"So those villagers died miserably because of us?" Bai Chuan asked through clenched teeth.
"Exactly. Because of you," Rogge said coldly. "So go down and accompany them."
"But they were your own people!"
"Hmph. A bunch of lowly peasants. Isn't it only right for them to die for the country?" Rogge showed not the slightest trace of pity, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Shanks, Buggy, you two find a chance and get Katherine Lin out of here," Bai Chuan said quickly. "I'll do my best to hold him back."
"Leave?" Rogge scoffed. "Too late."
In an instant, Rogge became a blur.
Bai Chuan gripped his blade with both hands and held it in front of his chest.
Bang!
The sword split on the spot. Rogge's fist punched straight through the defense and slammed into Bai Chuan.
"Armament Haki!" Seeing Rogge's arm turn pitch-black, Bai Chuan knew he couldn't block it. He couldn't dodge either. All he could do was take it head-on.
"Hurts…" Bai Chuan's vision went dark. He rolled across the ground several times before finally stopping.
"Bai Chuan!" Shanks and the other two cried out anxiously. Tears even spilled from Katherine Lin's eyes.
"Damn you!" Shanks snarled. "I'll kill you!"
He didn't even think about whether he could win anymore. He only wanted to fight to the death.
But that kind of reckless charge was doomed to be useless.
Shanks couldn't take a single hit either. He dropped to the ground and passed out.
"Shanks!" Buggy forgot his fear completely. He wanted to rush in too, without thinking.
"Stop, Buggy," Bai Chuan said, forcing himself back up. "Don't be impulsive."
His voice was weak, but it carried an unshakable firmness.
"Oh?" Rogge looked surprised when he saw Bai Chuan standing again. "Not dead yet?"
"Dead? I won't die." Bai Chuan took a deep breath, forcing his breathing steady.
"Is that so?"
Rogge attacked again.
He was so fast Bai Chuan couldn't react at all. He could only feel the blows landing on him, like he was nothing but a living target.
"Damn it!" Bai Chuan roared, and a violent wave of Conqueror's Haki burst outward.
This was the first time since mastering Conqueror's Haki that Bai Chuan fully released it.
The shockwave snapped nearby trees. Buggy and Katherine Lin, caught in the edge of it, shuddered in terror, and that was with Bai Chuan deliberately avoiding them.
If he hadn't, they might've fainted instantly, maybe even dropped dead on the spot.
"Conqueror's Haki, interesting." Rogge's lips curled into an intrigued smile. "But this intensity is scary. It actually makes me feel suppressed."
Then Rogge's own Conqueror's Haki flared.
The two pressures collided.
Even Buggy and Katherine Lin, whom Bai Chuan had tried to protect, immediately passed out.
"As I thought. You have Conqueror's Haki too." Bai Chuan's expression grew heavier and heavier.
"Oh? You knew?"
"I could guess," Bai Chuan said. "The strongest man of a nation having Conqueror's Haki isn't surprising. And besides, this is the New World."
"Hahaha!" Rogge laughed proudly at that.
"But I'm not going to waste time with you anymore," Rogge said, his tone turning sharp. In the contest of Conqueror's Haki, he'd been at a disadvantage, and maybe to save face, he said it like that.
Then, at the same time, both of them withdrew their Haki, and the surroundings instantly returned to silence.
"Actually," Rogge said suddenly, "I don't think we need to fight like our lives depend on it. Just let me take Katherine Lin, and we're done. How about it?"
"No." Bai Chuan refused without hesitation.
"In that case, I'll end this quickly." Rogge's voice turned ice-cold. The killing intent rolling off him was so clear Bai Chuan could feel it in his bones.
Strike first.
Bai Chuan's sword was already shattered, so he could only attack with his fists.
What surprised him was that he actually landed a hit on Rogge's face.
But it did nothing.
Rogge had already defended with Armament Haki.
Before Bai Chuan could even process it, Rogge's Armament-coated hand drove into Bai Chuan's abdomen like an uppercut, launching him straight into the air.
But Rogge didn't stop.
He leapt up after him. When Bai Chuan was about to reach the peak of his flight, Rogge clasped both hands together and hammered down with a brutal downward smash.
Boom!
Bai Chuan was slammed into the ground, blasting out a massive crater.
"Immortal?" Rogge sneered. "How could there be an immortal person?"
Just as Rogge was about to take Katherine Lin and leave, he suddenly froze.
Because he could feel it.
The white-haired boy's life aura was slowly recovering.
Rogge whipped his head around, staring in disbelief. "What's going on? How are you still alive?"
"I told you." Bai Chuan struggled to speak, broken and uneven. "I won't die."
"I get it." Rogge's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "Some kind of recovery-type Devil Fruit ability. Interesting."
His gaze on Bai Chuan turned dangerous, like he was staring at an experimental specimen.
"Let me see just how much your fruit can endure."
Rogge slammed a knee up into Bai Chuan's chin, knocking several teeth flying out.
But he still didn't stop.
He grabbed Bai Chuan's head, forced his mouth open, and watched as the teeth began to slowly grow back.
"Interesting. Really interesting." Then he knocked out several more teeth again.
"Damn it…" Bai Chuan clenched his fists, filled with unwilling rage, but he couldn't resist at all.
He could already foresee the torture waiting for him.
"Let go of me." Every time he regenerated, it drained huge amounts of stamina, and the healing speed was getting slower and slower.
"Oh, I can let you go," Rogge said lightly. "You can beg me. Like those lowly peasants did. Beg me to spare you."
"Pah."
Bai Chuan spat straight in his face.
The moment Rogge felt that filth on his skin, his expression turned savage. Furious, he seized Bai Chuan by the head and slammed him down hard.
"Since you want to die so badly," Rogge snarled, "I'll grant your wish."
"Aren't you 'immortal'?" Rogge said coldly. "Then let's see if you can still live after I smash your head off."
He picked up a cleaver from the ground, who knew which bandit corpse it belonged to.
Stepping on Bai Chuan's body, he raised the blade, ready to chop down.
At that exact moment, a figure flashed in beside him and smashed Rogge away with a single punch.
Bai Chuan lifted his head and saw who it was.
A relieved smile crossed his face.
Then he passed out.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)