Tenpan City, duel arena.
"Why are we evacuating the island?" Samuel asked unwillingly.
"Big Brother, could it be that you—"
"When I tell you to leave, you leave! Ask questions afterward!!"
Samuel looked at his elder brother's stern face and swallowed.
"...Yes, I understand."
He turned and roared at the gang members, "All captains, take your men! Follow me!"
That shout jolted everyone awake.
Though they did not understand why, an order was an order. The gang members began pouring toward the exits.
However, several fireballs shot out from Lin Nuo's direction, striking precisely in front of the most crowded exits.
The blast waves instantly sent a group of people flying and knocked them unconscious.
Samuel's expression changed drastically.
Before he could react, another fireball came hurtling toward him.
"None of you are leaving."
Lin Nuo himself became an afterimage, his right foot curled like a claw as it shot for Samuel's throat!
"Don't even think about it..."
With a low shout, Sarez vanished.
The next instant, he appeared in front of Samuel, the katana at his waist, Silence, flashing from its sheath!
Metal clanged.
Lin Nuo's claw strike was caught by the katana. The force transmitted through the blade made him raise an eyebrow slightly.
This boss was much stronger than that second-in-command from before.
Sarez flicked his wrist, and the blade swept upward with the motion!
"Silence Style: Backwave."
The trajectory of the slash was tricky, but Lin Nuo had already ignited his Lunarian Flame and chose to take it head-on with his body.
Then his left leg whipped out, blue flames around his toes drawing an arc through the air!
Sarez pulled back his blade to block, but Lin Nuo's kick was a feint.
The real killing blow came as he used the momentum to flip around, smashing his right elbow toward his opponent's head!
"Soru."
Sarez vanished again and reappeared five meters away.
Lin Nuo's elbow strike missed and smashed into the stone railing of the podium.
The two landed separately, facing each other from twenty meters apart.
The brief exchange had lasted only a few breaths.
But the entire audience had already gone numb.
"Is this really a match I got to watch for a few thousand Beli?!"
"Whoo! That was awesome!!"
The roaring crowd nearly lifted the roof off the duel arena.
At the center of that storm, Sarez unhurriedly held his katana upright before him.
"You know what you're doing, right?"
His voice was calm.
"You want to keep all of us here? Do you know what that means?"
Lin Nuo shook out his hand as blue flames ignited over his body.
"Of course I do."
Sarez said nothing more.
He removed the gloves from both hands, then unbuttoned his coat and casually tossed it to the ground.
Finally, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened them again, the air around him had changed.
A black, almost tangible aura rose from his arms, rapidly coiling and condensing.
At last, it covered both his arms and the katana in his hand.
"Armament Haki."
Lin Nuo's pupils contracted slightly.
"It's been a while since I fought a Haki user."
"Don't disappoint me!"
The two moved at the same time.
"Soru!"
The stone slabs beneath Sarez's feet cracked as he became an afterimage, instantly crossing ten meters!
His katana flashed toward Lin Nuo's neck.
"Silence Style: Iron Cutter."
Across from him, the flames around Lin Nuo's fists had already been compressed.
Facing the slash, he stepped forward, twisted his waist, and threw his right fist with all his strength!
"Flame Emperor—!!"
Flames and blade light collided head-on in the center of the arena!
The shockwave exploded, plowing through the duel arena's ground once more!
Dust slowly settled.
At opposite ends of the duel arena, Lin Nuo and Sarez each slid back before steadying themselves.
Lin Nuo shook his slightly numb right hand.
Ordinary attacks felt no different from a breeze brushing against him.
But after his Flame Emperor had clashed head-on with that Armament Haki-coated slash—
He had actually felt as though he had been hit.
Haki... really was troublesome.
He looked toward the other side.
Sarez did not look too comfortable either.
"Big Brother!"
A figure leaped down from the podium and landed beside Sarez.
"How is it? That guy's strength..." Samuel stared at Lin Nuo in the distance.
"Not bad." Sarez gave a brief assessment, his gaze still fixed on his opponent.
"His Devil Fruit abilities are probably high-speed regeneration, but his close-combat skills have no real foundation."
