"The Marines are still chasing us! Has the Boss caught up yet?" Daz Bones, though tough as iron, hadn't gained much ground in his fight against Rear Admiral Bablus.
He had injured the Rear Admiral to some extent, but his own wounds were worse.
"Not yet. But at this pace and with this weather, we'll shake the Marines off soon," Valentine replied, shaking her head, her expression gloomy. This was the biggest defeat they had suffered since setting out to sea.
Five crew members had died. Though no officers were among them, several were seriously wounded—Daz Bones and Mr. 5 included, though their injuries weren't fatal.
But the new members, Enel and Robin, were still in critical condition, according to the ship's doctor.
As for the regular crew, not a single one escaped injury. Death didn't scare them; as pirates, they had accepted that no voyage would guarantee zero casualties.
As long as the Boss was alive, nothing else really mattered. Some of these crewmates had served on multiple pirate crews in the past. It wasn't uncommon for half the crew to be wiped out in a battle.
Without the Boss's miraculous abilities, many injuries could only be endured by sheer willpower. Even Hathaway had lost an arm and suffered multiple moderate wounds. For now, she was overseeing the ship's operations.
But the entire crew felt unanchored—defeated.
"He'll come back alive. We keep heading for the Kingdom of Andia. In this storm, they'll have trouble tracking us. The most important thing now is to recover," Hathaway said. No one objected—Robin was unconscious, and Hathaway was the most experienced and powerful remaining officer.
"Uncle won't die. It's our fault—we're too weak. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been beaten this badly." Natalie's unintentional words brought silence over the deck. Even Hathaway fell silent. She, too, felt she wasn't strong enough.
Though her strength was already exceptional for her age, her two encounters with Marine Admirals made her realize how large the gap still was.
If she had to face any Admiral one-on-one, she might not survive.
"All right. Move out. Let's gain distance while the storm lasts."
"Yes." …
"Vice Admiral Garp, the enemy ship seems to have escaped, but Crocodile and Admiral Akainu are still fighting," Garp's adjutant reported.
"I see. But the storm's getting worse. Focus on rescuing the Marines. Many of them can still be saved. Sending such small ships into a battle of this scale was suicide," Garp said grimly.
"Maybe they didn't expect a storm," the adjutant offered weakly, more for the other Marines to hear. At their rank, they understood the true nature of Akainu's orders.
Those ships were meant to be sacrifices—anything to slow down the enemy. But Garp clearly didn't share that mindset.
Boom!
Rosen and Akainu were still fighting high in the sky, their battlefield already far off course.
Under thunder and lightning, wind and rain, Rosen was covered in blood, retreating step by step. Finally, a punch from Akainu sent him crashing down onto a barren, lifeless island.
Upon landing, Rosen immediately began planning his escape.
He wanted to kill Akainu, but the difference in strength was clear. For now, it wasn't realistic. But this grudge—he'd repay it someday. First, he had to survive.
"Earth Collapse: Sandstorm!" A massive sandstorm like a tsunami surged forth. Akainu gave it a glance, unimpressed. Without Haki, such sandstorms didn't bother him—at most, they hindered his vision.
Rosen couldn't infuse Haki into a storm of that scale anyway.
Akainu let it engulf him, using Observation Haki to locate Rosen. He punched through the storm, forcing Rosen out—but Rosen didn't mind.
He hadn't expected the storm to do damage. It was mainly to build up cover and prep for escape.
"Sandstorm: Fireworks!" As he was driven back, Rosen controlled sand to spiral upward, forming a massive tornado that burst into countless chunks like fireworks.
"Gone?" Akainu frowned. Rosen's figure vanished with the explosion. Narrowing his eyes, he focused—he faintly sensed Rosen's presence among one of the countless sand chunks.
The sand masked most of the aura. Ordinary Observation Haki users wouldn't notice—but Akainu could.
"You're not getting away. Hellhound!" Akainu shot forward in a burst of magma, deep red like blood.
His arm pierced the air, striking one of the sand chunks with a sickening sound—impaling Rosen straight through the abdomen.
"Hurt my crew, and you think you'll walk away untouched, Akainu?!" Rosen's twisted expression made Akainu uneasy.
In that instant, Rosen used golden sand to shield his internal organs—otherwise, the Hellhound would've burned straight through. It was a slight advantage in intel.
Ssssh! Sure enough, magma surged from Akainu's arm, trying to burn through Rosen.
But Rosen had prepared. He blocked most of it from reaching his insides, then grabbed Akainu's arm tightly.
Akainu's face changed—he realized Rosen had let him hit? This madman… Cold sweat broke out. He remembered Rosen's strange power.
In truth, Rosen hadn't meant to take the hit—it was too fast to dodge. But once he saw he couldn't evade, he made a split-second decision to go all-in. No hesitation.
"Instant Erosion! Wither away!" Rosen roared, blood spraying from his mouth. His consciousness nearly slipped away from the pain of being impaled.
Had he not prepared, he would've blacked out instantly.
Akainu's Hellhound was stronger than expected.
Ssssh! Akainu's face twisted in pain. He tried to pull back, but Rosen's grip held firm. Though he eventually yanked free, it took effort.
He watched as his fingers withered—one even crumbled into dust.
"Damn you!" Akainu, probably for the first time in his life, suffered such a humiliating blow—especially from a weaker opponent. Furious, he kicked Rosen away and broke free.
Rosen used the momentum to continue fleeing. Akainu, without a second's hesitation, pursued him.
As he chased, he looked at his hand—his middle finger had been mostly destroyed.
The rest were shriveled, with permanent muscle damage. Though they still functioned and could turn to magma, the disfigurement would be with him forever.
It didn't affect his combat power—but it marked him.
And this pursuit would last three days and three nights, across multiple islands, with far-reaching consequences.
This battle, which came to be known as the birth of a new sea emperor, ended with the Dawn Pirates' successful escape and the joint failure of Marine Headquarters' Garp and Sakazuki to bring them down.
(End of Chapter)