Vice Admiral Dalmatia was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user capable of maintaining his hybrid human-beast form for extended periods. Compared to Logia and Paramecia types, Zoan-type Devil Fruits excel at significantly enhancing the user's physical attributes. Features such as horns, teeth, claws, fur, and tails also receive substantial reinforcement.
As a Vice Admiral of the Marines' Headquarters, Dalmatia was a master of the Rokushiki (Six Powers) and proficient in Haki. Even alone, he had absolute confidence in his ability to deal with Dampier and his group. After all, despite the chaos Dampier and his crew had caused over the past few days, forcing Garp and the other Marines into a frenzy, they had consistently avoided direct confrontation. Even now, with only a single Vice Admiral stationed in Kalmar City, they continued to rely on covert tactics, a clear sign that they lacked confidence in winning a head-on battle.
Stepping into the air with Moonwalk (Geppo), Dalmatia moved forward as if walking on solid ground, rapidly disappearing from the view of T. Penn and Gin.
As T. Penn watched anxiously in the direction Dalmatia had left, Gin cast a subtle glance at him and the two subordinates standing behind him.
Gin had been planted as an insider within the prison by William's crew. His role was to relay information and ensure that critical situations remained under control. His presence here was made possible by his deliberate injury during the battle against Buggy, where he allowed himself to be stabbed. Although Garp and the Marines were short on manpower, they couldn't send the bandaged Gin to guard Tequila Wolf.
However, this also meant that Vice Admiral Dalmatia didn't entirely trust Gin to handle the prison and William, fearing he might not be able to manage alone.
"It won't be long before the mob causing the commotion at the execution platform arrives here. We should prepare by devising a battle plan based on the surrounding terrain. While these commoners are no match for us, we should still avoid unnecessary casualties," Gin suggested.
Despite his rough and fearsome appearance, T. Penn was a soft-hearted officer who cared deeply for his soldiers. Upon hearing Gin's suggestion, he nodded in agreement. Whether it was civilians or his own troops, he hated to see unnecessary losses caused by poor command.
The two headed toward the command building together, followed by a squad of neatly uniformed Marines who trailed behind Gin.
T. Penn glanced back at the unfamiliar faces but didn't think much of it. Due to the recent shortage of Marine personnel and frequent redeployments, many officers from the headquarters who had been temporarily assigned to various bases in the East Blue had returned to the city, bringing local Marines with them. T. Penn assumed these were subordinates Gin had brought from one of the bases.
The prison holding William was formerly a detention center under the National Security Bureau, originally used for investigating alcohol smuggling. Adjacent to it was the bureau's office building, which Dalmatia had repurposed as his command center.
After entering the office building, Gin instructed the few Marines stationed inside to leave and guard the prison instead, replacing them with the men he and T. Penn had brought. T. Penn saw no reason to question this arrangement.
The two entered a conference room with a detailed map of the prison and its surrounding area hanging on the wall. T. Penn stepped in first, his attention immediately drawn to the map directly facing the door. Behind him came a faint "click" as a spring-loaded mechanism locked the door. It took T. Penn a second to register the sound, and he turned around in confusion to see Gin locking the door.
Just as T. Penn opened his mouth to ask what was going on, Gin struck with lightning speed. His fist, as heavy as an iron whip, smashed into T. Penn's helmet, shattering it into pieces. Taken completely off guard by this betrayal, T. Penn staggered backward, his head spinning.
Before T. Penn's feet could even leave the ground, Gin's fist transitioned into a claw, grabbing T. Penn's arm and yanking him forward. At the same time, Gin drove his knee upward with brutal force, slamming into T. Penn's chest.
T. Penn, known as the "Ship-Cleaving Swordsman," was a master of swordsmanship. Gin knew that if T. Penn had the chance to draw his dual-handed sword, his powerful strikes and techniques could easily alert the nearby Marines guarding the prison. Thus, Gin pressed his advantage with relentless close-quarters combat, giving T. Penn no room to retaliate.
Smack!
Another sharp impact echoed as T. Penn barely managed to react, raising his arm to block Gin's knee. However, the block was hasty and lacked preparation. Against Gin's overwhelming strength, T. Penn only managed to deflect part of the force. Gin's knee still struck his chest with enough power to send him reeling backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Seizing the opportunity, Gin drew T. Penn's dual-handed sword from his waist.
Pale-faced and desperate, T. Penn turned and bolted toward the conference room door. He wasn't running out of cowardice but to sound the alarm. Though his mind was still clouded with confusion, it was clear that Gin had betrayed them. T. Penn had to alert the other Marines to the anomaly before Gin's deception caused further damage.
T. Penn knew full well the danger of exposing his back to a fighter of Gin's caliber. Predictably, Gin showed no mercy, swinging the dual-handed sword and landing a slash across T. Penn's back. Despite the searing pain, T. Penn pushed through, crashing through the conference room door and into the hallway.
Coughing up another mouthful of blood, T. Penn stumbled forward a few steps, preparing to shout for help. But before he could make a sound, a tall, uniformed Marine came sprinting toward him from the other end of the hallway.
At first, T. Penn felt a glimmer of hope. But his relief quickly turned to dread as he realized this young Marine might not be able to handle Gin. He tried to warn him to flee, but before he could utter a word, the Marine closed the distance with astonishing speed, showing no intention of stopping.
Like a linebacker, the Marine slammed into T. Penn, wrapping his arms around him and pinning both of T. Penn's arms. With a powerful heave, the Marine lifted T. Penn off the ground and slammed him onto the floor.
For T. Penn, who was already wounded from the sword slash on his back, the impact was excruciating. Struggling with all his might, he unleashed a burst of strength in a desperate fight for survival. Although the young Marine had been praised for his strength since childhood, he found it difficult to maintain his grip on T. Penn.
However, beneath the Marine's cap was a pair of bloodthirsty eyes. With both hands occupied, the Marine lowered his head and sank his teeth into T. Penn's throat.
T. Penn's eyes widened in shock, his mouth opening in a hoarse, rasping cry. The sound of crunching bone and tearing flesh echoed as the Marine tore a chunk of meat from T. Penn's neck. Blood sprayed in all directions.
T. Penn's mouth moved as if trying to speak. Blood gurgled from the wound in his neck, and his body convulsed. He weakly raised his right hand, as if attempting to cover the wound, but his arm fell limp halfway, and the light faded from his eyes.
The Marine spat out the chunk of flesh, casually wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. This motion stained the bear paw tattoo on his hand a deep, ominous red.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨ patreon.com/GoldenLong]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━