Why switch?!

Although she was briefly confused, Tashigi quickly adjusted her mindset.

Yes, the Straw Hat Pirates are not exactly heinous pirates.

In a sense, they could be considered good people on the high seas, as evidenced by their willingness to save Dressrosa.

But!

It was precisely because of this that Tashigi saw her own insignificance.

If she were strong enough, would there be no need for the Shichibukai?

Will we no longer see situations where pirates are needed to save a country?

After figuring this out, the confusion in Tashigi's eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by a desire to become stronger.

At this moment, she no longer insisted on forcibly taking Zoro's Swords, but instead planned to use this battle to hone herself, and then pursue her ideals after gaining greater strength.

Then, Tashigi took a step forward, and her previously scattered momentum coalesced once more!

"Um?"

Zoro, keenly sensing the change in Tashigi, narrowed his eyes and said, "Your aura has changed..."

What did she think of that made her pull herself together after she had just been feeling lost?

"Roronoa Zoro," Tashigi said slowly, "You saved Dressrosa, that's for sure."

"But... as a navy upholding justice, arresting you isn't wrong!"

As for whether they should really be arrested?

That's something to consider later; right now, all she wants to do is have a good fight with Roronoa Zoro.

"Is that so?" Zoro suddenly grinned and said, "Then let's give it a try."

Although he disliked this woman, Zoro's lips curled up slightly when he saw that she was no longer confused.

He himself was unaware of this.

Upon hearing this, Tashigi stopped talking nonsense and assumed a standard iaido stance, intending to use a more powerful attack against Zoro.

But before she could even make a move, she sensed an even more terrifying aura erupting from behind her.

This imposing presence immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Gravity Blade!"

"Not good!"

Zoro's expression changed instantly, and he immediately shouted to his companions behind him, "Get out of the way!"

Usopp and the others were stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then they took off running.

Although they didn't know what Fujitora was planning, since Zoro told them to run, they should run as fast as they could.

Then, Zoro looked at Fujitora with a serious expression; this time, the opponent's attack was definitely not weak.

"Fierce Tiger!"

Without giving anyone time to react, Fujitora unleashed his attack fiercely.

"Whoosh~"

The terrifying slash, imbued with the power of the Press-Press Fruit, arrived beside Luffy in the blink of an eye, sending him flying with a single blow.

Then, the force continued unabated, blasting a huge hole in the enormous rock wall on the side!

Its area is about the size of a Port.

The power of this strike stunned the entire audience.

"What terrifying power..."

Pushed back to his previous position by this force, Zoro had a few beads of sweat on his face.

If he were hit head-on by that move, he probably wouldn't fare much better.

So this is Fujitora's power... He's really strong!

Looking at the man who was panting heavily, Zoro's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement.

Only fighting guys like this is truly satisfying!

"This is the power of Admiral..."

Tashigi instinctively gripped her long sword tighter. Such terrifying destructive power from a casual strike... the gap between her and Admiral was still too vast.

"Luffy, let's switch!" Zoro exclaimed excitedly.

This time, Tashigi didn't interrupt. Instead, she stood there lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.

"Whose turn?" Luffy shouted from mid-air, "Let me..."

Before Luffy could finish speaking, Hajrudin grabbed him.

"Let me go, giant!"

"Well done!"

Cavendish's eyes lit up. "Let's bring him aboard!"

After saying that, Cavendish glanced at Zoro and Xi Yan and said, "Hey, you two hurry up too!"

"What's the rush? I haven't even sparred with that guy yet."

"Zoro- senpai, please stop."

Bartolomeo looked at Zoro with a headache and said, "We also have our own situations to consider."

"If they leave us here, it will be very disadvantageous for us."

"Besides... with this woman around, you probably won't have a chance to attack the Admiral."

As he spoke, Bartolomeo pointed at Tashigi.

Although the woman suddenly stopped in place for some reason, given her strength, stopping Zoro shouldn't be a problem.

