Chapter 12: Sunken Ship

As the saying goes, pick the soft persimmon to squeeze—if you want to show off while slacking off, you have to find Huang Yuan.

But that was a lie.

The clash of Glint-Glint abilities did not last long.

After all, Su Lin's ability was far from proficient and could not yet be mentioned in the same breath as Huang Yuan's.

Huang Yuan looked lazy, but he had long since brought his control of the ability to a very high level.

In just a few exchanges, Su Lin had already been caught in a lapse by Huang Yuan and kicked flying.

He even brought out Armament Haki.

Luckily he had an automatic-defense magic treasure that blocked most of the force, but even so, Su Lin still felt some discomfort.

Han Li had only just reached the Golden Core Realm not long ago and could not yet provide him with very good magic treasures, let alone ones usable by mortals.

Same went for Ye Fan's side—he had powerful ones too, but anything mortals could use would have to be specially refined.

If it was just close-quarters entanglement with Huang Yuan, stacking all the existing props on top of each other was barely enough..

"I'm a newbie, you know." Su Lin helplessly pulled back his stance and barely dodged a light-speed kick.

"How scary~. Newbies these days." Huang Yuan said unhurriedly, kicking out a few beams of light as he went: "To actually have an ability so similar to this old man's—why is that?"

"That's not easy to explain."

Su Lin threw out the occasional counterattack, but Huang Yuan blocked them with ease.

The current situation was this: Su Lin was using the speed of his Glint-Glint ability to trade blows at range with Huang Yuan. Though his technique was too sloppy to deal damage, Huang Yuan also couldn't inflict any real harm on Su Lin.

Occasionally, when Huang Yuan seized an opening, some strange thing would help Su Lin block the attack.

"Speaking of which, on the subject of using abilities, I really want to ask you to teach me—yours is pretty handy." Su Lin wiped his mouth corner, finished downing the medicinal liquid Ye Fan had given him, and slashed out several light blades with his right hand.

"Oh, want to learn?" Huang Yuan stood in place without moving, just casually blocking, rubbing his chin, looking thoughtful: "Come to think of it, I don't have any impression of you either—must not be some important pirate."

"Then how about just joining the Marines? This old man would also like to try taking on a disciple."

"Heh, you sly old badger." Su Lin didn't buy it for a second.

Streaks of flowing light traced arcs and attacked Su Lin from every direction, while Su Lin occasionally took out talismans and hidden weapons and flung them at Huang Yuan.

Thunder Fire Pills, Ice Spike Talismans, Bewildering Powder...

These underhanded items caused Huang Yuan—who had never seen such things—a bit of trouble.

"You've got some strange things on you too."

Huang Yuan grew even more interested in Su Lin: "Really not considering joining the Marines?"

"The pay's too low." Su Lin ducked his head to dodge a kick Huang Yuan had flashed forward to intercept.

"This old man also thinks they ought to give a raise—otherwise I'm about to lose motivation."

Most likely after this battle, that guy's bounty won't be low.

Of course, that wasn't something he needed to worry about.

In fact, while their mouths were spouting nonsense, the moves in their hands never let up for a single instant.

Huang Yuan noticed Su Lin's movements and reactions were a bit faster than before—was it related to whatever he had just drunk?

If earlier against the Straw Hat kid he had been slacking off, now facing Su Lin, Huang Yuan was working seriously.

This young man had some secrets on him—better to take him down.

But he hadn't expected an ability identical to his own to be this troublesome.

Huang Yuan glanced toward the rear.

The battle on Luffy's side was already nearing its end; he had used Sengoku's fist to fly a certain distance.

After reuniting with the rescued Ace, the few of them did not linger and began to retreat.

There was no point in tangling with this guy any longer—that guy clearly had no intention of fighting him seriously, just holding him back.

If they let Fire Fist Ace escape, the Marines' face would not be preserved.

Huang Yuan did not choose to keep entangling; he tossed out a parting quip and chose to fall back to provide support.

"Young man~, when you have time, come report to Marine HQ."

Seeing this, Su Lin also chose that discretion was the better part.

"That slippery old fox."

The commotion from his and Huang Yuan's chase-fight just now was not small on this stretch of battlefield.

Marine Admiral Huang Yuan did not pursue; instead, he instantly appeared in front of Ace and Luffy's group of three to cut off their retreat, while Akainu and Aokiji closed in from the flanks.

Because at this moment, the three admirals—Akainu, Aokiji, and Huang Yuan—all turned their gazes toward Luffy's trio at once.

No matter how much they had been going easy before, they understood they had to bring out their full strength now.

The Straw Hat kid could leave, but Fire Fist Ace could not.

The Marines' honor was at stake.

Akainu's eyes went cold, and countless lava rained from the sky.

His target was not the pirates on the battlefield.

"Our ship!"

"This is a ship that's sailed for decades!"

"Bastard Akainu!"

This scene still played out as in the previous history—Akainu chose to cut off the pirates' retreat, swearing today to wipe out this group of pirates in one net; even a few variables would not affect the ending he had planned!

Apart from a few ships, most were destroyed in an instant.

Though the plan had some hiccups and he failed to inflict some early damage on Whitebeard, you have no retreat to escape to now, pirates!

"You pirates will all be executed!" Akainu dropped his harsh words.

"That damned lava brat."

A hint of pressure even appeared on Whitebeard's unruffled face.

Akainu's long-hidden large-scale attack forced Whitebeard to consider how to retreat from here on out.

It wasn't that he feared these Marines—if he feared them, he wouldn't be called Whitebeard.

The key was how his sons were going to leave this battlefield.

Whitebeard had already made his resolve to stay on this battlefield in this battle; he wanted to carve out a path to a new era for his sons—not just Ace.

Although he didn't believe in any new or old era, the appearance of Straw Hat and his group gave him some expectation for the new era Red-Hair had spoken of.

At this moment, the man hailed as the strongest on this sea.

Shouldering Murakumogiri, he began walking toward the three Admirals.

For now, the only option was to fight for the possibility of the pirates' escape.

And the Marines had already begun adjusting their strategy.

Ace, who had already escaped, was no longer the target requiring attention from their many ordinary combatants.

That side could be left to the Marine Admirals.

All the Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, and elite Marines turned their gaze toward Whitebeard and the other commanders.

Their current mission was to hold back the Whitebeard Pirates.

Gekko Moriah at this moment cut up a pile of shadows and stuffed them into his body, boosting his base physical attributes.

Hawkeye Mihawk, having just defeated Flower Sword at this moment, turned his gaze toward the Whitebeard Pirates.

He didn't place much value on the title of Warlord the Marines had given him—it was merely so he wouldn't be harassed by them.

Although he didn't plan to risk his life for the Marines, he also looked forward to using this chance to cross swords with Whitebeard.

The people on the battlefield each had different goals; they had all stepped onto this battlefield with resolve, for their own interests and purposes.

The Marines were there for the order and justice they upheld; the Whitebeard Pirates were there for the bonds of sons and brothers; among the criminals who had escaped from Impel Down, some were there to cause a huge commotion, others for a pirate's sense of loyalty; and each of the Warlords had their own entirely different reasons for being here.

Su Lin was even more so—he only wanted to grind some points, to recoup the costs he'd invested this time with interest.