Weevil stared at the closed cabin door nearby and raised his blade.
"Stop!!"
Zephyr's shout cut through the corridor.
A heavy step hit the floor.
In the next instant, Zephyr rushed down the long passage and drove his fist into Weevil's chest.
Even at his age, the former Marine Admiral's Observation Haki still reached across the warship. The moment Weevil moved, Zephyr sensed him.
Zephyr stepped in close and struck with a short Haki-covered punch.
He wanted to stop Weevil at once, but he still held back. They were inside the ship. If he used too much force here, he could tear through the corridor and put his students in danger.
So he controlled the blow.
Boom!
A heavy crash rang out.
The impact shook the narrow corridor. The metal walls dented, and several rivets shot loose.
Because Zephyr had held back, the punch did not send Weevil flying.
Weevil only stumbled back two steps. His legs dragged across the steel floor, carving two deep grooves before he stopped.
"That hurts..."
Weevil rubbed his chest. There was only a faint red mark left there.
Then his face twisted with anger.
"You hit me... I'm going to chop you to death!"
Weevil shouted and swung his saber wildly.
Whoosh!
It was just a standard Marine saber, but with his strength behind it, the blade cut through the air with frightening speed.
Zephyr's face hardened.
This strength... how is this possible?!
Few people could create that kind of force with their bodies alone.
"I can't fight here!"
Zephyr made his decision at once.
"You want to kill me? Then follow me!"
Zephyr scoffed. He used Soru and vanished, sprinting toward the deck.
"Don't run! Bad old man!"
Just as expected, Weevil chased after him, smashing through every obstacle in his path.
On the deck.
The storm continued to rage, and huge black waves slammed against the sides of the ship.
Bang!
The cabin door leading to the deck was smashed open.
As soon as Zephyr stopped, he felt an attack coming from behind.
He stepped aside.
Boom!
A flying slash passed his shoulder and cut a secondary gun turret clean in half.
"Die!"
Weevil charged onto the deck. Rain poured over his huge body, and the saber in his hand had broken into two pieces after that last slash.
Weevil threw the broken hilt hard at Zephyr, then rushed forward again.
"Naive brat! Don't look down on the Marines!"
Zephyr stomped the deck.
"Soru!"
He vanished, slipped past Weevil's clumsy tackle, and reappeared behind his flank.
Zephyr turned his hips and drove another Haki-covered punch into Weevil's ribs.
Bang!
The blow forced Weevil to stumble back a few steps, and a trickle of blood ran down his mouth.
But the pain only made him angrier.
"That hurts!!"
Weevil shouted. Ignoring his poor balance, he used his momentum to spin around and throw a wild hook coated in Armament Haki.
The punch was far too fast for someone his size.
Zephyr only had time to raise his arms to block.
Bam!
Zephyr slid seven or eight meters across the wet deck before stopping, his feet carving two deep grooves into the steel floor.
Pant... pant...
Zephyr caught his breath, his arms numb from the impact. Weevil had taken a direct hit and still kept moving.
"I'm going to... I'm going to crush you!"
Weevil was not satisfied with fighting bare-handed. He looked around and spotted a steel crane on the side of the deck used for loading supplies.
He strode over and wrapped his arms around the thick steel column. Then he shouted, "Up!!"
Creak... Crack!
With the sound of twisting metal, he ripped the steel crane right out of its base to use as a club.
"Die!"
Weevil swung the steel column and brought it down toward Zephyr's head.
Zephyr could not dodge. He crossed his arms, tensed his body, and pushed his Armament Haki to its limit to take the hit head-on.
Clang!
Metal crashed against Haki.
The deck under Zephyr's feet shattered. The force pushed him back several meters.
"What kind of strength is this..."
Zephyr panted heavily. His arms shook in the pouring rain.
"Instructor!"
Right then, the cabin door swung open again.
Hina, Ain, Binz, and the recruits who had been woken up by the noise all rushed onto the deck.
"Stay back! Go back inside!!" Zephyr shouted.
But it was already too late.
"Gahahaha! You're all out? Perfect, saves me the trouble of looking for you one by one!"
Miss Bakkin scurried out from the shadows behind Weevil. She glared at the young students and said, "Son! That old guy is too tough. Go kill those kids first!"
"Okay, Mommy!"
Hearing the command, Weevil ignored Zephyr completely. He changed targets, raised the steel column, and charged at the recruits who had just arrived on the deck.
"Bastard! Don't you dare!"
Zephyr rushed over to stop him.
Weevil looked stupid, but his instincts in battle were sharp. Zephyr swung his leg and sent a sharp air blade across Weevil's back. Weevil took it head-on. He ignored the bloody gash and used the impact to rush toward the crowd even faster.
Binz gritted his teeth and scattered seeds across the wet deck.
The seeds sprouted at once, growing into thick vines that wrapped around Weevil's legs.
