Two bursts of energy poured out, the scene was incredibly shocking, and even from far away this destructive power made people's hearts tremble.
"How on earth did he survive?"
Smoker watched Jotaro step out from the sand curtain, his pupils shaking violently, clearly finding it hard to believe.
"Colonel Smoker! Vice Admiral Tokikake seems a bit off!" Tashigi reminded him.
In their line of sight, Tokikake was charging around wildly, his attacks fierce, yet he wasn't taking Jotaro as his target.
He was only destroying things, without caring about anything else.
"Damn it! He's rushing toward us!" Smoker roared. "Tashigi, get out of here quickly!"
The two of them sprinted madly, but even using all their strength, they still couldn't open up any distance between them and the beast-like Tokikake.
After all, Tokikake was a candidate for admiral. Even though he hadn't yet become an admiral, he already possessed the qualifications to take the position. His strength was naturally not something Smoker and Tashigi could compare to.
Jotaro could fight against Tokikake, but the two of them didn't even have the qualifications to fight him.
Not to mention, in his beast-like state, Tokikake's physical potential was further unleashed, Haki flowing endlessly over his body.
Just being hit by the current Tokikake could cost them half their lives.
"Damn it! Our speed is nowhere near his! At this rate, he'll definitely catch up with us!"
Smoker looked back at the fast-approaching Tokikake.
He clenched his teeth and made a decision.
"Tashigi, you go first!"
He used his Smoke Fruit ability to wrap Tashigi's body in mist and flung her away with force.
But because of this move, his own speed slowed down, and he was about to be caught by the rampaging Tokikake.
"Colonel Smoker!"
Seeing this, Tashigi's eyes grew wet, her voice filled with grief and despair.
"His body is covered in Armament Haki. Even if I turn into smoke, I still can't avoid his charge."
Smoker felt unprecedented despair, his heartbeat seeming to stop.
Was he really going to die here?
"Ora!"
At that moment, Star Platinum punched Smoker in the face, sending him flying away.
"This isn't the time to space out, you idiot!"
Jotaro had just been about to turn and leave, but he noticed that two fool Navy officers in the distance had been dragged into this.
The Navy was undoubtedly his enemy.
And he didn't have a good impression of the Navy either.
Even so, Jotaro only hesitated for a moment before throwing himself into saving them.
After all, he was cold on the outside but warm inside, not truly stone-hearted.
"Ora!"
After punching Smoker away, Star Platinum spun and smashed another fist onto Tokikake's pig-like skull.
The air shook violently, sending ripples outward.
Tokikake's body lost balance, tumbling to the side.
Though his head was spinning, he quickly stood back up.
At first, he had only been destroying aimlessly, but now that someone had attacked him, that was a different matter.
He snorted hot breath and launched an attack at Jotaro.
"Yare yare, looks like you're a beast that needs some discipline."
Star Platinum's fists became covered in Conqueror's Haki.
Jotaro said coldly, "Let me, Kujo Jotaro, teach you the rules that animals ought to obey."
Tokikake roared and charged ferociously toward Jotaro.
But Jotaro didn't want to clash head-on with him.
Earlier, he had already left a wound on Tokikake's abdomen. Attacking there again was the most efficient method.
He still didn't know what was happening with the Ark Maxim, so he needed to save strength.
"Get out of the way! Even you won't be able to take it if he crashes into you!"
Smoker, climbing up from the ground, saw that Jotaro wasn't dodging at all, but instead charging straight ahead. He shouted loudly, deeply worried.
Jotaro's steps were steady, he had already fixed his attack point, and he wouldn't miss.
Why won't he dodge!!
Smoker had no idea what he was thinking.
Just like earlier, when he touched the Unyielding Light Sphere, this man was simply too insane.
Tokikake's massive, terrifying tusks gleamed coldly, about to slam into Jotaro.
"Star Platinum!"
The ticking sound of time's gears began to rise, but this time it was completely different from before.
"Time stop!"
"Second Time Stop!"
Jotaro's movements froze, his whole body turning into a statue of solidified stillness.
BOOOM!!
The huge tusks slammed into the sand, forming a deep crater as sand and gravel sprayed in all directions.
The out-of-control Tokikake looked somewhat dazed.
Because he didn't know whether or not he had struck Jotaro.
But soon, the pain in his abdomen gave him the answer.
He hadn't.
Jotaro appeared beneath his body, Star Platinum's punch swift, clean, and precise, striking the old wound without hesitation.
Conqueror's Haki wasn't as good as Armament in terms of flowing coverage and internal destruction.
But Jotaro had long since combined Haki with Ripple energy. Fused together, even Conqueror's Haki could flow powerfully.
The only drawback was that merging Haki and Ripple required some preparation time.
In addition, Ripple could spread Haki over a wider range.
Of course, because both uses relied on Ripple, they required a medium to transmit.
Here in the endless desert, the second method was hard to achieve.
Otherwise, Crocodile would have been defeated even faster.
Ripple could also help Observation Haki spread further, similar to Enel's Mantra.
Tokikake's beast form was that of a Kalydon boar, its body covered in bristle-like steel quills.
Although a living body, it was unexpectedly unsuitable for Ripple conduction.
Jotaro had discovered this, which was why he made a wound on Tokikake's body, so that through his blood he could transmit the Ripple mixed with Conqueror's Haki into Tokikake's body.
With the blood's help, the Conqueror's Haki rampaged unimpeded inside Tokikake, wreaking havoc.
In just two seconds, Tokikake's limbs stiffened, and his body fell straight to the ground.
He also reverted from his beast form back to normal.
Jotaro nudged Tokikake over with his foot, then bent down and lifted him up.
"What are you doing! Put down Vice Admiral Tokikake!"
Tashigi held her sword with both hands, her face tense with vigilance.
Jotaro glanced coldly at her from the side.
"Step aside, Tashigi!" Smoker came over. "If he wants to kill you, I can't stop him. And, though I hate to admit it, just now he saved me."
Tashigi froze. She had thought Smoker had been knocked away by Tokikake.
Jotaro let go, then kicked Tokikake's body, sending him sliding toward Smoker.
"You take him away. And best not to get in my way, or I'll kill you."
With that, Jotaro turned his back on them and walked away.
Smoker stared at Jotaro's back for a long time, silent, not even noticing Tashigi calling to him beside him.
Jotaro hurried toward the coast, when suddenly a drone hovering in the sky caught his attention.
Its blinking indicator light showed no one was controlling it.
It had arrived here according to preset instructions.
"Ora!"
Star Platinum casually threw a stone, knocking the drone down.
Jotaro walked to the wreckage of the drone, his eyes scanning over it.
"What's this?"
He crouched down and picked up a hard drive stained with blood from among the wreckage.
The dried blood carried a chilling aura.
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