The massive combat prosthetic arm Zephyr-san swung at me.
It didn't look like a prosthetic anymore. More like a blunt instrument. No, a full-blown Weapon. According to Fleet Admiral Kuzan, the Marine's technical division or whoever had built it, a device called the Battle Smasher. The whole thing was Seastone, a Weapon designed specifically to take down Ability Users.
Zephyr-san brandished it and came swinging.
Obviously I couldn't afford to let that connect, so I dodged.
But with a speed that had no business belonging to something that size and weight, he reversed his swing and chased me even after I'd evaded. He handled it like it weighed nothing, like he was fighting with his own bare arm.
After dodging several more times, I finally couldn't avoid one completely and caught it with my Japanese umbrella wrapped in Armament Haki.
"Smash... Buster!!"
The instant it connected, some kind of built-in explosive ignited. A shockwave powerful enough to gouge the ground slammed into me.
But... I think I mentioned this a little while back. Thanks to Mama's modifications, my Japanese umbrella has a Reject Dial built in, so I can absorb shockwaves.
Zephyr-san saw through it immediately, didn't work, switched tactics, reached to grab my body along with the umbrella. I slipped that too, spinning around behind him.
Without even looking my way, he threw a backfist with his other arm, Armament Haki on it naturally. I caught it while simultaneously striking at the base of his skull with the umbrella's handle, aiming to knock him out cold.
Dodged. And not reflexively, either. He'd clearly known that spot would be targeted.
Well, I'd expected that. His Observation Haki was trained to an extraordinary degree. Might've even reached Future Sight.
Former or not, he was a Marine Admiral. Wouldn't be strange at all.
This kind of exchange had been going on for a while now.
I'd dodge, deflect, and block Zephyr-san's ferocious attacks, then strike when I saw an opening, only to be blocked, evaded, and around we went.
From the outside, it probably looked evenly matched. Maybe like I was being pushed back slightly.
Zephyr-san was clearly attacking far more often than I was.
But in reality...
'...Zephyr-san... is pushing himself.'
After who knows how many clashes, metal rang against metal as the Japanese umbrella and the Battle Smasher collided. A momentary deadlock, then we sprang apart.
In that instant I caught it. You'd have to look carefully to notice, but Zephyr-san's shoulders were rising and falling. Just barely.
We were both employing Armament Haki and Observation Haki at high levels, locked in a fight where neither could afford a moment's lapse. That was true.
But it hadn't been that long a battle. For his breathing to already be growing ragged...
"Hey now, what's with showing respect for elders in the middle of a fight, Pirate Literary Master? Awfully kind of you..."
"The fact that you'd say that means you're aware of it yourself."
"Course I am. I ain't gone senile enough to charge ahead without knowing my own condition."
...So he was saying he was fully aware he'd declined significantly from his prime, and he'd still chosen to do all this.
In that case... yeah, no matter what I said, words alone weren't going to stop him.
Why would he go this far...
"You look like you want to ask 'why go this far,' don't you?"
"...! Between that and the respect for elders comment, am I really that easy to read?"
"Yeah... especially with people you've let your guard down around, or people you've unconsciously stopped being wary of. It's a strength and a weakness both. Admirable as a person, but you're the type who tends to get the short end of the stick."
"That's more detailed an analysis than I expected..."
And I couldn't even deny it.
On top of that... just as he'd said, among people in the Marines, I did have comparatively less wariness toward Zephyr-san. Less of a wall between us, even by my own estimation.
Not just because of my childhood Experience, but the way he upheld his Justice. Unlike a certain Magma Old Man's "Thorough" approach, Zephyr-san's was the kind you actually wanted to root for.
Of course, I recognized that my position as a Pirate made that impossible.
Oops, about to get sidetracked...
Then again, this was directly tied to Zephyr-san's Justice itself.
"...It's pretty obvious persuasion isn't going to work, and I'll probably just get yelled at if I say something careless, so I'll give that up. But couldn't you at least tell me why? Why did you abandon the Justice you upheld so powerfully, the Justice so many Marines, so many students supported, to do something like this?"
Even hearing that, Zephyr-san didn't drop his thoroughly villainous grin.
"What are you talking about? I haven't abandoned it. I defeat pirates and protect civilians. Haven't changed one bit from the old days. ...What changed is the world. No, that's not right either. The world, the Government's and the Marines' methods, were wrong from the start. In a world that twisted, that lukewarm, you can't uphold the Justice you believe in. I simply came to understand that."
