One Piece: Marine's Justice

"Winner: Cross!" The arena fell into dead silence as Zephyr slowly stood up, raising his hand to formally declare the victor. All around the

"Winner: Cross!"

The arena fell into dead silence as Zephyr slowly stood up, raising his hand to formally declare the victor.

All around the ring, the Elite Class cadets stared in stunned disbelief, at both the battlefield and the figure standing victorious upon it: Cross.

They couldn't believe it. Cross had won so easily. Efficient. Decisive.

He had just cleanly defeated Gasparde, someone whose combat ability was indisputably formidable. Gasparde's physical conditioning and martial arts might've been average, but his overall strength placed him easily in the top five of the entire Elite Class. Even those armed with Seastone weapons had failed to take him down in sparring matches.

"Alright, Cross. Let him go," Zephyr instructed.

"Understood."

Cross nodded, and with a flick of his wrist, the four massive tendrils of earth and stone slowly uncoiled, gently releasing a thick, green, gelatinous mass back onto the scarred, cratered surface of the arena.

Huff… Huff…

Soon, the green slime rapidly reformed into a humanoid figure, Gasparde, who collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath.

There had been no air inside the stone sphere. He had nearly suffocated.

"Sorry about that. You okay?" Cross approached slowly, smiling as he offered the question.

"You bastard…"

Gasparde glared at him, his expression a storm of emotions: shock, rage… and fear.

He was shocked that Cross had managed to defeat him so decisively, and in such an unexpected way.

He was furious that he'd lost so easily, and that Cross could neutralize him without even resorting to a Seastone weapon.

And the fear… that was the lingering panic from nearly suffocating, and the terrifying realization that Cross could have killed him, without even touching Seastone.

Gasparde wanted to spit out a threat or bark something defiant to save face… but the shadow of death still lingered in his chest. The words caught in his throat and refused to come out.

In the end, he simply scowled, let out a cold grunt, and turned to leave the ring without a word.

Boo—!

A wave of jeers followed him as he descended from the stage. Many of the Elite Class cadets looked on with schadenfreude in their eyes, which only made Gasparde's face darken even further.

"Alright then. Who's next?" Zephyr called out again, his voice low and commanding.

At that moment, Cross still stood calmly in the center of the arena. He looked up and said, "Zephyr-sensei, I'd like to challenge Smoker."

His words sent a ripple of shock through the crowd. All eyes turned toward Smoker, who was off to the side, puffing on a cigar.

Smoker had been talking with Hina when he heard the challenge. He blinked in surprise, turning his gaze toward Cross, who remained on the platform with an easy smile.

Everyone knew Smoker was a tough customer; smoking, drinking, fighting, you name it. Even in the entire Marine Academy, he had few real friends, and even fewer who could match him in a fight.

But Smoker was also a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, wielder of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit. He was especially dangerous because he wielded a jitte tipped with Seastone, an ideal weapon against other Devil Fruit users.

Within the academy, his strength was widely considered to be second to none.

"Smoker, huh…"

Zephyr's brow furrowed slightly as he shifted his gaze toward the silver-haired cadet.

Fwooo—

Smoker exhaled a cloud of smoke from his cigar and stood up, looking at Cross with a look of annoyed curiosity.

"Tch. You trying to test your powers against mine?" he asked, voice rough with irritation.

"Your ability is smoke. That trick I used earlier won't work on you," Cross said with a chuckle. "This time, Smoker, I'm aiming for a fair fight. If you don't mind, bring me a jitte, same model as yours. Seastone tip and all."

"You want to handicap yourself with Seastone? Hmph. Pretty bold of you," Smoker sneered.

His right arm dissolved into a pillar of white smoke, snaking through the air toward the weapon rack. From within the smoke, a hand materialized and grabbed a jitte identical to his own. With a flick, he tossed it toward Cross.

"Here. Knock yourself out."

"Thanks!" Cross grinned as he caught the jitte mid-air.

"Hmph. Don't thank me yet," Smoker growled, gripping his own weapon tightly. "I'm not going to go easy on you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Smoker's lower body transformed into white smoke. With explosive speed, he launched himself toward Cross like a torpedo.

"Jumping straight into it, huh?" Cross muttered with a smirk as he watched the smoke trail surge toward him.

A heartbeat later, Smoker was upon him, his jitte stabbing forward, fast and brutal.

Cross tilted his head slightly, narrowly dodging the thrust. The weapon whistled past his ear, the air slicing audibly from its momentum.

He didn't hesitate.

In the next instant, Cross's own jitte swung out horizontally, aiming to cleave through Smoker's torso.

But his weapon passed harmlessly through white smoke. Smoker had already shifted into his elemental form, his body splitting in two. Only his upper chest and head remained solid.

Then, with a roar, Smoker struck downward with his own jitte.

CLANG—!

The two Seastone-tipped jittes collided with a sharp metallic shriek, sparks bursting into the air.

RUMBLE—

Simultaneously, the arena floor rumbled as two massive tendrils of earth and stone erupted from either side, closing in on Smoker like giant pincers.

"Hmph. You think this trick'll work twice?" Smoker scoffed.

The tendrils pierced through him, but once again, his body dissipated into smoke, which surged forward and engulfed Cross in a thick, choking fog.

BOOM—

Suddenly, a dull thud echoed out.

The cloud of smoke violently collapsed inward, reforming into Smoker's physical body, only for him to be flung backward midair, blood spurting from his mouth.

A ragged red line trailed behind him as he crashed heavily onto the ground several meters away.

"You idiot," Cross said coldly, weighing the jitte in his hand. "Against Seastone, turning into smoke just makes you an easier target. Did you really think I wouldn't figure that out?"

"Damn you…" Smoker growled, clutching his jaw in pain. Using his jitte like a crutch, he forced himself to his feet, unsteady but burning with defiance.

"Soru!"

In a blink, Cross vanished.

"Shit! White Launcher!!!" Smoker's eyes widened. His lower body dissolved into smoke once again, blasting himself away like a cannonball with a powerful recoil of compressed smoke.

"Geppo!"

Shockwaves burst through the air like concentric rings.

Cross reappeared midair, almost as if he'd teleported, directly in Smoker's path.

"Hey, Smoker… where do you think you're going?"

"Shigan: Blunt Fang!!"

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