BOOM!!!
Suddenly, a massive tidal wave of dirt and mud surged into the air. Doflamingo's sunglasses flashed as he held out his right hand like a beast's claw and slashed fiercely, clearing away all the
flying stones and sand. This allowed the part of his mind that was still conscious despite his Conqueror's Haki to see what was happening.
Clang…!
Zephyr's feet slid for dozens of meters across the ground before he stopped, about twenty meters to the right of Ain and the others.
"Sensei!" Ain and the other students looked on in shock. Zephyr's body was a deep red as if it was filled with blood, and his usual buzz cut had become a spiky afro. His body erupted with a murderous aura that sent shivers down their spines.
Whoosh…!
A fierce gust of wind blew by, causing everyone to instinctively blink. And in that very instant, Alucard suddenly descended from the sky. He swung a giant sword, which Zephyr blocked with his left arm covered in Armament Haki, causing the ground to crack and collapse for several meters.
"Hey, hey… Is that really a sixty-five-year-old man?" Doflamingo watched Zephyr's back as he blocked Alucard's sword, a look of disbelief on his face. He thought that Zephyr's strength had declined to the level of a pre-Admiral, but he seemed to have improved even more. Also, what were those red markings on his body?
The intense shockwave separated Alucard and Zephyr, pushing them several meters away from each other.
At this moment, the faces of the Marines and government agents became even grimmer. "A Sea Scourge and a Yonko… What is going on!?"
"Fuffuffuffu…" Doflamingo laughed as usual, watching the outcome of the battle between Alucard and Zephyr.
"Zephyr-sensei!" Ain took a step toward Zephyr, but he immediately stopped her. "Don't come!"
Because he had his back to them, Ain and the other Marine students could only see Zephyr's back, but they could hear the concern in his voice. "This isn't a battle you can interfere with. It's my fault for letting you join this mission in the first place."
"Ain, Binz, as the top students of this class, immediately lead everyone to bring the injured back to headquarters. I'll handle Doflamingo and Alucard!" Zephyr said firmly.
He had thought that escorting the Heavenly Tribute would be a simple "delivery" mission. To ensure the Heavenly Tribute's safety, the transportation was kept as secret as possible.
Furthermore, Punk Hazard was close to headquarters, so they would arrive in a few days. Zephyr also wanted his last batch of students to understand the true nature of the government and the Celestial Dragons, which was why he brought Ain and the other students, who had been in the academy for less than two years, on this mission. He never expected it to turn into a battle against a Yonko.
"What are you talking about, Zephyr?!"
Surprisingly, the first to speak after Zephyr was a CP-0 agent. "The mission to escort the Heavenly Tribute is non-negotiable!"
"Fuffuffuffu~~" Doflamingo licked his teeth and laughed manically. Hopeless, so hopeless. Even the Celestial Dragons' dogs were like this.
"Shut up, agent. This is my decision. If you have the guts, go tell on me to the Celestial Dragons!" Zephyr glared at the CP-0 agent. His blood-red eyes, almost identical to Alucard's, scared the elite agent so much he took two steps back.
"Ah, ah… " Doflamingo took two steps forward, spread his hands, and taunted, "Zephyr… Hmm, I don't even know if you're the same Zephyr anymore. You made two mistakes in what you just said."
"First, it doesn't matter what I do. You can't handle the monster in front of you. And second, it's not a given that the CP-0 agents can even go back and report this, because…"
Doflamingo suddenly stopped and looked toward the sea on his left. Everyone followed his gaze and saw more than five large pirate ships sailing toward the island on the horizon. Alucard's insignia on their sails was exceptionally prominent.
"It's not a given that any of you will be going back!" Doflamingo laughed maniacally.
"Four ships from the Alucard Pirates and one from the Donquixote Pirates?" Zephyr observed the pirate's forces. He whipped his head around and shouted, "Hurry and go! My young lives! I'll take care of this!"
"GRAAAH!" Zephyr roared. The Blacklight Virus further expanded his body, making it stronger but also causing it to deteriorate.
"…Did you forget who your power comes from?" Alucard's two pistols appeared in his hands. He fired one after another with his white pistol, Casull.
"Hmph!" Zephyr crossed his arms and formed a shield in front of himself, but the bullets rained down on him, forcing him to retreat.
"Sensei!" Ain took a step forward but was held back by Binz, who grabbed her wrist and said, "We have to take the unconscious people and leave! We'll just be in the way if we stay here!"
Ain's face showed reluctance, but she saw Zephyr's determination to fight to the death to protect them. She finally followed Binz and the other conscious students, lifting their unconscious classmates and running toward the Marine ship.
"Wait! I said you must protect the Heavenly Tribute with your lives!" The CP-0 agent tried to stop them, but as they were running, they realized their bodies were no longer under their control.
One of the masked agents managed to turn his head with difficulty and saw Doflamingo acting like a puppeteer. He extended his long fingers and moved them forward, causing the CP-0 agents to pull out their weapons and turn on each other.
"Hmph!" A CP-0 agent shuddered and swung his fist at Doflamingo. Doflamingo dodged to the side, then stepped two paces into the air, standing ten meters above the ground with his hands in his pockets. He looked down and smiled sinisterly. "As expected of the government's direct CP-
0. Your strength is not ordinary."
"But the result won't change. Look, the pirates are coming ashore." Doflamingo gestured with his head for them to look at the sea.
As expected, the four ships of the Alucard Pirates and the Numancia Flamingo of the Donquixote Pirates had already landed on Punk Hazard.