A spiritual power shield expanded from the back of Oguro's hand, blocking Mr.5's incoming kick.
Boom!
Mr.5's foot slammed into the shield, and the violent explosion tore a large crater in the ground.
Yet inside the crater, Oguro stood firm, not a single thread of his clothing damaged.
With a wave of his right hand, his Zanpakutō transformed into a silver blade and slashed toward Mr.5's head.
Mr.5 kicked off the ground.
Boom! Using the explosion's recoil, he quickly evaded Oguro's blade.
"Not bad, quick reaction!" Oguro praised with a smile.
This haughty demeanor instantly enraged Mr.5.
He was the Baroque Works' top commander, one of their strongest! And who was this rookie from the Grand Line daring to look down on him?
"Bastard! Try this!"
Mr.5 drew a deep breath and, using his Devil Fruit ability, transformed all the surrounding air into high-energy explosive bombs.
"Air Bomb!"
A massive cloud of explosive air surged toward Oguro.
Had it hit, the surrounding hundred-meter area would have been leveled!
"Die, all of you!" Mr.5 laughed maliciously.
With Oguro's power, he shouldn't die from this attack, but within the blast radius, Vivi and Icaram would have been crushed without question.
"Once I get the information on El Dorado, I'll make sure to deal with you properly!" Mr.5 thought viciously.
Oguro immediately recognized Mr.5's malicious intent.
To protect Vivi, he would have to endure the explosion head-on. Usually, anyone would have been severely injured!
However…
Oguro glanced coldly at him, disdain in his eyes.
"You really underestimate me, don't you?"
Raising his Zanpakutō, Oguro whispered, "Sode no Shirayuki."
The metallic blade instantly turned snow-white.
Pointing the tip at Mr.5, spiritual pressure surged like a tidal wave.
"Tsugi Mai: Hakuren!"
A blast of frigid air erupted, coating the surroundings in frost.
In the next moment, Mr.5's Air Bomb was entirely encased in ice, forming a thick layer.
Boom!
A muffled explosion shook the ice from within, but only half of the ice shattered.
No chance of killing Vivi, and the remaining shockwave didn't even ruffle her hair.
"This guy… is this strong?"
Previously, seeing Oguro's group fall into the Whiskey Peak trap, Mr.5 thought they were just all hype. That one hundred million Beli bounty must have been obtained through shady means.
But now? The opponents clearly relied on sheer strength, completely ignoring their traps.
That one hundred million Beli was no joke!
"Ah!"
A scream came from above.
Mr.5 looked up just in time to see Miss. Valentine falling with dozens of intersecting cuts across her body.
As a Heavy-Heavy Fruit user, Miss. Valentine could fly, giving her a huge advantage in battle.
But now, against Matsumoto Rangiku's Zanpakutō, Haineko, that advantage was meaningless.
Haineko could turn into smoke, making its attack effective both on the ground and in the air.
Miss. Valentine arrogantly flew into the air, intending to use her signature 10,000 kg Pressure Attack on Rangiku.
Instead, she was defeated by a single strike from Rangiku's Shikai.
"Damn! Their power far exceeds expectations, I need to retreat!"
Mr.5 decisively chose to abandon his partner and turned to escape.
"Trying to run now… isn't it too late?"
However, as soon as he turned, Oguro appeared before him, smirking.
"Bastard, don't underestimate our top commander! Explosion Fist!"
Knowing he had no choice but to fight to the death, Mr.5 threw a desperate punch at Oguro.
"Too slow!"
Oguro snorted, tracing a circle with his blade tip.
"Ichi Mai: Tsukishiro!"
A white ring appeared beneath Mr.5.
Before he could react, the ground froze instantly, and the ice spread along his body, encasing him in a sculpture of ice in the blink of an eye.
The Baroque Works' top commander suffered casualties for the first time!
"Ding! Two unclaimed powerful souls detected. Absorb?"
Oguro recognized the Devil Fruit spirits of Mr.5 and Miss. Valentine.
Without hesitation, he nodded.
"Absorb!"
The system quickly absorbed the two Devil Fruit spirits, offering exchange options.
"Can be exchanged for two rare-level lottery tickets. Exchange?"
The reward wasn't surprising — the fruits weren't particularly powerful.
But Oguro casually asked, "Can it be exchanged for another reward?"
The system quickly offered an alternative: "Can slightly enhance a host's ability."
Oguro's eyes lit up.
He could actually increase his own power — a rare reward!
After all, using achievement points to replicate abilities was insanely expensive!
"System, I want to enhance my spiritual pressure!"
As the foundation of Shinigami power, having captain-level spiritual pressure meant that even if other abilities were weaker, his overall strength wouldn't be diminished.
In the next moment, a cool energy flowed into Oguro's mind.
His spiritual pressure began to expand.
Hum…
As the final energy dissipated, Oguro's spiritual pressure surged dramatically, successfully reaching elite level!
"Haha! What an unexpected gain!"
In the original timeline, these two should have been defeated in Little Garden by Luffy and the others, retiring there safely.
But Oguro wasn't one to hold back.
Since they came with killing intent, they had to be ready to be counter-killed.
Seeing their top commanders dead, the ordinary Baroque Works members didn't dare stay, all running toward the dock, trying to leave the island.
Oguro ignored the low-level lackeys and approached Vivi and Icaram.
By now, Icaram's injuries had stabilized — he was no longer in danger.
Vivi breathed a sigh of relief, but her expression grew deeply somber.
She had uncovered some of Crocodile's scheming, and now her identity was exposed.
Without solid evidence, there was no way to punish Crocodile, who still acted as a hero in Alabasta.
"Are you going after Crocodile?"
Oguro stepped closer, asking directly.
Vivi's heart raced at this enemy who had suddenly saved them.
"Why did you save us?"
Oguro's expression was cold.
"You just heard it yourself — Crocodile made the first move!
'Return none for evil, it is rude!' Since he has important plans related to you, I won't let him succeed!"
***
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