"...I've been told that if you carry out what you're planning, countless civilians will be sacrificed. The you from before would never have done that."
That's right. The Zephyr-san from thirty years ago, who saved me.
And the Zephyr-san from fifteen years ago, when we met again on that island.
He never would have resorted to a plan like burning the entire New World to ash with a Cataclysmic Eruption, wiping out pirates along with civilians and blowing away The One Piece, the very thing those pirates sought, just to end the Great Pirate Era.
When I'd first heard about it, I couldn't believe it for a while.
Even though it came from Iris and the others. Even after reading it through Heaven's Door.
It was so different from the Zephyr-san I knew that I couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it.
How things had come to this, Iris and Snow didn't know much about either, and Fleet Admiral Kuzan hadn't told me.
"...Is that all you wanted to say?"
And the man himself wasn't going to share either, it seemed.
"I didn't come here for a walk down memory lane. If you're not serious about this, get lost. If you are, then come at me ready to die. ...Don't tell me you think I haven't noticed you're holding back?"
"...I'm not holding back. I just can't bring myself to go all out."
"Same difference. See, you never should've become a pirate."
"It's not like I became one by choice."
"Tragedies like that are exactly why I finally understood the world is wrong. Enough chatting. I'd hate for you to stall for time and have Kuzan or Borsalino show up. Let me hurry up and get on with..."
"...? ...!"
In that instant, Zephyr-san and I noticed it at almost exactly the same moment.
The next instant, I opened my umbrella and Zephyr-san raised his Battle Smasher like a shield.
A barrage of laser fire came screaming in, raining down with the density of a bullet curtain, engulfing both of us.
'Lasers... Kizaru!? Or Pacifista... no, neither! What is this presence!?'
The barrage lasted several seconds, blasting the surrounding ground to pieces, leaving craters no less devastating than Zephyr-san's attacks, before finally ceasing.
I looked toward where the lasers had come from.
"...Who?"
"Ngh...!"
Someone I'd never seen. A child, in fact. Not figuratively. An actual child.
But a child with a lot of things that were off. Appearance, size... really, everything.
Brown skin, white hair. Black wings sprouting from the back, and... was the back on fire?
Also, while looking like a child, wasn't the body disproportionately large? At this distance, given how big the figure appeared... easily over two meters, right?
The outfit was a one-piece rider suit. Not in a superhero sense, literally like what a motorcyclist would wear. A slightly stylish jumpsuit, maybe? ...I was never great at analogies.
...This might be prejudice, but it was the kind of thing a certain female spy who bosses around the third generation of a famous thief might wear.
Didn't quite suit a child's appearance, somehow.
But the thing that caught my attention most was...
'Something about that face looks familiar... or rather, it's the face I see in the mirror every morning.'
That child looked like me.
More precisely, a spitting image of me as a little girl. If I wasn't mistaken.
The white hair made the resemblance even more striking, but everything else was so different, so distinctive, that the uncanny valley feeling was intense. ...Seriously, what was that kid?
And this mystery girl had her right palm pointed toward us, with what looked like a firing port visible in her palm. Smoke hissed out of it.
Given the situation, this child had fired that laser barrage. But... did that make her a Pacifista!? The base body wasn't Kuma... some kind of new model?
"Assassination by surprise attack has failed. Detected via Observation Haki, most likely. Transitioning to standard combat. Targets: Neo Marines Supreme Commander Z, and Pirate Literary Master Sue."
Robotic. Completely businesslike. And before I could process that, she was charging straight at us at incredible speed.
"Wait... what... you're not even going to listen!?"
She closed the distance at a speed rivaling the Marine-favorite Shave, then thrust out her clenched right fist.
Then, from between her clenched fingers, silver-gleaming blades? Claws? Something shot out. Hey, what X-Men movie is this!?
She swung them in an arc aimed at taking my head clean off, so I dodged with a backstep.
No Haki behind it, but I felt a nasty energy. Same as the thing on Zephyr-san's right hand I'd been fighting against until now. ...Probably Seastone.
And now that she was up close, I could confirm it. This kid really was huge! About the same height as me, maybe taller!
Yet her proportions, her build, were those of a child, which made the uncanny feeling even worse. This was definitely some kind of artificially modified creation, right!?
I'd been fending her off with my Japanese umbrella, but she was seriously strong!
