Chapter 102: Dead End Race 92

Standing some thirty meters away from Yoko and Needless, Bill’s face turned white and his stomach dropped as he regained himself.

For a person with completely control over his body, these physical affects were the result of Bill knowing in his heart that he had lost it and regretting that he had done something which he’d looked down on others for.

Many thoughts raced through his mind but mostly he judged the distance and whether or not he could cover thirty meters before Needless ripped the girls throat out.

Deciding that would be impossible, Bill started to dart his eyes around from something he could throw and began to wonder if that would be possible when a deep voice sounded behind him.

Gasparde: “Good work, Needless.”

From behind him, Bill smelled the familiar tangy o-zone and had to fight against his urge to move against the source.

“It looks like you were having fun, what took you so long?” asked Gasparde, no doubt referring to the various scuffs and bruises on Needless, thought Bill.

“Nothing Master, a no name bounty hunter came to collect.”

Gasparde: “Oh? And where is he now?”

“Dead.”

“Hehaha! So, there’s that, but now what are we going to do now?” as he said this, Bill felt Gasparde walk closer and jab him in the square of his back with something sharp.

The jab didn’t break his skin, but was enough to get his attention.

Bill wondered if he could take Gasparde hostage and trade him for Yoko but quickly dismissed the idea.

The traitor Marine was much weaker than he, but not so weak that Bill could subdue him quicker than it took for Needless to kill Yoko and try to assist his Master.

Walking around Bill slowly, Gasparde made an arrogant laugh and observed: “After all of that there’re marks on you… you don’t have an ability, so I guess it’s the fabled Life Return…”

Then merging the candy rod into his hand and turning it to a sword, he continued: “and you know Moon Step at least… how about this, I won’t kill you, and I’ll even allow you to join my crew.”

Hearing this, Bill thought he saw an opportunity. He wasn’t a liar, but he had no qualms in saying whatever he had to say to get over on a person like Gasparde.

Before he could answer, Gasparde continued and as he spoke half of his body turned into green syrup: “Don’t just say no. You’re strong, but you should have realized by now that you can’t hurt me.

Hehaha! In this place, I am invincible!”

Hearing him make this claim, Yoko grit her teeth and started to yell but Bill quickly cut her off: “Y.yes you’re right. I tried but you’re too strong… fine I’ll join your crew.”

“Hehaha!” laughed Gasparde and slapping Bill on the shoulder said: “I knew you would, you’re strong and the weakness of the Marines must disgust you like it disgusts me.

Look at this girl.” He said motioning to Yoko.

“This is what the Marines have become, like ignorant children running towards problems that they don’t even understand.

Oh, I’ll let you join me, but first.” Gasparde broke the candy sword off his body and dropped it to the ground: “Pick it up and kill the Marine.”

As Gasparde gave his speech, Bill only had one mind to listen while the majority of his attention was pointed at Needless. With his speed he only needed a split second of distraction, and he would act.

Unfortunately, Needless was never distracted and by the time Gasparde ended his speech Bill could only look forward and breath out his reply.

“No.”

Hearing this, Gasparde’s look of arrogant disdain turned from acceptance to uninterest: “So, you won’t do it. Fine. Lift up your left arm. Needless, if he doesn’t listen then kill the girl.”

With his mind racing, Bill knew he was in a bad way but took notice in two important facts. Firstly, Gasparde didn’t know that he could use Haki. Secondly, Gasparde did not know the extent of his mastery of Life Return.

Thinking how he could use these two cards, Bill came to a decision that he prayed he wouldn’t regret.

Relaxing his iron skin Bill lifted his left arm and watched as the cady sword slashed his wrist cutting deep into the tendon.

Though he kept his arm raised his hand fell limp and, for the first time since he fought the Revolutionary Dragon, Bill shed blood.

Seeing this, Yoko cried screamed for him to forget her and move but Bill didn’t acknowledge it.

He didn’t want to make it worse for her. After all, Gasparde was a monster, and it was one thing for him to believe Yoko was just a young Marine and quite another for him to suspect she was important to Bill.

Turning his head to Yoko, Gasparde laughed: “Hehaha! I like your dauntless courage, but you should watch your mouth… Or you might lose your life.”

