Chapter 228: Retreat Order (Second Bonus Chapter)
That's right, what Ian had just fired were six Seastone bullets!
Where did these Seastone bullets come from? Was there even a need to ask? They were the ones Zephyr had shot out with his machine gun earlier! Those Seastone bullets mixed in among the regular rounds had all been blocked by Ian's Wind Barrier and fallen to the ground. That idiot Ace had even gone to pick one up and look at it.
Although the position where he and Kizaru were fighting was quite far from where the Seastone bullets had fallen, Ian had expanded the range of his iron sand absorption, concealing these Seastone bullets within countless iron sand particles and bringing them over.
Actually, Ian hadn't known at the time whether he could use electromagnetic force to control these Seastone bullets. After all, Seastone sounded like stone, not a conductive metal like iron or nickel, so he wasn't sure if he could grab them.
If he couldn't grab them, it meant he also couldn't fire them as electromagnetic projectiles.
Fortunately, these Seastone bullets didn't disappoint Ian. They were called "stone," but Seastone was actually a mineral. Since Seastone was difficult to refine and polish, it definitely contained impurities, including iron elements. So by manipulating the metal within them, Ian managed to bring the Seastone bullets along with him.
That huge iron sand shield was specifically to block Kizaru's line of sight, preventing him from seeing that the pellets in Ian's right hand were Seastone bullets. Fired at close range at the speed of sound as an electromagnetic cannon, even Kizaru couldn't dodge them.
Moreover, to ensure that a single projectile wouldn't cause too little damage to Kizaru, Ian didn't hesitate to expend more Psychic Power, firing six at once!
The restraining effect of Seastone on Ability Users was indeed top-notch. Even though Kizaru had elementalized, the moment the energy dispersed by the Seastone touched his body, his ability was already suppressed, and he could no longer maintain his elemental form. However, because this time was extremely short—the Seastone bullets pierced through his body and flew out—even Kizaru himself didn't realize what had happened.
Only when Ian explained it did Kizaru finally understand the situation.
So for a moment, Kizaru felt like his lungs were about to burst with rage. But the target of his anger wasn't Ian, who had injured him, but... Zephyr!
"That damn old man!" Kizaru gritted his teeth in his heart. "He actually let someone else use the precious Seastone bullets!?"
Kizaru and Zephyr didn't have a good relationship. Even though they were carrying out this mission together, they never intended to cooperate. After Zephyr started fighting Fujitora, Kizaru chose Ian as his opponent, each fighting their own battle. He never expected that, even so, his own teacher would stab him in the back at a critical moment!
Zephyr was a textbook case of being caught in the crossfire. Even he probably hadn't anticipated that the Seastone bullets he fired would be used by Ian to injure Kizaru in return. If he had known this would happen, he probably wouldn't have fired those Seastone bullets.
But regardless, these Seastone bullets were indeed Zephyr's fault. Even if he didn't want to take the blame, he had to.
Kizaru had truly suffered severe damage this time. Of Ian's six Seastone bullets, two had pierced through Kizaru's thigh and shoulder, two had hit him in the abdomen—though they didn't damage his organs, they tore through his muscles—and the most damaging one had directly pierced through Kizaru's lung lobe!
Kizaru had been blown back some distance by the earlier wind pressure and stood several dozen meters away from Ian. When the injuries began to take effect, he couldn't help but cough up a mouthful of blood.
He felt the wound on his chest burning like fire, scorching his chest cavity. Since obtaining the Glint-Glint Fruit, it had been many years since he had suffered such serious injuries. Seastone had always been controlled by the Marines, yet he never expected that he, a Marine Admiral, would one day be severely wounded because of Seastone. This was nothing short of ironic.
At this moment, Kizaru felt like someone who had hunted geese all his life, only to have his eyes pecked out by one...
Seeing Kizaru spit blood, Ian breathed a slight sigh of relief. To be honest, he had been somewhat opportunistic this time. He hadn't been confident about defeating Kizaru because he couldn't think of many ways to counter the Glint-Glint Fruit. Although he had inflicted quite a few wounds and blows during the battle, they were negligible to Kizaru. If he hadn't had the sudden inspiration to use Zephyr's Seastone bullets, the fight might have dragged on, and after fifteen minutes, he would have reverted to his original form.
Under normal conditions, Ian had absolutely no chance of winning against Kizaru...
But that's how battles are. It's not that the weaker side will definitely lose, nor that the stronger side will definitely win. Real combat is often full of unknowns.
