Chaton and Tokikake

Chaton Tokikake

Facing such a barrage of attacks, even Tsuru dared not underestimate them, especially the strikes from Gray, Pica, and Diamante, which were on an entirely different level of intensity compared to the others.

It's a good thing I had him come along to prevent any unexpected situations! Just as this thought crossed Tsuru's mind, the man who had followed her made his move.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With three gunshots, bullets coated in Armament Haki struck Gray's Sky Crystal Flying Wheels, arriving before the others despite being fired later.

Clang! Clang!

Using an attack to counter an attack, neutralizing the kinetic energy of the crystals? After his Observation Haki clarified the situation, Gray accelerated his Magnetic Field Rotation the very instant his flying wheels were knocked back.

He forced the wheels, which had just slowed down, to spin even faster than before.

With the two Sky Crystal Flying Wheels hovering in front of him, Gray turned his gaze toward the Marine who had fired the shots.

At first glance, only one word filled Gray's mind: "Ugly!"

Too ugly!

How can there be someone even uglier than the Light Man Kizaru, who ate the Sleaze-Sleaze Fruit? Thinking this, Gray naturally didn't hold back his tongue.

He spoke his inner thoughts aloud.

"Hey, hey! Trebol, I think I've found your brother!"

Trebol: ?

Having tested the waters and realizing they couldn't easily harm the other officers, the group stood in a tense standoff.

Hearing Gray's words, everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Look over there!" Gray pointed at the ugly guy next to Tsuru and teased Trebol, "He's just as ugly as you; I refuse to believe you two aren't brothers!"

"Bullshit! You little brat Gray, open your eyes and look closely—I'm clearly much more handsome than him!" Upon seeing Tokikake's face, for some reason, Trebol felt a sudden surge of confidence.

"Sure, sure!" Gray replied to Trebol dismissively, as the two were essentially cut from the same cloth.

Meanwhile, listening to Gray and the others talking loudly as if no one else were around, blue veins bulged on Tokikake's forehead: ###.

"You brat over there, this is the mark of a mature man! What would a kid like you know?"

Hearing this angry roar, Gray blinked in confusion, looking just like Aqua: ???

Tsuru: ...

The other officers: ...

The silence at that moment was deafening!

Tokikake's single sentence had silenced both the enemy and his own side.

"If that's what maturity is, I'd rather not have it!" The look of disdain in Gray's eyes, coupled with his dismissive words, sent Tokikake into a towering rage.

Gray certainly had the qualifications to say such a thing.

Now thirteen years old, after three years of training and no shortage of nutritious food, his face had begun to shed its youthful softness.

Standing at one meter seventy-three, with black hair, sharp, spirited eyes, and a chiseled jawline, he was clearly a handsome young man.

"Brat! You're always so annoying!" Since he couldn't win the war of words, he would use the gun in his hand to make his enemy shut up.

"Hey! You're getting worked up—did I hit a sore spot?" Gray wasn't afraid of the threat from Tokikake's gun at all.

"That's enough, Tokikake!" Tsuru forced Tokikake to calm down. "Don't let anger cloud your judgment!"

"We are here to capture them, not to bicker!"

"Since that brat has such a sharp tongue, I'll leave him to you. The rest~ leave to me!" As soon as she finished speaking, Tsuru whipped off her cumbersome Justice cloak and launched an attack: "Tempest Kick!"

A massive crescent-shaped blade of air slashed toward Gray and the others.

"Whoa~ scary!" Sitting on his Flying Chair, Gray said it was scary, but with a light tap on the chair, it carried him high into the air.

Tokikake: ...

I don't know why, but I have a familiar feeling about this! Before he could figure out the reason, Tokikake chased after him.

"Brat, don't think you can run!"

Boom~

With a sonic boom from his Moonwalk, Tokikake pursued Gray, his pistol already aimed at him.

"Oh-la-la-la-la! How terrifying, the Marine gentleman is shooting at a child!" Raising both hands in surrender, Gray's expression was as if he had been possessed by Kizaru—not only were his gestures identical, but his unhurried tone was indistinguishable from the admiral's.

Yet, despite his teasing, Gray's attacks didn't stop or lose any power.

In fact, the more he teased, the heavier his attacks became.

The two speeding Sky Crystal Flying Wheels, glowing with increasingly bright electricity and moving faster and faster, were proof of how seriously Gray took Tokikake.

Bang! Bang!

Even though his Observation Haki could track the flight path of the wheels, Tokikake had to pour his full Armament Haki into his bullets just to repel Gray's wheels time and time again.

The mere intersection of the two Flying Wheels was enough to keep him struggling, leaving him no mental capacity to address Gray's taunts.

"This brat, he's not even that old, yet his Devil Fruit ability is so troublesome!"

"Besides, aerial combat has too many restrictions." Fighting in the sky meant his powerful physical constitution could not be fully unleashed.

Furthermore, since he relied on his flintlock for attacks, the surface area of the bullets was limited, making it impossible to imbue them with much Armament Haki.

Coupled with the fact that the flintlock's effective range wasn't particularly long, Tokikake felt increasingly constrained.

"If the intelligence provided by Vice Admiral Tsuru is correct, this seems to be the power of the Spin-Spin Fruit!"

"Is the Spin-Spin Fruit really this strong?" Seeing Gray flying freely and easily through the sky on his Flying Chair, manipulating two Flying Wheels to cover each other in a cross-attack, Tokikake's thoughts were far from calm.

"Mr. Ugly, aren't you coming over?" Hovering a thousand meters away from Tokikake, Gray controlled the Flying Wheels with all his might.

To ensure the battle tilted in his favor, he guided Tokikake higher and higher into the sky.

Although he appeared relaxed, he was secretly exerting his full power for a normal engagement.

His Observation Haki remained locked onto this patch of sky, the two Flying Wheels crossing to strike at Tokikake's openings, never giving him a chance to fire his gun at Gray's main body.

Though firing at him wouldn't be of much use, if one could suppress an enemy, there was no reason to let them have it easy.

After all, the best defense was a good offense.

"My name is Tokikake, not Mr. Ugly!" After Tokikake roared in annoyance, Gray's attacks became even sharper.

"Oh my! It seems Mr. Ugly still has energy to spare!" Seeing that Tokikake still had the presence of mind to talk back, Gray ignored the drain on his stamina and intensified his attacks once more.

After nearly three years of training, as long as he wasn't pushing past his limits, Gray could confidently say: I can keep this up all day!

Having survived in a high-gravity environment for three years, Gray had reached ten times the normal gravity, and his daily, relentless physical training had caused his body to grow rapidly stronger.

Even without using his Devil Fruit ability, Gray was confident he could easily dispose of small-time characters like Arlong the fish-man.

And the development and deep excavation of his Devil Fruit ability had strengthened his offensive capabilities even further.

Aside from the initial startup and acceleration, which consumed more stamina, the Spin-Spin Fruit's power didn't drain much as long as it was maintained at a constant rotation speed.

The growth from his three years of training was now manifesting in this duel against Tokikake.

Chaton Tokikake: Proficient in two types of Haki, with marksmanship that could be described as unerring. If not for the fact that Gray's Observation Haki was also a strong suit, he would never have been able to suppress him in the high altitude.

A liberated gunman, especially one like Tokikake who could use Armament Haki, posed a significant threat to Gray's physical body.