Once he finished, Needless dug his claws further into her neck and the girl remained quiet.

After quieting Yoko, Gasparde turned back to Bill and said: “Now, where were we?” as he proceeded to slash Bill’s left elbow.

After his left elbow, Bill was cut under the left armpit and when his arm fell limp, it was then on his left ankle.

Gasparde moved up his joints and cunningly made sure that shards of hardened sugar glass were stuck in the wounds.

Feeling gashes across his body hurt, but they didn’t hurt nearly as bad as seeing blame herself for what was happening.

It didn’t take long for Bill to be covered in red, his own blood washing away the stains from the pirates he slew in the cove.

Though the situation was looking worse by the second, he had to concentrate on repairing specific damage areas.

His ankles and then his legs, his wrists and then his arms, but with his defenses relaxed, Bill could not heal himself as quickly as Gasparde cut him.

After several minutes of this, the traitor Marine seemed to get bored and started aiming for Bill’s face. One cut on the forehead, one ‘Z’ on his cheek, and whereas before Yoko cried loudly, now she cried in silence.

As for Bill, he was at a loss. He knew logically that if he allowed himself to die then Yoko would be killed soon after. But the idea of watching the young girl who he practically adopted die in front of his eyes was too much to bear and so he kept still.

If she had to die because he lost himself, then now with a sane mind just let him go first, he thought as Gasparde nearly cut off his left eyelid.

But then, just as all seemed lost, Bill saw movement from behind Needless and refocusing his one blurry good eye he found Ranse crouching and looking at him through smoldering ruins from a rooftop a couple hundred meters away.

In his bloodlust, Gasparde continued to chop away and Needless made sure Bill didn’t move.

Neither saw the movement, nor felt the revolver point at them as Ranse took aim at Needless’s back.

Despite everything they had just recently been through, the two old friends didn’t need obvious signals and the minute Gasparde stood in front of Bill, Ranse fired off three rounds.

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Through his one blurry eye, Bill saw the instant Ranse’s finger moved and like a mortally wounded rhino gored through Gasparde and threw Needless behind him as the traitor Marines first mate was staggered by the gun shots.

Ranse was beside the two in a heartbeat and looked at Bill and then Yoko’s neck with wide eyes.

Before he knew the severity, he was going to quip that he had made it just in time, but seeing Bill focus forward and the air growing solid, Ranse looked forward and heard Bill speak gruffly through a gashed throat: “He uzes ‘laws, an knows ‘ix Powers.”

Nodding his head though he knew Bill wasn’t looking, Ranse said: “Don’t worry partner, I’ll settle the accounts. You just go on and watch Yoko.”

Not turning his head, Bill just said: “No.” and the air turned into soup as his body turned black.

Seeing what his friend wanted, Ranse didn’t protest but said: “Alrighty, but I’ll finish quit and come.” And with that he used a wind blade kick to free Yoko from the sticky syrup and then another to clear a path that she could run out from.

Bill: “Yoko, ‘o from here.” said Bill hoarsely and the girl covered in tears didn’t dare disobey.

As Bill used his Haki to his fullest, he built the ‘stone walls’ around them that blocked the corrosive influence that Devil Fruits had on reality.

In doing so, Gasparde realized instantly that his ability was being nullified and whereas the appearance of Ranse had made no difference, the disappearance of his ability made the traitor crazy.

“Kill the new one.” He ordered Needless, and as Ranse began his battle with the former Chore Boy, Gasparde moved in strong against Bill.

Throwing haymakers powered by Shave, Gasparde fought like a drunken brawler who uses size for everything it’s worth. This was an effective but elementary fighting style and had it not been for his wounds, Bill would have soundly taken advantage of his training and ended the traitor.

But he was weak; the shards of hardened glass candy didn’t disappear once he used his Haki and they constantly shattered into smaller pieces and moved towards his joints as Bill willed them out.

Bill’s spirit would not fail him, but his body was weakened, and fending off Gasparde with one blurry eye was the best he could do.

One punch came after the other and this went on for what felt like a long time, and as Bill was just fighting to hold Gasparde off for enough time until Ranse came back, he heard hundreds of footsteps and shouts from the far side of the smoldering rubble.

