59: Section 59

"Colonel Smoker, being this close to me... is very dangerous, you know!"

Swish! A streak of white flashed across the sky, and when he came to, Smoker was already back on the deck of the Baratie with a sullen face.

Smoker was no fool! The moment his move, White Snake, vanished into thin air and his arms were left empty, he knew that the rebellious son before him was his greatest nemesis!

Amidst the hissing sound of smoke, Smoker's arms gradually restored. He wasn't dead, nor was he injured! With his elemental ability, minor limb loss wasn't a difficult issue to recover from, provided it didn't involve Armament Haki or Sea Stone.

But... Smoker couldn't bring himself to be happy. Just now, he didn't even know how many times he had danced on the edge of life and death!

"Omar, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Su Ming shrugged, looking completely innocent: "I told you already, the world is so big, I want to go take a look. Yeah, it's that simple!"

Chapter 66. Flying Slash? Naval Rout

The world is so big? You want to go take a look?

Smoker's expression was as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly. Don't you dare think I haven't read that letter!

Just as he was about to curse, a sudden change on the sea surface dozens of meters away made Smoker immediately lash out with trails of white smoke. It was Tashigi! She had awakened at the worst possible time!

But the moment she woke up, before she could even pick up her fallen glasses, she was targeted by a Banshee again!

Fortunately, the distance was sufficient. Smoker himself had also been keeping his nerves on edge. Finally, before the Banshee could successfully possess her, he used his White Blow to sweep Tashigi into mid-air.

However, Smoker, who only intended to save her, was surprised to discover that the ghost, which had just condensed its form and was attempting to possess Tashigi a second time, had actually been knocked away!

This surprising discovery made Smoker act immediately. Almost instinctively, he fired a straight pillar of smoke, and before the Banshee could land, he blasted it into dissipating specks of light!

A shrill, dying screech from the Banshee still faintly lingered in the surroundings.

"Interesting!" On the bow deck, Su Ming was also surprised by the scene before him.

Banshees were special ghosts. Being ghosts, they were usually immune to ordinary physical attacks. But... not only was the Banshee injured, it had also been one-shot by Smoker's follow-up attack!

"Stay calm! Those ghost things can be injured, and they can be killed!"

"Listen to my orders!"

"Pair up and watch over each other!"

"Do you all understand? Once those ghost things start attacking, hit them back hard! That is your only chance to hurt them!"

Believing he had discovered the weakness of the Banshees, Smoker immediately gave loud orders. He then instructed Tashigi, who had just steadied herself and hadn't quite understood what happened: "You heard my orders just now, right? Don't say anything else, take the Den Den Mushi, and relay my orders to everyone in the fleet!"

"Yes, sir!" Tashigi saluted and acknowledged the order, then turned and jogged toward another small boat not far away.

After doing this, Smoker said with a gloomy face: "Omar, stop your tricks! Then surrender obediently; you are definitely going to Impel Down!"

Su Ming chuckled upon hearing this. His eight spider legs bent slightly, and then he leaped onto the spacious deck of the Baratie, standing opposite Smoker.

"You're quite confident, but..."

The modao bristle-tusk slashed down with force, bringing with it a deadly silver light.

"Danger!" Smoker dodged backward. The next instant. Swish! A silver blade of light hundreds of meters long slashed down. Smoker reacted with lightning speed, avoiding this lethal strike.

However, a corner of the Baratie's outer deck was sliced off by this eerie blade light, and even the distant sea was cleaved open, leaving a long, narrow trench!

"A flying slash? No, it's even more terrifying than that!!!" Three meters away, Smoker broke into a cold sweat. He could smell the scent of death from that single strike just now.

Su Ming smiled without a word and slashed diagonally with another strike. Relying on smoke propulsion, Smoker narrowly avoided it. But behind Smoker, a warship was sliced diagonally into two halves by this blade!

"No! This isn't right, this isn't a flying slash! Omar, you guy... can you actually erase the existence of matter?"

Seeing Smoker's terrified face, Su Ming teased: "Yo, not bad. I thought it would take you a while longer to figure that out."

That's right. He didn't know any swordsmanship. He couldn't perform a flying slash either, but... he could focus his Collection Skill onto the blade, and then use the force of the slash to dismantle everything!

He wasn't erasing matter. He was Gathering matter! Unfortunately, this strike couldn't target normal life, because life is not something without an owner! One could say this was a non-lethal blade... but, Logia Devil Fruit users were an exception!

If I can't cut your life, I'll just cut you while you're elementalized, won't I? To the Collection Skill, an elementalized ability user is more like a natural phenomenon. And since it's a phenomenon, there's no such thing as an owner.

Smoker didn't know what to do. Fight? He was countered everywhere, and if he wasn't careful, his very existence could be erased. Retreat? How could he? If he really retreated, how could he advance in the future? Moreover, as proud as Smoker was, how could he allow himself to admit defeat...

Seeing Smoker's rising momentum, that determination to splatter blood on his opponent even if he died... Su Ming frowned and immediately opened his backpack.

Splash! Tens of thousands of cubic meters of seawater surged out, and amidst Smoker's expression of despair and confusion, it easily snuffed out the Colonel's possibility of continuing his power-up.

This move... this move is called—Artificial Water Style: Great Dam Water Shark!

Glancing at the smoke-guy, who was washed away like a salted fish and smacked against a restaurant pillar, knocking him unconscious, Su Ming smiled very sinisterly. The way of application lies entirely in the mind!

Who told Devil Fruit users to become weaklings the moment they touch seawater? If I don't target you, who am I going to target?

On a small boat dozens of meters away, Tashigi watched this scene, dumbfounded. Having just finished giving her orders, she felt as if the sky had collapsed! "Colonel Smoker!!!"

Picking his ear, although Tashigi had a stunning figure, with a snap of Su Ming's fingers...

Tashigi, who had just been full of grief and indignation, collapsed to the ground with a thud the next second. Yes, she had been possessed once again. And it was by the Banshee lady who had just resurrected.

Turning to look at the three remaining warships, the marines strictly executed Smoker's orders, covering each other in pairs, resting their flintlock rifles on others' shoulders. Once a Banshee appeared, they fired without hesitation. For a time, the sound of bang, bang, bang was endless. Excited cheers and shouts rose one after another.

But... less than half a minute later, another batch of Banshees from the midnight rose joined the battlefield!

The marines, thinking they were winning big, were caught off guard and dozens were taken down right away.

More importantly, Midnight, having figured out the marines' tactics, personally entered the battlefield to command, and all those who had just been taken down were officers at the rank of lieutenant or above!

"Th-this, what's going on? They, didn't they all die?"

"Ghosts! They're all ghosts! It's impossible to win..."

"Damn it, where's the Master Chief?"

"Sob, sob, the officers' souls have all been taken away..."

Lacking tactical command and without officers to guide them, panic and helplessness were spreading.