Under the bright moonlight, Regedor saw the young boy's face and suddenly felt a pang of heartache, remembering the "tragic demise" of his steamship, the Spiral, at the boy's hands.
Rare steam iron ships... they were valuable indeed!
To this day, he couldn't find anywhere to plunder another one. Moreover, he had been inexplicably tossed into the sea last time, and his flagship was destroyed. All in all, it was the first time he had suffered such a great loss in all his years as a pirate!
"So, this young lad is the Marine who got the better of you last time, eh?" Roberts examined Cross from head to toe, then showed an appreciative gaze. "We met last night, and Reepel and Moratos told me about you. Killing a man like Gecko Moria... you're quite an impressive young man!"
"Commander Bartholomew Roberts, a great pirate with a bounty of 547,000,000 Berries, a man the Marine Headquarters takes seriously!" Cross met Roberts's gaze without fear, smiling. "However, twenty thousand elite Marines have already breached the city gates. Iron Knight Lent alone can't hold off five Marine Headquarters big shots!" He exaggerated shamelessly, trying to intimidate the other party. "If you escape now, you might still make it!"
"Is that so... Well, that's certainly a headache!"
Unexpectedly, Roberts didn't show much reaction. He wasn't shocked, nor was he enraged; in fact, he was remarkably calm. "But it doesn't matter," he said flatly. "The Bion Kingdom's main army has been crippled, and the most elite Royal Guard has fallen into the hands of my allies. Next, as long as we defeat the twenty thousand Marines you speak of, no one will be able to stop my plan to seize the Bion Kingdom!"
After saying this, Roberts casually spread his hands, pointed Gae Bulg at Cross, and stated gravely, "As for you, a promising young Marine, you will only die here!"
"Regedor, take him!"
The moment he finished speaking, a chilling killing intent burst forth from Roberts like a tide, causing the surrounding temperature to drop significantly.
"Commander, this brat is mine!"
A sinister expression appeared on Regedor's handsome face. He roared excitedly, the silver vambraces on his wrists rapidly spinning, emitting a "buzz-buzz-buzz" sound. The surrounding air immediately became turbulent, stirring up chaotic currents.
"Whoa~ He's going all out right from the start!" Cross yelped, but his expression grew serious.
Suddenly, a "thud" came from behind Cross. Hebrass had collapsed onto the ground, his face covered in black arabesque patterns, looking exceptionally eerie, like some kind of strange tattoo.
"Hey, what's wrong with him?"
"Curse-poison! He was pierced in the shoulder by Gae Bulg and has been corroded by the legendary curse-poison!" Lavishur's face was grim. He quickly knelt, checking his friend's condition.
"Huh—?" Cross looked astonished. "Curse-poison, isn't that just a legend?"
"Hehe... I helped... test it... it's clearly real..." Hebrass lay on the ground, weakly smiling. "I'm dying... be careful... and... remember your Marine promise..."
"Dying my ass! Hold on, you bastard! There must be a way! Marines... Hey, you Marines must have a way to dispel curse-poison... Or ask the World Government, they have 800 years of history, they must have skilled doctors or rare, special Medical Devil Fruit users! Hebrass, you fool, hold on for me!" Lavishur's expression was panicked, even a little helpless, as he desperately questioned Cross, as if grasping at a lifeline, showing a sense of desperate urgency.
"..."
However, just as Cross was about to answer, he saw a tornado suddenly form before him, like a violent giant dragon madly rushing towards him.
"Dragon Twister!!!" Regedor roared, controlling the massive tornado to move forward.
Rumble—!
Howling winds ravaged the sky and earth, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder. The enormous tornado was astonishingly powerful, growing larger and stronger as it spun, lifting up the exposed bricks, stones, and mud from the ground.
"Damn it! Secret Technique: Vacuum Domain!!!"
Lavishur roared in fury, spreading his arms outwards. The invisible, transparent spherical barrier rapidly expanded, instantly encompassing an area of several hundred meters.
Hum—!
The next second, all the air within the barrier was sucked out, creating a vacuum. The massive, tens of meters tall tornado visibly shrank at an alarming rate. In just two or three seconds, it transformed into a wisp of breeze, finally disappearing completely.
If it weren't for the ravaged streets and ruined buildings, and the lingering phantom sounds, one might have believed everything that just transpired was merely an illusion.
"Ugh... I can't breathe..." Cross's face turned red. He realized he couldn't breathe.
Not only Cross, but Roberts and Regedor on the opposite side also noticed this, their faces gradually turning red from holding their breath.
"...This is bad! If this continues, we'll suffocate!" Roberts was greatly startled, never expecting his opponent to have such a deadly trump card.
Regedor didn't speak, but acted decisively. He immediately charged out, heading straight for Lavishur, his wrist vambraces still spinning at high speed, as if forming two silver drills in his hands. Although he couldn't create large-scale powerful attacks by manipulating air, the power of the Spiral-Spiral Fruit was still not to be underestimated.
"Domain: Earth Binding!!!"
Lavishur didn't even look at Regedor. He raised his hand, manipulating the earth and stones from the ground to surge upwards. Large quantities of bluestone bricks and the mud and rocks beneath them ascended as if pulled by an invisible force.
"Nani?!"
Before Regedor could react, he found himself covered in a massive amount of mud and rocks, layer upon layer, wrapping him like a giant cocoon.
Sensing the danger, Roberts also reacted quickly. He swiftly stepped forward, the Gae Bulg in his hand, like a rampaging dragon, thrusting towards Lavishur's face.
Clang—!
Cross intercepted Roberts, striking the blade of Gae Bulg with his Shusui, deflecting the attack.
At this moment, Lavishur regained some clarity from his rage. Seeing Cross's reddened face, he quickly returned a portion of the air to Cross's vicinity.
"Huff... huff..."
Cross greedily inhaled the fresh air, giving Lavishur a thumbs-up with his left hand.
Rumble—!
At that moment, the large quantity of mud and rocks encasing Regedor exploded, freeing him from Lavishur's restraint.
"You bastard! Give the air back!"
His face flushed, his expression ferocious, veins bulging on his forehead, he roared like a wild beast and charged forward. In a few strides, he leaped, soaring directly over Cross's head like a large bird, throwing a punch at Lavishur.
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