Though he couldn't yet be absolutely certain the man before him was Arton, that didn't lessen Zephyr's determination to rescue his disciple.
"What am I doing here?" Arton chuckled. "That's a good question, Zephyr. Weren't you the ones sent to block me? Well, I don't have a choice. To reach the Grand Line smoothly, I'll have to clear the path first."
He shrugged with a smile. He'd already overheard Ain and Binz speaking earlier, confirming that Zephyr's purpose was to stop him. Since that was the case, there was no longer any reason to hold back.
Zephyr's frown deepened. "So, you're planning to use Ain as leverage to make us let you pass?"
"Leverage?" Arton glanced at the girl whose shoulder he still held. "No—you're mistaken. To open my path, I don't need to use her as a hostage. If you won't move aside, Zephyr, then I'll simply use my strength to make you."
With that, Arton casually lifted Ain and tossed her back toward Zephyr.
Startled, Ain twisted midair, landing on her feet and steadying herself before she could fall. Relief washed over Zephyr, Binz, Shuzo, and the other Marines when they saw she was unharmed.
Only then did the soldiers finally dare to raise their rifles, aiming them squarely at Arton.
And Shuzo, Zephyr's right hand, didn't waste time—he lunged forward.
"Soru!"
"Shigan!"
His body blurred into a streak of motion as he thrust his finger toward Arton. But what Shuzo thought was blinding speed looked like a slow crawl in Arton's eyes.
"Too slow." Arton muttered, drawing Harribel's short blade from his waist. Crimson light gathered at the tip.
"Cero!"
A brilliant golden flash erupted—blasting past Shuzo's Shigan and grazing his arm. Shuzo gasped as searing pain tore through him, the beam stripping skin from his fingers and arm.
And that wasn't all.
The projectile roared onward, slamming directly into the warship's mast with a thunderous crack. The mast snapped in two and toppled into the sea.
"This technique—it's the same one Tashigi used in the Loguetown report…" Zephyr's expression hardened. "So it's true. You are Arton, and Tashigi is inside you right now, isn't she?!"
In Loguetown, Tashigi had once unveiled this very move—Cero. Smoker himself had noted it with particular caution in his report.
Now, seeing it wielded by the man before him, Zephyr finally accepted the truth: Arton had fused with Tashigi. That was why his appearance differed from the intelligence reports—the power had altered his form.
"I told you before—I'm Arton. It's you who refused to believe it." Arton twirled the ring-hilted blade around his finger, smirking.
Zephyr's eyes flicked to the ruined mast. His frown deepened further. "So you've destroyed our mast… to cut off our chance of chasing your ship."
"Your crew must be nearby. If I want to capture the others, I'll have to hold you here and now."
With their mast gone, the Marines' warship would never match the speed of Arton's Sylvan. His companions could now bypass the blockade and head for Reverse Mountain's entrance unhindered.
And Arton—capable of flight—didn't even need a ship to cross to the other side.
…
In Zephyr's eyes, Arton was clearly trying to buy time for his crew to enter the first half of the Grand Line. By staying behind, Arton ensured the Marines couldn't repair their broken mast, which meant they had no way of pursuing the Sonia.
Of course, Zephyr himself could use Geppo to chase Arton's crew like Garp often did. But unless he knew their exact location, that was nothing more than flying blindly over an endless sea. Even he would exhaust himself before ever catching up.
At that moment, Zephyr felt Arton might have chosen this method because he wasn't confident in defeating him outright. Otherwise, Arton could have simply crushed them with overwhelming force.
"Could it be… that Arton was actually injured during his fight with Mihawk?" Zephyr thought grimly. "Or perhaps that bizarre ability of his—to reset his injuries whenever he transforms—can't be used right now?"
Arton's most troublesome power was the one he displayed in his battle at the Baratie. No matter how many wounds Mihawk inflicted, every transformation reset his body back to its peak state.
The Marines had specifically discussed this ability in their strategy meetings. As dangerous as it was, they concluded Arton couldn't use it without limit. Otherwise, he would already be unstoppable—he wouldn't have avoided clashing with Garp, but rather struck him down outright, as a truly ruthless pirate would.
Now, Arton's cautious approach only strengthened Zephyr's suspicion.
If Arton had heard Zephyr's reasoning, he would have laughed out loud. It was true he couldn't reset his injuries like back at the Baratie—he no longer had "Template Challenge Cards" to burn. But that didn't mean he feared Zephyr.
Even one-on-one, Arton was confident he could win. And with Zephyr's companions present? That only made it easier for him. Against a true powerhouse, allies without the strength of at least a Vice Admiral were nothing but burdens.
One blast of Conqueror's Haki would flatten them. Or, with his fusion with Tashigi, he could unleash spiritual pressure as crushing as any advanced Haki. The sheer force of it would be more than Zephyr's subordinates could bear.
And even without that, Arton had no reason to worry. Hollows were gifted with Hierro—iron skin. And Harribel, the 3rd Espada whose template he now wielded, possessed Hierro far superior to that of ordinary Hollows.
The only one Arton needed to be wary of was Ain and her Devil Fruit. The others? His Hierro alone was more than enough to defend against them.
"Don't kid yourself, Zephyr," Arton said with a light laugh. "If you think you can stop me, then come try. But let me give you one piece of advice—don't stand in my way. I hold no malice toward you. If you're willing to walk away here, I won't lay a hand on you."
"Hmph. You think I'd ever listen to a pirate?" Zephyr's cold snort was answer enough. The man who had lost everything to pirates would never forgive their kind—no matter what Arton said.
Seeing that words were meaningless, Zephyr gave the order.
"Fire!"
At once, rifles cracked and cannons roared. Explosions lit up the deck as a storm of bullets and shells screamed toward Arton.
...
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