Chapter 448 - 287

Chapter 288: Trafalgar Law VS Smoker!Punk Hazard: Frozen Research Lab!Monet collapsed by the console, her golden eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling.The weakness from her heart being removed and controlled remained, but what made her feel like she was falling into an abyss of ice even more was the silence of the Young Master on the other end of the den den mushi.She could imagine the veins bulging on Doflamingo's forehead in the royal palace of Dressrosa, and the twisted rage beneath those sunglasses.The SAD Factory destroyed, the key trade link with Kaido severed—this loss was enough to shake the Family's foundation in the New World."...A bunch of useless trash."The den den mushi finally simulated a voice so low it sounded like sandpaper rubbing together, followed by the explosive sound of something being smashed.Monet understood that their opponent was the "Straw Hat" crew, the newly ascended "Fourth Emperor"!!Even as arrogant as Doflamingo was, he had to weigh his options rationally."Survive, Monet!!!"Finally, the den den mushi only conveyed those words before the connection was cut.Tap, tap, tap!The sound of boots stepping on the ground approached from afar.Trafalgar Law's figure emerged from the corridor filled with cold dust and mist.He walked straight up to Monet and threw a heavy black shackle beside her.The inside of the shackle shimmered with a dull luster... Sea Stone."Put it on yourself, or I'll help you."Law's voice was devoid of emotion, but his gaze scraped over her like a Scalpel."Your value depends on how much of Doflamingo's dark history you can tell."Gritting her teeth, Monet struggled to pick up the cold Sea Stone shackles and snapped them onto her slender wrists.The feeling of powerlessness from her abilities being completely suppressed instantly swept through her body, even more despairing than having her heart held.But the Young Master's order was to "survive"... Law said no more and turned to walk out. Monetstumbled to her feet and followed behind him, like a puppet pulled by invisible threads.The two had just stepped out of the hidden laboratory entrance into the frost-ravaged open-air ruins.A trail of white smoke tore through the murky air and slammed down in front of them with a crash!As the dust settled, Smoker's tall frame appeared, his jitte planted in the ground, smoke swirling around him, his eyes blood-red as he locked onto Law."Trafalgar Law... where is Straw Hat?"Smoker's voice carried a rasp like grinding stones."The White Hunter... truly persistent."Law stopped in his tracks, his calm gaze meeting Smoker's burning eyes."Answer me!"Smoker roared, smoke erupting from his lower body, propelling him forward like a cannonball!The tip of his jitte was instantly covered in thick, pitch-black Armament Haki. It was no longer simple hardening; that black Haki seemed to flow with a life of its own, carrying a unique sense of penetration and vibration—Ryuo!'For today... these three months of hellish training...'Images of blood and sweat flashed through Smoker's mind:Tempering his body under the relentless strikes of Zephyr's mechanical arm;Enhancing his Observation Haki in life-and-death combat;Pushing his Armament Haki to the limit countless times until he touched that realm of flowing, permeating "Ryuo"!Everything was to gain the strength to capture that man!"Straw Hat Luffy—!!!"Obsession turned into violent power; the Ryuo-wrapped jitte tore through the air, carrying the momentum to crush mountains as it lunged straight for Law's chest!Law's expression finally flickered with a subtle change.He stepped back half a pace with his left foot, and the "kikoku" he held in both hands swept upward in a diagonal slash!The blade was likewise covered in pitch-black Armament Haki—precise, condensed, and without any unnecessary flourish.Clang—!!!!The jitte and the cursed blade collided violently!A thunderous boom accompanied by a violent shockwave exploded in a ring, instantly clearing the debris and mist within dozens of meters!Smoker's pupils shrank.He felt his invincible Ryuo thrust as if it had hit an airtight wall of steel. The Armament Hakicondensed on the blade was no less hard or dense than the Ryuo he had painstakingly trained for, and it even seemed more stable and seasoned!Law flicked his wrist, and "kikoku" slid along the jitte, creating a trail of blinding sparks. Then, the blade light followed like a shadow, slashing back at Smoker's neck!Its speed was so fast and its angle so sharp that it perfectly matched a surgeon's precise and lethal style.Smoker roared, his smoke-transformed left arm instantly solidifying and also covering itself in Ryuo. Without dodging, he threw a punch at the side of the blade!Simultaneously, the jitte in his right hand changed from a thrust to a sweep, striking toward Law's waist! Offense and defense in one, ruthless and decisive!Bang! Clang!Law's figure moved like a ghost, his blade following his movement as he parried the punch and blocked the jitte.The two fought with rapid-fire exchanges, swapping offense and defense dozens of times in an instant!The afterimages of the blade light and the jittewove into a network of death. The dull thuds of Armament Haki clashing were like heavy drumbeats, each impact making the surroundings tremble violently!Smoker grew more alarmed as the fight went on.The opponent hadn't even used that troublesome fruit ability, yet with just swordsmanship and dual-type Haki, he was fighting on equal terms, or even... slightly gaining the upper hand!That swordsmanship was as precise as a machine, with zero redundancy. Every block and counterattack aimed directly at vital points or power nodes, causing Smoker's Ryuo-enhanced onslaughts to fail repeatedly, as if every punch were hitting a slippery steel plate."How is this possible... I went through such hellish special training!"Smoker's pride and obsession burned as his smoke abilities erupted in full force!"White Vine: Vacuum!"His body suddenly exploded, turning into countless high-speed white smoke tentacles. Each tip was condensed with flowing black Armament Haki, stabbing at Law from all directions without a blind spot!Meanwhile, his true body was hidden within the smoke, jitte ready, and Observation