Chapter 339: A Different Kind of PX

Chapter 339: Chapter 339: A Different Kind of PX

Chapter 339: A Different Kind of PX

Under Jonathan’s guidance, Axel arrived at a wide, open section of Navarone Fortress.

The area had been deliberately chosen. There were few obstacles, long lines of sight, and plenty of room for a battle.

Jonathan stopped.

"This is it."

Axel stopped beside him and looked around.

"So this is what you were buying time for?"

His expression remained completely relaxed.

"What exactly is this gift of yours?"

Jonathan glanced at the white-haired youth beside him.

Even now, Axel showed no sign of nervousness.

He had spent days wandering freely through an enemy fortress, eating whatever he pleased, playing chess with the commander, and even casually teasing Jonathan about his wife.

Thinking of that last part made Jonathan’s eye twitch.

What an unpleasant brat.

He raised one hand.

The gesture looked almost casual, like an older man stretching a stiff shoulder.

But across the surrounding area, hidden Marines immediately noticed.

Signals passed from one position to another.

Axel watched the entire thing with amusement.

"You don’t need to hide them."

Jonathan looked at him.

"I knew those Marines were there from the moment we arrived."

Axel tapped one finger lightly against his temple.

"I can sense disturbances through the surrounding magnetic field. Getting close to me without leaving any trace is difficult."

His crimson eyes swept across the area.

"But I doubt those soldiers are what you spent all this time preparing."

Jonathan showed no embarrassment at being seen through.

"Old habits."

He put both hands into his pockets.

"Sorry for the poor performance."

Axel smiled.

"I already knew you were the cautious type from the reports about you."

Jonathan was about to answer when Axel’s Observation Haki caught something approaching.

His head tilted.

A brilliant beam of light flashed past his cheek.

Boom!

The beam struck the reinforced structure behind him.

Steel screamed.

A deep hole was blasted through the specially constructed fortification.

Axel glanced back.

The beam was much more powerful than ordinary cannon fire, easily capable of piercing conventional steel plating.

He recognized it immediately.

Kizaru’s laser.

Or rather, an imitation of it.

Far weaker than the real thing.

If Borsalino himself had delivered a light-speed kick, this section of the fortress would have suffered far more than a single hole.

That narrowed down the attacker’s identity considerably.

Axel turned around.

Exactly as expected.

A line of Pacifistas stood across the open ground.

Every one of them had been modeled after Bartholomew Kuma.

Huge upper bodies.

Long legs.

Emotionless faces.

Nearly ten identical figures stood in formation, their sheer size making the scene strangely oppressive.

Axel’s casual expression sharpened slightly.

"Not bad."

His eyes moved from one machine to another.

"But your gift is still a little light."

"Hmph."

A familiar voice came from behind the machines.

"Still as arrogant as ever, brat."

A broad, powerful man stepped forward.

He wore his familiar unusual outfit, with his large axe resting nearby and his hair cut straight across his forehead.

Axel immediately recognized him.

"Oh."

His smile returned.

"Sentomaru."

Sentomaru did not look pleased to see him.

Quite the opposite.

His face darkened.

"I’ve had a miserable time because of you, bastard."

Axel did not seem surprised.

Considering what had happened with Vegapunk, Sentomaru, as the scientist’s bodyguard, would naturally have taken part of the blame.

"That has nothing to do with me."

Axel shrugged.

"I didn’t help Vegapunk escape."

"He left on his own."

Sentomaru’s expression became uglier.

Axel continued calmly,

"Brilliant scientists are usually lunatics."

"And Vegapunk is probably the worst of them."

Sentomaru’s forehead twitched.

"You expect me to believe that?"

He pointed toward Axel.

"That old man Vegapunk!"

"The one with practically no fighting ability!"

"He was surrounded by thousands of guards!"

"Hundreds of surveillance Den Den Mushi!"

"Even the surrounding waters were sealed off by Marine ships!"

Sentomaru stepped forward.

"And you’re telling me he simply disappeared from that island without anyone noticing?"

Axel nodded solemnly.

"Exactly."

For a second, Sentomaru simply stared.

Then his voice exploded.

"DO YOU THINK I’M AN IDIOT?!"

Axel blinked.

"You’re the only person on that island who could’ve pulled off something like that!"

Sentomaru tightened his grip on his axe.

