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Chapter 36: Safe Departure! Night Leopard's Hesitation
The battle between Whitebeard and Admiral Night Leopard was extremely intense.
Both were top-tier powerhouses in the New World—second only to Rocks himself—causing the entire sea area to tremble.
Within several kilometers,
The surroundings had already become a complete mess.
Lotte frowned as he watched the scene. If the two continued fighting, even if one emerged victorious, it would be a pyrrhic outcome.
Most likely both would suffer severe injuries.
He had no goodwill toward Admiral Night Leopard, but Whitebeard was one of the few true friends he had—he couldn't let him take too serious damage here.
Rashly jumping into an Admiral-level fight
Was still unrealistic for the current Lotte.
The risk was too high.
Thinking this, he raised his head and looked coldly at the battling Night Leopard with a mocking smile.
"Night Leopard, do you still want your precious disciple?"
"I don't mind helping you get rid of him."
As the words fell,
Night Leopard—who had been fully focused on Whitebeard—immediately had his attention drawn.
When he saw Zephyr trapped, disbelief flashed across his face. Even his attack faltered for a moment.
Whitebeard naturally wouldn't miss such an opening.
Without hesitation, he swung his fist fiercely, knocking Night Leopard back several meters!
After retreating several steps, Night Leopard regained his composure.
He stared at Lotte in disbelief and roared.
"What did you do?!"
Zephyr was his most outstanding disciple—the future Admiral was within reach!
How could he be lost here?!
But just how strong was this Tree Demon Lotte?!
Even Zephyr had been trapped—whether he was still alive was unknown...
Whitebeard also looked at Lotte in astonishment.
He had assumed Black Arm Zephyr—as a rising genius in the Marines—would be quite difficult for Lotte to handle.
He never expected this outcome.
The kid's strength had clearly surpassed what he showed in Lulusia Kingdom.
He was hiding quite deeply!
Lotte, hearing Night Leopard's roar, curled his lip.
"Relax—your precious disciple isn't dead yet."
"But if the fight continues, that might change."
"How about we call it here?"
Though Lotte very much wanted to eliminate both Zephyr and Night Leopard here, considering Zephyr hadn't shown killing intent during their fight
And the enormous cost of killing an Admiral like Night Leopard,
He abandoned the idea.
As long as he could leave safely with this Heavenly Tribute, that was his victory.
As for settling scores with Night Leopard—
That could wait until the God Valley battle.
By then, his strength would likely surpass even an Admiral.
As long as Hashirama Cells mastery steadily increased and reached 90%+ by God Valley without incident,
Unleashing True Several Thousand Hands: Top Transformed Buddha would make defeating an Admiral effortless.
Night Leopard's expression was extremely ugly.
Rationally, even if he sacrificed Zephyr's life to kill Tree Demon Lotte,
Marine Headquarters would still come out ahead.
After all, Tree Demon Lotte's talent clearly surpassed Zephyr's.
Such an exchange
Would be acceptable for Marine Headquarters.
But as Zephyr's master,
How could Night Leopard stand by and watch his prized disciple die?
Moreover, even if he abandoned Zephyr and went all-out to fight both Lotte and Whitebeard alone,
Could he really kill Tree Demon Lotte?
Thinking this,
Night Leopard's resolve wavered.
Zephyr was his most outstanding disciple. To lose him here would mean all his efforts were in vain.
Bang!
At that moment, Zephyr finally broke free.
When he realized just how tough those branches were, he couldn't help but marvel at Lotte's Devil Fruit ability.
But upon escaping,
He saw the standoff between Lotte, Whitebeard, and Admiral Night Leopard.
For a moment, he was completely dumbfounded.
Weren't they just fighting fiercely a second ago?
Why had it stopped?
Night Leopard sighed in relief upon seeing Zephyr free.
"Zephyr, come here."
"This operation ends here for now. I'll take full responsibility."
He took a deep breath and spoke gravely.
Zephyr's expression changed dramatically.
"Admiral Night Leopard? We absolutely can't let them escape!"
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! If Tree Demon Lotte gets away, he'll definitely become a massive threat to the Marines!"
"The consequences..."
Before he could finish,
Night Leopard cut him off sharply.
"Listen to me."
"There's no chance to kill Tree Demon Lotte this time."
"His growth rate has exceeded our expectations—don't you understand after fighting him?!"
"I'll report this to Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong."
Hearing this,
Zephyr finally fell silent and clenched his fist tightly.
He knew Night Leopard was right. Tree Demon Lotte's current strength—from every angle—was already beyond what they could stop.
Even in a direct one-on-one now,
Zephyr had no confidence in defeating Lotte with that bizarre Devil Fruit ability.
He had seen many Devil Fruit users, including rare Logia types.
But compared to Tree Demon Lotte,
The versatility of his ability was simply terrifying!
Spatial positioning, creating giant trees from the sea surface, producing mobile clones through his Fruit...
These were all abilities CP0 had recorded about Tree Demon Lotte up to now.
Completely different from ordinary Devil Fruits.
Even in the rarest Devil Fruit encyclopedia, he had never seen anything like it.
This made him think—
Was this really a Devil Fruit ability?
But if not from a Devil Fruit, then what exactly was it?
Zephyr fell silent, holding onto his doubts.
Night Leopard sighed when he saw Zephyr quiet down. He looked up at Tree Demon Lotte and narrowed his eyes coldly.
"You're lucky this time, bastard—but next time won't be so easy."
"Don't give me another opportunity."
Night Leopard sneered.
Lotte also narrowed his eyes and smiled playfully.
"Really? I'll make sure to leave you a whole corpse next time."
"Until we meet again, Admiral Night Leopard."
With that,
Under Night Leopard's pitch-black expression,
Lotte turned, led White
beard, and directed the ship to leave the area.
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