He ran towards Esdeath, his shoes thudding, as Little Sadie's whip danced impenetrably.
Seeing that she could hit Esdeath in the next moment, a flush spread across Little Sadie's face, followed by an ambiguous sound.
Crack!
Esdeath grabbed the whip, forcefully pulling Little Sadie directly to her side.
"You lost, you know."
She hooked Little Sadie's face, pushing her hair aside; indeed, she had a good appearance.
"Mmm~"
"I surrender, Lady Esdeath~"
Like a conquered kitten, she irresistibly collapsed into Esdeath's embrace.
There was no trace of her initial assertiveness.
Not far away, Zephyr watched the flirtatious Little Sadie and then Esdeath, his face full of black lines.
How did he feel that his judgment might be off? This was not quite what he imagined, or rather, it was completely different!
"Call Smoker over!"
At this moment, Esdeath didn't know that old man Zephyr had set his sights on her; she was still surveying the surroundings on the arena.
Tashigi pushed up her glasses, excitedly watching Esdeath on the stage. She was so cool!
Little Sadie catwalked over to Tashigi, glancing at Tashigi's rather plain attire.
"Mmm~ Lady Esdeath is mine~"
Looking at the person in front of her, Tashigi didn't back down at all, puffing out her chest and saying, "Esdeath is mine!"
A gust of wind swept by, stirring up a thick white smoke!
Clang!
Esdeath reacted in time, blocking the Jitte's attack, and leaped backward.
"Just a little girl. Teacher Zephyr, really, he even called me over."
He puffed on a cigar, resting the Jitte on his shoulder, with thick smoke rising from his body, wearing a white jacket, and with a head of white hair.
"Hey, hurry up and surrender, or I won't go easy on you."
He had no thought of being gentle with a woman.
He was about to graduate from the Marine Academy's elite school, yet he still had to play with a bunch of little kids.
"Despicable, a sneak attack!"
Tashigi drew Shigure and was about to go up to defend Esdeath.
Little Sadie, beside her, pulled back the agitated Tashigi and said, "Mmm~ This person is Smoker from the elite academy, a Devil Fruit user, don't go up there just to get hurt~"
Esdeath looked at the arrogant Smoker; no wonder this guy was kept under wraps, his mouth was indeed a bit annoying.
But right now, she really didn't have absolute confidence in winning, after all, he was a Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, and she didn't have Armed Color yet.
However, seeing Tashigi stand up for her and confront Smoker was a bit interesting, but she couldn't let Tashigi get hurt.
"Come!"
Drawing her long sword, Esdeath attacked first, slashing towards Smoker.
"Little girl, let your senior teach you how to respect your elders."
Clang, clang, clang!
The Jitte and the long sword clashed, emitting a deafening sound.
It must be said that Smoker, who was currently half-and-half in strength, was quite good; he actually made Esdeath's hands numb from the shock.
"White Snake!"
Smoker, who hadn't intended to use his ability, saw that he was in a stalemate with Esdeath and could only use his ability.
A white, snake-like form bit towards Esdeath's waist.
"Careful!"
Tashigi, on the side, wished she could go up and block this unavoidable attack for Esdeath.
Swish, swish!
The blade slashed.
The smoke, cut into several sections, instantly healed and continued to bite towards Esdeath.
"It's useless, I'm a Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, you can't hurt me!" Smoker seemed to have absolute confidence in his smoke ability.
"This Smoker!"
Zephyr stroked his hair; he didn't know how many times he had told Smoker not to rely too much on his ability, but he just wouldn't listen.
He even specifically told him to be careful of Esdeath, yet he was still so arrogant.
If he didn't suffer a loss this time, he would definitely suffer losses when fighting others in the future, just like that kid Borsalino.
"It's not good for a man to be too confident!"
Just as Smoker, full of confidence, was holding his Jitte and preparing to approach, the white snake seemed to hit something, emitting a muffled thud.
"What?!"
Not only did Smoker let out a shocked, disbelieving sound, but the people below the stage also couldn't believe it.
A thin ice shield formed in front of Esdeath, creating a defense that blocked the White Snake's attack.
"A Devil Fruit user!"
He gripped the Jitte in his hand tightly; the woman in front of him actually had the same ice ability as his good friend Kuzan, which made him extra cautious.
And abilities only appear after the owner dies; did something happen to Kuzan, or was it a lower or higher-level Devil Fruit?
However, Esdeath wouldn't give him a chance to think, casually summoning several half-meter long ice cones that shot out.
"Yay! Esdeath!"
Seeing this, Tashigi's hanging heart finally settled, but Esdeath hadn't told her that she was a Devil Fruit user.
"Lady Esdeath is even a Devil Fruit user~"
"I want to be frozen so badly~"
Looking at the 'sick' Little Sadie beside her, Tashigi quietly moved away a bit; she was afraid of getting infected.
"Elementalization!"
In a moment of crisis, he barely managed to escape by elementalizing.
"How about a bet? If you lose, you acknowledge me as your boss? I should be qualified to bet with you now, right?"
Ice wrapped around the long sword, and the bone-chilling cold forced away those closer to the arena.
"Good!"
He took a deep puff of his cigar, and more smoke billowed out.
"White Launcher!"
His entire body shot into the air, one hand extended as he shouted, "White Punch!"
"Like a circus act!"
She dodged with a beautiful backflip, and as her leather boots traced an arc in the air, a series of ice cones shot out!
In the instant before landing, ice appeared under her feet, she pushed off, and the long sword wrapped in ice slashed out!
Smoker quickly adjusted his body position, never expecting to be attacked while airborne.
In an unguarded moment, the smoke was frozen, and the Jitte flew out of his hand.
Esdeath, who was already prepared, caught the falling Jitte. The Jitte was a bit heavy but manageable. With one swing of the Jitte, she struck Smoker down.
Immediately after Smoker fell from the air, the Jitte, imbued with Sea Stone, was directly plunged beside Smoker's ear.
"You lost!"
As a pirate fan, how could she not understand Smoker's attack methods? Her initial goal was the Jitte in Smoker's hand.
Although she could have entangled him with her ice ability, there was no need; after all, with her current strength, she would probably lose her combat ability after taking two or three of Smoker's punches.
Lying on the ground, Smoker's old face flushed red; he was actually defeated by Esdeath, and completely defeated at that.
He clearly had a physical advantage, but he had to show off his Devil Fruit, and as a result, he lost.
It was all because he underestimated his opponent!
"Boss!"
But as a true man, Smoker honored his bet.
After getting up and calling her "Boss," he pulled out the Jitte from the ground, lowered his head, and left the arena. It seemed he would have to train harder from now on!
"I'll wait for you to come back for revenge."
She twirled her sword and then sheathed it at her waist.
Esdeath could clearly feel herself getting stronger through combat; it was much faster than training!