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me where Vegapunk is!"

Jonathan stood nearby, listening.

This was the first time he had heard the details behind Vegapunk’s disappearance.

Interesting as they were, he did not seem interested in remaining for the argument.

He gave Sentomaru a small nod.

"I’ll leave this to you."

Then he turned and walked away.

Axel watched him go.

That was unexpected.

Jonathan’s actions suggested he genuinely intended to leave the fight to Sentomaru and the Pacifistas.

Which meant he believed they had a real chance of capturing him.

Axel did not agree.

Was Jonathan underestimating him?

Or overestimating Sentomaru?

Neither explanation felt quite right.

Jonathan was too careful for that.

And Axel held the man in rather high regard.

Besides, Jonathan was not merely the commander of G-8.

He was a Vice Admiral.

Whatever his laid-back appearance suggested, a Marine officer of that rank was no weakling.

At the very least, Vice Admirals were expected to be proficient in Haki.

Axel doubted Jonathan had truly withdrawn from the game.

As long as he remained trapped inside the fortress Jonathan controlled, the man would not simply give up.

"Bastard!"

Sentomaru’s shout dragged Axel’s attention back.

"Answer me!"

Axel looked at him.

"How am I supposed to know where he went?"

He spread his hands.

"I’m not interested in tracking the travel plans of a crazy old scientist."

Sentomaru stared at him for a while.

Then sighed.

"Fine."

His grip shifted on the axe.

"I’ll ask you again after I arrest you."

Axel looked toward the Pacifistas.

"With those piles of scrap metal?"

Sentomaru gave him a mocking look.

"Scrap metal?"

His mouth curled.

"Then try surviving this scrap metal first."

He raised his hand.

"PX units."

"Prepare for combat."

The machines reacted immediately.

The lifeless giants came alive.

Their bodies shifted into attack positions, transforming from motionless statues into killing machines.

One Pacifista’s artificial voice sounded.

"Scanning..."

"Wanted criminal identified."

"Bounty: four hundred million Berries."

"Target: Axel."

"Commencing attack."

Light gathered.

Nearly every Pacifista raised its hands at once.

Then the battlefield erupted.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Laser beams tore through the air from multiple directions.

Axel did not move.

The beams struck him.

And bent away.

Like light hitting a flawless mirror, every attack was redirected in another direction.

Explosions erupted across the surrounding ground and fortifications.

Sentomaru swung his enormous axe and blocked one redirected beam.

Boom!

Smoke rolled over him.

He walked out without injury.

"As expected."

He rested the axe against his shoulder.

"Those attacks don’t work on you."

Then he moved.

The ground cracked beneath him.

By the time his words finished, Sentomaru was already in front of Axel.

His axe swept horizontally with tremendous force.

Axel stepped aside.

The blade missed him cleanly.

He looked almost bored.

"That slow?"

Sentomaru turned.

Axel smiled.

"Were you trying to hit me or the air?"

Sentomaru did not look frustrated.

He simply rested the axe on his shoulder again.

If Axel could be defeated with something that simple, he would never have escaped the island even after that old man personally intervened.

Sentomaru still remembered that battle.

Especially those wings.

"PX!"

The Pacifistas reacted.

Their huge bodies launched forward.

For machines of their size, their acceleration was absurd.

Nearly a dozen enormous figures rushed toward Axel like cannonballs.

Axel’s expression remained unchanged.

Reflection could protect him automatically, but he had never preferred standing still and waiting to be hit.

The instant the Pacifistas moved, force gathered beneath his feet.

Boom!

He shot forward.

One second later, he collided with the nearest machine.

The others were still several seconds away.

For a brief moment, it was one-on-one.

The Pacifista opened its mouth.

Light began gathering inside.

Axel’s left hand snapped upward.

Clack!

He forced the machine’s jaw shut before the beam could fire.

The blow also knocked the Pacifista off balance.

Axel immediately followed.

The wooden sword in his hand came down.

Under his control, the simple piece of wood became something far more dangerous.

Its hardness and cutting power were no longer those of ordinary timber.

Zzzzt!

The blade struck the Pacifista’s body.

Metal shrieked.

Axel frowned.

His sword had stopped.

Not only that.

The force of the strike had been pushed back toward his arm.

He paused.

That sensation...

His eyes narrowed.