Zoro frowned upon hearing this. He carefully considered the current situation, and then somewhat helplessly put his sword back into its sheath.

The current situation is definitely not suitable for continuing the fight; otherwise, Who Knows what might happen.

Most importantly, he didn't want to fight Tashigi.

Just then, an explosion suddenly occurred on the battlefield between Xi Yan and Smoker, followed by a huge Wood Dragon rising from the ground.

"Boom!"

With a single strike, that area was reduced to ruins.

"Mr. Smoker!"

Tashigi looked over at the sound, her expression immediately changing. Could it be that Mr. Smoker...?

"I'm fine."

Smoker, who had reformed his body some distance away from the Wood Dragon, looked at the Wood Dragon with a stern face and said, "Take care of yourself first."

After saying that, Smoker began to use his Observation Haki to search for traces of Xi Yan, but he did not find any trace of Xi Yan on the Wood Dragon.

This made Smoker frown. Where was that bastard?

Let's hurry up and leave.

"Um?"

Zoro glanced at Xi Yan, who had appeared beside him at some unknown time, and several question marks immediately appeared above his head.

When did you arrive?

"Just now." Xi Yan glanced at Fujitora, who seemed to be struggling with something, then grabbed Zoro's arm and quickly ran in the direction his companions had gone, saying, "Alright, let's hurry up and go too."

Now is not the time to fight these two marines, otherwise, if that old man Sengoku arrives, they'll have a hard time leaving.

Seeing that Xi Yan had said so, Zoro didn't say anything more and let the other party pull him away from there.

Smoker, who watched Xi Yan and the others leave, did not chase after them. Instead, he looked up at the restless boulder debris in the sky.

After thinking for a moment, he temporarily abandoned his plan to chase after them.

Whether or not to keep these guys is up to Fujitora's decision.

Then, he strolled over to Tashigi's side and said, "What's wrong? Are you a little unwilling?"

"No, it's just that the Admiral are too strong." Tashigi turned to look at Smoker and said, "I'm wondering, when will I ever become that strong?"

Tashigi wasn't disappointed by Zoro's departure or her failure to defeat him; after their exchange, she could already sense her own power.

But when faced with a monster of the Admiral's caliber, she still felt somewhat insignificant.

Smoker was taken aback by what he heard; he really hadn't expected Tashigi to be troubled by something like this.

However... the very fact that Tashigi has this thought shows that she has a desire to become stronger!

"Tashigi," Smoker said slowly, "You still have a long way to go."

Tashigi paused for a moment, then nodded heavily and said, "You're right, I still have a long way to go."

"One day, I will become a powerful figure like you and Mr. Issho!"

It doesn't matter if she's not strong enough now; she's willing to work hard.

She believed that she would catch up with them sooner or later.

This time, Smoker didn't say anything, but simply patted Tashigi on the shoulder, signaling her to do her best.

Then, Smoker looked in the direction Xi Yan had left with a complicated expression, remaining silent for a long time.

As for that Wood Dragon that was just galloping...?

Now that they were positioned between them and the Port, it gave their navy a reason not to pursue them.

"Mr. Smoker," Tashigi said, following the man's gaze into the distance, "Shall we stop chasing him?"

"So, do you want to pursue her?"

Tashigi fell silent.

As a Marine, she should have gone after them, but her sense of justice told her that she shouldn't capture the Straw Hat Pirates this time.

They just rescued Dressrosa and helped the Navy solve such a huge problem; it would really be unreasonable for them to arrest people again.

But due to her duties, she simply couldn't bring herself to say such things.

"So you don't know either, do you?" Smoker crossed his arms and said calmly, "Then let's see what choice our Admiral make."

If Fujitora changes his mind and genuinely wants to capture the Straw Hat Pirates.

Then... those things in the sky will fall down and destroy all the pirate ships anchored in front. It won't be too late for them to make their move then.

If they don't want to... there's no point in them going.

