Admiral Kizaru

Bonney dragged her severely injured body to the side and continued watching the standoff between man and machine. Though she dearly wanted to see Sal suffer, she still hoped he would win. Otherwise, her journey would end here.

A red light flashed in the Pacifista's eyes as it launched the first attack. Its mouth opened to reveal a cannon barrel, and a laser shot toward its target. Sal simply sidestepped it and charged straight at his opponent.

Armament Haki wrapped around the long blade in his hand, turning it pitch-black. With one slash, he split apart the second laser beam, making it burst like fireworks.

The blade then came down on the Pacifista. Before it could defend, a wound nearly a meter deep had already been carved into its shoulder. Sparks flickered from the machinery. Having landed a blow, Sal dodged another laser beam as the opponent widened the distance.

Man and machine faced off once more. After that brief exchange, the difference in their strength was already clear.

Sal loosened his grip on the sword hilt. He had to admit, the Pacifista's defenses were formidable. Even with Armament Haki Infusion, he could not cut it in half, and it possessed a devastating weapon like laser beams.

Against someone weaker than itself, it would be unstoppable. A single laser beam could instantly kill an enemy. Unfortunately, it was too rigid, and its methods of attack were too simple.

Sal charged at the Pacifista again. His advanced Observation Haki made it easy to evade the laser attacks. The black blade swept upward from below.

"Mountain Crusher!"

The heavy, powerful slash cut straight through the Pacifista's palm, depriving it of half its offensive options. Its remaining arm swept out and sent Sal flying, followed by several consecutive laser blasts.

Sal adjusted himself in midair and landed steadily. He danced his long blade, and a barrier of sword energy smoothly blocked the laser beams, deflecting them elsewhere.

Bonney watched as the battle completely tipped in Sal's favor, feeling both irritated and relieved. She was irritated because that bastard Sal was absurdly strong, overwhelmingly suppressing his opponent. Victory came far too easily, leaving her no chance to watch him suffer.

She was relieved because it seemed today would not be the end of her journey. While she was sighing inwardly, Bonney failed to notice a beam exploding beside her, throwing her directly to the ground.

Her already heavily injured body made her cough up several more mouthfuls of blood. She immediately cursed loudly.

"Augustus D. Sal, even if I die, I won't let you off even as a ghost!"

Seeing this, Sal did not intend to drag things out any longer. The sounds of battle might draw other enemies here. He raised his sword before him with one hand. Black lightning flickered around the pitch-black blade—Armament Haki compressed to its absolute limit, a top-tier Armament Haki technique.

Killing intent shone in Sal's eyes.

"Sea Severing!"

A majestic black sword energy slashed forth. After scattering the beams of light, it continued onward and cleaved the Pacifista in two. Its internal machinery was exposed, electrical currents flickered, and it finally exploded in a massive blast.

That single Sea Severing strike consumed more than half of his Armament Haki, but only such swordsmanship could cut through a Pacifista.

Sal sheathed his sword and walked toward Bonney with a smile.

"Miss Bonney, do you need my help?"

Covered in dust and grime, Jewelry Bonney turned her head away and stubbornly said,

"I don't need your help. Get lost..."

Before she could finish, Sal directly picked Bonney up. This sharp-tongued girl would probably not even have the chance to be arrested by the Marines if he left her alone. Any random pirate could take her life.

As for being arrested by the Marines, with Kuma's connections, she should be fine, right?

Seeing herself being carried, Jewelry Bonney could only glare viciously at the man before her. Sal realized that he truly was not suited to dealing with women like this. He should find somewhere secluded and hide her.

"Don't worry, Miss Bonney. I'll find somewhere to put you down."

Bonney let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that, though she stubbornly said,

"You saved me on your own initiative. I won't thank you for it."

Bonney's expression suddenly changed drastically. Her eyes widened as she said,

"Careful—"

Her reaction made Sal realize something was wrong. As his Observation Haki spread outward, he sensed someone appearing behind him, making his heart tighten. For someone to approach him without him noticing, that person had to be...

His body had no time to defend. He could only use his remaining Armament Haki to strengthen his defenses and release Bonney.

A flash of light streaked past, and Sal vanished from Bonney's sight, leaving her standing there dumbfounded as she listened to Kizaru's drawn-out voice.

"As expected of the monster who killed a Celestial Dragon. You even took apart a Pacifista like it was a toy. Such a dangerous person can't be left alive."

Completely ignored, Jewelry Bonney glared furiously at him. Deep down, she could not help worrying about the guy who had gotten dragged into this because of her. He didn't just die like that, did he?

Kizaru narrowed his eyes and watched Sal's figure crash through several large trees before flying nearly ten kilometers away and disappearing from sight. Only then did he look at Bonney and slowly say,

"Jewelry Bonney, another troublesome figure. Before the war begins, we can't lose Tyrant Kuma, one of the Shichibukai."

Kizaru had no intention of dealing with this troublesome figure. He turned into a beam of light and flew into the distance.

Jewelry Bonney could only feel a deep sense of powerlessness, whether facing the Pacifista or Kizaru.

Sal was struck by a Light-Speed Kick. The immense force sent him flying ten kilometers, smashing through every obstacle in his path until he crashed into a mangrove tree in Grove 35, making the enormous tree tremble.

"Cough, cough..."

Sal leaped out of the tree trunk completely unharmed, watching Kizaru in the distance turn into light and pursue him.

That Light-Speed Kick had directly activated the Substitute Puppet. One could imagine how powerful it had been. His expression became extremely grave. The worst-case scenario had still happened.

That Light-Speed Kick had definitely been Kizaru's full-power strike, not the casual sort of attack where he took down a Supernova with every kick.

If Sal had not possessed the Substitute Puppet, then caught off guard by that blow, he might well have been in mortal danger.

Golden light flashed, and Kizaru appeared some distance away. Seeing Sal completely unharmed, surprise appeared in his eyes.

"Are you a monster? My full-power kick didn't even scratch you. Isn't that a little ridiculous?"

Sal replied with great disdain.

"I don't want a real monster calling me a monster, Borsalino."

Kizaru's pupils suddenly contracted, as though he had discovered something extraordinary. He said in confusion,

"You really do look like him. What is your relationship with Roger?"

As one of the "young men" who had followed Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, and the others in his youth, he had fought the Roger Pirates many times. He would never forget Roger's appearance for as long as he lived.

[SS-rank character Kizaru has developed an ordinary emotion toward the host: minor surprise. Experience increased by 10000]

[Level increased: Level 46, 137/22000]

The level increase restored a considerable amount of Sal's stamina and Haki. It also activated the Magic Enhancement Necklace, and a different kind of power flowed into his body.

[Level 46 +10 levels]

Sal clenched his fist, feeling his physique grow much stronger. His hand touched the sword at his waist. His gaze hesitated for a moment, but he still chose to continue using the longsword. It was not yet time to use Ace.

"Don't worry, Kizaru. I'm not Roger's descendant or any other relative of his."

Kizaru put on an act, patting his chest with a frightened expression.

"That's good, then. Otherwise, I'd really be afraid that if I killed you, the Pirate King's remaining followers would come to take revenge."