Just as Hina's iron bars swept forward, Alvida dove headfirst, aiming to slip through the gap.
But Hina suddenly tightened the closing, intending to trap her.
To her surprise, the moment the bars touched Alvida's waist, it was as though they had brushed against a slippery fish—Alvida slid right through!
Before Alvida could land and rise, however, a cloud of smoke pressed against the back of her head and smashed her to the deck with a loud bang.
The one who struck was Smoker. He shot Hina a quick glance.
Without hesitation, Hina drew out a strangely shaped pistol and fired at Alvida.
Bang!
A net burst forth from the muzzle, wrapping tightly around Alvida like a lasso.
Alvida tried to struggle, but a sudden weakness swept through her body, and she immediately realized the truth.
This net was infused with the one thing Devil Fruit users feared apart from seawater—seastone!
Seastone was a rare substance, the crystallized form of the sea itself, carrying effects nearly identical to seawater. Naturally, it could rob Devil Fruit users of their strength.
The special rounds fired from Hina's pistol were "prison bullets," containing fragments of seastone, crafted specifically to restrain Devil Fruit users.
The commotion on deck was so loud that even Buggy, who had been busy bombarding the fortress ashore, finally noticed something was wrong. When he turned around, he saw Alvida completely entangled in the net, unable to move.
He recognized the prison bullets instantly, his heart tightening in shock. And then, before he could react further, Smoker lunged toward him, brandishing his jitte and swinging down at him with force.
The jitte's tip was also tipped with seastone, though not nearly as effective as the prison bullets.
Seeing the attack coming at full force, Buggy didn't hesitate—his body split apart, dodging the strike with ease.
Smoker was about to pursue when a claw suddenly shot straight through his back and out his chest.
For an ordinary man, such a wound would be fatal. But Smoker merely narrowed his eyes and turned, facing the man in the black suit who had struck him—Captain Kuro.
"'Hundred Plans' Kuro, huh?" Smoker sized him up, recognizing his identity.
Kuro, stunned, saw that the claw he had driven in pierced nothing but smoke. Startled, he withdrew using his "Silent Step."
So this was the power of a Logia?
But Smoker immediately gave chase with the Navy's "Soru," moving even faster.
His White Blow shot forward, stretching far beyond his body, and hurtled toward Kuro's face.
Kuro hurriedly raised his claws to block.
But in that instant, Smoker's fist turned jet-black. The impact smashed into Kuro's claws with such force that it blasted him away like a cannonball, sending him crashing through the ship's cabin.
Almost simultaneously, Hina twisted her body into a kick that released a cutting wave of energy. The off-guard Hatchan was struck directly on his old wound, collapsing in a spray of blood.
This too was one of the Navy's Rokushiki arts—Rankyaku.
Hovering in midair, Buggy saw Alvida trapped in a seastone net, Kuro blasted into the cabin, and Hatchan bleeding heavily on the deck. In an instant, he was the only one left standing. Panic welled in his chest.
Smoker glanced up at him, then surged into the sky as smoke, aiming to finish Buggy as well.
But then a sharp cry from Tina rang out:
"Behind you!"
Whoosh—
Thanks to his Observation Haki, Smoker barely managed to sidestep the incoming tentacle. He spun around and swung his jitte at the figure that had suddenly appeared behind him—Davy Jones.
But the weapon was caught in a massive crab claw.
And to Smoker's shock, that claw was infused with Armament Haki!
No wonder Hina had warned him!
Crack!
With a single squeeze, Davy Jones snapped Smoker's jitte clean in two.
Then, several tentacles slashed down at Smoker like blades, torrents of seawater flowing along their edges.
"Iron Body!"
Smoker knew full well that turning to smoke was useless against Armament Haki. At such close range, his only option was to defend with the Rokushiki's iron-hard technique.
But Davy Jones's power was overwhelming. His shifting, whip-like tentacles hacked down with crushing force, carving a diagonal gash from Smoker's shoulder to his waist.
Pain wracked him, his head thrown back, teeth clenched so tightly he refused to cry out.
"Davy Jones!"
From the side came a sharp voice—followed by a crescent-shaped Rankyaku slash!
It severed Davy Jones's left crab claw completely. Yet before it could hit the deck, threads writhed out and reattached it to his arm, the wound sealing as though nothing had happened.
Smoker stared, stunned, as the claw reformed. His mind went blank.
Every plan, every strategy, collapsed in an instant.
If Davy Jones could endlessly regenerate—then how could they possibly defeat him?
Davy Jones landed on the rain-slick deck, the storm raging around him.
Tina, not far away, had launched the Rankyaku. She too was shaken by his regeneration, momentarily frozen.
Then she forced herself forward with Soru, firing another prison bullet straight at him.
That had to be a Devil Fruit ability.
She was certain only a Devil Fruit could grant such monstrous powers.
But even wrapped in the seastone net, Davy Jones showed no weakness at all. He merely raised a tentacle and flung the net aside.
He glanced at it calmly.
"There's something strange in this… it carries the power of the sea. No wonder Alvida couldn't break free."
Hina froze mid-step, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"Hina cannot understand…"
Her pink hair, soaked through by the rain, clung to her face.
"If he were a Devil Fruit user, the prison bullet should have worked. But if he isn't… then how can he have such terrifying abilities?"
Once again, her gaze locked with Davy Jones's through the rain. The seed of fear planted in her heart began to sprout.
To Hina's eyes, Davy Jones no longer even looked human. He was a writhing monster covered in countless tentacles, each sucker flexing open and shut, making her skin crawl.
"Hina!" Smoker's voice rang from the other side of the deck, blood streaming from his wound. "Vice Admiral Garp is right behind us!"
But no matter how he called, Hina stood frozen, as if bewitched.
"What in the world… what is this thing?"
Even Smoker had to admit: since the moment this sea battle began, far too many unexpected things had happened.
Davy Jones was far more dangerous than they had imagined.
Worse, his powers defied all logic. No one could explain where his strength came from.
But they had to buy time. Vice Admiral Garp was almost here.
Even if it meant betting his life.
Smoker let his blood flow freely, no longer bothering to clutch his wound. He flashed forward with Soru, aiming for what should have been Davy Jones's blind spot.
His smoke extended his attack's reach, his fists hardened with Armament Haki as he threw himself into a desperate strike.
But Davy Jones had Observation Haki as well.
Without even turning, four tentacles rose to block every one of Smoker's blows.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each punch landed, blood splattering onto the deck from Smoker's chest wound. But he ground his teeth, refusing to relent.
All until Davy Jones's severed arm had fully regenerated.
Then, in an instant, Davy Jones vanished from Smoker's sight and reappeared at his flank.
Smoker's Observation Haki screamed a warning, and he tried to react—but his injuries were too severe. The crab claw slammed into his chest wound.
Slash!
Blood sprayed into the storm.
This time, Smoker couldn't hold back his cry of pain.
His body was hurled across the deck, colliding with Hina and knocking them both to the ground.
"How stubborn."
Even Davy Jones had to acknowledge Smoker's unyielding resolve. He moved forward to finish them—when an aged voice called from above.
"Smoker! Hina! Fall back!"
A white-bearded man in a Marine uniform, wearing a dog-head cap, had caught up to the Terror Ghost using Geppo and Soru!
Understanding instantly, Smoker used the last of his strength to turn into smoke, wrapping Hina and carrying them both toward the shores of Reverse Mountain.
Meanwhile, the Terror Ghost finally crested the peak of Reverse Mountain.
The only path left was down, plunging with the current.