Haki fully expanded to catch any hint of a flaw in Law!Facing this overwhelming attack, Law finally frowned slightly. He still didn't use his fruit ability, but instead swung "kikoku" into a wheel of black light."Kikoku: Ward!"Cling-cling-cling-cling—!!!A series of impacts as dense as rain hitting plantain leaves rang out!Law's sword circle was like an absolute domain, precisely parrying and defecting every stab from the smoke tentacles!Sparks and shattered fragments of Armament Hakiflew everywhere!His footsteps shifted within a small space, each movement perfectly avoiding hidden killing moves as if he could predict all of Smoker's actions."Three months, and only this much?"Law's cold voice pierced through the dense sounds of impact into Smoker's ears."Is your 'resolve' only at this level?""Shut up!!!"Smoker was enraged, his pride stung deeply.His hidden true body suddenly emerged from the smoke behind and to the side of Law. The jittecondensed his entire body's strength and Ryuo into a single point, lunging straight for Law's back!However, it was as if Law had eyes in the back of his head. At the moment the jitte was about to hit, he parried "kikoku" behind him.Clang—!!!!A perfect parry! Smoker's certain-hit strike was blocked once again! The counter-force made his arm go numb.And in that moment of stiffness, Law moved!!He used the counter-force to spin, "kikoku" drawing a cold, desolate arc of light!Smoker was horrified; his Observation Hakiscreamed in warning. His smoke body retreated rapidly while he condensed Armament Haki for defense.Rip!The blade swept past, cutting a long gash through his thick Marine coat and the Armament Hakidefense beneath it. Blood sprayed!"Ugh!"Smoker stumbled back, clutching his wound, his eyes filled with shock and indignation.His all-out training, his life-risking offense—even without using his ability, the opponent still suppressed him?!Law flicked the blood droplets off his blade and looked at the panting Smoker. The last bit of patience in his eyes seemed to have run out."Pointless entanglement."He said indifferently, finally raising his left hand. "It's time to end this.""ROOM."A pale blue force field instantly expanded, enveloping Smoker.Every hair on Smoker's body stood on end as a sense of extreme danger overwhelmed him! He frantically activated his smoke to try and escape the field while pushing his Ryuo Haki to the limit to cover his entire body!But Law's finger simply made a light downward stroke toward him."Scalpel."Smoker's retreating figure suddenly froze.He looked down and saw a very thin line shimmering with faint blue light appear at his waist.His upper and lower body slowly shifted apart along that line... The pale blue ROOM force field receded like a tide, leaving only the faint hum of severed space to gradually dissipate in the cold air.Smoker's body, along an absolutely smooth cut shimmering with faint blue light, slowly split into two halves and fell onto the frost-white ground.Law didn't even turn back to confirm.He walked toward Monet, who was kneeling weakly nearby due to the Sea Stone shackles, and said flatly:"See? Resistance or concealment is meaningless."Monet's lips trembled, her grass-green long hair clinging to her snow-pale cheeks.However, just as Law was about to take Monetaway!!"Cough... ugh..."A faint gasping sound came from Smoker's upper body.Law's footsteps stopped.Monet also widened her golden eyes in disbelief.Smoker's severed upper body, his chest covered by the thick Marine coat, was heaving violently.White smoke was stubbornly seeping out from the cut in his body and his pores, trying to reconnect with the separated lower half."Not... over yet...""straw hat... Luffy... I... definitely..."Law slowly turned around. In the shadows beneath his hood, his gaze fell upon Smoker's struggling remains.In those eyes that were always calm, even cold, a very faint ripple of something close to admiration passed through."An astonishing obsession."Law whispered to himself, as if evaluating a rare medical case."Even with the body'separated,' the will still hasn't yielded. Is it the tenacity of a Logia, or... the stubbornness of Marine Justice?"He remembered during the Marineford War, this man was the same, disregarding the strength gap and charging again and again at those fierce Captains affiliated with the Whitebeard Pirates.That wasn't stupidity, but a near-instinctive maintenance of "order" and a relentless pursuit of "evil."Three months of hellish special training, mastering Ryuo, refining Observation Haki... what kind of determination and blood and sweat lay behind all these leaps?Law himself was someone who had crawled out of hell; he understood the drive to become stronger while carrying something on one's back."A pity,"Law's voice was clearly audible in the cold wind."Your 'justice' is blocking the wrong path and has chosen the wrong opponent.""Your will is worthy of the name 'White Hunter'."Law spoke to Smoker, whose twitching was gradually stopping and whose gaze was beginning to blur."More like a true warrior than many muddled pirates or sanctimonious Marines. Unfortunately, warriors often die before their ideals."Just then, a sharp whistling sound approached from afar!"Vice Admiral Smoker—!!!"Tashigi's piercing cry tore through the sky.She arrived at a speed beyond her limits using Moonwalk, her eyes behind her glasses filled with tears and towering rage. At a glance, she saw the familiar figure on the ground cut in two."You bastard!!! What did you do to Vice AdmiralSmoker?!"She suddenly drew Shigure. Even though her hands were trembling with fear and anger, and even though she knew she was no match, she charged at Law without hesitation!That frail body erupted with an incongruous air of resolve.Law frowned slightly, looked at the dying Smoker, and then at the charging Tashigi."Troublesome!!"He raised his hand again.With a slight movement of his fingers, Smoker's upper and lower body floated up, their cut ends facing each other."Suture."A flash of eerie blue light appeared at the break.,Complex blood vessels,nerve,skeleton,muscle,skin...Instantaneous and precise docking under the control of spatial capabilities.Tashigi's blade stopped in mid-air as she watched this scene beyond comprehension in shock...