hold Sanji on her shoulders, "How is your friend doing?"

"He's fine, but he can't move." She told him.

That would severely hinder our mobility by a lot, not to mention that Sanji was also one of the group's fighters; him getting put out of commission so early into the infiltration was not what I was expecting to deal with.

And I recognized the one leading the pirates; he was one of the many pirates the captains had told us to not fight and leave it to them to handle. Though I recognized him as one of the main antagonists of the second One Piece movie.

If I remember correctly, his name was—

"Pin Joker of the Trump Pirates, I presume?" I stated, "I take it that those feathers are your doing?"

Pin Joker, one of the Trump Siblings and their resident swordsman; though calling him a swordsman would be a cruel injustice to the term. In order to win any bout, he would use every dirty trick in the book to gain any form of advantage.

Using poisoned feathers like throwing darts in order to immobilize his opponent would be something up his alley.

"Indeed, they are." The pirate jester smirked, "It's coated with a poison that paralyzes anyone that it touches. Your friend there would not be able to move for quite a while. So I suggest you surrender now."

"As I figured…"

We couldn't afford to have more people getting paralyzed like Sanji, and we had to hurry and save the hostages before Tentol took notice.

In such a situation, there was only one possible option for us to take.

"Balck, when I give the signal, breakthrough them."

"…Are you sure about this?"

"I might be the only one that can do this."

"Alright then. I'll leave him to you."

"Hey!" The pirate jester shouted at us, "What do you think you're—!?"

"Lunging Claw!"

"Grgk!?"

Quickly morphing into my half dragon form, I dashed towards Pin Joker and performed a quick draw at him; the pirate jester's eyes wide in shock as he hastily raised his rapier to guard against my surprise attack.

But as expected from his lanky stature, he was quickly blown back by the force of my strike and was sent toppling to the ground.

"Sir Pin Joker! Why, you—!"

"Dancing Talons!"

When his fellow pirates charged at me with every intention to strike me down, I moved between them and easily struck each of them down with several swings of my sword.

Almost immediately, Balck made a mad dash towards the blockade, slamming a fist into the face of one of the few remaining pirates and sending him toppling to the ground.

Luffy quickly caught on to our plan and followed suit, dashing after him and landing several punches into a couple more to the shell-shocked pirates, breaking through the blockade in no time.

"Run!" Balck shouted.

"You're not going anywhere!" He growled, "Take this! Needle Sting!"

A swing of his arm sent a barrage of feathers flying towards the group, but I quickly got in the way and let them ping off my scales like harmless rain droplets; I took great joy in the befuddled look on Pin Joker's face.

"Rein!" Dva cried out.

"Go free the hostages!" I told Dva, "I'll hold this guy here!"

"B-But…!"

"Relax! As you can see, his feathers do nothing to me!"

"Dva, let's go!" Steve called to her as he dragged her away with him.

"S-Shit! Needle—!"

"No, you don't!"

Before Pin could throw more of his feathers, I dashed right at him and swung Nanashi down on him. The pirate jester quickly raised his rapier and attempted to block my attack. It did little to stop it as he was immediately forced down to his knee as he struggled to push back against my weapon.

"Grgk…!"

"What, are petty tricks all you can do?" I asked with a smirk, "Is that sword of yours just for show?"

"Grr…!"

With a shift of his rapier, Pin redirected my attack and slid out from under me; once he was back on his feet, he stabbed right at me with great force, an attack which I blocked with my scale covered arm.

"I suggest you watch your tongue." Pin snarled, "Less a hawk tears it off."

"The same goes to you." I told him, "Less a dragon do it to yours."

It had been several agonizingly long minutes since the sounds of battle echoed from beyond the walls of Silvia's cell, a battle she knew was the deciding point of if her uncle's plan for the East Traders would come to fruition.

She could still remember the terror of his Devil Fruit ability, of not being in control of her own body as he forced her to do whatever he wanted; like a puppet moving in accordance to the puppet master's will.

If such a person took control of the company, it would not bode well for the rest of the East Blue.

Though since the shaking began, the prison itself had been awfully quiet; there were no signs of any pirate within the walls, as if they had all just vanished.

So when she heard the sounds of clashing steel, her immediate thought was that it was a rescue team heading their way to free them.

She was not the only one that caught on, as she could hear the voices of the other hostages in the cells next to hers; many had also assumed that it was their rescuers fighting the guards.

That was soon proven true as a few familiar figures made themselves known in front of her cell's bars.

"Miss Silvia!"

"Dva!?"

The young quartermaster of Beneavor was the last person Silvia was expecting to see as part of the rescue team, even more so with a stranger next to her; an orange haired girl with a tattoo on her shoulder.

Said girl quickly fiddled with the cell's door for a moment before a small click was heard and it swung wide open, allowing Dva to enter and quickly cut her free from her bindings with a knife.

"Why are you here?" Silvia asked.

"I asked to join." Dva told her as she lifted her off her feet onto her shoulders, "Come on, you're one of the last few ones."

"R-Right… but who is she?"

"She's Nami, one of the pirates your crew hired."

