Chapter 36

Only by surviving the coming counterattack would they truly win this round.

"Rossi! Watch your feet!"

Doffy's shout came from behind him, and Rossi froze, panting.

His feet?

What was under his feet-

Shhk.

"Well done, young man."

Rossi lowered his head.

What had pierced his chest was the very same ** that had just pierced Thompson's throat.

"Unfortunately, you ran into me."

The middle-aged man in the fine suit, with a protruding belly and a ring of curly brown hair around his bald crown, was writhing as he rose from the deck.

He pulled the blade from his neck with a backhand motion, ** Rossi's chest, then closed his fingers around Rossi's throat and lifted him off the ground.

"A Devil Fruit user?"

The way the man had writhed to his feet, along with the yellow-brown mud churning in the wound in his throat, was enough to make Rossi's heart sink.

"You guessed right.

But-"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Mud splattered.

Three holes burst open simultaneously in the bald man's eye socket, shoulder, and chest. Yellow-brown liquid poured from the openings, then rapidly drew back together like a film playing in reverse.

His skin became smooth again, and even his clothes showed no sign of damage.

"Useless, just as I thought."

Rossi loosened his fingers, and three shell casings fell to the deck with a crisp clatter.

Vincenso's gun hand stopped in midair.

For the first time, bewilderment appeared on this Family officer's face-he had clearly never seen his leader display such an ability.

A splash came from beside the railing.

Paul disappeared into the waves.

The instant his leader "came back to life,"

the man in the flashy bow tie had chosen to jump overboard.

Vincenso turned toward the churning sea, his muzzle unconsciously dropping half an inch.

"Let him go!"

Doffy's fist came hurtling over with a rush of wind.

An invisible pressure erupted around him, and several gunmen on the deck staggered and fell to their knees.

But the bald man at the center of that pressure merely blinked and waved a hand as though brushing away a cobweb.

Mud pellets formed at his fingertips and tore through the air.

The first struck Doffy's collarbone, knocking his body sideways.

The second pierced his thigh. He slammed down onto one knee, blood seeping from the wound and spreading into dark red spots on the deck.

"What an unpleasant scent."

Thompson turned his finger, and a third mud pellet formed at its tip.

He stared at the boy's profile, taut with pain, as an instinctive wariness stirred in his chest.

He had to snuff out this spark now.

A long whip of mucus lashed toward the back of his neck.

Thompson did not even turn around.

The deck beneath his feet suddenly softened, and a yellow-brown swamp surged up, swallowing the incoming mucus whole.

At the same time, the finger he had been pointing at Doffy changed direction-

Just as the mud pellet was about to launch, a scrawny figure knocked the mucus Devil Fruit user aside.

"Vergo?"

The boy pulled something from his waist.

A series of metallic clashes rang out, cold gleams flashing in the morning light.

He charged at Thompson, his feet striking the bloodstained planks and kicking up tiny wood chips with every step.

The sea breeze suddenly shifted, sweeping over the deck with a salty tang.

Every one of Vergo's attacks missed.

On the deck, Trebol's arm had already twisted to an unnatural angle, and muffled cracks came from Vergo's own ribs.

The man known as "Big Bucks"

had not even had the hem of his clothes disturbed.

"Count us in."

Two soaking figures vaulted over the railing, scattering cold droplets.

Diamante's rapier trailed a cold gleam in the dim light. Pica silently stepped forward, and the deck let out a ** beneath his weight.

They had ordered the other two ships to open fire while they swam over through the icy sea-fortunately, the curse of the Devil Fruits had yet to descend upon them.

"Heh, the boys of the Four Suits, and you two as well."

The middle-aged man, his belly stretching his fine suit into a curve, spread his arms as though presenting a performance whose outcome had long been decided.

"Come, let me teach you... how to spell despair."

Rossi's chest was stained red over a wide area, his breathing so faint it seemed about to die out at any moment.

Doffy supported him, warm blood also leaking from a hole in his own shoulder and another in his leg.

This battle could only be left to those four figures.

Their faces still bore the outlines of youth, but something in their eyes had changed.

With the four of them fighting side by side, surely they could tear open a chance at survival.

But the sight on the deck crushed every last hope.

Sometimes, willpower was as thin as paper.

"Boring."

A constantly churning yellow-brown mire spread across the planks, a human-shaped mound rising at its center.

The bald man's upper body emerged from the top of the mound. It was Thompson.

Everything below his waist had merged with the mud. Six people were trapped in that thick, slowly writhing substance: Rossi, Doffy, Trebol, Diamante, Pica, and Vergo... none of them could move.

"Logia-the Swamp-Swamp Fruit."

Thompson's voice was calm.

He no longer concealed it, because no one here would be left alive.

The secret had to sink to the bottom of the sea.

As for Paul, who had sensed the danger and slipped away early... let him breathe a little longer.

"Cough... Rossi! Look at me!"

With the mud up to his chest, Doffy struggled to turn his head, his gaze fixed firmly on the other side.

The blond-haired boy, the most seriously wounded of them all, was on the verge of closing his eyes.

"Don't sleep! Didn't you want to stand at the top? Didn't you want to become someone no one could shake?!"

"Ha... invincible?"

Thompson seemed to have heard the most ridiculous joke imaginable. Even the churning mud paused for an instant.

Even someone like him, who possessed the power of nature, had to conceal himself with the utmost care.

And these brats, still wet behind the ears, dared utter such arrogant words-

"Cough... that's right."

Blood spilled from his lips, and his fading consciousness was forcibly dragged back.

Rossi's eyelashes trembled, and his eyes opened again.

