"Colonel Smoker!"
"Colonel!"
The soldiers in the distance noticed the scene, their faces filled with shock. Blood Plague Raven's entrance had been bizarre and bloody—it had crawled out of human flesh. Even the well-traveled soldiers could not help but tremble in fear.
"Colonel!"
Tashigi's face turned pale. Just as she was about to rush out, Momonga raised an arm and stopped her.
Ignoring the little boy baring his teeth at him from his shoulder, Momonga said seriously, "No, he's fine."
"What?"
Tashigi was greatly startled. She turned around and, sure enough, as the raven flapped away, the white mist blown apart in Smoker's chest rapidly mended itself. Even his clothes were completely unharmed.
"So that's how it is?"
Lowett frowned slightly. The result was unexpected, yet not surprising.
Without a doubt, this was the most unreasonable, shameless talent of the Logia—the ability of Elementalization!
Aside from elemental counters, Haki, and Seastone, all other physical attacks were incapable of harming Logia users.
It was not only practically invincible in the East Blue and the first half of the Grand Line; even in the New World, Elementalization remained an immensely powerful ability. After all, Elementalization was passive, while Haki was not.
"Whew! Whew!"
Smoke gathered once more to form his chest, and Smoker touched it with lingering fear.
For that instant, he had truly felt as though he was about to be killed.
"What kind of attack was that?"
Why had that bird appeared inside his body?
A faint ache remained in his chest. It was the neural signal transmitted before his vitality had been forcibly drained and his flesh destroyed. Though Elementalization had once again allowed him to ignore the damage, that feeling could not have been wrong.
He abruptly leaped backward to widen the distance, raising his jitte before him with a grave expression.
"I can die!"
Blood Plague Raven had not been completely nullified. Ninety-nine percent of it had been negated, but some damage still remained within him.
Though it was slight, if he allowed it to accumulate, he would still be killed!
"Black Count Lowett... you've got some skill."
White Fist!
With that thought, Smoker threw a punch with utmost seriousness. His arm first turned into white smoke, then carried his fist forward like a long dragon as it charged fiercely at Lowett.
Withered Black Sand!
Sensing the incoming attack, Lowett lifted his head from his thoughts. His left arm also dispersed and swelled, forming a black dragon that crashed into it.
Bang! Bang!
The black and white dragons collided violently, tangled together, then collided again, producing muffled booms through the air.
Such a battle was far beyond what ordinary soldiers could imagine. Watching the white smoke and black sand endlessly scatter and collide in the sky, they all revealed horrified expressions.
Before beings like these, their own methods of fighting seemed as insignificant as children's games.
"But if this continues, I'll definitely be at a disadvantage."
As he controlled the black sand in its battle against the white smoke, Lowett silently considered the matter.
Smoker expended very little effort controlling the white smoke, because his entire body was made of smoke, giving him an inexhaustible supply.
To achieve the same effect, however, Lowett had to apply the Basic Spell—Mental Power Control—to the Withered Black Sand, consuming a massive amount of power.
One gain and one loss. It could not last forever.
"White Hunter Smoker... you've got some skill."
The two of them labeled each other at the same time. Then, a tremendous crash rang out.
Bam!!!
Smoker enlarged his White Fist twofold and slammed it down like a wok, while Lowett similarly enlarged the black sand and rammed it upward without yielding.
Rustle...!
Great swathes of white smoke and black sand splashed apart from the collision. The distant soldiers protected Momonga as they quickly retreated.
The scattered white smoke was not frightening. What was frightening was the black sand!
That rain curtain of death had left an extremely deep impression on the soldiers.
Bang bang bang!
The black sand and white smoke dragons exploded apart inch by inch, filling the air with smoke and dust.
Then, a red flash streaked forward, rapidly approaching Smoker. Without thinking, Smoker raised his jitte and smashed it down.
Roar!
Creak!!
A zombie had just rushed before him and had not even had time to attack before the jitte struck its shoulder.
Overwhelming brute force traveled through its bones, instantly shattering its entire skeleton and crushing it into a limp pile of flesh.
Yet rather than feeling pleased, Smoker was alarmed. His sixth sense told him that this corpse was dangerous.
There was no need to question why. A strong man's instincts were worth trusting.
White Smoke Launcher!
His legs rapidly dissolved into mist, and a burst of force erupted, propelling Smoker upward.