"My crew did what!?"

Silvia looked over at her with wide eyes, Nami giving her a smile that resembled so much of those money-loving merchants she had to deal with so many times before.

'Lee, what did you do…!?'

Those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as they exited the cell into the hallway, where the other hostages were currently gathered alongside Balck, along with two other strangers; a straw hat-wearing young boy with a blond man on his back.

'Those two must be pirates as well…'

"Alright, listen up!" Balck called out to them, "If we all are to get out alive, we have to move fast! Those who can still walk well, help those that couldn't! Because we are not stopping till we are safe!"

At those words, people quickly paired up with each other, with several of the heavily injured leaning on or being carried by the ones that were barely harmed.

As they did so, Silvia turned over to the orange haired girl named Nami, "So, how much did Lee promise you for your crew's assistance…?"

"Oh, don't worry." Nami told her with a bright smile, "I promise you that it would be a fair amount for our services."

'Yeah, she's going to charge us at least in the thousands…'

"Miss Dva." Steve walked up to her and asked, "Allow me to take Miss Silvia. It would be best if you check with your family."

"Oh, thank you, Steve—"

"Get away from him!"

A familiar voice screamed out from across the hallway as an extremely familiar figure hastily limped his way past the other hostages towards them in a panic, one that shouldn't be possible.

"That's not me!" A malnourished and badly bruised Steve cried out, "That's the traitor!"

"Whuh—"

"Move!"

"Wah!"

In an instance, 'Steve' struck upwards towards Dva with a knife that appeared in his hand, the attack barely grazing her cheek as Silvia managed to pull her away by leaning to her side; though it had the unintended side effect of them toppling onto the floor.

And in that same instance, Balck crossed the distance and slammed his fist straight into him; the imposter blocking it but the force behind the strike sent him flying down the hallway where he skidded to a stop.

"I guess the rumors do hold some merit." 'Steve' noted with a cold expression on his face.

"To think the one that we were all looking for was hiding in plain sight this whole time…" Balck grunted as he rubbed his sore knuckles.

He was sure to had struck his arm, but it felt like he was punching a metal pipe, which should be impossible for someone that lanky.

"Pirate girl, grab Dva and Silvia and move back." Balck told Nami as he took off his blazer, "I can't promise that you won't get hurt in the crossfire."

"G-Got it! Quickly, this way—"

As Nami was pulling the two girls up on their feet, the imposter suddenly blurred, closing the distance in an instance and jabbed his knife towards them.

Balck was quick to react, swinging a fist into his way and forcing the imposter to stop his assault in order to block it.

That was swiftly followed up by Balck closing in and launching a hook with his other hand towards the chin, an attack that missed when the imposter simply leaned back and allowed the fist to whiff pass.

In the same instance, the knife switched hands and the imposter swung the weapon at Balck; he barely avoided the blade as it nearly cut into his neck before slamming his foot forward and kicking the imposter away from him.

"What are you waiting for!?" Balck shouted at Nami, "Get away from here, now!"

"R-Right!"

Nami quickly dragged the two girls back to the crowd, leaving the two fighters to size each other up: Balck with his arms up to the side of his head, while the assassin stood in a relaxed stance with his knife held blade down.

The air was stiff with tension, neither was willingly to make the first move or give the other the chance to make one; a stare down that had even the most veteran of fighters–

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Unable to stand the tension, the straw hat pirate swung a punch of his own, his rubbery arm stretching as his fist flew towards the imposter.

He swiftly twisted his head and let the attack graze his cheeks harmlessly, which opened him up for Balck to strike.

Wasting no time, he dashed forward at the imposter and leaped, hands grasping his shoulder as a knee was slammed into his face.

"Grgk!?"

At least, it should have; but the attack was stopped by the imposter blocking the attack with the back of his hand, along with the sound of bone striking metal.

Pain shot up from his knee as Balck quickly created some distance, one leg slightly limping from his badly bruised knee.

'There it is again… and it isn't Haki either… that leaves…'

Hardening one's body upon impact, that was one of the six main techniques of the Six Powers, a fighting style that was only known to be taught to the elite officers of the Marines.

In other words, unless you were tied to the World Government, it was extremely rare for anyone to have learn even a part of it.

Along with his movements and attacks, the composed manner when executing an attack that resembled more of a machine than a person, it became very apparent to Balck who the imposter was.

"You… you're an agent of the World Government–"

It all happened in an instance.

The imposter disappeared in a blur of motion; and it was immediately followed by a sharp pain as the taste of iron quickly filled his mouth.

Balck glanced down at his lower abdomen, where the imposter had stabbed his knife into and blood was spilling out from.

"You should have stayed ignorant to the end…"

The whisper was the last thing Balck heard as his vision turned dark and he collapsed to the ground unmoving.

And the hallway echoed with the screams of horror and despair.

…
To be continued…

Looks like Balck will be this battle's first casualty… not who everyone is expecting to kick the bucket first, huh?

But yeah, the World Government is involved in all of this. As to why they are involved in this, you just have to wait for the next chapter to find out!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!