"Over there? I need to hurry."
High in the sky, a figure clad in the white Marine Justice cloak moved like a blur.
Raleigh kicked against the air itself, using the Moonwalk technique to propel himself forward.
He looked like a meteor streaking toward the rising mushroom cloud.
Below him, the shockwave from the massive explosion had finally passed.
Fox Andy, the brave Marine soldier who had caused the explosion, was in bad shape.
His uniform, which had been neat and tidy just minutes ago, was now torn to shreds.
His skin was covered in burns and dirt.
"Cough, cough."
Fox Andy pushed himself up from the ground, spitting out dust.
His ears were ringing loudly.
He shook his head, trying to clear his vision.
"Is it over?" he whispered.
He looked ahead at the dock. It was gone. In its place was a huge, smoking crater. The ground was blackened and cracked.
Andy squinted through the thick gray smoke.
He couldn't see Caesar Clown, nor could he see the fat man, Queen.
"Did I get them?" Andy hoped.
But then, a voice filled with pure rage erupted from the smoke.
"Goddammit!!! I almost died by the hands of a bug like you!"
Fox Andy's heart sank.
As the wind blew the smoke away, a terrifying figure was revealed.
It was Caesar Clown.
The scientist looked like he had crawled out of hell.
His yellow protective suit had been blown apart, leaving only tatters of cloth clinging to his lanky body.
His face was pale and twisted with hate, with dark streaks of blood trailing down his cheeks. His left arm hung limply at his side, severely burned and useless.
Only his right arm was still functional.
"You..." Caesar hissed.
He was a genius!
He was a member of MADS.
He was supposed to be a god among men.
The fact that a lowly soldier had hurt him was a humiliation he couldn't handle.
"Die, Marine scum!!!"
Caesar leaped forward, ignoring his pain.
He raised his heavy boot, aiming to stomp on Andy's chest and crush his heart.
Fox Andy was terrified, but he was a soldier. He had no intention of dying without a fight.
"Not yet!" Andy gritted his teeth.
His right hand moved fast, drawing a short military knife from his belt.
He didn't have the strength to stand up, so he reversed his grip on the knife and thrust it upward, aiming straight for Caesar's stomach.
Swish.
There was no sound of flesh tearing.
There was no blood.
The knife passed straight through Caesar's stomach as if he were made of mist.
The light faded from Fox Andy's eyes.
In his desperation, he had forgotten that Caesar was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
Without Haki, physical attacks couldn't touch him.
"Fool!" Caesar screamed.
He didn't even flinch. His foot slammed down, kicking Andy in the head.
Thud!
Andy's head hit the dirt hard. Caesar pressed his foot down, grinding the soldier's face into the soil.
"Shurorororo!" Caesar laughed maniacally, though he was coughing up blood. "It seems you'll die here, Marine. But you were supposed to die anyway. No one is better at killing than me!"
Caesar looked down at the helpless soldier with disgust.
"That bullshit superior of yours clearly can't save you now," Caesar mocked. "Though, I suppose he can at least collect your corpse."
A flash of madness crossed Caesar's eyes.
Since joining the research team, everything had been easy for him.
Everyone told him he was special.
He believed he was destined to rule the world with his science.
He raised his foot high, preparing to deliver the final, fatal blow to Andy's skull.
"Blame yourself for being weak! Blame yourself for appearing in my way!"
Caesar's face was twisted in an intoxicated grin.
He loved the feeling of power. He brought his foot down with all his might—
CRACK!
The sound wasn't Andy's skull breaking. It was the sound of the air itself shaking.
An overwhelming pressure erupted from behind Caesar.
It was heavy, cold, and terrifying. It froze Caesar mid-motion.
His foot stopped inches from Andy's head.
Beads of cold sweat instantly formed on Caesar's forehead.
His instincts were screaming at him to run!
A tall figure stood behind him, blocking out the sunlight.
A massive shadow enveloped the shivering scientist.
"What do you think you're doing with that foot?"
The voice was low and calm, but it vibrated with suppressed rage. It sounded like a lion growling before it tore out a throat.
Caesar slowly turned his head.
He saw Raleigh.
The sheer size of the Acting North blue Commander was intimidating, but the look in his eyes was worse.
It was the look of a predator staring at food.
Caesar panicked. "Gas - No Oxygen World!"
