Garp pulled his fist out of the ded ughed. "Nicely done, Cudius!"

  "Cudius?" Byrnndi World's eyes narrowed as he pieced together the identity of the blond man. The legendary leader of CP-X? The infamous Celestial Dragon with a reputation unlike any other?

  "I'd say this guy isn't as tough as expected, Garp. Maybe we should fet about pushing him to the isnd and just take him down here?" Cudius said with a grin, shaking the demon bde Shinsō in his hand.

  Garp, the unorthodox and uable Marine hero, found himself agreeing. "You know what? You're right. Sengoku's pn feels a bit overblown anyway. Let's just finish him here!"

  Of course, Garp hadn't sidered that if he hadn't made his move earlier, World might have already reached Cybori Isnd on his own.

  "Are you uimating me?" World roared, a mix e and humiliation on his face.

  Enel, wielding his golden staff, gave a smirk of pure arrogance. "No doubt about it. We absolutely are."

  "Die!" World bellowed as he unched himself forward, vanishing in a burst of speed. He reappeared in front of Enel, aiming a powerful punch at his head.

  But Enel barely flinched. His body dissolved into a burst of lightning, evading the strike and leaving World pung empty air.

  "Thunder Fruit, huh?" World muttered as realizatio in.

  "Thunder Metallurgy—Snake Bind!" Enel reappeared at World's side, and with a twist of his staff, it softened and coiled around World's body like a strig serpent. The staff, reinforced with Armament Haki, tightes hold, binding World in pce.

  Cudius seized the opportunity and lunged forward, Shindō ready for arike. He couldn't help but feel that he was straying deeper into the path of a swordsman with each battle.

  "Frost Burial!" Cudius whispered, his voice cold and steady.

  World's eyes bzed with fury, and in a sudden burst of strength, his body surged with raw power. The golden staff ed around him shattered, fragments spinning away as he roared, "Moa moa—ten times the power!"

  Without hesitation, World met Cudius's bde head-on, fist cloaked in Haki. The impact shattered his armloves into frost-covered shards, and the skih turned pale and lifeless from the cold. Cudius felt the irresistible force sm into Shindō, knog the on from his grasp and sending him skidding across the deck before he tumbled overboard.

  "What is this? his ability enharength too?" Cudius thought as he stabilized himself, floating in mid-air thanks to his Logia powers.

  Moments ter, he noticed that Enel, uhe pressure of World's Moa moa—fifty times speed, had failed to dodge the blow and was sent crashing into the Marine with a loud impact.

  "Moa moa—thirty times impact!" World roared, pivoting to deliver a crushing blow to Garp. Even Garp, with all his experiend strength, was sent flying by the attack.

  Cudius watched the se ily, narrowing his eyes as he he blood trig from World's mouth and the sudden flush of his face. "So that's it. Using that much power must take a toll on his body," Cudius realized.

  World stood on unsteady legs, his body trembling from the self-inflicted strai, he gathered enough force to punch the deck beh him, splintering it and sinking the ship's bow.

  "My dog head!!!" Garp shouted in anguish as he righted himself mid-air, using Moonwalk to hover. His eyes widened with grief as he saw the figurehead of his beloved warship sink into the sea.

  "It's just a figurehead," Cudius muttered, uo resist a chuckle at Garp's rea.

  He tightened his grip on Shinsō and aimed it at World. "Shoot him, Shinsō!" he anded.

  Sensing immi danger, World activated his ability once more, vanishing at thirty times the speed just as Shinsō's bde sliced past, barely grazing his arm and embedding itself in the shattered deck of the warship.

  "Cudius! Yoing to owe me a new ship!" Garp yelled, his voice tinged with frustration.

  World reappeared on his own ship, clutg the wound on his arm as blood trickled between his fingers. Relief washed over him as he caught his breath. "Barely made it... but at least I have the upper hand now. Their warship's damaged beyond use. Let's see them chase me without it."

  Raising his voice, World shouted, "Garp! Cudius! Remember this day, because I'll make sure yret it. Don't let me catch you off-guard again!"

  Garp's eyes widened with realization. Was World about to make a break for it through the storm? Before he could react, Cudius's expression shifted to one of amused fidence. "Running, are we? A little te for that, don't you think? Crocodile!"

  As if on cue, a swirl of yellow sand swept across the sea, cutting through the waves and slig World's ship in half.

  "Desert Spada!" Crocodile's voice called out as he materialized on the mast of World's ship. A cigar dangled from his mouth, and he wore the brown coat Cudius had gifted him long ago. His eyes narrowed, clearly displeased. "If it weren't for your storm and lightning, I'd have been here sooner."

  Crocodile had been lying in wait, watg the otion from a distance. But with no movement from the battlefield and the storm clearing, he decided to intervene. His sand-based powers allowed him to fly short distances, so he arrived just in time to see World preparing to flee.

  World's eyes bzed with rage as he locked onto the new arrival. "Sand Crocodile?! You're a pirate! Why are you siding with these Marine dogs?!"

  "Pirate?" Crocodile smirked, exhaling smoke from his cigar. "Don't mistake me for trash like you. I'm not just any pirate, I'm a Warlord of the Sea."

  "Warlord of the Sea? What in the world is that?" World asked, bewildered.

  Crocodile had no iion of expining. With a flick of his wrist, he sent another bde of sand hurtling toward World.

  ***

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