As Borsalino watched Lin Yuan charge toward him, his attention was exceptionally focused. If Lin Yuan could see the future, and with his strength as an Admiral candidate, he really might manage to dirty or even tear Borsalino's clothes.
That was what Borsalino genuinely thought. He had never considered losing; at their level, he had a clear idea of both sides' strength.
He raised his light sword again and clashed fiercely with Lin Yuan. Blade met sword, and the sound of metal striking metal rang out once more.
Just as Borsalino was about to make another quip, his Observation Haki suddenly warned him of a deadly danger.
Borsalino frowned deeply and quickly scanned his surroundings, trying to find the source of the danger, but nothing happened.
Then his gaze fell on Lin Yuan in front of him. Lin Yuan's mouth was already wide open.
"Roar..."
Under Borsalino's astonished gaze, a dragon's roar shook heaven and earth. Its terrifying pressure made Borsalino lose focus for an instant.
Then another blast of terrifying flames erupted from Lin Yuan's mouth.
Stunned for an instant by the terrifying dragon's roar, Borsalino finally realized where the danger came from. But it was already too late to dodge.
At the last possible moment, a trace of black Armament Haki flashed over Borsalino's body. But as soon as it touched the flames, he retreated without a second thought.
Even so, the flames on his body did not go out. They clung to him like maggots on bone and began to burn.
"What kind of fire is this?!"
Borsalino's expression changed drastically. His body instinctively turned into its elemental form, and he vanished in a flash of light.
When he reappeared, the flames on his body were gone, but his yellow suit and Admiral's coat were in tatters.
There was also a wound on his shoulder, where the flames had scorched his skin.
"What terrifying flames! He's a Devil Fruit User too!"
While Borsalino was avoiding the flames, Lin Yuan lunged toward the cliff without a second thought.
By the time Borsalino had turned into his elemental form to evade the flames, Lin Yuan had reached the current. Without hesitation, he jumped into the water.
Borsalino did not know why Lin Yuan, a Devil Fruit User, would do something so suicidal, but he pursued him without a second thought.
He had a feeling that if Lin Yuan jumped into the current, he might not die, but escape instead.
But the earlier attack had delayed him. No matter how fast Borsalino was, Lin Yuan had still outmaneuvered him.
By the time he reached the current, Lin Yuan had already touched the water.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Borsalino, who had never been in such a sorry state, attacked again, trying to intercept Lin Yuan. Countless bullets of light instantly blasted toward Lin Yuan's back.
Lin Yuan's body was now completely submerged, but Borsalino was absolutely confident he could blast him out of the water.
If that happened, even if Lin Yuan wanted to escape, he would fall straight down the Red Line. Apart from Kaido, Borsalino had never heard of anyone surviving a fall from ten thousand meters.
To his surprise, however, when Yasakani no Magatama struck the water, its surface instantly froze. The ice then spread down the Red Line at tremendous speed.
In just a few breaths, the entire downward-flowing current had frozen solid. From a distance, it looked like a silver drape hanging from the Red Line's cliff.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom..."
All of Borsalino's attacks struck the ice. The sudden freezing surprised him once again.
He also found that the ice was unusually hard. His attacks made a considerable commotion when they hit it, but they did not break all the way through.
"How could this be?! Could it be Kuzan? But that can't be right!"
Borsalino looked around but saw no sign of Kuzan. That left only one explanation: Lin Yuan, who had just escaped, had done it.
Feeling waves of pain from his shoulder, Borsalino stood on the cliff without speaking for a long time.
He did not fly down, and his face was expressionless. Only after a long while did he take out a Den Den Mushi and make a call.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I've reached Mary Geoise, but the mission failed. All the slaves escaped, and I was seriously injured. I'll need three months of rest to recover!"
"What? You were injured?!"
"Seriously injured!"
"I understand. Come straight back to Marine Headquarters."
When Sengoku heard the news, his first reaction was disbelief. He thought Borsalino was trying to find another way to slack off, but in the end, he told Borsalino to come back first.
He also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, with Borsalino injured, he had an explanation for the Five Elders. But when he saw Borsalino again, he was still startled.
Of course, that was all for later.
By now, Lin Yuan had been swept along the current toward the sea. Although he had been caught in Borsalino's attack at the end, he had endured it.
In the sea, he was on his own turf. Borsalino could not enter the sea to begin with, but even if he were immune to seawater, Lin Yuan would not fear him in the slightest beneath the waves.
If a Fish-Man's strength increased tenfold in the sea, there was no telling how many times stronger Lin Yuan became as the dragon god. If he transformed into Zhu Jiuyin, he would be solidly at Admiral level, and even the Four Emperors could do nothing to him.
Lin Yuan also knew that no one would fight him in the sea, and no one would be foolish enough to do so. But in the world of pirates, it was simply his home turf.
Now Lin Yuan was a dragon entering the sea, having completely shaken off Borsalino's pursuit.
Lin Yuan had not transformed into Zhu Jiuyin, but he felt no discomfort whatsoever. The seawater parted around him of its own accord, yet he did not sink to the bottom, as though he were enclosed in a bubble.
He looked up through the deep blue water but saw no sign of Borsalino.
"It looks like Admiral Kizaru didn't follow me. What a shame."
Although he was no match for Borsalino on land, in the sea, Borsalino could do absolutely nothing to him.
Lin Yuan sensed his surroundings, then went after Fisher Tiger and the others. Their auras still lingered in the seawater.
Meanwhile, on an uninhabited island.
"Brother Tiger, we've finished gathering the wood. There's enough to carry everyone."
Fisher Tiger said nothing, staring instead in the direction of the Red Line. Even from here, the silvery-white frozen current stretching all the way to the sky was clearly visible.
Pain hesitated, wanting to remind Fisher Tiger that they had to leave. There was no telling when the World Government and the Marines would come to hunt them down.
Fortunately, this place was on the far side of Mary Geoise, and it would take the Marines more than half a day to get here.
Pain's own feelings were complicated. Fish-Man Island had always hated humans, especially slave traders.
If Queen Otohime had not kept calling for Fish-Man Island to coexist peacefully with humans, they would have left Fish-Man Island long ago.
Fisher Tiger had come out this time to see the human world, but he had never expected to encounter the Celestial Dragons.
When they became slaves, most of the Fish-Men's opponents were humans who had eaten Devil Fruits. They fought desperately, both to survive and out of hatred for humans.
Yet, unexpectedly, the one who had ultimately saved them was a human. He had even killed Celestial Dragons, the rulers of the whole world, and in the end had personally stayed behind to cover their retreat, buying them time to survive.
Pain did not know what Fisher Tiger thought, but he was grateful to the man whose name he did not know.
"Pain, get ready. We..."
"Splash..."