This Colonel might still not have realized who his opponent was.
And his performance in taking Lofan's blow had earned him a reprieve from Lofan.
Seeing that this Colonel had some ability, Lofan decided to play with him using one percent of his strength.
It was a good chance to test where he stood in terms of raw physical strength alone.
Taking things a little more seriously, Lofan changed his approach to attacking.
Since he was going to rely on pure physical strength, it was time to see Lofan's hand-to-hand fighting skills.
Lofan did not withdraw the hand that had struck the blade. His left hand immediately tensed and drew in toward his abdomen.
He fired another punch along the centerline like lightning, then quickly withdrew both hands as his left fist struck low.
After the left fist struck the Colonel's abdomen, the Colonel visibly retreated a considerable distance, dropping to one knee and panting nonstop.
"You've got guts to take a punch from me head-on. That counts for something among Marines. Too bad you took the wrong path. Turn back now, and you can still redeem yourself through meritorious service and make up for your crimes."
"Damn you! You really look down on us Marine officers, you bastard! I have my pride as a Marine too! Aaaaaah!"
With a furious roar that shook the heavens, the Marine Colonel's strength instantly increased considerably, and even the air filled with a scorching tension.
"Oh? You have a trick like that too?" This method of briefly boosting his abilities surprised Lofan a little. "Looks like I've found a treasure."
"Enough talk. Fight me again."
"I never kill nameless nobodies. Give me your name, and I'll grant you a quick death."
"Remember this! I'm your Soul Reaper! Remember my name. I am Skeleton Taya."
Soul Reaper? Hearing that term, Lofan raised his eyebrows in some surprise.
"If you want me to remember you, we'll have to see whether you have what it takes."
With that, Lofan relaxed his body and took a stance.
Lofan wanted to see just where Taya's limits lay.
Taya rapidly closed the distance to Lofan. Once he was close enough, he stamped down and leaped high into the air.
With his enormous katana, he reached the apex of his leap, then shot toward Lofan like a cannonball.
At the same time, he brought the katana down, attacking Lofan with a force that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Lofan neither dodged nor evaded. He maintained his ready stance and simply watched Taya attack.
Just before the blade reached Lofan, Taya used Armament Haki to strengthen the katana in his hands.
Blazing flames instantly enveloped the blade, which smashed toward Lofan with heat and intimidating force that could set space itself alight.
Lofan glanced at Taya descending from above, then merely hopped lightly, bent his knee, turned his leg, and lashed out with a whipping kick that caught Taya squarely on the arm.
Thrown off balance in midair, Taya flew diagonally to the right, stirring up a cloud of dust as he hit the ground.
When the dust cleared, Taya was half-kneeling in the crater his landing had made, holding his sword with both hands. A bruise had formed on his left arm where the kick had struck.
His sword hand was trembling slightly too. His bedraggled appearance bore no resemblance to his earlier arrogance.
Lofan landed lightly and beckoned to Taya, signaling for him to come again.
Seeing this, Taya wasted no time. He coated the blade in Armament Haki and charged at Lofan with his sword raised.
He looked exactly like a last samurai charging fearlessly in the face of foreign guns and cannons.
There was some helplessness, some bitterness, but above all, absurdity-the absurdity of attempting to defy fate.
Lofan still stood quietly.
Just before Taya reached him, Lofan took two steps forward, closing the distance himself.
He raised his left hand to forehead level, positioning his forearm beneath Taya's sword arm in advance.
Before Taya could fully exert his strength, Lofan checked it with a block.
At the same time, Lofan sank at both knees and drove a fierce, powerful straight punch with his right hand along the centerline, slamming it into Taya's completely unguarded abdomen.
Taya collapsed straight to the ground from the blow, losing consciousness entirely.
And just like that, Lofan dragged Taya's unconscious body out of the room.
Not a single Marine soldier who had come with Taya dared stop him.
Using only his physical abilities, he had knocked out a Marine Colonel with one blow.
Skeleton Taya had even possessed the strength of a Marine commodore after boosting his power.
This man's strength had deeply shaken every soldier present. No one dared stop Lofan from leaving.
Lofan handed Taya over to the Search Bureau's standby fleet, having him confined aboard a ship for interrogation.
Lofan went on to investigate several more islands. After gathering enough evidence, he ordered the standby fleet to move out and surround Marine Branch 199.
That led to the fleeing Commander Peifuri being captured by the troops guarding the perimeter, and to his appearance alongside the already-captured Taya to testify against Rear Admiral Morris.
Lofan dealt with Morris and Marine Branch 199.
He then ordered the military police under his command to swiftly confiscate the Marine property belonging to the branch and escort it back to Marine Headquarters.
All of Morris's illegal proceeds were entered into a register, which was then submitted to his superiors.
The actual illicit funds were all sent to the Investigation Bureau.
The reason Lofan dared do this was the backing Sengoku had given him.
What Lofan had wheedled out of Sengoku in his office that day was precisely this right to dispose of illicit funds as he saw fit.
After all, although Sengoku the Buddha had agreed to allocate funds to the Search Bureau, he had not actually been able to spare a single coin. He could only use this sort of compromise to give Lofan the go-ahead to raise money himself, which also counted as giving Lofan an answer.
Lofan also knew that Marine Headquarters could not spare the money.
The Marines' budget had shrunk year after year. Asking the penniless Marines to pay up was rather ill-timed.
But Lofan had never expected Marine Headquarters to provide money anyway.
Giving such a promise was equivalent to giving Lofan a gold badge of authority. All his money-raising activities were officially backed acts of the World Government.
If any of those targeted objected, they could take it up with the World Government or Sengoku.
He bore none of the responsibility himself and could even take the opportunity to develop his own forces. It could hardly be better.
"An entire branch abolished in one go. Looks like the World Government's higher-ups will be making a move.
"Maybe I've provoked someone I shouldn't have. Well, those things aren't mine to worry about anymore.
"Compared to the people in Marineford who want revenge, this is nothing.
"The calm before the storm? I will see to it that the Marines' power structure is reshuffled."
Lofan had long since prepared himself mentally.
He knew he had gone too far this time and threatened many people's vested interests.
Although Marine Branch 199 did not seem large, the flow of money through it was enormous.
The people behind Morris would certainly not let him off. They would try every possible means to target him.
But this was how Lofan did things. Fear was a word he had never known.
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