"Ah!"
In the distance, a man in an odd outfit was performing an even stranger dance, as though some peculiar power flowed through it.
Under his control, the surrounding plants shot skyward and grew wildly, wrapping themselves around the charging Marines.
The trapped Marines struggled with all their strength but could not break free. Soon, they stopped moving.
Noticing the commotion at the navy command post, he released the Marines who had lost consciousness and let them fall to the ground.
Still dancing, he moved toward the swordswoman fighting nearby, sweeping aside the Marines in his path with his plants.
He was Bins, one of Z's students and an officer of the Neo Navy. With the power of the Shove-Shove Fruit, he could control nearby plants and accelerate their growth.
The swordswoman was formidable. Sword Aura flashed in every direction, leaving a broad stretch of open ground around her that few Marines could cross.
She noticed Bins approaching in his strange clothes, dancing all the while, and moved to join him.
"Ain, do you know who that person fighting over there is? I don't think anyone in the Neo Navy besides you is that skilled with a sword. If he isn't one of ours, why would he charge into the battlefield and fight the marines?" He looked toward the mysterious fighter surrounded by enemies.
The swordswoman with long, wavy sea-blue hair and exceptional swordsmanship was one of Z's students, Ain, the Neo Navy's vice admiral.
Neither they nor the marines could see the fighter's face, so neither side could identify him. Both were baffled.
Ain cut down several more Marines and looked his way. His Sword Techniques felt faintly familiar, and the figure fighting there increasingly reminded her of someone she knew.
"He might be someone I know, but I