Her raw horsepower and toughness seemed to exceed a mediocre Haki user's. With the right fighting style and weapons, this thing could hold its own in the New World without any trouble.
Lasers at range, Seastone claws up close... and her fighting style was fairly refined, too.
And while she seemed to be targeting only me... suddenly,
"Ngh!?"
A surprise laser shot at Zephyr-san.
Between this and the earlier barrage, this child was clearly targeting both of us.
What on earth was this kid... no, at this point I wasn't even sure I could call her a "kid." Too much about her was unknown. Well, nine times out of ten, she was probably some artificial human developed by the World Government or something.
If so, given the clear precedent of the Pacifista, Vegapunk was the most likely candidate.
It also bothered me that earlier, while I'd been completely lost, Zephyr-san had seemed to recognize something.
While I was busy analyzing all this, she was already doing something else.
This time, her left hand... ah, there was a firing port in that palm too.
But what came out wasn't a beam.
"...! Gas!?"
An obviously dangerous-looking green gas.
I reflexively leaped away, sprouted wings from my back, and just like when I'd blown away Magellan's poison gas at Impel Down, used my wingbeats to disperse it.
But the gas itself seemed to be heavy, and it didn't blow away as easily as I'd hoped.
I still managed to scatter it enough that it wouldn't reach me, but then I noticed a single piece of paper that had fluttered loose during my wingbeats. After touching that gas for just a moment... it discolored and crumbled away.
Just from contact!? That toxicity was insane! No, the killing intent was insane!
Glancing over, Zephyr-san didn't seem to have as many versatile techniques at his disposal as I did, so he'd taken a much wider berth, dispersing the gas with blasts from his Battle Smasher and Tempest Kicks.
But this Mystery Child punched straight through the gas, forced her way through the blasts and Tempest Kicks too, her raw toughness apparently exceeding that of decent armor, and closed in on Zephyr-san.
Outmatched in build compared to him, obviously. But zero hesitation. She aimed the claws extending from her hand at his throat.
An attack that obvious wasn't going to work on someone like him.
Zephyr-san blocked it with his Armament Haki-clad left arm, then swung the Battle Smasher in from the side and detonated it simultaneously, blasting her away.
She tumbled across the ground but got right back up, barely fazed.
Fired a laser the moment she stood, keeping Zephyr-san from pursuing. What a handful.
"Hmph... the raw power and toughness are impressive, but the 'technique' is utterly lacking. Even as a Government Weapon, there are things that can't be replicated, it seems."
"...So this kid really is a Government Weapon?"
"Don't know the details myself... but I've heard rumors on the wind. That they've been eagerly researching Human Weapons, an improved Pacifista. I'd heard completion was still a ways off, though..."
"Either that Vegapunk fellow was that brilliant, or... even so, why would something like this come after both me and you, Zephyr-san?"
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I could sort of understand targeting Zephyr-san, given his current classification as a terrorist.
But why try to kill me alongside him, when I held the position of Shichibukai?
Sure, Papa's existence made things suspicious for me in various ways, but I still hadn't done anything yet. If anything, my existence and actions should have been overwhelmingly beneficial to the Government and the Marines.
Would they really blindside me like this, destroying everything in one fell swoop?
And if they were going to do it, why send what amounted to a field test for a new Weapon? If they genuinely wanted to take me out, they should've sent an Admiral.
This might sound like self-praise, but I was strong enough to warrant that level of response. Fighting me would require someone among the top tier of Vice Admirals. Vice Admiral Garp or Vice Admiral Tsuru, at least. That's what I believed.
From fighting this child just now, I could tell that, as Zephyr-san said, the power and toughness were phenomenal. The poison gas didn't seem to work either, and there were probably other tricks up her sleeve. But everything else was honestly nothing special.
Brute force, relying on physical superiority. No Haki either.
...That said, it was still at a level where most opponents wouldn't stand a chance.
"Assassination by nerve gas has also failed. Transitioning to the next plan."
She said that, then started something new. Her left hand spewed fire. A flamethrower this time.
Then her right hand produced something else. A chain? She really was loaded with tricks. That chain was probably Seastone too.
"Ugh, seriously, dealing with Zephyr-san alone was hard enough..."
"That's because you insist on holding back. But where did that girl come from? There shouldn't be any new Marine warships or Government ships in the area... Did she come here all on her own?"
