Fierce Battle with Vergo

"The Marines have arrived. Every pirate on this island will face justice."

"Follow this path, and you'll see the warship. Someone will treat you when you get there."

Vergo did not seem suspicious. After speaking, he stepped aside to clear the way.

Rosinante forced out an extremely strained smile and steeled himself as he walked past him.

"Thank you, Marine sir!"

Van thanked him in a sarcastic tone, then gestured for Drake to follow.

The group continued onward through the wind and snow, but Vergo stared fixedly at their retreating backs and pulled out a Den Den Mushi.

"Pururururu..."

Once the call connected, Doflamingo's cold voice came from the Den Den Mushi. "Did you find anything?"

"I saw Rosinante on the southwestern coast. Three others were with him, and one of them was a child who seemed seriously ill."

Vergo paused before asking, "Was it Law?"

"That's right! Stop them for me! Fufufufufu!"

Doflamingo gave a sinister laugh and explained, "We arrived too late. Those idiots on the island were poisoned, and the Op-Op Fruit is gone too."

"Is that so? Understood. Send someone to pick them up as soon as possible, before the Marines find them."

After hanging up, Vergo leaped into the air and shot toward Van's group like an arrow.

This was one of the Six Powers, Geppo, which allowed him to sprint through the air and was far faster than running through the snow.

"Not good! That guy is coming after us!"

Van had been keeping an eye on what was happening behind them. The moment he noticed Vergo pursuing them, he pushed his speed to the limit.

But that was nowhere near enough. They would definitely be caught before they found the Marine surveillance ship.

As for the reinforcements Sengoku had arranged, there was no telling when they would arrive. Even if they did, they might not be able to win.

"You go first. I'll stay behind and buy you time!"

Rosinante stopped and called out to Van with a smile. "Don't forget what you promised me. You have to cure Law's illness and let him live a good life."

"Have you gone insane? Why would those Marines believe us? And how could they possibly set sail right away?"

"Now isn't the time to be stupid. You need to make sure the surveillance ship gets out to sea before Doflamingo arrives, or none of us will escape."

With that, Van spread out his operating room and forcibly transferred Rosinante to Drake's side.

"Remember what I told you!"

Drake understood immediately and grabbed Rosinante before taking off at a run.

He was a Zoan Devil Fruit user. Though he had not trained much, his strength was astonishing, and Rosinante could not break free at all.

"So it's come to this." Van's face was full of melancholy. I wonder if I can hold out?

At this point, he had no better option. He could only stay behind to cover their retreat.

Fortunately, Vergo was not that strong yet. At most, he was a B-rank fighter. With the Op-Op Fruit, Van could still keep him occupied for a while.

"Staying behind to die?" Vergo glanced at Van with disdain. "I'll grant your wish later!"

"Who the hell are you looking down on? Get down here!"

Van's expression darkened as his power expanded to its limit, covering a nearly hundred-meter-wide area along the shore.

The instant he entered the operating room, Vergo felt an invisible resistance.

His brows furrowed slightly, and suspicion quickly arose in his mind. "You're... a Devil Fruit user?"

Slaughterhouse: Cut!

Van raised a hand and swung it. Space within the operating room shifted out of alignment, producing several terrifying cutting forces.

"Hm?"

His Observation Haki sensed danger, and Vergo immediately activated his Armament Haki.

In an instant, his entire body turned dark and glossy, like an iron-blooded warrior from Africa.

The force of space swept over him, but it could only slice apart his clothes. It did not leave even the faintest mark of blood.

"So it really won't work. This is trouble."

Van's expression changed slightly as he continued driving the cutting force, repeatedly grinding at Vergo.

In the blink of an eye, Vergo had become an exhibitionist, with nothing left on his body but a few tattered strips of cloth.

It was naked humiliation. He landed hard enough to leave a shallow crater, then stalked toward Van with killing intent radiating from him. "Have you had enough?"

Van did not answer. He raised his hand and fired two shots, emptying the revolver's cylinder.

Bang! Bang!

His aim was excellent, but the power was insufficient. The bullets were knocked away and did not even harm a single hair on him.

"You're courting death!"

Vergo flew into a rage. Leaning forward, he unleashed one of the Six Powers, Soru.

He was incredibly fast, far too fast for an ordinary person to react to. But inside the operating room, Van was the master.

Scan!

His body vanished instantly, leaving only a stone behind, which was smashed to pieces by Vergo's darkened fist.

Without hesitation, Vergo attacked Van again, but his strike still missed.

Unwilling to accept it, he kept trying like a rabid dog, desperately trying to catch Van.

Their figures crisscrossed back and forth at a terrifying frequency.

In less than three minutes, Van was gasping for breath as his stamina plummeted.

Yet his power could not harm Vergo while his entire body was covered in Armament Haki. He could only keep dodging, and even escaping was difficult.

"So this is what you relied on to stay behind? The Op-Op Fruit?" Vergo sneered. "Once you run out of strength, let's see how you keep dodging!"

Van wanted nothing more than to stall for time, so he immediately mocked him. "You should think about how you'll show your face later. The Donquixote Family's first Corazon, with a naked photo on his bounty poster... I imagine you'll become famous throughout the world soon enough."

"Rosinante even told you that? Then I definitely can't let you escape."

As soon as he finished speaking, Vergo attacked again, smashing away the revolver Van had left behind.

I can't keep doing this. I need to save enough stamina to leave myself a way out.

Van groaned inwardly and began thinking of a way to escape.

Just then, Rosinante arrived with a group of Marine officers and soldiers.

"Save him!"

"Don't worry! We will never let Vergo harm Mr. Rosinante's friend."

Before they even entered the operating room, the Marine colonel leading them began shouting.

"Vergo! Your conspiracy with the Donquixote Family has been exposed. Admiral Sengoku has ordered that you be taken back to Headquarters for trial."

"If you don't want to add to your crimes, stop immediately. Otherwise, don't blame us for being rough!"

Vergo's expression turned ugly as he snapped, "What right do trash like you have to be rough with me?"

He clearly did not think much of the Marine officers and soldiers who had come, but someone had to make a sacrifice now.

Better dead Marines than himself.

Van clenched his raised hand as though grabbing hold of something, then hurled it forward with all his strength.

"Get the hell away from me!"

Caught off guard, Vergo was bound by invisible spatial force, and his body was forced backward against his will.

But Haki surged through his body. He quickly withstood the pressure, regained control of himself, and stood firmly on the ground.

However, Van had already seized the opportunity to dismiss the operating room, and the Marine officers and soldiers swiftly surrounded Vergo.

They truly deserved to be called elites transferred from a New World base. Their charge was immensely imposing, and several of them even used Geppo to leap into the air.

The colonel who had called out earlier had even mastered Armament Haki. He did not look much weaker than Vergo.