Crushing

"Not good..."

Smoker's expression changed drastically. He turned to the nearby Marines and asked, "Did you see Vice Admiral Momonga leave in that direction?"

The Marine beside him instinctively pointed in a direction.

Smoker immediately transformed into smoke and sped off in that direction.

Tashigi followed closely behind.

"Damn..."

Moke was somewhat surprised. Momonga's intentions were already crystal clear—he wanted to kill him!

Otherwise, he would not have acted like this.

Moke slowly drew Sandai Kitetsu.

Since they wanted him dead, he naturally would not show them any courtesy. Besides, with his strength having soared, he was not afraid of taking on two opponents at once.

What was more, the two before him were among the stronger Marine vice admirals. They were perfect opponents to test his skills against.

Doberman was the first of the three to make a move. He too drew his long blade.

He immediately coated the blade with Armament Haki, because he understood that the man before him was a Logia user. Without Armament Haki, no attack could harm him in the slightest.

With a burst of strength from his legs, Doberman shot forward like a cannonball. He was incredibly fast, reaching Moke in the blink of an eye.

His long blade slashed fiercely toward Moke, as though he intended to cut him cleanly in two.

Moke showed no weakness either, swinging Sandai Kitetsu to meet the strike.

Clang...

Neither of them used any fancy tricks in that clash. It was simply the most direct contest of strength. The powerful recoil made Moke's body tremble slightly.

Doberman, however, was forced back seven or eight steps.

The corners of Moke's mouth rose. At this moment, he could contend head-on with a Marine vice admiral—and easily gain the upper hand.

And that was purely through his own strength.

Sure enough, after being enhanced by the two swords, his body was no longer what it had once been.

"Tch..."

Though Doberman had fallen behind, his face was full of defiance. He violently swung his katana, sending a flying slash hurtling toward Moke.

Moke stood there without moving, as if he were not the target of that slash at all.

"Hm?"

Both Doberman and Momonga looked at Moke, who seemed to have given up resisting, with puzzled expressions.

The next instant, Doberman's slash struck Moke fiercely. Yet Moke was like a black hole, swallowing the attack into his body without a trace.

Doberman and Momonga were both experienced and well-traveled, yet even they were stunned. They could not help crying out, "What kind of ability is this?"

"Not good..."

His wealth of battle experience had given Doberman instincts beyond those of ordinary men. And those instincts told him that Moke was extremely dangerous right now.

He went on full alert!

Sure enough, the next second, Moke swung Sandai Kitetsu, releasing a slash twice as powerful as Doberman's.

Not only that, it was twice as fast as well.

It arrived before him in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, he had been prepared. Seeing it, he directly raised his katana before him.

Boom...

Under the overwhelmingly powerful slash, Doberman could only barely hold on. Yet the force of the attack kept driving his entire body backward.

His feet carved two deep trails through the ground.

"Doberman..."

Seeing Moke suppress Doberman with a single move, Momonga could no longer stand idly by. Concern appeared on his face as he fiercely swung his katana, releasing a slash even stronger than Doberman's.

Its target was Moke's slash.

He was trying to lend Doberman a hand, but how could Moke simply allow that? He swung Sandai Kitetsu again, sending out another slash.

It successfully blocked Momonga's attack.

"Haah..."

Doberman was already at the end of his strength. With a roar, he unleashed all his power and barely managed to deflect Moke's slash into the sky.

"Pant, pant, pant..."

Afterward, Doberman stood there, gasping heavily.

The way he looked at Moke had completely changed. When they had first seen the intelligence report about Moke killing Crocodile, they had truly believed what it said.

They believed Moke had exploited Crocodile's weakness against water, then taken advantage of Crocodile's contempt and carelessness to kill him in return.

If they fought again, Moke would not stand the slightest chance against Crocodile.

But now, it seemed they had been wrong.

Setting everything else aside, Moke's swordsmanship alone, combined with that special ability from earlier, was enough to contend with Crocodile... not to mention that he was a multi-Fruit user.

"Gulp..."

Doberman swallowed hard. He now understood that they had probably kicked an iron plate this time.

Whoosh...

Momonga flashed to Doberman's side, because he understood it too. In a one-on-one fight, they likely had no chance at all. Only by joining forces could they battle him.

He exchanged a glance with Doberman.

The next second, they swung their katanas in unison.

One vertical and one horizontal slash sped toward Moke, one after the other.

Moke sheathed Sandai Kitetsu, then assumed a sword-drawing stance.

Just as the two slashes, one before and one behind, were about to hit him, he moved. "One Sword Style—Demon Flame Slash!"

Moke instantly vanished from where he stood, entering a state of high-speed movement. The two slashes coming from before and behind were directly cut apart.

"Not good!"

Doberman and Momonga's expressions changed drastically, and their pupils shook violently. Though both had used Observation Haki to catch Moke's rapidly moving figure—

Moke was simply too fast.

When Moke appeared again, he was already behind Doberman and Momonga. He slowly sheathed Sandai Kitetsu!

Splurt...

A wound appeared on Doberman's chest, blood spraying wildly from it. Then flames ignited over the wound.

Momonga was not injured, but the hand gripping his katana trembled continuously.

The difference in strength between the two was immediately apparent. Although the former had caught Moke's figure with Observation Haki, he had still been unable to evade.

The latter, however, had blocked the attack with his katana.

Still, his trembling hand made one thing clear... Momonga had not taken that move easily either.

Moke's lips curled into a cold smile, killing intent flickering in his eyes. He was no saint. He would never show mercy to those who wanted to kill him.

"Air Extinction!"

Moke activated his ability, instantly absorbing all the oxygen within a hundred-meter radius. Everything within that range became a dead zone for living creatures.

Though Doberman and Momonga were still breathing, they discovered that it was useless.

A suffocating sensation washed over them.

The two exchanged glances, terror flashing through their eyes. They were afraid...

But they also understood that there was no retreat left for them. Only a fight to the death offered them even the slightest hope.

They held their breath, savage expressions appearing on their faces as they gripped their katanas... Their auras changed as well.