"Rear Admiral!!"
The Marines surrounding Daz Bones cried out in shock. A Logia-type user—no matter how seemingly harmless sand might appear—was still a force of nature beyond ordinary human resistance.
"What are you looking at?" Daz Bones was already accustod to such sights. His boss had always been this strong, so there was nothing surprising about it.
Seeing the distracted Marines, he took the opportunity to cut down a few more of them. However, he refrained from dealing fatal blows since his boss had given no such order.
"Too powerful..." Soone among the Marines muttered in defeat, causing many of them to lose focus.
As the swirling dust settled, Rear Admiral Harry stood with his sword planted in the ground, struggling to catch his breath. Though he had barely managed to withstand the last attack using Tekkai, the sheer force of Rosen's sand-ford fist had still fractured four or five of his ribs and left him with nurous external injuries.
He was heavily wounded, yet still able to fight.
"Piercing Thrust!"
Armant Haki once again coated Harry's sword, though this ti only partially—his Haki had only recently awakened, and he had already used everything he had in an attempt to win.
Clang!
His blade shot forward, but Rosen blocked it with his golden hook, simultaneously sweeping his right hand forward to summon a Desert Saber—an imnse sand blade that rose from the ground, slicing toward Harry's waist.
"Soru."
Harry abruptly retreated. So this was the strength of the Shichibukai?! He had already given everything he had, yet his opponent still seed to be holding back.
Impossible. He refused to lose to a pirate.
"Multi-Layered Sandstorm, Annihilation!"
The initial sandstorm had been a re distraction—the real threat was hidden within the earlier Desert Funeral.
The dust in the air had yet to settle, and Rosen, ignoring his energy consumption, conjured four massive sandstorms, which roared toward Harry.
"Damn it!"
Harry swung his sword for one last desperate counterattack, only to suddenly realize—he couldn't move.
Two sand-ford arms had risen from the ground, gripping his legs and pinning him in place.
Too late. He had forgotten to escape the sand's grasp.
"Gale Slash!"
Harry had no choice but to stand his ground. He could break free in a second or two, but the incoming sandstorm gave him no ti. If he didn't counter it, he was truly in danger.
With a resonant hum, his blade unleashed a brilliant arc of cutting energy. This was beyond even his usual full-powered strikes.
As expected—desperation awakened hidden potential.
Boom!
The two attacks collided once more, producing a deafening explosion.
But the result was clear—a hastily executed strike could not overpower an attack that had been ticulously prepared.
Harry felt the wind rush past his ears as he was sent flying, his body slamd as though struck by a mountain. His internal organs were severely injured, and blood burst from his mouth uncontrollably.
Bang!
His body crashed into a wall, leaving him immobilized. He struggled to rise, but before he could react, Rosen had already transford into a swirl of sand, appearing right before him.
The cold tal of the golden hook pressed against his throat.
"Don't move."
Harry twitched, his neck pressing against the hook, causing a shallow cut. He imdiately stopped struggling. One wrong move, and he would die.
He wasn't afraid of death—but that didn't an he had to throw his life away.
Harry stared at Rosen, silent and unyielding. He didn't beg for rcy, nor did he speak. Whatever Rosen intended to do, he was ready.
"I suggest you reconsider my earlier words. The leader of this group should have arrived by now, but ever since I contacted the Marines, he's been absent."
"This might just be my speculation, but I can't hand these already suffering children over to the Marines without certainty. If you want them, prove that you're not working with the pirates."
Had Rosen said this before their fight, Harry wouldn't have believed him. It would have seed like an excuse, or worse—a deception.
Back then, Harry hadn't been in the right mindset to listen. He clearly disliked pirates, which wasn't surprising—after all, the Marines were naturally opposed to them.
He had never considered that a Marine might have leaked information to pirates. He hadn't told anyone about this operation. It was an ergency deploynt.
Besides, he had always suspected that Rosen had made so kind of deal with Captain Luca.
Wait—Luca?
Could it be…?
"Did you make a deal with Captain Luca?!"
Harry's eyes locked onto Rosen, searching for any hint of deception. If Rosen lied, he would notice.
"No. I don't know what kind of person you are, so I won't kill you until I'm certain. I don't want to completely sever ties with the Marines, nor do I wish to kill the wrong person. So—until we et again."
Rosen withdrew his weapon.
Their battle had been more than just a fight—it had been a test of power.
In this world, only the strong could make their words carry weight. Without strength, even the most reasonable argunts would be t with skepticism.
Rosen could have easily killed Harry, but he didn't. As he said—he didn't know if Harry was good or bad. Killing him without certainty would be reckless.
What if Harry was genuinely acting in the children's best interests?
For now, information was key. And the best person for gathering intelligence was Nico Robin. She would uncover the truth, and then Rosen would decide.
"Everyone, stand down."
Harry's expression flickered between sha and uncertainty.
But judging from the situation, Rosen likely hadn't struck a deal with Luca. If he had, Luca would have simply ordered Rosen to kill him—securing Luca's sole authority over Sake Town's Marine base.
At Harry's command, the Marines ceased their assault on Daz Bones.
If not for the presence of supervising officers, many of them wouldn't have wanted to continue fighting Daz Bones at all.
To them, he was an indestructible nightmare.
"Are all Shichibukai this strong?! Even Rear Admiral Harry wasn't a match…"
So Marines couldn't help but feel fear creeping into their hearts.
"Mission complete. Reward: Speed x2. Next mission: Defeat a fighter with a bounty exceeding 200 million. Reward: Vitality x2."
As Rosen turned to leave, a system notification echoed in his mind.
Mission complete? That caught him off guard.
Hadn't he just taken down a Marine? But then again, it made sense.
The system based its criteria on bounty-level strength, not whether the opponent was a pirate. As long as the enemy's power was equivalent to a bounty above 100 million, it counted.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of energy coursing through his body—like an electric current, altering sothing within him.
"Rear Admiral, what should we do? Report this to headquarters?"
A Marine aide rushed forward, helping Harry up from where he had slumped against the wall.
"No need. Let him take the children for now. Keep them under surveillance for 24 hours. We don't fully understand the situation yet. Also, increase the search efforts for the leader of this criminal pirate crew. Their captain should be in Sake Town."
After so thought, Harry concluded that Crocodile's words held so credibility.
If this had been a plot against him, Rosen's golden hook would have finished him off already. There was no need for further scheming.
"Boss, what's wrong?"
Daz Bones noticed Rosen had suddenly stopped walking and was puzzled.
Rosen was stunned. The system had just completed an enhancent to his body, and the displayed stats left him speechless.
His combat proficiency—especially his physical skills—had increased dramatically.
(End of Chapter)
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