"Iron Body?"
Watching Wilton fly backward and cough up blood, Dragon followed close behind, spinning into a second roundhouse kick. Wilton blocked every strike, but after the barrage, even with Iron Body and Armament Haki, his hands had swollen red and trembled uncontrollably.
It felt like his bones had cracked.
Cough, cough, cough—
Climbing out of the shattered ruins, Wilton spat the blood from his mouth. He was already badly injured. Thankfully, he had Iron Body and Armament Haki; otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.
His Self-Sacrifice passive had already been fully maxed out.
The more severely injured he was, the higher his attack power became.
He would only grow braver as the battle continued.
The corpse with the highest attack power in the canyon had not earned that reputation for nothing.
"Among Marine Rear Admirals, you are the first I've seen to train Iron Body to this extent."
In a blur.
Dragon appeared before him, his words full of praise for Wilton. It was not that he was boasting about his own strength. Any other rear admiral, or even an ordinary vice admiral, would have gone down in the first wave of Conqueror's Haki.
Yet this man had not only withstood Conqueror's Haki, but had also exchanged several blows with him. Even now, there was no sign of dejection on his face. Instead, he seemed to be growing fiercer with every battle.
"Explosive Double Axes."
Staring at Dragon before him, Wilton roared and slammed down with both clenched fists. Yet Dragon blocked them with only one arm and gave Wilton no chance to evade, driving his left fist heavily into Wilton's chest.
Pfft—
Sweet blood sprayed from Wilton's mouth and nose. His body bent like a bow as an enormous shockwave burst from his back, tearing through the ground and plowing across the ruins for hundreds of meters.
In five years since setting out.
This was the first time he had felt so powerless.
As he was now, he was no match for Dragon at all. He had been completely suppressed from start to finish.
Was this the power of the sea's top fighters?
"Major General Wilton!"
"White Fist."
Smoker, who had been watching all along, rushed forward with white smoke billowing from his body. It gathered around his right hand as he charged Dragon, but Dragon took a step back, glanced at Wilton kneeling on the ground while clutching his stomach, and vanished in a flash.
Not good.
Smoker's scalp tingled. Looking up, he saw Dragon appear in an instant, his fist crashing solidly into him. He came as quickly as he went, disappearing beyond the end of the street after a single exchange.
"So this is the world's most dangerous man."
On the warship.
Arlong, Buggy, Bartholomew, and Alvida all swallowed hard. In their eyes, that huge man was already incredibly powerful, yet before the world's most dangerous man, he was utterly outclassed.
Just as they had been before Wilton.
Crushed from head to toe.
"I'm sorry, but I'm taking them with me."
With his back to Wilton, Dragon strode toward the warship.
"I haven't fallen yet."
He had only taken a few steps.
A pained voice came from behind him. Dragon turned and looked at Wilton as he swayed to his feet, a burst of green light suddenly shining from his body.
Then his aura began to recover.
"A Devil Fruit User?"
Dragon frowned slightly.
He had assumed Wilton was merely a powerful martial artist, but he turned out to be a Devil Fruit User as well. Was it an ability related to healing injuries? It appeared to be a Paramecia.
"Huff."
Wilton took a deep breath.
He had just used Recovery, restoring 5 percent of his health. That health included stamina, injuries, and all sorts of negative conditions.
In other words, Wilton could barely continue fighting. He was still seriously wounded, so his attack power was even greater than usual, but it made little difference against Dragon.
The gap between them was still far too great.
The ground exploded beneath his feet as Wilton leaped forward, once again attacking without fear of death. Both fists crashed toward Dragon with tremendous force. As a violent storm swept out, Dragon's black hair fluttered and the ground beneath him burst apart in ring after ring.
At that moment, Dragon looked exceptionally domineering.
He blocked Wilton's attacks with only one arm. No matter how much Wilton increased his strength, it was useless.
Wilton moved quickly, spinning through the air as an area-of-effect slash wave swept outward. Dragon blocked it with his other hand, then immediately kicked at Wilton.
The air exploded.
Wilton swiftly dodged and leaped ten meters away. Before he could make his next move, Dragon appeared behind him in an instant. Wilton opened his mouth and sprayed blood, turning into a streak of light that tore through vast stretches of ruined walls and rubble before finally collapsing among broken stones not far from the harbor.
He had been defeated once again.
He had been utterly unable to fight back.
"It's over."
Dragon did not believe Wilton could get back up. Buggy, Tashigi, and the other Marines aboard the warship thought the same. One only had to look at Smoker, who was still lying there.
He had been beaten so badly in a single exchange that he could not get up.
And he was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
"A real man never fears or gives up."
Dragon had just taken two steps when Wilton's pained voice sounded behind him once again. Under everyone's gaze, Wilton supported himself against a nearby stone and rose to his feet, covered in blood.
A dazzling green light shone from his entire body, spreading out to a radius of ten meters.
Then his aura rapidly recovered.
Healing.
It restored 15 percent of his own health and that of nearby allies, as well as their movement speed. Unlike Recovery, which could only restore his own health, Healing could restore both himself and nearby allies.
Its original range had been one meter, but Wilton had expanded it to ten meters over the past five years.
Furthermore, both Recovery and Healing had cooldowns and could only be used once a day.
"That guy is also a Devil Fruit User."
The first thing everyone thought of was that he had to be a Devil Fruit User. Otherwise, what was with the green light coming from Wilton's body?
His injuries and aura had even recovered so quickly.
It had to be some kind of recovery-type Devil Fruit.
"No, that guy can't be a Devil Fruit User."
Bartholomew remembered clearly that after he had been defeated and fallen into the sea, that big man had swum over and dragged him out. Though his consciousness had been hazy at the time, he was certain it had been Wilton.
"He obviously is a Devil Fruit User."
Buggy, Luffy, Alvida, Nami, and the others all objected. Did he think they were blind?
How could green light possibly come out of a person's body? Fine, perhaps green light could appear, but what about the clearly noticeable recovery of his injuries?
What else besides the sea's secret treasure, a Devil Fruit, could accomplish something like that?
"He was the one who saved me after I was knocked into the sea."
Bartholomew spoke with certainty, but he was also confused. If that man was not a Devil Fruit User, how could he explain what he was seeing? If he was, then why could he still swim?
For a moment.
Everyone fell into deep thought.
Boom, boom, boom.
Explosions filled the shattered ruins as Wilton and Dragon clashed once again. Even with Iron Body and Armament Haki, Wilton was beaten back again and again.
Yet he only grew fiercer, and his attacks became increasingly powerful.
He kept coughing up blood.
He kept retreating.
Wilton was like a punching bag, battered back and forth by Dragon with virtually no ability to fight back, because Dragon's attacks were simply too fast.
Even so, he did not take a single step back.
As the battle continued, Dragon and Luffy's group aboard the warship all fell silent, their eyes filled with respect. The Marines flushed red as they clenched their fists tightly.
Without a doubt.
In some people's eyes, Wilton was foolish, but in others', he was noble and towering. If there was a true man upon these seas, it had to be Wilton.
Before you continue