If he had thought of using Seastone bullets earlier, Ian wouldn't have had to go all out with his buffs and states to fight Kizaru for so long...
The only regret Ian had was that the Seastone bullets fired as electromagnetic projectiles couldn't stay inside Kizaru's body like bullets from a regular gun. The electromagnetic power and kinetic energy were too strong, only piercing through his body without leaving the bullets behind. This was Ian's biggest regret; otherwise, Kizaru would have already been affected by the Seastone and lost his Devil Fruit ability.
"Admiral Borsalino, do you still want to continue fighting?" Ian exhaled and said to Kizaru.
Kizaru was also hesitating. He was severely injured, and if the fight continued, his stamina would drain rapidly. Moreover, Kizaru didn't know if Zephyr had any other Seastone bullets left. If there were more, it would be troublesome. Ian's electromagnetic cannon speed was hard for even him to dodge...
Similarly, Ian also didn't want to fight anymore. Even if he could defeat Kizaru, what then? Ian didn't dare kill him!
As a Marine Admiral, Kizaru was a symbol. If that symbol were killed, the entire Marines and World Government would likely deploy all their forces to completely annihilate the Dragon Hunter Pirates!
Fighting one Admiral had already forced Ian to reveal all his trump cards, and he had only severely injured Kizaru thanks to the Seastone bullets. If Fleet Admiral Sengoku, plus three Admirals, and twelve Vice Admirals all came after him...
Ian shuddered. He didn't want to imagine such a terrifying scene... He figured he would be caught and have to rot away in Impel Down prison.
So, while Kizaru was severely injured, it was time to back off. His Initial Release time was almost up. If the fight continued, Ian didn't know what to do.
Hearing Ian's words, Kizaru looked up at Zephyr, who was still fighting Fujitora not far away. He saw that even Zephyr was now panting heavily. Fighting under powerful gravity suppression, this old man in his 70s could be called a monster for lasting this long, but if he continued fighting Fujitora, Zephyr would probably fall too.
All signs told Kizaru that they couldn't fight any longer. His injuries needed treatment, and the Marines couldn't afford to lose an Admiral here.
But Kizaru was unwilling! When he had first received the order, he had been careless, thinking victory was certain. Yet the battle had turned out like this. If they retreated like this, the Marines' face would be utterly disgraced.
However, at that moment, Sentomaru appeared. After Ian had melted his iron axe earlier, he had withdrawn from the battle and gone to fight with the Dragon Hunter Pirates' Sardine and the others. While Ian and Kizaru were fighting in the air, he had been watching, but when they landed, he temporarily lost sight of them. So when he found Kizaru now and saw him bleeding from the mouth, covered in wounds, and with six large holes piercing through him, he was shocked!
"Uncle!? How did this happen!?" Sentomaru ignored Ian nearby and rushed over to grab Kizaru.
"You... why are you back?" Kizaru said. "Didn't I tell you not to come close?"
"There's an order from Marine Headquarters!" Sentomaru quickly pulled out a Den Den Mushi and said, "Marine Headquarters has ordered us to retreat immediately!"
"What's going on?" Kizaru asked.
"It's Whitebeard!" Sentomaru said. "Whitebeard's ship is about to dock. Headquarters doesn't want to clash with the Whitebeard Pirates under these circumstances, so they ordered us to retreat!"
What Sentomaru didn't know was that, more than five hundred meters behind them, behind a collapsed wall, the trembling Pritz had been transmitting the battle scene through his Video Den Den Mushi. After seeing Kizaru severely injured by Ian, Marine Headquarters was shocked and immediately cut off the live broadcast.
At the same time, intelligence came that the Four Emperors Whitebeard was approaching and about to land on the island. Worried that they might lose both Kizaru and Zephyr here, the Marines had no choice but to issue a retreat order directly to Sentomaru.
Although Marine Headquarters was equally unwilling, they had to grit their teeth and accept this outcome.
After hearing Sentomaru's words, Kizaru immediately understood the key point. Thinking that if that monster Whitebeard appeared, he probably wouldn't be polite to a severely injured man like him, Kizaru could only stomp his foot and say, "Let's go!"
Similarly, Zephyr on the other side had also received the report from the Marine soldiers. He too saw the injuries on his student Kizaru's body and could only sigh inwardly before retreating as well.
Fujitora didn't stop him. After watching the Marines retreat like a tide toward the harbor, he turned and walked toward Ian.
As for Ian, after Kizaru retreated, he sat down on the ground, then, ignoring the mess around him, lay back on the ground.
"Phew! Damn, it's finally over. This life is really not for humans..."