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26th of February 1506.
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*Panting sounds*
Taking his breath, Baibald noticed Commodore Stone and Otis exchange blows, creating multiple sound waves and rendering others from approaching this side of the battle. Having already beaten Otis's officers, who weren't strong compared to their captain, Baibald rushed to help his friend as promised.
Jumping up, Baibald used his ability and increased his weight to its current limit of 10 tons before launching an axe kick toward Otis as he descended.
*Boom*
The ship's deck they were fighting on cracked as Otis blocked the attack after noticing Baibald's arrival.
Taking that chance, Commodore Stone rushed at Otis, sending a violent upward slash toward his enemy's hand blocking Baibald's attack. As he struck, his two-handed longsword started turning black-purple mid-air, frightening Otis.
Pushing Baibald upwards, Otis hurriedly used his free hand, which had already turned black, and blocked Stone's attack.
*Ting!*
The sound of metal hitting each other was heard as the two fell into a stale might for a second before being interrupted by Baibald, who came from the side ready to attack.
Lifting his right leg to go for a low kick, Baibald promptly changed movements as soon as he noticed Otis raise his leg to block his attack. Smiling, he instead sent a high kick, startling his opponent.
*Pah!*
Hitting Otis straight on the Jaw, Baibald continued attacking, not caring about defense at all. Advancing toward the retreating opponent, he faked a left jab and went for a right hook. However, Otis was well prepared and managed to narrowly dodge the attack, sending a punch of his own to counterattack.
Unfortunately, before his Haki-coated attack could connect, a black longsword came out of nowhere and blocked it. A high kick flew toward his face as he glanced at Stone, who intercepted his attack. This time, however, he dodged it as he felt the same pressure from this attack as the axe kick Baibald performed earlier.
*Vfoom!*
However, instead of focusing on his attacker, Otis turned toward Stone, lurking on his left side, sending a quick overhead punch toward the guy.
*Boom!*
Being squarely hit on the chest, Commodore Stone flew out, coughing up blood and landing a few meters away as Otis turned toward Baibald, exchanging blows with him.
A dozen seconds passed since the two started fighting, and the difference in style of fighting could be seen. Otis looked like a wild animal (in his hybrid form) and fought like a wild animal. He madly rushed at Baibald, launching violent punches without any care about defense. Otis was a brawler. Someone who had never trained professionally but had enough strength and instinctual responses not to be underestimated by trained fighters.
Baibald, on the other hand, looked like the most refined mixed-martial-art fighter you could ever find. Every move he performed looked picturesque as he focused on doing while using body feints and counters to hit the mad Otis. He knew he couldn't face the guy head-on. That's why he opted for the safer style while waiting for his comrade to get up.
Fortunately, he didn't wait too long as Stone rushed back into battle, actively attacking to weaken Otis's defense, which seems to be his strong point.
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Three hours later, the fight was still raging on. However, the marines seemed to be winning as Baibald incapacitated all of Otis's core members before joining the fight against the former.
Yet, the fight opposing Otis and the two marine officers saw no ending point as both parties continued their onslaught toward the enemy. Wounds of all kinds could be seen on the fighters' bodies as they rightfully tried to hurt each other.
As they retreated to get a little break, Commodore Stone and Baibald discussed as they faced off against a somewhat tired Otis. However, they were in a much worse state than their opponent.
"I didn't think it would be this hard." Commented Stone, scanning the battlefield while keeping an eye on Otis. Almost a third of the marines perished during this campaign as they fought against pirates who survived in the New World.
Only the veterans stayed alive as the bunch who experienced the most fights in Commodore Stone's small army.
"They are New world pirates." Added Baibald, still wondering about Otis's presence in a region like Paradise. "I still don't know what he's doing here. However, we must end this battle before we lose too many men." He continued, thinking of ways to end the fight.
"He seems to fare much better than us. Otis has tough skin, so we can't do much damage to him individually. However, if we jointly hit him with our finishing moves, we might get a worthwhile result." Commented Commodore, getting ready to resume the fight.
Nodding, Baibald spoke. "I'll rush him and try to corner him near the sea. You must protect me from his attacks and get ready to unleash your most powerful moves." Seeing the firm but tired look on Commodore Stone's face. Baibald nodded and rushed at Otis, ready to end the fight.
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'Let's end this fight and dip before some big fish appears.' Thought Otis as he looked at his two enemies. They seemed to be discussing how to get rid of him. However, he sneered at them before scanning the rest of the battlefield.
'Those good for nothing couldn't even beat small fries like this.' He inwardly cursed, thinking about re-building his crew for the nth time. He got annihilated multiple times by the marines. However, Otis managed to escape most times without being caught. The only time he got caught, he was saved by Kaido and asked to join the man's crew.
Among Kaido's subordinates, Otis is the one who fought the marines the most. He's also the one who lost against them the most. That's why he wanted to finish this fight before getting caught again.
'I might not be able to escape this time.' He thought, viciously glancing at his two enemies. 'I hope the boss succeeded in his coup. I need that money to recruit more capable forces.' He murmured, noticing the charging Baibald.
'Alright, let's end this sh!t!'
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Near the site of the battle. A couple of hours later.
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"Do you think we can get there before the end of the fight?" Asked Admiral Zephyr, worried that he might arrive too late at the site of the battle.
"We're ten minutes away from where the battle was reported." Responded one of his assistants, commanding the other soldiers to speed the ship up. Noticing that action, Zephyr nodded and continued speaking.
"That f*cker Kaido did his best to enrage us, didn't he?" Said Zephyr, enraged by what happened to them during this journey.
Three battles were fought along the way, delaying them by a couple of hours. However, it's not the strength of those enemies that irritated them, but their sheer number. Every soldier on Admiral Zephyr's ship is an elite capable of facing multiple enemies alone. However, there would surely be losses if every soldier fought ten or more enemies.
Zephyr is someone who takes good care of his subordinates. He can be hard on them, but that comes from wanting to help them improve. Since he lost his family a few years back, the people on this ship have become his only remaining family.
So, seeing the tired look on his subordinate's faces, his heart filled with rage toward whoever created this situation.
"Speed the ship a little more. I don't want to see little Alvis die on me." Exclaimed Zephyr while standing on the ship's deck, looking at his busy subordinates.
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Eight minutes later.
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Arriving at the battle's site, Zephyr's ship approached Commodore Stone's. The closer they got, the more shocking the sight they were seeing became. Countless bodies could be seen on the deck of the two ships, marine and pirate, as a couple of living individuals could be seen smiling from ear to ear, looking at the middle of the pirate's ship.
Over there, three bloodied bodies could be seen laid out on the floor. Two of them were still breathing. However, they fell into a coma due to excessive blood loss.
Unfortunately for the other body, its head was decapitated with a giant hole in its chest.
"What the f*ck happened?"
