Identity Revealed, the Real Call for Reinforcements

Tenpan City, duel arena.

"Why are we evacuating the island?" Samuel asked unwillingly.

"Big Brother, could it be that you too—"

"If I tell you to retreat, then retreat! Ask questions afterward!!"

Samuel looked at his big brother's serious face and swallowed.

"...Yes, I understand."

He turned and roared at the gang members, "All captains, take your men! Follow me!"

That shout snapped everyone awake.

Though they did not understand why, an order was an order. The gang members began flooding toward the exits.

However, several fireballs shot out from Lin Nuo's direction, accurately smashing down 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 at him.

"Stay right where you are."

Lin Nuo himself turned into an afterimage, his right foot shaped like a claw as it shot straight for Samuel's throat!

"Not a chance..."

With a low shout, Sarez vanished.

The next instant, he appeared before Samuel, the tachi named "Silence" at his waist suddenly drawn!

Metal clanged.

Lin Nuo's claw strike was caught on the tachi. 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, sending the blade slashing upward!

"Silence Style: Backwave!"

The angle of that slash was vicious, but Lin Nuo had already ignited his Lunarian Flame and chose to take it head-on with his body.

Then his left leg lashed out, the 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, smashing into the stone railing of the viewing platform.

The two landed separately, facing each other from twenty meters apart.

The brief exchange had lasted only a few breaths.

Yet the entire audience had already gone numb.

"Is this really a match I can watch for a few thousand Beli?!"

"Whoa! That was awesome!!"

The roaring waves of sound nearly lifted the roof off the duel arena.

At the center of that storm, Sarez unhurriedly raised his tachi before him.

"You know what you're doing, don't you?"

His voice was calm.

"You want to keep all of us here? Do you know what that means?"

Lin Nuo shook his hand as blue flames ignited across his body.

"Of course I do."

Sarez said nothing more.

He removed the gloves from both hands, then undid the buttons of his coat and casually tossed it onto the ground.

Finally, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them again, the aura around him had changed.

Pitch-black, almost tangible currents of air rose from his arms, rapidly coiling and condensing.

At last, they covered both his arms and the tachi 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 turned into an afterimage, instantly crossing ten meters!

The tachi streaked with light as it slashed toward Lin Nuo's neck.

"Silence Style: Iron Cutter!"

Meanwhile, the flames around Lin Nuo's fists had already finished compressing.

Facing the slash, he stepped forward, twisted his waist, and threw his right fist with all his might!

"Flame Emperor—!!"

Flames and the slash collided head-on in the center of the arena!

The shockwave exploded, plowing through the duel arena's ground once more!

Dust and smoke 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 like a gentle breeze against him.

But after that Flame Emperor had clashed head-on with his opponent's Armament Haki-coated slash—

He had actually felt like he had been hit.

Haki... really was troublesome.

He raised his eyes toward the other side.

Sarez did not look like he was having an easy time either.

"Big Brother!"

A figure leaped down from the viewing platform and landed beside Sarez.

"How is it? This guy's strength..." Samuel stared at Lin Nuo in the distance.

"Not bad." Sarez's assessment was brief, his gaze fixed on his opponent.

"His Devil Fruit ability is probably high-speed regeneration, but his hand-to-hand skills lack any real foundation."

Sarez's gaze left Lin Nuo and fell on Ivankov and Ginny on the viewing platform.

He had heard those two slaves cheering very clearly just now.

"Lin Nuo..."

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 this guy's objective."

Samuel abruptly turned his head. "Objective?"

Sarez lifted his chin toward the viewing platform.

"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 also discovered something else."

Samuel hurriedly pricked up his ears.

"He can't use Haki."

"He can't use Haki?" Samuel repeated. "You mean when you coated your slash with Armament Haki, he didn't use Haki to counter it?"

"That's right." Sarez's voice regained its composure.

"His Devil Fruit ability may be troublesome, but without Haki, his attacks cannot truly break through my defenses, while I can use Haki to hurt him."

He tightened his grip on the tachi.

"In that case, we don't need to be as nervous as we were earlier."

At those words, Samuel relaxed, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Then great! If he can't use Haki, no matter how bizarre his Devil Fruit ability is, there's still a limit to it."

"You take the lead, Big Brother. I'll support you from the side, and we'll gang up on him together! Even if we have to wear him down, we'll wear him to death!"

However, Sarez shook his head.

"No, it's not that simple."

His gaze swept over Ivankov and Ginny on the viewing platform again before returning to Lin Nuo.

"I don't think he would blindly charge in here to rescue people."

"Hm?"

"Didn't you notice?"

"Ever since earlier, this guy has been fixated on keeping all of us here."

"If he were really only here to rescue people, with a clear objective, the best option would be to fly away directly after saving them."

Sarez narrowed his eyes slightly. "This doesn't seem like mere arrogance. It feels more like he's stalling for time."

"Stalling for time?" Samuel was startled.

"That's right." Sarez nodded. "I suspect he has companions behind him. And those companions won't be very strong."

"If they were strong enough, they could have fought their way in to rescue the people while intercepting us outside."

"Instead, he alone is drawing all of our attention here and desperately preventing our people from leaving."

"So the most reasonable guess is that his companions are acting elsewhere, and their target may be our base or warehouse."

"And he's causing this disturbance here to keep all of our officers tied down."

Samuel sucked in a cold breath.

He thought of the warehouse piled with treasure and the slaves... If someone really took advantage of the opening, the losses would be immeasurable.

"What should we do now?!"

"Like this," Sarez said after a brief moment of thought. "I'll take the offensive later, and you support me from the side."

"But during a lull in the fight, find an opportunity to break 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, strengthen the defenses and wait until things are settled here."

This was the safest plan.

However, Samuel did not immediately agree after hearing it.

He fell silent for several seconds, then suddenly smiled smugly.

"Big Brother, actually..."

Samuel drew a strange pistol from his waist.

Sarez looked at him, confusion flashing through his eyes.

"If you only need a few captains to handle things."

Samuel raised the muzzle toward the sky. "Then we don't actually need to retreat."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not like that reckless brute, the 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 rested on the trigger.

"I didn't expect it to actually come in handy."

The instant he finished speaking, Samuel pulled the trigger.

Bang—!!

The gunshot rang out sharply.

But what shot from the muzzle was not an ordinary lead bullet.

It was a cyan-blue orb of light, trailing flames as it shot straight into the sky!

Many people present found that color very familiar.

The flames burning across Lin Nuo's body were the same cyan-blue color.

"That is?"

"The gang's signal flare for reinforcements?!"

In the audience stands, many people pointed at the sky and cried out in alarm.