"So what if he survives? I'll just kill him again!"
Smoker had already fallen unconscious and completely lost the ability to resist. Mark slowly stepped forward, the Mountain-Splitting Axe in his hand gleaming with a chilling light.
Just as he reached Smoker and raised his giant axe to bring it down, a black spear shot toward him from afar.
It was incredibly fast. Mark dodged the black spear in a flash and looked up to see a striking figure rapidly approaching.
"Pirate, drop the weapon in your hand!"
With long pink hair, a Marine cloak, and red clothes, she was Hina, a colonel from Marine Headquarters.
As Hina arrived, Marines dressed in white came one after another behind her.
"This is bad!"
A sense of crisis flashed through Mark's heart. It was not just Marine Colonel Hina; the Marines behind her also gave him a deadly sense of danger.
These people were definitely not Marines from the East Blue.
"Marines from Headquarters!!!"
He had to leave immediately. Otherwise, if these people tangled him up, he would be severely wounded even if he did not die.
With that thought, Mark swung the Mountain-Splitting Axe straight down at Smoker.
Before leaving, he had to eliminate any future trouble.
But...
Three pitch-black spears instantly planted themselves around Smoker in a triangular formation, blocking Mark's attack.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Marines behind Hina raised their guns and fired at Mark, bullets pouring down on his upper body like raindrops.
"Damn it..."
Mark's expression darkened with anger. Hina had chosen the perfect moment to interfere. Together with the Marines behind her, she had forced him to retreat immediately.
"Smoker... you got lucky this time. You won't be so lucky next time!"
He unleashed Silent Step, pushing his speed to the limit as he raced toward the shore.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bullets poured down like raindrops.
Although those Marines could not see Mark, Hina, who had awakened Observation Haki, could detect his position.
She directed the Marines to pour bullets toward the alley entrance while black spears appeared in her hand and shot toward Mark.
The Black Guns created by the Bars-Bars Fruit were incredibly tough.
Combined with the Marines' bullets, they instantly inflicted massive damage on Mark.
Armament Hardening!
Mark pushed Silent Step to its limit, while the Attraction Force further increased his speed. Even so, having lost more than half his stamina, he could not avoid the attacks of so many Marines. He could only use Armament Haki to cover his vital areas.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Bullets pierced the parts of his body not covered by Armament Haki. This was when the Dark-Dark Fruit's side effect became apparent.
The pain from being attacked was more than twice what an ordinary person would feel, making cold sweat pour down Mark's forehead as his teeth chattered.
Pain might have been the path every man took to become tough, but extreme pain was very dangerous.
Just like Mark now, he was already struggling to maintain the powers of the Dark-Dark Fruit and Armament Haki.
He could only rely on instinct to dodge some bullets. Fortunately, the Dark-Dark Fruit's devouring power was at work in his wounds. As black energy surged, the bullets in his wounds were swallowed, and his injuries rapidly healed.
After getting out of here, I definitely need to develop an ability similar to elemental transformation. Otherwise, I'll be far too passive against group attacks like this.
Fortunately, Silent Step was extremely fast. At full power, it was even a little faster than Kuro's Shakushi. Mark soon reached the alley entrance.
When he saw that the Moss was unharmed, Mark let out a sigh of relief.
Hina and those Marines had arrived too suddenly. He had feared that his pirate ship would have been destroyed, but now it seemed that worry had been unnecessary.
Then, his Observation Haki sensed a deadly danger.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a black spear shot straight toward Mark's chest—toward his heart.
Damn it...
The attack had come too suddenly. Mark could only slightly twist his body to avoid the vital spot, but he was still struck by the Black Gun.
His right arm was pierced by the Black Gun!
Blood dripped down from the spearhead.
Mark felt his head grow dizzy as intense pain crashed over him.
"Mark!" Daisy appeared at the bow.
When she saw Mark's arm pierced by the Black Gun, tears instantly streamed down her face.
"Boss!" Chiu Chiu cried out, transforming into a streak of golden lightning as he swiftly arrived at Mark's side.
Another black spear came flying over. Electricity flashed across Chiu Chiu's wings as he knocked the Black Gun away, grabbed Mark by both shoulders, and swiftly took to the air.
Mark turned back and gave Hina, who had fired the Black Gun, a cold look before allowing Chiu Chiu to carry him out of the alley.
"Big Sis Daisy, help the boss recover from his injuries. I'll go start the ship!!!"
With that, Chiu Chiu turned and entered the cabin.
Daisy wiped away her tears and quickly brought Mark into the cabin.
The Moss soon set sail—
Hina and the Marines arrived at the alley entrance, but the Moss had already left the alley and was sailing toward the Red Line.
The Marines could only fire at the increasingly distant Moss while Hina took a hard drag from her cigarette.
"Save Smoker first. We need to reassess the danger posed by the Moss Pirates."
A squad of Headquarters Marines, led by a Marine colonel, had actually allowed their target to escape.
And he had been alone.
He had even beaten Smoker so badly that he was on the verge of death. This Mark was far too dangerous.
On the Moss, Daisy pulled the Black Gun from Mark's upper arm.
The hollow wound was horrifying to behold.
Daisy placed both hands over Mark's wound. Green light emerged from her hands and gradually flowed into the wound.
A force that seemed to act on his flesh from the depths of his soul emerged. The flesh around the wound seemed to come alive, granulation tissue wriggling as blood gathered into veins. The process was not very fast.
Ten minutes later...
The horrific wound on Mark's upper arm had vanished, replaced by new skin that was somewhat pale and stood out against the surrounding bronze-colored skin.
He moved his arm and still felt a slight discomfort. The newly grown flesh probably had not fully fused with his upper arm yet. It would be fine after some time.
"Mark, how are you feeling now?" Daisy asked uneasily.
Mark slowly sat up and looked at Daisy reassuringly. "I'm fine now!"
He rubbed Daisy's hair and smiled fondly. "Thank you so much, Daisy!"
Daisy threw herself into Mark's arms. "As long as you're okay."
Mark gently held Daisy, his gaze darkening.
He was still not strong enough. If he possessed Whitebeard's strength, he could have wiped out those Marines with a single backhand. How could something like this have happened?
Mark could still faintly feel pain in the places all over his body where bullets and Black Guns had pierced him.
He would remember this lesson...