Although all six were imprisoned in the cold mud, no despair was reflected in his eyes.

"I'm... going to become... a name this entire sea will remember."

As long as he kept thinking, there would be a way.

Rossi raised his face and spat a mouthful of bloody saliva toward Thompson.

"Does being a Logia... really make you invincible?"

He tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't even need to move a finger to deal with you-one sentence will be enough."

Of course, what Rossi had eaten was not the "Sound-Sound Fruit," which could launch sonic attacks,

but the "Calm-Calm Fruit."

The "one sentence" he spoke of

was actually-

"Trebol, your mucus! Let it all out!"

Although Trebol did not understand Rossi's intention, he immediately complied, trapped in the mud as he was.

Thick liquid poured from all over his body and rapidly spread.

But once it left his body, mucus was ultimately just mucus. Compared to the mud his opponent controlled as easily as his own limbs, it seemed clumsy and powerless.

An ordinary Paramecia truly struggled to contend with a Logia.

"So that's it."

Doffy was the first to understand.

Although their limbs were tightly wrapped in mud, all six still had their heads and necks exposed, perhaps because Thompson wanted to enjoy the sight of their desperate struggles.

"Are you... afraid to die?"

Rossi's voice rang out.

The four froze for an instant, then answered one after another:

"No!"

Their voices rang out in unison.

"It's just that ending things like this... I can't accept it..."

Diamante murmured.

He had once imagined following Doffy to the summit, wielding power, yet now he was going to die here.

So be it. At least he would have company on the road to the underworld.

"Then let's go together.

Doffy-"

On the other side, Doffy lowered his head, caught the edge of his suit's breast pocket between his teeth, and jerked hard-

A black sphere traced an arc toward Thompson in the mud.

"Ridiculous.

Slashes, **, **... none of them work on me."

Boom!

The sphere exploded, blasting Thompson's upper body into scattered flecks of mud. But the next second, those flecks rapidly gathered again, restoring his original form.

"Your final death throes-"

The bald middle-aged man was only halfway through speaking when his expression abruptly changed.

His newly re-formed eyes saw a sudden surge of scarlet.

Fire.

Raging fire.

Trebol's mucus was an excellent accelerant.

Years later, he had once used these flames to nearly burn someone of Shichibukai caliber to ashes; even if their power now fell short of what it would become, they were still a deadly threat to Thompson.

"Cough... in the end, fighting a Logia takes the power of nature."

After watching the battle for so long, Rossi had already figured out the details of his opponent's ability.

The Swamp-Swamp Fruit could turn the body into liquid mud-but surrounded by flames this hot, even mud would dry out and become hard earth and stone.

The flames made no distinction between friend and foe, spreading rapidly and igniting every patch of swamp coated in mucus.

Flames licked everyone's skin, heat seeping inward from the surface as though it would boil their blood.

It was not only the man nicknamed "Big Bucks"

who was trapped in the scarlet inferno. The other figures were caught in it as well.

But just then-

"Hahaha... let's see who lasts the longest!"

Hoarse laughter erupted from the flames. Rossi, who should have collapsed from his severe injuries, actually raised his head amid the blaze.

That laughter made Thompson's back stiffen a short distance away.

"Fufufu... what do these ** flames amount to?"

From the other side, Doffy's voice also carried through the waves of heat.

Flames wreathed his body, yet this was far better than those days in his memory when they had been strung up and burned, able to do nothing but wail.

Lunatics.

They were all lunatics who cared nothing for their lives!

Thompson felt afraid.

More than a decade of comfortable living had long since dulled the claws and fangs he needed to fight to the death.

He couldn't die here. Spandamruze was still waiting for him to return and take control...

He abruptly withdrew his ability, and six burning figures fell to the ground.

The man, likewise engulfed in flames, turned and fled, leaving the scorching battlefield behind.

"Burns cover more than sixty percent of his body."

"Multiple muscle tears, with fractures to the tibia and fibula in his left lower leg."

"Four bullets remain in his body-fortunately, all of them are lodged in muscle tissue."

"This is the most life-threatening injury."

The voice paused. "The metal fragment embedded in his chest pierced his diaphragm and parts of his internal organs.

If we simply pull it out, we won't be able to control the internal bleeding.

With this hospital's resources, we cannot suture his internal organs during surgery."

Through his haze, the grave words reached his ears.

Mixed in were shouts like, "Do you want him to die?"

"If you can't save him, I'll slaughter you!"

Those furious shouts made the semiconscious Rossi feel a little like laughing.

Doctors weren't gods. How could they possibly cure everything?

"In other words, as long as the wounds are sutured while the fragment is being removed, he can survive, correct?"

Another voice spoke up.

It was young, yet carried an unquestionable weight.

The grave voice from before fell silent for a few seconds.

"...I'll do my best."

"Then begin."

His vision gradually cleared.

An unfamiliar white ceiling came into view.

Rossi tried to move, only to discover that bandages, casts, and splints held him firmly in the hospital bed.

"You're awake."

Doffy, who had been dozing in the chair beside him with his arms folded, immediately straightened up.

His gaze shifted slightly behind his sunglasses.

"Doffy... what happened to me..."

"You suffered some injuries in the fight.

Don't move yet. Wait for the doctor."

Doffy reached out and tugged the thin cord beside the bed.

Before long, a grave-looking doctor in a white coat hurried into the room with two nurses.

"It's truly unbelievable... all his vital signs are stabilizing."

The doctor quickly finished his examination and rapidly jotted something on the medical chart in his hands.

The boy lying in the hospital bed had bandages wrapped all around his chest.