"Ace, you idiot! It's one thing to know about it, but did you have to announce it out loud? Do you understand the concept of covert operations?" Deuce scolded as he gathered everyone together and turned to flee.
However, after running only a short distance, they spotted another Marine unit approaching from ahead.
"Those guys! They're also part of Leviathan's crew!" came a shout from the first Marine unit that had arrived, prompting the second group to immediately spring into action.
Caught in a pincer movement from front and back, the crew had no choice but to fight their way through.
Carina wielded both pistol and dagger while coordinating with Kotatsu. Carrot shifted into combat mode, keeping watch over everyone's flanks.
Deuce gripped a dagger and charged forward alongside Skull. Fortunately, the arrivals were just ordinary Marines led by a lieutenant—no senior officers among them.
After observing Deuce's precise scalpel work during their recent training, Jerry had suggested he try fighting with daggers instead, and the results had been surprisingly effective.
Skull was skilled in both close-quarters and firearms combat, and their recent weight training had improved both his speed and strength considerably.
With Ace also rushing over to help clear a path, the small group was able to break through the encirclement and escape with relative ease.
"Fire Fist, there you are!" a familiar voice called out.
As everyone was making their escape, a sword slash suddenly appeared from the side. It was Isuka intercepting them.
"Keep running—I'll hold them off," Ace declared, stopping to provide cover for the others.
With Isuka's arrival, several Marine officers also appeared, including what looked to be a Commodore or Rear Admiral.
Ace wasn't particularly concerned about the officer's rank, but he knew he couldn't let the enemy coordinate their attacks freely, or it would become even more difficult for everyone to escape.
Rank didn't necessarily represent absolute strength, but well-prepared officers and Marines working together shouldn't be underestimated in terms of numbers and tactical advantage.
With this in mind, Ace aimed at the pursuing Marines and formed his fists into gun shapes. The dancing flames at his fingertips had evolved far beyond his early abilities—through extensive training, Ace had mastered his fruit powers with remarkable precision.
The basic principle was simple: hit whatever he aimed at. Once struck by his flame bullets, the fire wasn't as easily extinguished as ordinary flames and would burn for much longer periods.
Clearly, Ace's fire abilities had developed to a much higher level than before.
Like a machine gun, he directed countless small fireballs toward his targets, single-handedly suppressing the Marine's firepower advantage.
After discovering that ordinary bullets had no effect on Ace, the Marines were forced to scramble for cover or seek nearby shelter when his rapid musket attacks came their way.
"Crescent Slash!" Isuka cried out, swinging her sword rapidly to release several cutting waves of sword energy that neutralized part of his flame bullet barrage before charging toward Ace behind her attack.
Several other commander-level officers, led by the rear admiral, helped their soldiers resist the enemy attacks using their own techniques.
Faced with Ace's indiscriminate assault, the Marine was temporarily forced to abandon their pursuit of Deuce's group and focus entirely on dealing with him.
"You guys take the long way around and continue chasing those other pirates. I'll handle Fire Fist," the commanding officer ordered.
"Yes, Rear Admiral Briggs!" came the unified response.
After the musket barrage ended, Rear Admiral Briggs, who was leading the unit, ordered the others to detour around and pursue Deuce's group. He then equipped seastone brass knuckles and flew toward Ace, who was engaged in combat with Isuka.
Ace was fighting Isuka with practiced ease and was about to continue obstructing the Marine when he noticed the rear admiral launching a sneak attack from behind.
Even though he couldn't detect any signs of this man using Haki, Ace instinctively avoided the assault.
One glance at the brass knuckles told him immediately where that subtle sense of danger was coming from.
"Hmph! So what if you figured it out? Take another punch!" Briggs snarled.
Though his sneak attack had failed and his weapon's secret had been discovered instantly, Rear Admiral Briggs didn't seem concerned. He continued moving his powerful frame forward for another strike.
Although Isuka didn't want to gang up on Ace with others, the tactical situation forced her compliance—she didn't have the authority to make that call. Reluctantly, she swung her sword to coordinate with Briggs's attack.
"You're the one who's about to take my punch!" Ace countered.
Knowing he couldn't afford to make contact with the seastone, Ace quickly retreated two steps, swung his arms, and launched a blazing fist strike at Briggs.
As a rear admiral, Briggs felt confident he was no pushover, even though he hadn't yet fully mastered Armament Haki. He didn't believe his own techniques, combined with a seastone weapon, would be insufficient to withstand this fruit-powered attack.
"Haaah! Crushing Blow!" he roared.
"It's hot! Hot, hot, hot!" he immediately screamed afterward.
As it turned out, he could resist—just not very well.
Briggs's attack could only neutralize the flames directly around his fist, but the fire covering the rest of his body proved too much. The shockwave from Ace's technique blasted him backward while setting his hair and uniform pants ablaze.
Briggs tumbled backward, frantically slapping at his burning hair and clothing.
After extinguishing the flames, his once-flowing hair had been reduced to a patchy, adult-pattern baldness, and burn marks appeared across the scorched areas, causing him considerable pain.
Since Briggs had absorbed most of the punch's force from the front, Isuka was able to withstand the remaining aftermath from behind.
When she finished her defensive maneuver and looked up, she found that Ace had vanished once again.
"Don't think you can escape!" she called out.
Guessing that Ace was going to provide more cover for Deuce's group, Isuka quickly gave chase in the right direction.
While Skull and the others made their escape, Jerry was engaged in passionate combat with Gion.
He hadn't drawn his fishing rod to fight simply out of stubbornness or foolishness. After acquiring weapon mastery, he still wasn't particularly interested in traditional sword techniques.
However, he'd been surprised to discover that he was remarkably adept with the fishing rod in his hand—his Supreme Fishing Rod. He could manipulate it at will, moving it as freely as if it were part of his own body.
Perhaps it was because he'd been holding the fishing rod for so long that he'd long since come to view it as an extension of himself.
For long-distance combat, he could use the fishing line; for close-range fighting, he could use the rod itself.
Of course, the fishing line's long-range attack power was still much weaker than direct combat. Even so, he could now confidently draw his fishing rod and participate in serious battles.
After all, he could coordinate attacks using the fishing rod in one hand and his fist in the other, and he was already accustomed to using his entire body as a weapon—the rod didn't feel like an impediment at all.
Therefore, it was rare to encounter a master swordswoman, and for the moment he didn't sense any other Marine forces on the island that could pose a major threat to him.
He wanted to test just how far his Supreme Fishing Rod could take him in serious combat.
Gion moved with graceful elegance, wielding the famous sword Kinpila with such fluid skill that one might think she was dancing—beautiful yet deadly.
When she had seen those slaves emerge, thank the pirates in front of them, and then flee, Gion had actually felt conflicted.
She knew exactly what kind of establishment this was and didn't want to trouble those slaves, but duty as a Marine meant she'd had to respond to the emergency call.
Gion had been content to engage Jerry when he took the initiative to attack—this way, she didn't have to worry about whether to stop those slaves.
After seeing their own forces arrive only to be led away by Fire Fist and his friends, she stopped worrying about the situation and decided to let her colleagues handle the others while she focused on fighting this pirate in front of her, whose capabilities she hadn't yet fully assessed.
The two had been fighting for some time. When the other Marine officers went to pursue Ace's group, Gion gripped her sword with both hands, the blade flashing with brilliant light as countless sword beams shot out instantly.
"Cherry Blossom Sword Rain!" she called out.
Their earlier exchange had been spirited but restrained—Gion hadn't actually used such serious techniques until now.
Seeing the attack approaching, Jerry prepared his counter
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