But it was already too late.
Gurgle gurgle!
Bubbles the size of ping-pong balls appeared across the zombie's body, densely swelling like hills. In less than half a second, the entire zombie had expanded to more than double its original size.
Then...
Boom!!!
It exploded violently.
Flesh Magic—Corpse Explosion Technique!
The instantly expanding gas formed visible shockwaves that surged in every direction. Smoker, who had only flown less than three meters away, immediately felt a terrifying impact. Like a cannonball explosion, it sent him flying.
"That bastard..."
Did he have no respect for the dead?
Smoker gritted his teeth inwardly. Just as he prepared to rush back once his body reformed, his expression suddenly changed.
"Damn!!"
At some point, zombies had climbed onto the rooftops near the harbor. While he was still flying backward, they dove toward him in leaps of faith.
He only had time to curse before dozens of zombies exploded at once, engulfing the harbor.
Boom... rumble rumble!!!
The force equivalent to dozens of cannonballs exploding shook the heavens, whipping up waves that swept over the sea.
The Marine formation ahead fell into chaos. The front-line soldiers, who bore the brunt of it, instantly collapsed in droves.
So quiet.
A soldier thought blankly. Then he suddenly felt someone tugging at his shoulder. Turning around, he found his petty officer captain shouting something at him.
Ah, so I've gone deaf.
"Vice Admiral?"
Tashigi crouched on the ground. Only after the blast wave had passed did she carefully raise her head and look at Momonga.
"I don't know!"
Momonga silently shook his head, using both hands to set the little boy, who had been knocked unconscious by the explosion's soundwave, on the ground.
"But I believe in him."
If he had been in Smoker's position, even using Armament Haki, he might have been injured by an explosion of that magnitude.
But Smoker was a Logia, the most shameless of the three Devil Fruit types.
A mere explosion was ineffective against Smoker...
Probably.
Drip...
Bits of rubble fell trailing blue smoke, and the dust slowly dispersed.
At that moment, the entire town harbor had been completely transformed!
The houses that had been reduced to ruins beneath the rain curtain of death had now vanished altogether. The ground had been swept clean as though by rain, covered in yellow sand. Only the radial marks at the center proved what had happened moments ago.
Yellow sand danced through the air, carrying the earthy stench of dirt that stung the nostrils.
Lowett pushed aside the Bone Shield that had blocked the impact for him and looked toward the center.
"Just as expected!"
Streams of white mist floated in midair, gradually sinking into Smoker's arms, shoulders, and back over time. He knelt on one knee, gasping heavily.
Drip...!
A drop of blood slid down his eyelashes and fell into the yellow sand. His gaze became grave as his five fingers pushed aside the sand and gripped his jitte tightly.
"He/I can hurt me/him!!"
That explosion would have been enough to blow a warship to pieces, yet Smoker had relied on his absurd Elementalization physique to withstand ninety-nine percent of the impact.
Only the final, faintest current of air had truly struck him, grazing his scalp.
"I seem to... have found the trick."
The corners of Lowett's lips rose, a gleam flashing through his star-bright eyes.
Noticing the mark on Smoker's body, Tashigi covered her mouth in the rear.
"You've got to be kidding, right?"
"Colonel... he's actually hurt?!"
In Tashigi's memory, ever since she had started following Smoker, this terrifying White Hunter had never been injured.
No matter how frightening the enemy, none had been able to touch Smoker's true body through his Elementalization.
But what was happening now?
Why had Colonel Smoker been injured?
Momonga furrowed his brow tightly and did not answer.
He could not understand it either. Though he had not made a move, his Observation Haki had remained locked onto the two combatants from beginning to end.
There had been no fluctuation of Armament Haki!
Momonga would swear to that.
"An unknown Devil Fruit ability that can harm a Logia to a certain extent..."
Momonga could tell that Smoker had neutralized most of the impact through Elementalization. Otherwise, with enough destructive power to level the surrounding area, Smoker would have been reduced to nothing but bones.
"Perhaps it has something to do with the level of his Devil Fruit development..."
"A terrifying ability!"
His fingers settled onto his sword hilt. Struggle filled Momonga's eyes as he poised himself to strike.
A terrifying... enemy!
Tashigi lifted her head in shock, her little mouth slightly open.
"Th-that can't be true, right?"
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