Reflection?

For perhaps the first time since the fight began, genuine surprise appeared on his face.

The Pacifista did not waste the opening.

Its massive arms shot forward and wrapped around him.

The machine squeezed.

The force could have crushed enormous stone formations.

Axel simply laughed.

He did not struggle.

Instead, he reversed the force being applied to him.

Then added his own.

Metal groaned.

The Pacifista’s arms twisted violently out of shape.

Axel swung again.

This time, he increased the force behind the wooden sword and adjusted his calculations to account for the strange defensive effect coating the machine.

Slash!

The blade cut through.

The Pacifista split apart.

Zzzzt... zzzzt...

Electrical sparks burst from exposed components inside the severed body.

The machine collapsed.

At the same moment, the remaining Pacifistas arrived.

None reacted to the destruction of their companion.

They simply continued executing their orders.

"Fall back!"

Sentomaru suddenly shouted.

The PX units stopped immediately.

Axel looked at him curiously.

Why retreat now?

Sentomaru had gone through all this trouble to deploy them.

Axel was just starting to find the machines interesting.

"What’s wrong?"

He glanced at the destroyed unit.

"Getting attached to your scrap metal?"

Then his expression became thoughtful.

"But seriously, how did you do this?"

"I don’t remember Vegapunk ever mentioning anything like it."

A hint of satisfaction appeared on Sentomaru’s face.

For once, Axel was the one asking questions.

Sentomaru enjoyed that.

"I’m the most tight-lipped man in the world."

He folded his arms.

"Why would I tell you?"

"There were plenty of secret projects Vegapunk never showed you."

Axel’s eyes moved across the Pacifistas.

"So that’s it."

He had already noticed the difference.

These units were too fast.

Too agile.

The standard Pacifistas relied heavily on their laser weapons and overwhelming durability.

These were different.

Their movements were unnaturally flexible for machines of that size.

More importantly, the strange Reflection effect gave them an entirely new level of defense.

Combined with bodies tougher than ordinary warships and built-in laser weaponry, they were far more dangerous than conventional models.

If machines like these could be mass-produced...

A great many pirates were going to suffer.

Sentomaru suddenly stiffened.

Why had he said that much?

He had practically confirmed the existence of undisclosed research.

Then again, hiding it was pointless now.

These machines had been deployed specifically to capture Axel.

He would discover their differences in battle regardless.

Sentomaru raised his hand again.

"PX units."

"Capture formation."

"Defensive mode."

The Pacifistas moved.

This time they did not charge individually.

They spread around Axel in a wide circle.

Several rose into the air.

Axel looked upward.

"They can fly too?"

The hovering machines positioned themselves above him, sealing the sky.

Axel studied their movement.

"Airflow manipulation?"

"So they’re controlling the surrounding currents to keep themselves airborne."

He flicked the wooden sword.

A compressed blade of air flew toward one approaching Pacifista.

The instant it struck the machine’s extended arm, the slash reversed direction.

It came back faster.

Axel did not dodge.

He reached out and caught the returning air blade with one hand.

His fingers closed.

The compressed force dispersed.

Axel smiled.

"It reflected the attack and strengthened it."

His eyes sharpened.

"An enhanced Reflection?"

Interesting.

But Vegapunk could not escape logic.

No system was limitless.

If this defense functioned through calculation like Axel’s own Reflection, then it had a ceiling.

The only question was how high.

And considering that a single Pacifista already cost as much as a warship, combined with Vegapunk’s obsession with perfection...

The Calculation Power built into these machines was probably considerable.

Axel’s smile widened.

That made things much more fun.

Then he disappeared.

The next instant, he was in front of another Pacifista.

The machine did not react emotionally.

It simply continued its assigned movement.

Axel became the executioner.

The short wooden sword pierced through the machine’s hand.

Instead of meeting the defensive field head-on, he adjusted the angle and slipped through the opening.

The blade entered the Pacifista’s body.

The surrounding PX units immediately closed in.

No hesitation.

No panic.

Their arms reached outward.

Then linked together.

Axel’s expression changed.

Pressure surged around him.

Not from one machine.

From all of them.

He looked around.

Then laughed.

Interesting.

Vegapunk really was a genius.

The Pacifistas were connecting their Calculation Power through physical contact.

Like separate processors being linked together into a single system.

....

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