Caesar suddenly lunged forward, abandoning Andy.
He needed space.
As he charged away, he clenched his fists and spread his arms wide. He used his power to manipulate the air.
Instantly, the oxygen in the area was sucked away. It created a vacuum around Caesar. Anyone who entered that zone would suffocate and collapse within seconds.
"Try fighting without air!" Caesar yelled.
Raleigh didn't flinch. He had already analyzed the situation.
'So it's Caesar Clown,' Raleigh thought.
Earlier, seeing the figure from afar, Raleigh hadn't recognized the child-like scientist.
But seeing the gas abilities now, he knew exactly who this was.
Raleigh didn't chase Caesar immediately.
Instead, he reached down and scooped up the unconscious Fox Andy.
Raleigh could hold his breath for a long time; he wasn't afraid of the vacuum.
But Andy was severely injured. If Andy was deprived of oxygen now, he would die.
Raleigh gently tossed Andy to a safe spot outside the danger zone.
Now, he could fight without holding back.
On the strange paddle-ship near the shore, Queen was watching everything.
When he saw Raleigh's white cloak and the epaulettes on his shoulders, his eyes widened.
"Hey! Run faster, Caesar!" Queen shouted, his voice high with panic. "That's a Marine officer! A Vice Admiral!"
Queen was arrogant, but he wasn't stupid.
He knew the power structure of the world.
Fighting a Vice Admiral-level opponent with just the two of them—especially when they were hurt—was suicide. It was like throwing an egg at a rock.
"I don't need your reminders, fatty!" Caesar screamed back.
Caesar was running in the opposite direction of the ship to dodge Raleigh.
His face turned green when he realized his mistake.
By running away from Raleigh, he was also running away from his escape route.
He was trapped on the beach.
Raleigh watched Caesar run and a flash of killing intent sharpened his gaze.
"You come to my territory, hurt my men, and think you can leave?" Raleigh whispered.
"You are slapping me in the face."
Raleigh didn't run. He simply vanished.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind materialized directly in Caesar's escape path.
Raleigh's tall figure appeared from the wind, blocking the way.
After his recent system power-up, Raleigh stood at a massive two meters and sixty centimeters. He towered over Caesar, who was only about one meter seventy.
Raleigh raised his right arm.
The wind howled around it, spinning like a drill.
"Lion Pounce."
This was a technique that combined his physical strength with the power of the Storm-Storm Fruit.
But Raleigh knew Caesar was a Logia user. Physical attacks and wind alone would just pass through him.
Suddenly, Raleigh's arm turned pitch black.
It was Armament Haki.
The invisible armor that allowed humans to touch the "element" bodies of Logia users.
Caesar saw the black arm and felt the shadow of death.
"Damn it! There's no way I'm dying in a place like this!"
Cornered and desperate, Caesar lost his mind.
He frantically transformed his entire body into highly concentrated, explosive gas. He struck two matches, igniting his fists.
"Burning Style: Miok Gas!"
Caesar screamed, swinging his flaming fists at Raleigh. H
e was determined to bet everything on this one attack.
But the gap between them was too wide.
"A mere death throe," Raleigh said coldly.
Raleigh's black, Haki-coated fist cut through the flames.
It ignored the gas defense. It struck Caesar directly in the center of his chest.
BAM!
"Pfft!"
Caesar's eyes bulged.
A massive spray of blood erupted from his mouth. His elemental transformation was useless against Haki.
His ribs shattered instantly.
Caesar's body was launched backward like a cannonball.
He flew across the beach and crashed onto the wooden deck of the ship with a wet crunch.
"CAESAR!"
Queen stood on the deck, looking down at his partner.
He saw Caesar defeated in a single blow and his face twisted in conflict.
He looked at Raleigh, who was walking calmly toward the ship, cracking his knuckles.
Queen didn't hesitate for long.
"Caesar," Queen muttered to the unconscious body, "I... I'll go back and get reinforcements. You wait here."
It was a lie, and they both knew it.
Queen knew his own strength.
He couldn't beat that monster Raleigh. And honestly, he had no obligation to die for Caesar.
They were colleagues, not friends.
Their relationship was about using each other.
Now that Caesar was broken, Queen's only priority was saving his own skin.
Without looking back, Queen slammed his hand on the lever.
The ship's engine roared to life, churning the water, preparing to flee back into the Calm Belt.