"The seventh feather."
Vane hung the seventh feather around his chest.
Among the seven feathers, only this one still emitted a faint blue glow. The sixth feather's blue light had already faded to near invisibility—a sign that its energy was almost depleted.
Suddenly, Vane's Observation Haki detected an extremely powerful presence rapidly approaching.
It was someone he absolutely could not defeat in his current state!
Very soon, there was no need to rely on Observation Haki anymore—a violent tearing sound through the air signaled the opponent's swift arrival.
"Nation-Slayer!"
Zephyr's figure burst through the raging flames and entered Vane's sight. His arm had already drawn back, Armament Haki coiling around his wrist.
Although Zephyr did not possess Conqueror's Haki, the overwhelming pressure he exuded from the very start with Armament Haki alone was formidable. It was the presence of a true powerhouse.
In an instant, Vane released his own Conqueror's Haki to counter that oppressive aura.
When facing a powerhouse of this level, there could be no mistakes, no wishful thinking. He could not allow himself to be suppressed in terms of momentum—otherwise his movements would slow.
"Soru!"
Vane vanished from his original position as Zephyr's fist smashed into the ground.
Boom!!!
The earth looked as if it had been bombarded by artillery. With Zephyr's fist at the center, a shattered crater with a radius of over ten meters collapsed inward.
"Conqueror's Haki… No wonder Strawberry was captured by you."
Zephyr was slightly surprised by Vane's Conqueror's Haki. Even within the Marines, those who possessed it were extremely rare… Compared to them, pirates were far more likely to awaken it.
Most people who possessed Conqueror's Haki were not the obedient type. The likelihood of them becoming pirates—or engaging in activities opposing the World Government—was extremely high.
"Admiral Zephyr! The Marines sure are giving me respect—sending an Admiral just to deal with me!"
As Vane spoke, he unsheathed his Cursed Sword without hesitation. He gripped the hilt tightly, allowing the sharp edge to pierce through his palm and drink his blood.
Admiral Zephyr.
In Vane's mind, he had a rough ranking of the known Admirals' strength: Sengoku, Zephyr, Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, Fujitora, Ryokugyu.
In his internal ranking, Zephyr—who lacked a Devil Fruit ability—was placed at the bottom. It wasn't that Vane looked down on him; it was just that the others' Devil Fruits were simply too monstrous.
Mythical Zoan: the Buddha Fruit.
Logia: Magma.
Logia: Ice.
Logia: Light.
Logia: Forest.
Although Fujitora was a Paramecia user, the Press-Press Fruit itself was no weak ability—and Fujitora had developed it to the point of pulling meteors from the sky.
Pulling down meteors meant style. The last person to drop something massive from the heavens was Uchiha Madara with his Tengai Shinsei. Fujitora's aura might not surpass Madara's, but there weren't many who could anyway. Losing in comparison wasn't shameful.
The others all had powerful Devil Fruits. Zephyr only had his fists—and in terms of fists, he wasn't even as strong as Garp. So naturally, Vane placed him at the bottom among Admirals.
But the bottom of the Admirals was still an Admiral.
Seventeen years later, Zephyr would have lost an arm. He would be older, suffering from severe asthma.
Even then, he could still clash blades with Kizaru and easily handle pirates worth four or five hundred million Belly.
Right now, he was unquestionably far stronger than he would be seventeen years later.
There was no fighting this—only escape.
He wasn't some future Pirate King. There was no need to be stubbornly headstrong.
After making up his mind, Vane immediately unleashed his full power and dashed toward the Thunder Fortress.
"Can't let you run off like that."
Zephyr stomped the ground. With a thunderous crack, massive fissures spread outward as he shot forward in rapid pursuit.
This guy's speed isn't slow at all…
As expected, anyone capable of becoming an Admiral would have no glaring weaknesses.
They continued this chase all the way to the harbor.
"Meowth, set sail! Don't worry about me! I'll come find you myself!"
He returned only to order the Thunder Fortress to leave. He couldn't board the ship himself yet.
The Thunder Fortress was fast—but only faster than ships, not faster than a person. At this distance, if he fled onto the ship and Zephyr caught up, the entire vessel might be destroyed.
The first time Luffy's crew encountered Zephyr, they were on their own ship. Once the fight began, they were restrained and quickly beaten down by him.
Letting the Thunder Fortress leave, then finding a chance to dive into the sea and chase after it—that was the best strategy. Zephyr couldn't possibly maintain high-speed pursuit over the ocean indefinitely.
"Got it, meow!"
Meowth didn't hesitate at all. One look at Vane's expression made it clear—he had encountered an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. Staying would only mean certain death.
Meowth was quite experienced at fleeing. Their crew had already formulated numerous escape plans.
With the Thunder Fortress at full power, Baccarat also activated her Vision-Vision Fruit ability. A mass of black mist enveloped the ship.
In the pitch-black night, a vessel wrapped in black mist would quickly become impossible to track.
"Zephyr!"
Vane used Geppo to rise into the air and immediately opened with Spring Breeze Comes. A barrage of flying slashes roared forth.
Armament Haki coated Zephyr's arms as he swung them rapidly, shattering every single slash with his fists.
"Ice?"
After breaking through the slashes, Zephyr noticed a thin layer of pale frost forming over his Armament Haki.
With a slight exertion of force, the frost shattered apart.
"There's cold energy within the sword aura. Is this Vane a Devil Fruit user?"
In the pirate world, there were many techniques that produced flames through various means. But techniques that generated frost were far rarer by comparison. And Vane showed no signs of scientific equipment—so Zephyr's first thought was that he might be a Devil Fruit user.
No matter what kind of Devil Fruit user—before his Armament Haki, they were nothing but clouds in the sky!
Vane's flying slashes were utterly outmatched by Zephyr's fists. On the surface, it looked like they were exchanging blows evenly, but in reality, Zephyr was overwhelmingly pressing Vane back.
"Secret Art—Snow-Withered Plum!"
In the night sky, a blooming plum blossom of sword aura appeared.
The moment Zephyr saw it, a slight change crossed his face.
"Now that's more like it!"
He showed no fear and charged straight into the center of the sword aura plum blossom, once again striking out with his Armament-coated fist.
This Secret Art had always been Vane's trump card. Even against pirates worth several hundred million—like Hawk Eyes—it wasn't something easily neutralized.
Yet before Black Arm Zephyr's black fist, it shattered inch by inch.
Boom!!!
The gap in strength was simply that vast.
In the movie Stampede, Zoro used his ultimate technique to slice the meteor Fujitora summoned into two halves—yet Hawk Eyes casually reduced those two halves into rubble with a single swing.
That was exactly how Vane felt now.
His trump card, before a true powerhouse, was nothing more than a serious punch.
And now, he truly understood the difference between them.