"If you survive today, I'll buy you a drink."
"You won't survive today, and that's okay."
"I'll pour wine on your corpse to send you off."
Upon hearing this, Rosen didn't get angry—he just shook his head and chuckled.
"Then it's settled."
Vasco Shot burped the moment he finished speaking, and a breath of alcohol-laced vapor escaped his mouth, the air instantly reeking of high-proof liquor.
Then, he grinned and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Boom—
Flames exploded into being from thin air, like a giant bulb igniting, instantly illuminating the dim, gloomy, and murderous Infinite Hell.
"A heavy drinker…"
Vasco Shot grinned with his tongue sticking out, smiling, but the look in his eyes as he stared at Rosen was as brutal and cold as a Sea King stalking prey.
Boom—
With just a casual wave of his hand, the ignited alcohol combusted into a giant fireball, bringing with it waves of blistering heat, distorting the surrounding air into visible ripples as it surged toward Rosen.
On the other hand,
Catarina Devon, who had previously been knocked down by Rosen's Getsuga Sky Impact, once again activated the power of her Mythical Zoan Fruit. Her grotesque, bestial pirate form vanished and was replaced with the figure of Monkey D. Garp.
Immediately after—
She stomped down, and with a sharp boom tearing through the air, her figure blurred. In the blink of an eye, she crossed the battlefield like a ghost, now positioned directly behind Rosen.
"Galaxy Impact!"
Catarina Devon swung her iron fist—hardened with Armament Haki—and brought it crashing down with momentum like a meteor descending from the heavens, aimed squarely at the back of Rosen's neck.
Before today, the two had barely exchanged words, let alone fought side by side.
And yet, their first joint assault was executed with terrifying synergy.
One attacked from the front, spewing high-proof alcohol, snapping his fingers to trigger explosions and fire, suppressing the target head-on.
The other followed behind, having transformed into a Marine hero, and unleashed a crushing blow with the infamous fist that once toppled countless pirates.
"The Paramecia-type: Glug-Glug Fruit?"
Rosen narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Vasco Shot display the powers of the Glug-Glug Fruit.
He wasn't surprised.
After all, before joining Blackbeard's crew, Vasco Shot was already infamous across the seas as "Heavy Drinker."
In the pirate world, there are only wrong names—never wrong nicknames.
Since he bore that title long before his capture, it was only natural that he possessed the Glug-Glug Fruit.
"So not all prisoners, or rather, not all of Blackbeard's crew, became fruit users after joining him..."
Facing a pincer attack from two monster-class pirates, Rosen didn't seem to notice Catarina Devon's incoming strike behind him. His gaze remained locked on the blazing fireball surging toward him from the front.
Then—he slowly raised his empty left hand.
He gently blew a breath of air.
Call—
Breath became sword.
A second Zanpakutō appeared from nowhere and was grasped by Rosen's left hand.
"Could it be... he can wield two Zanpakutō like Engetsu at once?"
Borsalino, Zephyr, and Shiryu all had the same thought when they witnessed this scene.
"Two swords…?"
"What a joke!"
Vasco Shot couldn't see it. The flames he had created completely blocked his view of Rosen's front, and no one could see that Rosen was now dual-wielding.
But Catarina Devon, standing behind him, saw it clearly—and her face changed dramatically, her skin erupting in goosebumps.
Impossible…
For the past ten days since Rosen arrived at Impel Down, she'd watched him fight through the Infinite Hell.
Senbonzakura.
Shinsō.
Engetsu.
Each Zanpakutō Rosen forged with his Arms-Arms Fruit was terrifying, comparable to a true Devil Fruit ability.
What had once reassured Catarina was the belief that Rosen could only manifest one Zanpakutō at a time—he had never shown the ability to wield a second simultaneously.
Over time, this idea had taken root in everyone's minds—Shiryu, Zephyr, even Borsalino all believed it.
One weapon at a time. No more.
But the moment Rosen exhaled a second blade, that perception shattered.
"Dance — Sode no Shirayuki."
With his left hand, Rosen pointed the blade toward the blazing fireball rushing toward him.
Hiss—
As the release command was spoken, the simple sword in his hand transformed into a snow-white blade, pure as winter frost.
And that was only the beginning.
With Sode no Shirayuki released, Rosen's body temperature began to plummet.
Minus 18 degrees.
Wisps of white mist rose from Rosen's form.
Minus 50.
The ground beneath his feet began to freeze, fracturing with a brittle crack.
Minus 100.
Ice began to crust over his body like a layer of armor.
Minus 200.
Though the fireball still burned, its intense heat was swallowed. The temperature around it fell sharply as if someone had turned off the world's furnace.
"If this keeps going, my body won't hold up."
As the user of the Arms-Arms Fruit—not the Ice-Ice Fruit—Rosen felt the biting chill seeping deep into his bones.
After all, his body was still flesh and blood. Not a true Ice Logia.
Even Rukia Kuchiki, wielder of the original Sode no Shirayuki, risked injury if her sword's temperature fell too far.
"But that's only the physical limit."
Rosen focused.
Armament Haki surged into his bloodstream, wrapping tightly around flesh and bone.
Once his temperature fell to minus 200, the cold vanished—repelled completely by the strength of his Haki.
As always—Haki and Devil Fruits are not separate paths in this world, but interwoven forces.
Haki strengthens fruit.
Fruit heightens Haki.
The two together exceed limits.
Clang—
With the cold nullified, Rosen gently pushed the snow-white blade of Sode no Shirayuki forward with his left hand.
Hiss—
As the blade touched the oncoming flames, ice and fire clashed.
Boom!
A colossal blast erupted as extreme cold met explosive heat. A shockwave surged outward, half scorching, half freezing.
But only for a moment.
Then—
The fireball, formed of combustible alcohol and roaring flames, suddenly snuffed out.
White mist swallowed it.
Like a balloon popped by a needle.
To the spectators, it was as if Rosen casually poked the flame with his snowy blade—and erased it.
At the same time—
Rosen didn't even turn around.
With his right hand, he swung Engetsu backward. The black blade tore through the air, wrapped in wild flame, and accurately struck Catarina Devon's incoming iron fist.
Bang!
Sword and fist collided—an explosion burst out at their clash point, waves of flame radiating outward like a blazing tide.
The left hand wields snow.
The right hand shines a bright sun.
Even when flanked by two monster-level pirates, Rosen remained unshaken—calm, composed, and utterly in control.
Drip—
And yet, as Vasco Shot witnessed Rosen fending off both his flame and Devon's fist—
His eyes lit up.
His mouth curled into a sick grin.
And as he laughed, drool slid from the corners of his lips.
"I saw it!"
...
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