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Smoker wasn't the least bit surprised when his attack was effortlessly dispersed.
After all, against a pirate who had truly mastered their Devil Fruit abilities, his own Logia power had clear limits.
And Aero yeah, from the moment he stepped aboard, Smoker had known this wouldn't be easy. As a Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, his senses were finely tuned to atmospheric currents, and something about the wind around this ship felt… alive.
That earlier strike had just been a test confirmation that his instincts were right.
The wind here wasn't natural. It was under Aero's command.
Aero had calmly raised a single finger and unraveled Smoker's attack. A swirling vortex of wind had twisted into existence, tearing apart the white serpent of smoke before fading like it had never been there at all.
To an outsider, it looked like Aero had simply poked through the attack. But in truth, he had completely countered it with his Wind-Wind Fruit.
"You've got better control of your Devil Fruit than I expected," Smoker admitted, his tone neutral. "You can manipulate the wind around you… impressive."
Then, narrowing his eyes, he asked, "Is that… Awakening?"
But he shook his head almost immediately. "No. That level of control doesn't qualify. You're tapping into the existing wind, not turning everything around you into wind itself. Still, even so... don't think you've won. My backup's on the way."
He pointed toward the distant horizon. Sure enough, a Marine warship was slowly approaching.
Aero glanced at it and replied coolly, "Then I'll make sure to finish this before they arrive."
Without further warning, Aero raised his right hand.
Above Smoker, a dense field of razor-sharp wind blades materialized in the sky.
Smoker looked up, frowning. "Not worried you'll destroy the ship beneath your feet?"
Aero chuckled. "For people like us, does it really matter if we have solid ground?"
Then his hand came down.
The wind blades fell like meteors.
"Whoosh… whoosh—!"
Thick plumes of white smoke erupted around Smoker, engulfing him instantly.
The blades sliced through the haze, but Aero soon heard the telltale creaks of the ship's hull splintering beneath him. The whole vessel began to tremble.
Just as Aero considered launching into the air, a flurry of massive smoke-crafted arrows launched from the mist ahead.
Dodging was easy. Within his [Domain], Aero teleported effortlessly, blinking out of their path.
But the white mist didn't stop. It kept expanding, spreading across the deck and slowly forming even more arrows.
Smoker stood behind the growing mass, exhaling a long stream of smoke like he was savoring the moment.
"Fwish… fwish—!!"
Thousands of smoke arrows screamed through the air, zeroing in on Aero from every direction.
No matter how fast he moved, he couldn't ignore that kind of volume.
So he raised a barrier his signature wind shield flared up to encase him.
For piercing attacks like these, defense was the best answer.
The arrows struck the barrier with explosive bursts, like waves crashing against a cliff. But the smoke didn't vanish it gathered around him instead, thickening, blocking his vision completely.
By the time the final arrow struck, Aero was surrounded by an impenetrable white fog. His vision blurred to nothing.
Only then did he realize… he'd been baited.
He summoned a mini cyclone in his palm and released it, but it only scattered the smoke around his body barely clearing a space the size of his arm span.
And the worst part? His [Domain] had vanished.
He was cut off from the wind.
Trapped—like he'd been dumped into the middle of a windless sea.
The advantage was gone. He was grounded.
"Fwip—!"
A single arrow pierced his side and disappeared into the smoke.
"They found me…?" Aero thought grimly.
He couldn't use his powers. It felt like Smoker had created his own kind of [Domain].
"Wait… Did I give him that idea?"
He turned, but more arrows were emerging, surrounding him once again.
---
Meanwhile, aboard the New Dove, Eddie stood on the steel-reinforced mast, binoculars in hand.
"Captain's still in there," he muttered. "That entire ship's covered in smoke."
Gin took the binoculars from him and scanned the horizon. "The smoke's still spreading. Think he's in trouble?"
Luckily, the crow's nest was wide enough for three people. Dylan stood beside them, his own binoculars locked on the battlefield.
On the deck below, the rest of the crew had already rolled out the cannons, ready to fire at the first sign of danger.
Dylan frowned. "Captain's the one with the stronger Devil Fruit… or at least he should be. But that smoke isn't thinning."
Eddie growled. "Didn't he take a Sea Prism Stone with him? Why hasn't he used it yet?! That would end this in seconds!"
"Maybe," Gin replied, "he's just waiting for the right moment."
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