...Fleet Admiral Kuzan hadn't mentioned any reinforcements like that either. And since she was attacking me too, she absolutely wasn't reinforcements. Seriously, what was that kid?
I'd have to find out later. No question.
While I was thinking that...
"But, well, no matter. Don't know who or what that thing is, but... time's up."
"?"
"Pirate Literary Master... you'd better get off this island fast. Otherwise..."
At that moment,
"You'll become seafoam along with this island."
'...! We didn't make it in time!'
Simultaneously with Zephyr-san's words, a thunderous boom echoed and tremors like an earthquake shook the ground.
But this obviously wasn't a natural earthquake, given Zephyr-san's demeanor and the whole situation. They got us. We couldn't protect it. The End Point.
Immediately after, the Small Den Den Mushi in my breast pocket started ringing.
I reflexively grabbed it. The Mystery Child saw the opening and attacked, but I dodged, then, hot! Stop with the flamethrower!
"Hello!?"
"Mother, forgive me! I tried to stop the detonation, but... I couldn't make it in time! The Dyna Stone setup was already nearly complete... and on top of that, those Neo Marines blew themselves up along with it!"
"It doesn't sound like they managed to detonate everything as planned, so the collapse should be slower than expected, but honestly it's only a matter of time! Mom, get out of there now! This island's gonna blow just like Faus Island!"
"...! It failed. Ugh... this puts us in check!"
I kicked the Pacifista-looking child, slamming her into the ground... or so I thought, but then fire erupted from her feet and she came flying back! She could fly on her own!? What was she, Iron Arm Pacifista!?
So she had flown here solo using that power after all?
As the girl came at me brandishing her claws and chain, both Seastone, I took out a bit of frustration by slamming my Japanese umbrella into her with extra Haki, this time knocking her firmly to the ground.
Then I turned toward Zephyr-san.
"...Ah, I see... so that's what 'she' was."
"?"
He was gazing at the girl I'd just knocked down, murmuring as if something had clicked.
"I see. Originally, I would have fought this thing alone... And that would have been a year from now... If that had happened, it might have played out exactly as Zwei said."
"...Did you figure something out?"
"Not inclined to share. But, well... you probably have them too, don't you? Guests from far away. Talk to them... and you might learn something."
"..."
Again with the cryptic remarks.
Between this and the comment about the "future" earlier, Zephyr-san was clearly referencing things related to the future world that Iris and Snow came from. Meaning he, too, had some kind of Source, some way of knowing about or accessing information from the future.
If that was the case, then the reason this world had diverged from the history Iris and the others knew might be because of that...
...Right, analysis later. No time left.
Looking around, the Mystery Child had vanished at some point, and Zephyr-san appeared to be retreating as well.
...Pursuing would put me in danger too, so reluctantly, I'd have to pull back as well. I could fly, sure, but an eruption capable of destroying an entire island was nothing to mess with.
And so, a dozen-odd minutes after we and the Neo Marines had evacuated the island, Sekan Island was obliterated without a trace by the eruption of magma from underground, and the second End Point was destroyed.
The information I'd gotten from Iris and the others had already been shocking enough, but what was actually happening exceeded even that in sheer bewilderment, with incomprehensible events piling up one after another. Time to sit down, properly analyze everything, and carefully formulate a plan before making any moves.
For the time being, following Zephyr-san's suggestion, I'd discuss the situation going forward with Iris and the others. After waiting for Alice and her group to return, though.
...But we couldn't afford to take it easy. Only one End Point remained.
If Zephyr-san and his forces destroyed it, everything was over. That had to be prevented at all costs, so we needed to keep that firmly in mind. On top of fending off attacks and interference from that Mystery Child. Ugh, so little time and so much to do!
***
"Mission failed. Pirate Literary Master Sue and Neo Marines Supreme Commander Z, both combat capabilities exceeded projections."
"One-on-one would be feasible, but simultaneous elimination of both targets is difficult. Assassination or defeating them individually is estimated to be optimal. Priority target... Z."
"Estimated time limit until destruction of the final End Point, Pirio Island... calculated from the Marine's alert perimeter... approximately three to four days. To prevent activation of Grand Reboot, it is necessary to either eliminate Z promptly or conduct sabotage operations to buy time. The optimal strategy is to execute the latter, and during the time gained, procure additional combat assets to delegate subordinate engagements. ...Plan formulated. Commencing immediately."
"All for the sake of a future where Seraphim Queen reigns supreme."
To be continued...