The fighting between the four momentarily stopped while they watched hundreds of Marines were being led by a tanned skin girl crossing the no mans land that was a former candy factory.

As the crowd saw the four combatants, Bill felts hundreds of eyes upon him and felt the Marines tempo change.

In the middle of one of those crowds was Pearson and the eight remaining men under him.

He had fought like a dog, through ambushes and through hand-to-hand fighting until it finally seemed like there was no chance left for life.

When he had finally caught up to the team ahead of them, he learned that they were the boys from New Haven and had been with the Captain since the beginning.

Only twelve of the fifteen were left, and like himself, their leader was capable and hadn’t called for support. That was how the 22 Marines met, and once they bound themselves together, they carved a path up towards their goal.

It was hard slogging. They lost one KIA and two casualties but made it to their rendezvous when they found themselves surrounded by no less that fifty pirates.

Seeing them getting surrounded and down to using the pirate’s makeshift weapons Pearson knew he was going to die.

And then she appeared.

Like a Valkyrie at the head of an army, he saw the most beautiful tanned skinned woman he had ever seen. When her fingers turned into cannons and she drove away the danger, Pearson was bewitched and resolved himself to follow her anywhere.

After that battle, the Marine heroine gave the men a thirty-minute break, but Pearson noticed that she herself did not rest.

He secretly watched as she went from group to group and spoke to the men. She was and wasn’t getting reports, Pearson noticed. She just spoke to the people, and in his addled mind they offered her the homage she deserved.

He also noticed the clear division between those Marines from New Haven and the ones from Ruluka Island.

They all wondered where the Captain was, but unlike those newer Marines, the older ones were firm that if the Captain wasn’t here then there was a good reason for it.

They had complete faith in the man called Bill Ox and wouldn’t hear one single word of complaint. Stating that they were suffering, then he would be suffering worse.

Pearson didn’t speak out, but he didn’t believe it. He had been in an ‘Elite’ unit of the Ruluka Army and knew how it was. The Captain was probably sitting in an office somewhere negotiating while they were killing and being killed.

The only hero was the beautiful tanned skinned heroine, Pearson knew.

That was until now.

From the middle of the formation of Marines, Pearson couldn’t see the four combatant, but he could see the hellscape in from of them.

Smoldering fires which carried the most putrid stench he had ever smelled was only overpowered by the awe-inspiring scene of 2 or 300 meters of jagged wreckage laid out in front of them.

After everything he had been through over the last several hours, Pearson would have been scared if not for the fever that radiated from the front lines.

Everyone was tired, but Pearson noticed that as soon as they took in the sight the Division’s special operators used their boots to jump high into the sky in the direction of the fighting men.

When it was discovered that green spikes were laid between the wreckage, several teams volunteered to be work crews and rushed to and fro to clear the way for the others.

In the giant crowd the atmosphere was infectious and it wasn’t long before Pearson found himself moving like his life depended on it.

And when he saw the big blonde headed traitor Marine move towards them, and get blocked by their blood-spattered Captain, he felt a respect that was only matched by the love he felt for the tan heroine.

It took hardly no time for the hundreds of Marines to work their way closer to the fighting, and when Pearson took the rifle off his shoulder, he aimed and waited for his shot.

The Special Operators were like swarming bees, but the traitor and his henchmen were fast and avoided their attacks.

Noticing that the Captain was getting slower, Pearson knew he had to do something as the heroine had gone to help Lieutenant Ranse.

So, rushing forward, Pearson raised his gun and pulled the trigger only feet away.

He hit the traitor in the arm, but the big man was surprised enough that the Captain was able to reach out and grab him like a snake, before delivering a crippling headbutt and dropped the man.

Pearson’s actions seemed to surprise everyone, but the Captain looked at him through a mask of dried blood and said: “You did good.”

Pearson did not know if the Captain even knew his name, but that didn’t matter. That acknowledgement was somehow something he never knew he needed and he simply nodded in response.

From behind them, Ranse delivered a tempest kick that cut Needless from groin to brow, and as the Lieutenant landed and came over with the tan beauty, Pearson was in the front row as Captain Ox shouted:

“VICTORY!”