At this mont, Akainu was not having an easy ti either.
A trail of blood had leaked from the corner of his mouth at so point, yet his expression remained calm. It was clear that the previous battle had not pushed him to his absolute limit.
Drake, however, was in a different state. He could feel that there wasn't a single "good" spot left on his body; he had no idea how many bones he had broken. His stamina was rapidly reaching zero.
Yet, internally, he was surging with excitent. He had just gone head-to-head with Akainu! Although he wasn't yet a match for the Admiral, the blood on Akainu's lip proved that he was finally capable of wounding him. This was a massive leap forward.
Drake manifested a spatial wall beneath his feet and slowly straightened his posture. Despite the multiple bleeding wounds, he acted as if he couldn't feel the pain. With a steady step forward, he looked like a supre War God erging from an iron-blooded battlefield.
"He... he's still standing after all that?" A thought began to root itself in the minds of the Marines.
This man is invincible!
Even the greatest combat power of their Navy Headquarters, an Admiral, couldn't take him down...
Just as fear began to spread among the ranks, Drake suddenly broke into a wide grin.
"Hahahaha! A Navy Admiral? Is that all? Let's call it a day for now. We... have a long ti ahead of us!"
With that, Drake vanished into thin air.
"This..." The Marines looked at one another, the shock in their eyes beyond words.
"Admiral, should we pursue?"
Akainu's face was dark, and he remained silent.
Bulu-bulu-bulu... Bulu-bulu-bulu... Suddenly, an abrupt ringing sound broke the tension.
"That's..."
As the crew looked on in confusion, a Marine ca running forward, cradling a Den Den Mushi. "Admiral! A ssage from Headquarters!"
Akainu looked at the incessantly ringing snail and slowly picked up the receiver.
Click.
"Moshi moshi..."
"Sakazuki, it's ," Sengoku's voice ca through clearly from the other end.
"What is it?"
"An Ergency Summoning Order. Return to Marineford imdiately. There are matters of the highest priority awaiting you."
Hearing this, Akainu's brow furrowed. He looked toward the direction where Drake had disappeared. Generally, the speed of Drake's teleportation made it impossible for anyone to track his flight path, but as an Admiral with top-tier Observation Haki, Akainu could roughly judge the trajectory.
He fell into a brief silence. Akainu did not want to let Drake go; the threat the boy posed if allowed to grow further was simply too great.
"An Ergency Summoning Order..." The surrounding Marines grew quiet. Such an order was never issued lightly in the Navy. Moreover, they all knew whose voice was on the other end. For the Fleet Admiral himself to issue the command ant sothing monuntal was happening.
Akainu was well aware of this, which was why he hesitated. Given his personality, he would have given chase long ago.
"What happened?" Akainu asked bluntly.
The Den Den Mushi was silent for a mont before Sengoku spoke again: "I have officially decided to resign as Fleet Admiral. After a high-level eting with the World Governnt, it has been decided that the next Fleet Admiral will be chosen from between you and Aokiji."
"Aokiji is already here. You need to return quickly..."
Click.
The line went dead.
Silence. A deathly silence.
The Marines on the warship were so shocked they couldn't speak. A new Fleet Admiral was being chosen? Sengoku was retiring? And the successor was to be decided between the two Admirals... Could news get any more explosive than this?
Putting away the Den Den Mushi, Akainu's gaze lingered on the horizon where Drake had fled. His eyes narrowed, and he turned sharply.
"Return to Navy Headquarters!"
"YES, SIR!"
The crew instantly energized. Forget the Yonko or Super Rookies—let them enjoy themselves for a while. Once I beco the Fleet Admiral, I will wipe every single one of you out!
With a wave of Akainu's hand, the warship began to pivot and sail away.
"Uhh... Admiral..." A Marine ran up frantically.
"What now?" Akainu glanced at him.
"Reporting! Captain T-Bone and several Marines vanished along with that pirate ship earlier!" The Marine's face was etched with worry.
Akainu's brow furrowed. "How many vanished with the ship?"
"Approximately thirty n."
After a mont of thought, Akainu shook his head and said without room for argunt: "Return to Headquarters!"
"Admiral, but—" The Marine grew anxious, but he imdiately shut his mouth upon eting Akainu's cold, emotionless gaze.
"Mmm," Akainu nodded in approval. "As Marines, we must always be prepared to sacrifice ourselves for Justice. Besides, T-Bone's strength is quite respectable. The pirates might not necessarily be able to hold them."
The other Marines suddenly rembered: there didn't seem to be anyone particularly powerful left on that pirate ship. This ant Captain T-Bone and his n might actually pull off an unexpected victory from the inside.
Thinking this, the Marines felt a surge of hope. But it was quickly dampened by a lingering doubt.
"But that man is heading back there now..."
At the ntion of Drake, their excitent vanished. Drake looked wounded, but no one knew how deep his injuries were or how much his combat power had dropped. It was all a complete unknown...
Elsewhere, Drake stumbled mid-teleport, nearly falling from the sky.
"Ugh... cough!" He spat out a mouthful of blood, which fell into the sea like scattered red plum blossoms. "Cough! Huff..."
This ti, he was truly hurt. Engaging in a close-quarters brawl with Akainu was sothing few could survive. Despite the waves of intense pain racking his body, Drake remained in a state of high-functioning excitent.
It was exhilarating! This was the feeling of true power!
Although he had been on the back foot the entire ti, he could feel that the gap between him and an Admiral had narrowed significantly.
Cultivation! If he could reach the level of a Great Sword Grandmaster, he might truly be able to fight an Admiral on equal footing and officially enter the ranks of the world's top-tier combatants.
Driven by this thrill, Drake quickly located the Magic Protector. He was about to teleport down when his pupils suddenly constricted.
On the deck of the Magic Protector stood a man whose face was so gaunt it looked like a skull. He wore a "Justice" coat over his shoulders and had long, curly black hair.
Navy Captain, T-Bone!
Known as the "Ship-Cutter," he was a man capable of holding his own against the likes of Zoro. How is he here!?
A dark premonition flooded Drake's mind. Bell was the only active fighter left on the ship; there was no way he could stop T-Bone.
Gritting his teeth, Drake used a final teleport to land on the deck.
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