Zephyr shook his head, pushing the confusing questions aside. Looking at the transformed Charlotte Linlin equipped with three swords, he said with some emotion:
"For someone like you to be a pirate is a waste of talent! Come! Let me find the answer in our battle!"
With that, Zephyr vanished instantly, leaving a half-meter deep pit in his place.
"Don't die. After all, you seem like a good Marine, just a bit pitiful."
Charlotte Linlin crouched slightly. The three swords in her hands and mouth were covered in black Armament Haki. The next instant, she also left a deep pit several meters deep and vanished.
Clang!
A violent sound of clashing metal rang out as Black Arms blocked the black blades!
Zephyr, locked in a struggle with Charlotte Linlin, said happily: "Hahaha, a good Marine! Thanks for the compliment. But I am a Navy Vice Admiral! How could I be pitiful? Take this! Smash Burst!"
Zephyr's arm, wrapped in black Armament Haki, twisted a full circle driven by his wrist. White spiral air currents and black Armament Haki intertwined. The powerful destructive and explosive force instantly sent Charlotte Linlin flying back dozens of meters, leaving two long gouges in the ground.
Fortunately, she had changed into her divine equipment. Otherwise, with those two gouges, her high heels would have shattered, and her clothes wouldn't have survived many such collisions.
Looking at Zephyr in the distance, Charlotte Linlin said solemnly: "Is this 'Black Arm'? Using the instant rotation of the wrist to explode with power beyond oneself... Your Marine titles in this era are well-deserved."
"You are also very strong. Not only do you have great strength, but the swords in your hands are no simple items!"
Zephyr also looked at Charlotte Linlin solemnly. The reason he struck first was simple: in a pure contest of strength, he had lost by a margin.
The toughness of the swords also exceeded his expectations. It felt completely different from when he used this move against other swordsmen. His spiral energy attack, even with Armament Haki protection on the sword, should have damaged the sword with his own rotating Haki.
But the feedback from hitting Charlotte Linlin's weapons was like hitting a wall as a child; it had no effect on the opponent at all.
"Then, it's my turn to move! Three Sword Style: Dragon Hunt: Nine-Fang Flash!"
Charlotte Linlin's figure vanished again. A dragon head made of pink phantoms with nine sharp giant fangs bit toward Zephyr.
"Hahaha! Good! Smash - Consecutive Strikes!"
Zephyr laughed happily. Armament Haki a level higher than Linlin's and a unique energy covered his hands as several spiral blasts struck the majestic dragon head.
One was a monster who had just reached the age to go to sea but possessed power rivaling a Marine Admiral; the other was a Navy Vice Admiral who had trained for years, pushing Armament Haki to another extreme, though not yet at his peak strength.
The clash between the two and the aura they released was no less than a natural disaster for the others inside the fire circle.
Boom! Boom!
..."It's coming. This time, it's nine consecutive waves!"
Inside the circle, Tsuru, the only one who could see the fight clearly, warned the Marines behind her.
"What! Nine waves? Quick, quick, quick! Form a formation! We absolutely cannot be blown into the wall of fire!" Serra hurriedly organized the Marines around him.
A group of Marines stood back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder, forming a wedge shape with Tsuru at the lead to resist the coming storm.
Just now, a few Marines hadn't noticed the shockwaves from the first clash. If Tsuru hadn't saved them, they would have been blown into the fire wall.
Tsuru looked solemnly at the two fighting, then at the fire wall surrounding them—dozens of meters high and of unknown width—finding Charlotte Linlin's strength increasingly incomprehensible.
Creating this hundred-meter fire wall must have consumed a lot of stamina, yet Charlotte Linlin could still fight Zephyr head-on without even using her Devil Fruit abilities, just her swordsmanship and Haki... "It seems you really don't want to hit women. Well, luckily I'm a woman," Tsuru thought to herself.
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