"With your level of strength, you can't possibly defeat me."
Clang.
Jet-black Armament Haki rapidly coated Smoker's fist.
Of course, Smoker would not give up so easily. White smoke swirled around him as he roared and charged forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One punch after another hammered into Vergo's body.
Yet Vergo stood there expressionlessly, doing nothing but wrapping his body in Armament Haki.
Smoker's punches landed on him like harmless scratches.
They could not even break his defense.
"Ever since I received Mr. Ozz's guidance at the Marineford training camp, I gradually came to understand the true essence of Haki and martial arts."
Facing the seastone-tipped jitte wrapped in Armament Haki, the bamboo in Vergo's hand quickly turned pitch black and blocked it steadily.
"Too slow."
"In life-or-death battles, my spirit underwent a transformation."
"Do you still not understand?"
"Whether it is Haki or martial arts, you cannot surpass me. And when a Logia user faces an opponent whose Haki is stronger, elementalization only turns them into a target."
Unlike Smoker's soft punches, every blow from Vergo's black-purple Armament-coated fist dealt real damage.
In the end, Smoker could not endure it.
After taking a Ghost Bamboo head-on, he finally collapsed.
But he had also managed to return Law's heart.
Law brushed the dust from his body, put his hat back on, and calmly looked at the arrogant Den Den Mushi laughing wildly.
"Doflamingo, I will defeat Vergo here. Caesar will be taken down by the Straw Hat Pirates. SAD will be destroyed by me."
"Even your greatest trump card, Mr. Ozz, will not interfere with this research."
"So what will you do?"
"Keep laughing like that. I doubt you'll be laughing for much longer."
But just as Law said, the face wearing sunglasses on the Den Den Mushi was still laughing.
"Do you remember the past?"
"What happened after you angered Vergo?"
"Even your cutting ability can't possibly work against Vergo after Mr. Ozz personally trained him, not when his Armament Haki is that dense."
Vergo stood there bare-chested, his entire body covered in Haki.
At this moment, he fully displayed the strength of the Donquixote Pirates' second-in-command.
His Armament Haki had been tempered through countless deadly battles.
Law expanded his Room and slashed out.
The scene he imagined, cutting Vergo cleanly in two, did not happen.
Instead, his blade was firmly blocked by a black bamboo staff.
Vergo spun and kicked.
In an instant, Law felt as if all his organs had shifted out of place.
"Gah..."
He coughed up blood, his expression dark.
"Even among Marine Vice Admirals, there shouldn't be many with Haki like this..."
"So this is the value of the Golden Generation Vice Admirals trained by Mr. Ozz?"
Among the Marines, aside from Garp, there was a group of Vice Admirals whose combat power clearly surpassed ordinary Vice Admirals by a small margin.
They were the ones who had once been guided by Ozz, or rather, personally "trained" by him multiple times.
Unlike ordinary Marines such as Smoker, whose Haki had been guided out through training, their Haki had been tempered strictly according to Ozz's teachings, through slaughter and life-or-death trials.
They were known as the Golden Generation Vice Admirals.
"Since you understand what kind of figure stands behind us, it's about time you gave up on your fantasies."
Vergo's explosively powerful body approached Law while holding the black bamboo.
It was not only because of Doflamingo.
Vergo himself also deeply revered Ozz.
He understood better than anyone that man represented the very peak of Haki.
But just as Vergo believed victory was already in his grasp, Law wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
At that moment, the corners of his lips lifted.
"However..."
"You're not the only one who learned something from Mr. Ozz, Vergo-san."
"Room. Teleport. Don't move."
"What?!"
The instant he heard those words, Vergo's heart shook.
At the same time, he felt his movements slow.
He wanted to advance, but he could not.
"How is this possible?!"
That familiar name, combined with the familiar effect of the ability, made Vergo, who understood Ozz very well, lose his focus for a moment.
"The winner has been decided, Vergo-san."
Unlike Ozz's pitch-black spatial teleportation power, the Room power belonging to the Op-Op Fruit turned into blue lightning around Law's blade.
In the instant Vergo froze, Law slashed straight toward his abdomen.
One clean cut.
A martial artist whose body had been dismembered would suffer a drastic drop in combat power.
Vergo completely lost the ability to counterattack.
After several more slashes, unlike the easy victory of the original timeline, Law was now panting heavily, as if he was about to collapse.
"You lost, pirate Vergo."
Hanging from the railing, Vergo was left with only a complete head.
He looked at Law's departing figure.
"This will not end so simply, Law. One day, you will witness Doffy's terror. Not to mention the man standing behind us."
"Struggle all you want, Law..."
Unfortunately, before he could finish, Law split his head in two.
In the distance, the Den Den Mushi no longer continued its "Fuffuffu" laughter.
Instead, the corners of its mouth lowered.
Its expression became extremely calm, yet filled with anger and sincerity.
"Sorry, partner..."
When facing his family, Doflamingo possessed a rare trace of genuine emotion.
But a man like him was destined to use any means necessary to achieve his goals.
Even so, that sorrow was real.
"You were the one who stayed with me the longest."
"Until today, you worked hard."
Vergo's head hung from the railing.
When he heard those words, a faint smile appeared on that forever cold and expressionless face.
Within the Donquixote camp...
Vergo was gone.
"Well, that was quite the excellent match."
Tap.
Tap.
Footsteps appeared in the faintly collapsing battlefield.
After Law's final slash, the factory was already on the verge of collapse.
But with a snap of the fingers, it fell completely silent.
Ozz casually put the two halves of Vergo's head back together.
The Den Den Mushi in the distance had already hung up.
"A very impressive Armament Haki battle. Flesh against flesh. Fists against bone."
With only his head left hanging on the railing, Vergo looked at Ozz's figure, faintly moved.
"I disappointed you, Mr. Ozz."
But Ozz waved his hand indifferently.
"There's nothing disappointing about it, Vergo. Failure is common in this world."
"I saw the fight just now. You didn't lose unfairly."
Toward a loyal hard man like Vergo, a Haki expert who possessed some qualities of a proper second-in-command, Ozz still held a degree of recognition in his heart.
"That brat Law was probably inspired by my ability and used psychological tactics."
"Along with a bit of awakened Devil Fruit power."
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