"I never intended to submit to anyone," Hawkins said, still calm and cold. "Especially since I specifically performed a divination today. The prophecy said I was not fated to die today."
"Not necessarily!" Ronglin waved at Caesar. "People make mistakes now and then. Getting something wrong is perfectly normal."
Whoosh! At Ronglin's signal, Caesar's entire body turned into elements. Clouds of gas burst apart and spread in every direction, instantly filling the entire room with thick vapor!
"Cut him down! Cough, cough!" Several pirates choked violently on the gas. Raising their swords, they slashed wildly through the smoke. But their ordinary attacks had no effect on Caesar whatsoever; every strike missed.
"I told you not to struggle on your last legs!" Caesar sneered as he drifted through the gas he had created. With a wave of both hands, he used his Devil Fruit ability to suck all the oxygen out of the mist.
"Urgh! I can't breathe!" Within the room shrouded in gas, pirate after pirate clutched at their throats and shrieked with rolled-back eyes. Deprived of oxygen, their minds went blank, and they collapsed unconscious one after another.
Buzz! Hawkins finally could not hold back any longer. Since Caesar had acted at Ronglin's instruction, it meant Ronglin had no intention of settling this peacefully. Hawkins was not someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong; he had no fear of fighting.
Sword light flashed as he dashed and slashed through the gas-filled room, repeatedly using fierce winds driven by powerful force to blow the vapor away. But Hawkins's sword aura could not hit Caesar's physical body, and the gas he blew apart instantly closed in again.
"Don't get too cocky!" Hawkins snorted coldly. Sword aura crisscrossed as he spun a ring of sword light around himself, protecting his