"Hey, hey, I'm no pirate," Patri Vic said, frowning and speaking in a low voice.
Although he was on Hachinosu Island, he wasn't a pirate.
"Do you think we'll believe that?" A stern-faced Marine raised his rifle and aimed it at Patri Vic.
Hachinosu Island was also known as Pirate Island. Whether Patri Vic was a pirate or not, they'd rather arrest the wrong person than let anyone slip away.
A Marine tossed him a pair of Seastone Handcuffs and said, "You've got three seconds to put these on. Otherwise, we'll open fire."
"Boom!"
As soon as they finished speaking, everyone felt an immense pressure, as if a mountain had crashed down on top of them.
Beads of sweat instantly covered the Marines' foreheads as they stared at Patri Vic in terror.
"Crack!"
As Patri Vic moved, countless cracks spread across the ground, forming a web of fissures like a gigantic ravine.
He didn't have Armament Haki yet, and bullets could be dangerous to him, so Patri Vic didn't give them a chance to count down. He attacked at once.
If he gave in and put on the handcuffs, the Marines would take him away.
Who knew what might happen after that?
········
It didn't take long for Patri Vic to knock out all the Marine soldiers. They were ordinary Marines and had no real strength.
After dealing with them, he didn't plan to stay there any longer and quickly set off. But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed danger coming from behind. A bead of cold sweat broke out, and he instantly dodged.
"Boom!"
A sizable crater appeared in the ground where Patri Vic had just been standing.
"So you managed to dodge it?" Sengoku slowly rose from the small crater and spoke calmly.
"You!" The two looked at each other and spoke almost in unison.
Patri Vic hadn't expected to run into Sengoku again after two months.
Sengoku hadn't expected the man who dodged his punch to be the tavern owner from two months ago.
After two months apart, Sengoku could tell that Patri Vic's strength and presence had grown considerably.
"The Marines' goal is the Rocks Pirates, right? There's no need to come after me," Patri Vic replied calmly, his expression settling.
Since Sengoku was here today, Garp and Tsuru had to be here too. The Marines' goal was to wipe out the Rocks Pirates.
But Rocks had already left, and Patri Vic was probably the only person with any real strength left on Hachinosu Island.
"You may not be with the Rocks Pirates, but you attacked the Marines. For that reason, I can't let you go," Sengoku replied slowly, glancing over the fallen Marines.
"Why don't you get your facts straight? Your Marines attacked me first."
"I don't care. All I saw was you attacking the Marines!"
"·····"
"You son of a— If you want to arrest me, just say so!"
Patri Vic knew a fight today was unavoidable, so he stopped wasting his breath.
Purple steam covered his body as he swung his massive fist at Sengoku.
He was now just 0.1% away from completing Hashirama Senju's template and unlocking Fire Release at 100%.
He hoped fighting Sengoku would help advance his Nintaijutsu progress to 100%.
"Boom!"
Sengoku's expression remained calm as he faced Patri Vic's fist without the slightest fear. He swung his own powerful fist at him.
Their strength collided, unleashing a powerful gust of air. Dust billowed across the ground, nearly swallowing them both.
"You're not weak," Sengoku said. His arm was coated in Armament Haki as he attacked Patri Vic again.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"
Their fists collided again and again, kicking up cloud after cloud of dust.
Even against a serious Sengoku, Patri Vic managed to hold his ground for the time being.
As they fought, Patri Vic once again began to explore the power of Armament Haki.
A force like flowing water welled up within him and spread through his body. Haki was an invisible suit of armor.
The watery force spread over his body, and in an instant, he felt as if he'd suddenly understood something.
His arm seemed to be swallowed by chaos as a mass of black pigment coiled around it. It was Armament Haki!
After probing for so long, he had finally figured out how to use Armament Haki in this fight.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"
With Armament Haki, Patri Vic's attacks became even fiercer.
"You learned Armament Haki while fighting me? Still, it's nothing special," Sengoku said, briefly taken aback but not particularly concerned.
After all, he had learned to use Armament Haki long before Patri Vic.
Their fists continued to clash, destroying a large stretch of ground.
"Who's Sengoku fighting?" Garp and Tsuru arrived nearby and asked in surprise.
A large number of Marines followed behind them.
They had only discovered that the Rocks Pirates had already set sail and left when they landed on the island.
Only ordinary pirates remained there.
They had thought they could retreat easily once they found Sengoku, but now it seemed he'd run into a formidable opponent.
"Wait... isn't that the tavern owner from two months ago?" Tsuru said in surprise.
Two months earlier, their identities had been exposed, but Patri Vic hadn't reported them.
That had left an impression on them.
Garp had even fought Patri Vic himself.
"He was pretty strong two months ago, but now he can actually go toe-to-toe with Sengoku," Garp said, somewhat unsettled.
"So there's a strong fighter on this island?" Navy Admiral Krieg stepped up beside Garp, his expression calm and his arms folded across his chest.
·····
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