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Cold.
A sharp chill crept into Smoker's hand the moment his fingers touched the cloth.
He knew instantly something was wrong. The item hidden inside that piece of tattered cloak… was all too familiar.
Sea Prism Stone.
A wave of weakness swept over him.
Smoker immediately flung the object away, but the contact had already disrupted his elemental form leaving him wide open.
That was all Aero needed.
In a blink, he was overhead, a swirling orb of compressed wind spinning in his palm a makeshift [Wind Sphere] akin to a Rasengan.
He dove, slamming the sphere into the wreckage beneath Smoker's feet.
BOOM!
Water erupted into the air as the blast hit. Aero knew full well Smoker would likely block or evade it so he didn't stop.
Two more fragments of Sea Prism Stone were hidden among the wind blades already gathering in the sky.
As the water settled, white smoke began to rise followed by Aero's deadly barrage of wind blades slicing down from above.
Shhhhk!
Thousands of blades cut through the haze.
The smoke recoiled, beginning to shrink back under the pressure.
Even the sea churned under the assault, waves whipped into a frenzy as if the ocean itself were reacting to the storm.
Then stillness.
The smoke was gone.
Smoker was nowhere in sight.
The water below had been scoured clean, any debris shredded into ribbons.
But Aero spotted him clinging desperately to a broken mast from the original Dove, bloodied and soaked.
Aero hovered toward him, landing softly on a floating plank as he stared down at the defeated Marine.
"You've lost," Aero said calmly.
He reached down, grabbed Smoker's Jitte, and hurled the Sea Prism weapon into the sea.
A shard of Sea Prism Stone had embedded itself in Smoker's arm blood steadily leaking out.
His uniform was in tatters, his body bruised and bleeding. The sea around him had turned red.
"Doesn't matter," Smoker muttered, clutching the plank with what strength he had left. "I achieved what I came for."
Aero narrowed his eyes, suddenly alert. His gaze shifted and there, approaching fast, was another Marine ship.
The figurehead was shaped like a dog.
His face darkened.
"That's Garp's ship…"
So that was Smoker's ace.
Aero's first instinct was to run but he kept his composure.
"Clever," he said. "That was your real trump card."
Smoker said nothing. He could barely stay conscious. His arms began to slip from the plank.
Just before he went under, someone grabbed him.
His vision blurred, but he saw the face of a pirate the same one who had just defeated him pulling him up from the brink.
Then everything went black.
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Aero vanished in a gust of wind, reappearing on the deck of the New Dove.
His voice cut through the noise of battle.
"You'd better go rescue your Captain Smoker," he said to the Marines still fighting his crew. "If you don't hurry, he's going to drown."
The moment Aero appeared, the Marines froze. Something felt… wrong.
Tashigi looked around anxiously. Smoker was nowhere in sight.
The pirate's words Smoker is seriously injured kept echoing in her mind.
Again, she was faced with a choice.
Justice? Or loyalty?
Even Smoker had been defeated. What chance did they have?
And… he didn't lie. Smoker must truly be in danger.
Tashigi wrestled with the decision. Around her, the Marines paused too uncertain, tense.
Their duty said "fight," but their instincts said "retreat."
Finally, she made her choice.
"We're pulling back!" she shouted.
Some Marines hesitated, clearly uncomfortable watching pirates escape in front of them.
But Aero stepped forward, his voice like thunder: "Get off my ship. Or I'll throw you off myself."
That was enough.
The Marines staggered back. One turned, then another, and then a third—
Suddenly, they were all retreating.
Only Tashigi remained.
She stood on the deck, blade trembling, pointing it toward Aero.
"I'll get stronger," she growled. "Next time, I'll capture you all myself."
Aero didn't reply. A mini-tornado swept her up and tossed her gently back toward her retreating ship.
"I gave you enough time," Aero muttered under his breath. "Don't make me escort you again."
As the Marine ship finally turned away, Aero's confident façade crumbled.
His face turned pale. He barked out orders in a hurry.
"Move! Now! That was Garp's ship! If we don't leave, we're done for!"
His crew didn't need telling twice.
Injured and breathless, they scrambled to their positions and began raising the sails.
The ship began to move but it was sluggish.
Aero leapt to the mast and grabbed a thick rope.
"[Gale Burst]!"
A powerful gust roared through the sails, launching the reinforced Dove forward at top speed. The steel-plated hull held strong under the force.
BOOOOM—!!
Suddenly, a deafening explosion rocked the air.
Eddie and Dylan rushed to the stern, weapons drawn.
A cannon had fired nearby.
Thankfully, it hadn't struck them. Just a warning shot, maybe.
Aero glanced back.
No ships were in sight.
But that sound meant one thing:
They were being hunted.
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