Sarez's gaze left Lin Nuo and fell on Ivankov and Ginny atop the podium.
He had heard those two slaves cheering very clearly just now.
"Lin Nuo..."
He was not a Marine.
That conclusion became increasingly certain in Sarez's mind.
If he was not a Marine... then what was his identity...
"Samuel..."
"I think I know what this guy's objective is."
Samuel abruptly turned his head. "Objective?"
Sarez raised his chin toward the podium.
"He isn't here for revenge, nor is he here to make a name for himself."
"He came for those slaves."
"He came to rescue them?!" Samuel froze for a moment, then immediately became wary.
"And through these exchanges, I discovered something else."
Samuel hurriedly listened closely.
"He can't use Haki."
"He can't use Haki?" Samuel repeated. "Then when your Armament Haki-coated slash hit him, Big Brother, he didn't use Haki to defend himself?"
"That's right." Sarez's voice regained its composure.
"His Devil Fruit abilities are troublesome, but without Haki, his attacks cannot truly break through my defenses, while I can injure him with Haki."
He tightened his grip on the katana.
"If that's the case, then we don't need to be as tense as we were just now."
At those words, Samuel relaxed, a cold smile curling across his lips.
"Then great! If he can't use Haki, no matter how strange his Devil Fruit abilities are, they still have their limits."
"You take the lead, Big Brother, and I'll support you from the side. We'll surround him together! Even if we have to wear him down, we'll wear him to death!"
However, Sarez shook his head.
"No, it isn't that simple."
His gaze swept over Ivankov and Ginny on the podium again before returning to Lin Nuo.
"I don't think he would blindly rush in here to save people."
"Hm?"
"Didn't you notice?"
"Since earlier, he's been extremely determined to keep all of us here."
"If he really came only to rescue people, with such a clear objective, then the best option would be to fly away immediately after saving them."
Sarez narrowed his eyes slightly. "This doesn't feel like mere arrogance. It feels more like he's stalling for time."
"Stalling for time?" Samuel was stunned.
"That's right." Sarez nodded. "I suspect he has accomplices. And those accomplices probably aren't very strong."
"If they were strong enough, they could have attacked their way in to rescue people while intercepting us outside."
"Instead of relying on him alone to draw all our attention here while desperately preventing our people from leaving."
"So the most reasonable guess is that his accomplices are acting elsewhere, perhaps targeting our Base or warehouses."
"And the reason he's causing such a scene here is to keep all our officers tied down."
Samuel sucked in a cold breath.
He thought of the warehouses piled with treasure, and the slaves... If someone really took advantage of this opening, the losses would be immeasurable.
"Then what do we do now?!"
"Like this," Sarez said after a brief pause. "I'll take the main offensive, and you'll support me from the side."
"But during a break in the fight, find an opportunity to slip away. Take several reliable captains and immediately return to the Base to check the situation."
"If you find enemies, deal with them on the spot."
"If everything is normal, reinforce the defenses and wait until things are settled here."
This was the most reliable plan.
However, after hearing it, Samuel did not immediately agree.
He fell silent for several seconds, then suddenly smiled smugly.
"Big Brother, actually..."
Samuel pulled a strange pistol from his waist.
Sarez looked at him, confusion flashing in his eyes.
"If all you need is a few captains to handle things."
Samuel raised the gun, aiming its barrel at the sky. "Then we don't actually need to retreat."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not like that reckless second-in-command." The curve of Samuel's smile widened.
"For this Tenpan Deathmatch, I did bring most of our elite forces here."
"But I left a squad outside."
His finger settled on the trigger.
"I didn't expect it to actually come in handy."
The moment he finished speaking, Samuel pulled the trigger.
Bang—!!
The gunshot rang out sharply.
But what shot from the barrel was not an ordinary lead bullet.
It was a cyan-blue orb of light, trailing flames as it flew straight into the sky!
Many people present recognized that color.
The flames burning over Lin Nuo's body in the arena were the same cyan-blue color.
"What's that?"
"A gang distress flare?!"
In the audience stands, many people pointed at the sky and cried out in shock.
Before you continue