Wind and Rain in His Face!

He had considered replicating his fight with Byrnndi World, making the most of his durability, high health, and high recovery to wear down the opponent.

But that brief exchange just now has proven that this simply won't work!

First, his Anubis was sealed by Redfield's mind-reading ability, making it impossible for him to conceal himself. Second, the latter's speed was comparable to Bondi Byrnndi World at Hundredfold Speed, and he could easily keep up with Redfield's teleportation speed over short to medium distances.

His durability is also not very optimistic. The huge difference in strength means that even his full-force punch cannot withstand one umbrella from the other party. He estimates that if the other party hits him with five or six more umbrellas, it would be enough to seriously injure him, a serious injury that his Photosynthetic Energy cannot even recover in time!

"Damn it, this guy is my nemesis." Vidal looked down at the long cut on his chest that ran from his collarbone to his waist.

It seems that he didn't completely dodge Redfield's Flying Slash. Instead, he transmitted his consciousness into the tree branch connecting the Nine Pillar Domain and the Oxhead Battleship the instant it touched his back.

"Luckily, there was no Haki in the Flying Slash, otherwise I would have been seriously injured if not killed!" Vidal sighed inwardly with lingering fear.

His Woods-Woods Fruit is Special Paramecia, which inherently possesses wood elemental properties. Without the addition of Haki, it cannot cause any damage; the cuts only look somewhat terrifying.

To be honest, he himself wasn't sure Woods-Woods Fruit was Logia or Special Paramecia. After all, neither he nor his predecessors had any record of Awakening. Once Awakening, they would know what type the fruit was.

[Bang!]

"Commodore!" At that moment, the hatch suddenly opened, and Major Rogers, Captain Rabani, and the manatee rushed out.

"Wow!"

"What are you doing out here? Go back!" Vidal's expression changed drastically, but the manatee ignored him and charged into his arms, leaving him with no choice but to hold it helplessly.

"Commodore, let's go together! We have over a thousand soldiers and this warship!" Captain Rabani shouted. In his view, the combat power of a thousand-strong headquarters warship was enough to fight even against a pirate with a bounty of over a billion.

This wasn't just his idea; it was the idea of many naval personnel. But Vidal scoffed, "Rogers, tell me, how much impact can a single warship have on Sengoku- sensei?"

Major Rogers paused for a moment, then, facing the gazes of Rabani and Isoka beside him, sighed, "One strike is enough to cripple a warship, two strikes to sink it, but it won't do any harm to Admiral Sengoku unless he stands there and lets all the cannon fire without using Haki or his abilities."

"What should we do?" Isoka covered her mouth in horror, looking at the sea behind Vidal. Her words silenced everyone, including Vidal, because he didn't know what to do either.

Should we directly expend a large amount of our internal energy to make the warship fly again?

If they could fly out of this cloud-shrouded sea and land in a place with bright, sunny skies, they might be able to continue to widen the distance and hold out until reinforcements from the G-2 Branch arrive.

But who knows how vast this cloud-shrouded sea is? Moreover, the climate along the Grand Line is incredibly unpredictable, with far more bad weather than good. If we lose this gamble, won't we be left with no choice but to await our doom?

The energy required to propel a warship carrying thousands of people into the sky and span over ten kilometers is no joke; it consumes several times more energy than the energy spewed out by the Apis Divine Bull, enough to deplete one-third of its reserves in a single burst.

In addition, after just unleashing several powerful moves in succession, including Nativity of a World of Trees, Nine Pillar Domain, Apis Divine Bull, and Giant Horn, a third of his health is already gone!

With virtually no energy replenishment available, this is undoubtedly a high-stakes gamble.

"But if I don't gamble, I might die here." Vidal no longer hesitated. He glanced at Redfield, who had reappeared in his sight, gritted his teeth, and slapped the Oxhead's head, pouring his Photosynthetic Energy into it. Instantly, the Oxhead emitted a golden light.

"Get in the cabin now, let's fly one more time!"

After saying that, he threw the manatee to Major Roger. Once everyone had returned to the cabin and closed the hatch, he didn't even bother to check if they had found a place to stand. He immediately activated the 'Sun's Holy Wheel'.

The next moment, the Oxhead Battleship once again spewed out a dazzling, scorching beam of light, accompanied by countless waves, and shot straight into the dark clouds in the sky, flying at high speed towards the distant sea. This left Redfield was chasing after it, somewhat speechless.

"If this little guy keeps flying like this, I really won't be able to handle him. But why did he separate from the warship in the first place and risk staying to fight me?"

Redfield isn't someone who doesn't think things through; or rather, a skill- and speed-based player like him isn't the type to recklessly charge in without thinking.

Regardless, he decided to catch up first. He increased his speed, thinking about Vidal's Devil Fruit ability as he chased. Although he was not a Devil Fruit user, he had encountered countless Devil Fruit users and knew that no Devil Fruit ability or technique was perfect.

There must be something fishy about his actions just now!

Vidal and Redfield were once again locked in a stalemate of chasing and running. Meanwhile, when the Oxhead Battleship fell into the sea for the third time, Vidal was utterly desperate. He tilted his head back, letting the wind and rain lash his face, and looked at the increasingly gloomy dark clouds with a bitter smile.

"We just left the overcast sea area and encountered a storm. Or was what we saw before just the outer edge of this storm? But isn't the storm's range a bit too wide? Damn it, heavens!!"

"Am I really going to die here?" At this moment, he didn't even know whether the water streaming down his face was rain or tears.

Redfield's terrifying strength completely eliminated any possibility of him defeating his opponent, even if the opponent's strength might not be as great as Whitebeard or Golden Lion.

But what difference does it make to him now?

He can't beat any of them!

But then again, if he had encountered someone like Whitebeard or Golden Lion, he probably could have escaped, Vidal thought to himself with a touch of self-deprecation.

But he happened to run into the Red Count, someone he couldn't escape even if he wanted to. Coupled with this wretched, monstrous weather, he experienced for the first time the despair of having no way out.

Schemes, plans, and backup plans are utterly powerless against top-tier powerhouses.

"Eh--"

Vidal sighed, turned to the group that had emerged again, and calmly said, "As before, you go first. I'll hold Redfield off. Once we've created some distance, I'll run back."

After saying that, he turned around and leaped off the deck. Rogers and the others looked at each other, not seeing anything wrong. After all, they were already familiar with this tactic, and it had always been effective.

They took one last look at Vidal's retreating figure before quickly returning to the cabin to prepare for departure.

"Call--"

Vidal stood on the wooden plank on the sea surface without looking back, but his Observation Haki clearly sensed that the warship was getting further and further away from him.

"Since Redfield came to me, there's no need to take you all down with me. I hope Bullet can take good care of my parents for me."

For a moment, the faces of Cornell, Enid, Bullet, Enel, Rosinante, Sengoku, Zephyr, Sora, Borsalino, Sakazuki, and others flashed through Vidal's mind. In the end, all of them dissipated, leaving only Bullet.

"You brat, even if you don't acknowledge me as your adoptive father, you should at least acknowledge your family. We're family." He gazed wistfully at the deadly shadow that had reappeared on the horizon and sighed softly.