"Move!"
Weevil kicked outward, tearing the vines apart. The force sent Binz flying back into the railing, coughing up blood.
"This monster..."
Ain and Hina shared a quick look and charged forward together.
Ain reached for Weevil, pink energy gathering around her hand.
At the same time, black iron bars shot out around Hina, stabbing toward Weevil from several angles.
But just as the age-reversing energy was about to touch him, Weevil sensed the danger.
He twisted his huge body in mid-air and barely dodged the pink energy at the last second.
"What?!"
Ain froze in shock.
Before she could react, a large hand reached through the rain and grabbed her shoulder.
"Caught you!"
Weevil grinned and squeezed hard.
Crack!
"Ah!!"
Ain screamed as the bones in her shoulder shattered. Then Weevil slammed her into the deck.
Bang!
The impact left a dent in the hard deck. Ain coughed up blood and stopped moving.
"Ain!!" Hina screamed.
"You're next!"
Weevil swung the steel column, and Hina had no time to dodge. The blow sent her flying across the wet deck, leaving her unable to get up.
Zephyr's elite recruits could not stop him.
But Weevil did not stop. The steel column kept moving after hitting Hina and slammed directly into the anchor windlass at the bow of the ship.
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere.
With a screech of twisting metal, the thick anchor chain holding the ship steady in the storm snapped tight. It groaned under the strain, and though it did not break right away, it was clearly close to snapping.
"You bastard!!!"
Zephyr watched his students fall one by one and saw the ship slide into danger. His anger finally broke through his restraint.
He no longer held back. Armament Haki covered his fist as he rushed forward and punched the steel column in Weevil's hands.
Boom!
The thick steel crane snapped in half under Zephyr's strike.
Weevil was forced back a few steps by the recoil, leaving him with only half of his weapon.
"Bad old man! You broke my toy!"
Weevil shouted angrily. He looked around and spotted a recruit shaking with fear nearby.
"Give it to me!"
He reached out, grabbed the saber in the recruit's hand, and yanked the recruit forward along with it.
"No!"
The recruit screamed in terror.
"Get lost!"
Weevil snatched the blade and slapped the recruit away.
Bang!
The recruit crashed hard into the railing, coughing up blood before collapsing onto the deck.
Weevil gripped the saber with both hands, coated it in Armament Haki, and charged at Zephyr again.
"I'm going to chop you to death!"
Zephyr did not back down.
Boom!
His fist collided with the blade in mid-air.
The impact swept across the deck.
The falling rain was blasted away, and the water on the deck shot several meters into the air.
Crack!
Under the force of the blast, the bow's anchor windlass, already damaged by the steel column, gave out completely.
Snap!
A loud snap echoed across the ship.
The thick anchor chain broke and whipped against the side of the ship.
"Oh no!"
Without the anchor to hold it steady against the twenty-meter waves, the warship lost its balance.
Seeing that his first strike had failed, Weevil grew even more furious. Without giving Zephyr a chance to breathe, he raised his blade and brought down a second strike at the off-balance old man.
Boom!
Just as the strike came down, a huge wave hit the ship. The vessel shook violently, and the deck tilted sharply.
The recruit who had just been slapped away lost his footing on the wet surface, slid under the railing, and fell toward the dark sea.
"Hold on!!"
Zephyr moved without thinking.
Weevil's blade was coming down, but his student was falling.
Zephyr chose the student.
He dropped his defense and threw himself forward. At the last second, he grabbed the recruit's wrist, leaving the boy hanging in mid-air.
Because of that, Zephyr lost his balance completely. Half of his body hung over the edge, leaving his right arm and back exposed to Weevil's blade.
"Die!!"
Weevil grinned, his blank face full of cruel joy. Without hesitation, he swung his blade down toward Zephyr's right arm—the arm holding the student.
Zephyr heard the wind rushing behind him.
He looked back at the falling blade.
But he did not let go.
Even though he knew this strike might cost him his arm, or even his life,
he still held onto the recruit tightly.
"Instructor!!"
Hina screamed, but she could only watch as the blade came down.
Just as the steel was about to cut into Zephyr's skin,
the storm seemed to quiet for an instant.
Pale lightning cut through the dark rain.
In the next moment, it appeared between Zephyr and the falling blade.
Clang!
A metallic clash rang out, briefly deafening everyone.
The impact turned the nearby rain into steam.
Weevil's strike stopped.
It stopped less than half a meter from Zephyr's arm.
Zephyr froze.
He raised his head and looked beside him.
The steam cleared, revealing a tall figure.
The newcomer had raised his right hand. Dark red Haki covered his palm as he held Weevil's blade in place.
Zzzt!
Pale sparks of electricity crackled across his back.
Aiden slowly raised his head.
Lightning flickered in his eyes.
He looked at Weevil and asked, "What do you think you're doing to my instructor?"