With reinforcements joining the battle, the situation looked excellent.
But for some reason, Rosinante did not run at a time like this. Instead, he looked eager to fight.
Did he have no idea of his own capabilities?
Van mercilessly mocked him. "Don't go making trouble. You'll only make things worse."
"Everything has been arranged on the surveillance ship. Just go over there yourself. I trust you to take good care of Law."
Rosinante remained unmoved, seemingly determined to fight alongside his so-called comrades.
"I can't run anymore. You have to carry me back, or no one will be able to save Law."
That reason was a killing blow. Faced with the threatening request, Rosinante could only compromise.
Perhaps feeling ashamed, he did not dare look at the reinforcements again. He hoisted Van onto his back and ran.
After turning several corners in succession, the Marine surveillance ship finally came into view, but they could not smile.
Because Vergo had already broken through the encirclement and was charging after them menacingly.
Even more absurdly, he had snatched a Marine uniform and put it on, no longer looking as disheveled as before.
"It's Mr. Rosinante, and that spy Vergo is with him..."
There were Marine officers and soldiers stationed aboard the surveillance ship, and more than a dozen soldiers immediately raised their guns.
Bang...
Vergo showed no fear at all. He flew straight through the bullets, barely slowing down.
Faced with the crisis, Rosinante grabbed Van with his backhand and hurled him onto the surveillance ship.
"This time, I'll stay behind!"
ROOM!
Van landed on the deck and immediately activated his ability, trying to bring the shore within his range.
But the Operation Room expanded a fraction too slowly. It had only just covered the surveillance ship when Vergo reached Rosinante.
A heavy knee strike slammed into his chest and abdomen, sending Rosinante flying.
"If I let you die, wouldn't this trip have been for nothing?"
Van stopped holding back and pushed the Op-Op Fruit's power to its limit, his stamina draining madly.
Under his control, Rosinante, who should have crashed into the mountainside, vanished in an instant and appeared beside a Marine soldier.
Vergo used Geppo to chase after the ship, but the power of space blocked him, making it difficult for him to get close.
The air offered no foothold like the ground did. Even though he used Armament Haki to offset most of the pressure, he was still forced backward.
"Set sail immediately! Everyone not needed elsewhere, prepare for bombardment! Don't let Vergo get close!"
Before the Op-Op Fruit's ability awakened, Van had to remain inside the Operation Room in order to control it.
And the room could not move. If he wanted to leave with the ship, he could only dismiss it temporarily before releasing it again.
Only by repeating that process could he keep shifting positions and ensure the safety of himself and the ship.
But there was a very brief gap in between, one Vergo could easily seize to rush straight onto the ship.
So after dismissing the Operation Room, they needed something to keep Vergo from approaching.
There were no truly capable fighters aboard, so relying on manpower was not reliable. They could only use the cannons as another layer of protection.
"Quick! Do as he says!"
At Rosinante's command, the Marines aboard immediately sprang into action.
They sent out calls for aid, raised anchor and sails, carried cannonballs, and turned the cannons, scrambling about in complete chaos.
Drake stayed at Van's side without leaving so much as a step between them, afraid Van would collapse from exhaustion.
"Why is this guy so troublesome? Is this really the Op-Op Fruit that's supposed to be best suited for a doctor?"
Vergo landed and steadied himself, but his expression was extremely grim.
He tried to move forward, but every step was difficult. The slightest lapse in focus would force him back.
At this speed, the surveillance ship would have already left before he even reached the shore.
What was worse, his Den Den Mushi was gone. He could not even notify Doflamingo.
"Are you ready?"
Van moved himself and Drake to the stern and shouted, "We can't delay any longer!"
"Ready! Set off immediately!"
The highest-ranking officer stationed on the surveillance ship was a headquarters major. At his order, the ship slowly began to move.
The other Marine officers and soldiers stood ready, all guarding the cannon emplacements with everything prepared to fire.
Five meters... ten meters... twenty meters...
A second before the stern left the Operation Room and Van himself was about to be carried out with it, he dismissed his ability.
The power of space suddenly vanished. Vergo, on the shore, stumbled forward and nearly fell to the ground.
Van roared, "Get me to the bow as fast as you can!"
Without a second thought, Drake picked him up and ran.
"Fire!"
At the headquarters major's furious roar, the surveillance ship's cannons fired in unison. More than a dozen cannonballs shrieked through the air toward Vergo.
Boom...
The shoreline was blown apart, and the shattered rocks and smoke from the explosions obscured Vergo from sight.
"Did we get him?"
The others were nervous yet hopeful, but Van did not dare let down his guard. The moment he reached the bow, he activated his ability.
The Operation Room appeared again, rapidly expanding outward with him at its center.
"You'll never escape!"
A pitch-black figure burst from the smoke and dust, running through the air toward the ship. It was Vergo.
The surveillance ship had only just left the shore and had not yet picked up speed, while he encountered no obstruction and quickly closed the distance.
However, he did not rush to attack. Instead, he constantly shifted positions outside the Operation Room, preventing the ship's cannons from locking onto him again.
Clearly, he had already guessed the weakness of Van's ability and was waiting for that fleeting opportunity.
The moment the surveillance ship left the Operation Room again, he would definitely charge over at once.
"This won't work!" Rosinante looked toward the Marine major in the lookout tower. "When will Vice Admiral Tsuru arrive?"
"We can't see any warships yet, but someone is flying over from the island."
The major's answer made everyone's hearts sink, because the only ones who could come from the island now were members of the Donquixote Family.
"They can't even show up in time to eat shit while it's warm!"
Van cursed under his breath, then activated his ability and forcibly moved Drake, Rosinante, and Law away.
Once he left himself, the Operation Room vanished with him, leaving the Marine officers and soldiers on the deck completely dumbfounded.
He had just been calmly directing them, yet he ran away without even a word?
"Impossible! How did they all disappear?"
Vergo's expression changed drastically. His first thought was that Van and the other three had used some unknown ability to escape.
Not only could he not see them with his eyes, even his Observation Haki could not sense any trace of life.
But when he recalled the entire process since the two sides met, something felt wrong.
If they truly had a way to escape like that, there would have been no need to go to such lengths to stop him earlier.
So the most likely possibility was that they were hiding aboard the ship or had run back onto the island. Either way, they could not be far away.
"If Vergo finds us, can you stop him from coming in?"
"No! Even inside the room, I could only barely trap him. I couldn't stop him from entering from outside."
"Then what do we do now?"
"Deal with it cold! We can stall for one more second if we have to. When we're found, we'll fight with everything we've got..."
Inside a large wooden crate in a corner of the lower hold, Van and the other three huddled together, anxiously awaiting rescue.
Rosinante had isolated this area from sound and presence, so they did not need to worry about anyone overhearing them.
It was the Marines outside who had it rough. No one knew how many of them would survive.
Before you continue