"Yes, I understand."

Tashigi accepted Smoker's explanation; just as he said, whether or not to capture the Straw Hat Pirates ultimately depended on the Admiral's decision.

At the same time... if she chases after him now, it might cause trouble for the Admiral, so it's better for her to stay here.

And so, Smoker and Tashigi each found a reason to stay where they were.

They didn't chase after us.

After nervously watching Usopp for a while, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Looks like they're not planning to chase us."

"It's hard to say."

Perona frowned and said, "Don't forget what else is in the sky."

If Fujitora wanted to make a move, he wouldn't even need to chase after us; he could just send the wreckage over.

Upon hearing this, Usopp's face immediately turned green.

"Please don't let it fall down!"

Don't worry!

Floating beside Perona, Merry clenched her little fists and said, "If that blind old man throws anything at me, I'll use the wind to block it."

"Will it work?"

Usopp glanced worriedly at the wreckage in the sky. With so much debris being thrown at him, it was practically the same as throwing an entire city at him.

In this situation, could Merry stop her?

Merry glanced back, then swallowed and said, "I... I don't know either, but I'll try my best."

We can't just give up fighting because the enemy is throwing too many things at us, can we? Meriko that kind of elf!

"Let's wait until he throws it over," Xi Yan said. "I'll try Water Release Technique then."

In terms of deflecting force, water is far more effective than wind.

Furthermore, the range of his Water Release is greater than that of Merry's wind attacks, making him the perfect choice to intercept enemy attacks.

Seeing what Xi Yan had said, Usopp breathed a sigh of relief; finally, there was someone reliable.

Then, he looked up in the direction of the Port and saw that there was only one ship.

"Hey," Usopp said, looking at Orlumbus, "With so many of us, do you think one ship can get us anywhere?"

"Look carefully," Orlumbus said, pointing to the stern of the first ship. "Who would dock all their ships here in such a dangerous Port?"

"The other ships are behind us!"

Usopp was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then ran to the side and glanced over, exclaiming in surprise, "So many... they're all lined up in a single file!"

With these boats, they can all leave here safely.

"That's right!" Orlumbus raised his head and said, "I had already anticipated that the navy might come to surround and annihilate us, so I took precautions during the redeployment."

Although he didn't expect Fujitora to be able to do such a thing at the time, doing so could also prevent the Navy from directly destroying the ships docked nearby.

"Aren't you afraid that blind old man will destroy all the ships with one strike?" Merry blinked and asked.

"This..."

Orlumbus's lips twitched. He hadn't expected this kind of thing, because he couldn't imagine how strong Marine Admiral would be.

"It's already pretty good," Xi Yan said. "It's better than all of them being left on the shore and destroyed by the navy's cannons."

For someone with this guy's limited perspective, it's already quite impressive that he could think of something like this, considering that not everyone knows what kind of monster Admiral is.

"Too."

Merry nodded; what they were doing now was indeed quite good.

Then, Merry turned her attention to the ships, pondering whether she should use her wind powers to send them all away, so that she wouldn't have to worry about Fujitora attacking them with the wreckage.

But... is she really capable of sending so many ships at once?

Seeing the troubled look on Little Merry's face, Perona asked, "What's wrong?"

"I was just wondering if I could get all these ships out later."

"Ah?"

Orlumbus turned to look at Merry in surprise. What did this little girl say?

Should all these ships be sent out at once?

Is she even capable of doing something like this?

"Is it alright?" Perona asked worriedly, "Wouldn't that be too much to ask?"

"I don't know, because I've never tried it."

Merry shook her head. She had only ever lifted one or two boats with the wind before, and had never lifted so many boats before, so she didn't know if she could do it.

"Then let's not force ourselves," Xi Yan said. "If we encounter an even worse situation, I will step in."

Sending those ships away Water Release Technique was not a difficult task for him.

Now, it all depends on whether Fujitora is willing to let them go.