Chapter 75: Picking Up
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Chapter 75: Picking Up
***
As the cloaked man walked through the island towards his destination.
Fwish!
But his road was blocked by Max, who stood calmly in the front. The marine didn't flinch even once, though Max would be lying if he didn't say that the man in front of him was terrifying. It had nothing to do with power, nor was his presence extraordinary, the cloaked man could be lost in a crowd of normal people.
Yet, this all made him even more terrifying. Instinctively Max felt like the man in front of him was VERY dangerous, and Zephyr was nothing in front of him. Plus the man's size also was normal, under that cloak there could be anyone.
But what worried Max was what the man mumbled after knocking out Negan.
Max had spying devices all over the island already, he was holding an Ex-Admiral as a prisoner. He wasn't as careless as he liked people to see him as.
"Good day we are having, aren't we?" Asked Max casually as his body changed into his bear hybrid form, but it didn't stop there as he crushed three Rumble Balls.
<Rumble Ball: Awakening>
His body got huge, his muscle mass increased tremendously, and went to levels that were impossible before. By now, each battle Max had only made him stronger, with Life Return any of his injuries were inconsequential as long as he didn't lose a limb or major organ.
"Yes, the weather is quite splendid," the man smirked, his upper face wasn't visible even to Max. "Oh? You dodged that?" The man suddenly said out of nowhere.
This confused Max for a split second before he realized what the man was talking about and immediately jumped back. But it was already too late, a huge cut appeared from his collarbone straight to his thigh. The wound also was deep and bleed out profoundly.
*COUGH!!*
Max coughed out a huge amount of blood in his hand and he fell to his knees. His Awakened form, something that hadn't ever failed him till now, was finished in one hit. The defenses he had grown a little satisfied with were in the end nothing.
"I dodged that?" Max muttered.
"Yep," the cloaked man agreed. "You dodged once, so I had to go all out in the first attack."
"What bad luck, to meet someone who has Future Sight," the bleeding giant bear complained. A smile came to his face, and he went to grab into the man's left arm, but he didn't grab into anything except empty cloth and air.
"Actually you blocked a second time too," the cloaked man smiled. "But I used a combination of Armament and King's Haki, creating an invisible hue around the tip of my sword. It cut through you easily, even though you technically dodged the attack."
"Shut up, I already know that you scar-eyed bastard," Max insulted his attacker, something that he wouldn't usually do in this situation.
"Bahahahahaha!" But the cloaked man seemed to find this amusing. "Well, anyway, I gotta go and finish something," he said casually before walking off into the deeper parts of the island.
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"Yeah, so you better stay-" Raynare who was arguing with Ain suddenly stopped. "What… Why did Max's presence disappear?"
Normally in such a heated moment, she wouldn't notice something like this but she calmed down at the latter parts of the verbal fight. Immediately giant dark wings came out of her back, destroying the whole restaurant in one shot.
FWISH!!!
The people were pushed into the ground and smashed into the buildings around due to the harsh winds her wings created. Ain was surprised at Raynare's sudden actions but realized by now that something must have happened.
Raynare flew at speeds she had never flown before. A torrent of wind was created behind her as she felt the sound barrier starting to slowly but surely break.
In an instant, she saw a bleeding Max in his giant Awakened form on the ground, next to him was a cloaked figure. Immediately, Raynare took out three Rumble Balls and munched down on them. Her form enlarged exponentially and her wings got only slightly bigger.
BOOOOOM!!!
Once she landed on the ground, Raynare immediately charged the cloaked man who shook his head. "Unlike the last one, this gal is just pure instincts in that form. Sorry, but I will have to knock you out a little."
But contrary to the man's expectations, the giant crow-like creature punched the ground and suddenly stopped charging at him. This made a dust cloud, just enough to cover someone's vision.
FWISH!
With a blast of air, the dust all around cleared up and Raynare had taken off with Max's body. Both of them were in their awakened forms.
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-Max POV-
Blame yourself once and then stop it, look for a solution to the problem after blaming yourself.
That was my philosophy when making mistakes, so instead, I decided to see what had come out of this. Raynare seemed to have gained self-control over her Devil Fruit when awakened.
Many thoughts went through my mind as we flew away, it seemed like I wasn't the target here, and at the same time… I now knew the attacker's identity. Even with such advanced Observation Haki, he didn't notice anything strange with my behavior after I got cut.
***
As Max flew off, the cloaked man shrugged and walked toward his real target. Which laid in a cabin, the one which Zephyr was resting on.
Once the cloaked man entered he saw the old Admiral now standing up, even though his injuries made it harder to do so. "Damn, I didn't think someone like you could be ordered around by the World Government."
The man smirked. "No, you are right, they can't order me around. But our goals aligned this time, I wouldn't like you to turn the New World into molten lava. The Five Elders don't want that either."
*sigh* "You pirates are all shìtty in my eyes, so don't try and justify your actions by acting like some kind of self-justified saint," Zephyr mocked him and took out a cigar. "Do what you have to do…"
He had given in to his fate, Zephyr no longer possessed the strength to resist this man's power. Even in his prime, he doubted that he could fight the man in front of him for even a couple of minutes.
Swish!
The man swung his sword and pierced Zed's heart, killing the man in an instant. A bloody cigar fell on the ground, bouncing a couple of times, and Zephyr couldn't help but think about his life, his wife and child, his family… but the more he thought about it, his life sounded like a tragedy than a good story of a Hero. A man who lost everything, and failed at life. His childhood dream had turned on itself.
"What a damn shìtty life this has been," Zephyr complained one last time before his body slumped on the ground.
The cloaked man looked at this with distaste and just walked off. This whole ordeal left a bad taste in his mouth, but he couldn't let someone like Zephyr move about. The old Admiral was way too dangerous.
***
As Max flew away in Raynare's arms, he sighed regretfully. He was in his human form now and tightened his muscles to stop the bleeding and help the injury heal faster.
Today has been a very sad day and kind of a disaster. But he at least got rid of Zed, something that he would have had to eventually do. Now, he could blame someone else and the Neo Marines were just ripe for the taking. Their leader had died and they were in dire need of moral support… Thankfully he was good at that.
Picking people up after breaking them down was his specialty.
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A/N: The Cloaked guy is a cannon character. That's the only hint I will give to his identity.