Outside the arena.
Smoker and Karma's fierce battle had completely reached a fever pitch.
"Clang clang clang clang—!"
Six curved blades collided wildly with the Seastone Jitte, sparks bursting in clusters.
White smoke churned.
Blade light tore through the air.
The entire street had been ravaged by the aftershocks of their battle.
Walls were sliced apart.
The ground was smashed open.
Chunks of rubble continuously flew up, only to be swiftly cut into powder by the blade aura.
Karma swung all six arms at once, his curved blades slashing down from six different directions.
Every slash was wrapped in Armament Haki, the barrage of blades so dense that there was almost no gap to be seen.
Meanwhile, Smoker kept darting through the smoke.
At times, he dispersed into white smoke; at others, he abruptly appeared at Karma's side.
Every strike of the Seastone Jitte carried a dull whistle through the air.
"Bang!"
"Clang!"
"Boom—!"
Karma forced Smoker back with one slash, then slammed the tentacles behind him into the ground and spun with the borrowed momentum.
Six blades swept horizontally in a crisscross.
Sharp blade aura instantly swept across the street, carving several deep gashes into the nearby walls.
"Hahahaha!"
Karma grinned savagely.
"The Marines inside are about to collapse, aren't they?"
"I just need to keep you occupied!"
"Once my men catch those slaves again, you Marines will still have to kneel and beg me!"
Smoker did not answer. He merely clenched a cigar between his teeth, his gaze cold and hard.
White smoke churned around him. It appeared scattered, yet it had never truly dispersed.
Layer upon layer of smoke wound through the street.
It clung to the walls and lay low against the ground.
It curled around Karma's tentacles, then gathered again through the gaps brushed by