Doll opened her eyes, a dull ache radiating down her arms. The surrounding ground was littered with debris, a testament to the violence of the blow she had just taken. Slowly, she got back on her feet, grimacing from the effort, despite having quickly used Armament Haki to soften the worst of the impact. Her expression hardened as she locked eyes with the silhouette responsible for the chaos.
She still remembered the orders clearly, delivered directly from Marine Headquarters and relayed by Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself:"Arès D. Lycoris is currently in the North Blue. If any unit encounters him and is overwhelmed, trigger a Buster Call immediately. Do not underestimate his threat level."
"This whole mess... your doing, isn't it?" Doll spat, her gaze sharp and unwavering.
Arès gave a faint, almost proud smile, never breaking eye contact."It's just the effect of the Gassen Gassen no Mi. I generate an absolute conflict zone within a ten-meter radius. Without Haki, there's no way to escape unharmed. Strangely... women seem to be relatively unaffected."
"Unaffected?" Doll echoed with a hint of fury. "Given the state you've left me in, I wouldn't call that a favor."
Arès shrugged, indifferent.
Tension coiled tighter in her muscles as she steadied her stance.
"Release my men. Now."
"Your men?" Arès replied coldly. "The World Government's dogs don't deserve mercy. Now that I've reached port, I fully intend to sink your ship."
As Doll clenched her fists, preparing to act, Hanza—who had been hanging back—hurriedly opened her bag and rummaged through it. She finally pulled out Arès's wanted poster. Her eyes widened as she took in the image: a confident young man, eyes full of resolve, and most notably... the unmistakable sun-shaped mark on his chest.
"That tattoo..." she whispered, intrigued. She recognized it. That legendary pirate crew—the Sun Pirates—who once struck fear into the seas.Could it be? Was Arès a remnant of that feared age?
"You're not telling me everything," Doll said, stepping into a combat stance. "That attack that sent me flying—it wasn't Haki."
"If this fight drags on, you might get the chance to find out. But don't expect me to go easy on Marines," Arès replied coldly.
To Hanza, Arès seemed to teleport—one moment he was still, the next, he was right in front of Doll. Chaos reigned around them as the Marines turned on each other in confusion and rage. In the eye of the storm, Arès and Doll clashed violently, their fists colliding with such force the very air around them vibrated.
"He's strong…" Doll thought, struggling to keep pace. "Sengoku was right. Even with my command over Armament Haki… I can barely keep up. And he's barely tapping into his reserves…"
"Dammit!" she snarled, launching a powerful kick. Arès caught it with effort, his feet sliding slightly as the deck creaked beneath the force.
Suddenly, Arès leapt lightly into the air."Gassen Gassen no... Scythe of War!"
A massive crimson scythe materialized in his hands. With precision, he struck.Doll blocked the attack with her thorn-braced arms, now wrapped in Haki. She now stood where Arès had just been moments ago—on the defensive. But it was clear she couldn't hold up much longer.
Her arms trembled under the overwhelming weight of the crimson weapon. She gritted her teeth, focused her Haki again, and pushed back, retreating a few steps to catch her breath.
"You're holding your own, Marine. But how much longer can you last?" Arès challenged, scythe pointed at her.
"Long enough to drag you to Impel Down!" she shot back, refusing to yield.
A few steps away, Hanza nervously surveyed the crumbling battlefield. Desperate for a way out, her eyes caught something: cracks along the deck, structural beams fractured from the force of battle. Her instincts screamed.
"If I just…" she whispered.
She bolted toward the stairs leading to the lower levels.
Meanwhile, Arès and Doll resumed their brutal exchange, each strike reverberating through the entire ship.
Another shock rattled the vessel. The lower deck groaned beneath them, weakened by their titanic clash. The very heat radiating from Arès's ability seemed to make the wood tremble. Chunks of the hull were already peeling away.
Down below, Hanza's precision made the difference. Where Arès struck by instinct, she struck with calculation. A weakened beam, a pressure point—then everything followed. A burst of steam exploded from a cracked pipe, setting off alarms.
As she scrambled back up to the deck, she nearly collided with Rick and Brandon, who had just arrived from the port, their faces pale.
"Hanza?! You were still on board?!" Rick panted.
"Have you lost your minds?! That's an S-class pirate you let aboard!" she snapped.
"Wasn't my idea of a date!" Hanza growled, pushing past them. "Move or die. Your call."
The two soldiers stood frozen as she disappeared into the smoke.
On the main deck, Doll faltered.
Arès stood, his red scythe still in hand, watching her pull herself upright again, battered but proud. The wood creaked beneath their feet. Her breath came short. Blood trickled down her forearm.
"You still want to fight, Colonel?" he asked calmly."You're bleeding. Your Haki's slipping."
Doll's eyes blazed.
"My men aren't all off this ship. So long as they're aboard… I stand."
A heavy silence fell between them. Even the surrounding chaos seemed distant, like a war remembered from a dream. Arès remained still, unmoving.
Then, slowly, he spun his scythe once before dissolving it into red vapor, light as ash.
He looked at her with an unreadable expression.
"You were curious, weren't you?" he said softly. "I'll tell you."
Doll blinked, caught off guard.
"The Gassen Gassen no Mi… it doesn't just create conflict zones. It allows me to manifest any weapon—born from fury and rage. Mine… or that of everyone around me."
His red eyes glimmered, as though they still held the fire of the battlefield.
"On this deck… there was enough hate to forge a thousand blades."
Another tremor shook the ship. Several Marines fell to their knees. The portside hull split like a cracked eggshell, moments from collapse.
"Ship's doomed," Arès muttered, turning away.
This time, he didn't look back.
Hanza reappeared, breathless.
"This thing's going down! We have to move!"
Arès gave a silent nod, and together, they vaulted over the railing, landing heavily on the docks in a cloud of dust.
Without a word, they started running through the alleys of Ferrovia, the noise behind them rising as the ship began to tilt dangerously to one side.
Behind them, Doll still stood atop the deck, shouting:
"EVERYONE TO SHORE! ABANDON SHIP, NOW!"
Arès glanced over his shoulder.
She was still standing.
They turned into a side alley, the port slowly fading behind them. The ground was still trembling. The smell of scorched wood, torn cables, and gunpowder filled the air.
Hanza ran, her heart pounding in her throat, but she didn't stop.
Her legs were shaking—not from exhaustion, but from everything she'd just let go.
She finally came to a stop, gasping for air, her eyes stinging—not sure if it was the smoke, the fear, or something else.
Arès had stopped too, a few steps ahead.
For a moment, there was nothing. No shouting. No alarms. Just the wind brushing softly between the empty buildings.
Hanza finally looked up at him.
"…Why?" she whispered.
He didn't answer right away. He didn't turn. His gaze was lost somewhere in the night sky above the sea.
"I heard you scream," he finally said."And I still had room in my arms."
She smiled weakly, a small, broken smile full of confusion and awe.
"I should've died down in that hold…"
She stepped closer, quietly.
"But you caught me."
He said nothing. He didn't need to.
As if sealed in a silent pact, she stopped beside him.
The port was now behind them—along with the cries of the Marines, the voice of Doll, the groan of shattering wood.
She looked at him one last time.
"Hanza."
He turned toward her.
"My name's Hanza."
A slight nod. Nothing more. Like a silent promise that he would remember it.
They continued walking toward the heart of the island. Together.