With astonishing speed, Sengoku and Garp pursued Bege from the execution platform all the way to the beach, quickly closing the distance.
Bege instantly felt two immensely powerful auras lock onto him. His expression changed drastically. Glancing back, he saw Sengoku and Garp diving towards him like cannonballs.
"Sending both Sengoku and Garp after me," Bege muttered grimly. "They really think highly of me."
"Capone Bege! Don't even think about escaping!" Sengoku roared, his eyes radiating a chilling coldness.
Garp, however, was even faster. Using Geppo, he crossed the hundreds of meters separating them in an instant, appearing directly before Bege. Without any preamble, he threw a punch. Even before the fist arrived, an incredibly powerful gust of wind slammed into Bege.
Knowing he couldn't afford to hold anything back – he was facing the monstrous power that had nearly killed Roger himself – Bege drew his Fire Cloud Sword in a flash. Instantly coating the blade in black Armament Haki, he swung it to meet Garp's legendary fist.
BOOM!
A staggering shockwave erupted from the point of collision, rolling through the air like a tidal wave, indiscriminately obliterating everything in its path, whipping up gale-force winds and clouds of dust. An indescribable, overwhelmingly powerful force – an overbearing power capable of smashing anything – surged through the sword and slammed into Bege's body.
From that single exchange, Bege was violently blown away. He flew backward for over two hundred meters before finally skidding to a halt. Shaking his numb arm and trying to clear his spinning head, he fixed his sharp gaze on Garp.
Strong... too strong, Bege thought, his mind reeling. Terrifyingly strong.
His body rapidly shifted, activating his defensive Castle Skin. He braced himself, his eyes filled with grim determination. Just then, a dazzling Golden Buddha materialized in the sky above. Sengoku had arrived, immediately unleashing his Devil Fruit ability, transforming into his imposing Daibutsu form.
The giant golden palm descended, striking downwards. Space itself seemed to warp around it as a horrifying shockwave instantly pressed down upon Bege. It felt as if a colossal mountain had suddenly materialized and slammed onto his shoulders. The ground beneath his feet instantly shattered and cratered. The dust kicked up by the impact couldn't even rise, pinned flat against the earth by the immense pressure. Bege's legs sank deep into the ground, his body forcibly bowed under the crushing weight.
"Still trying to stand?" the golden Sengoku snorted coldly. He pressed his giant hand down further, unleashing an even more terrifying wave of pressure onto Bege. It felt like mountain after mountain slamming down on him relentlessly, causing his entire body to tremble uncontrollably. The pressure was immense, unbearable.
Bege coughed, spitting up blood. Roaring against the crushing force, he poured every ounce of his strength into his blade, swinging the Fire Cloud Sword upwards. A searing, blood-red arc of sword energy tore through Sengoku's shockwave, shooting directly towards the Golden Buddha.
Sengoku simply caught the crimson slash with one massive palm, casually redirecting its momentum and flinging it out towards the sea. The slash carved a trench over a hundred meters deep into the ocean surface before dissipating.
An Admiral... Bege thought grimly, seizing the brief opening created by his counterattack to retreat rapidly. I truly can't defeat one at my current level.
"Capone Bege, you can't escape," Sengoku stated, stepping towards Bege, his terrifying aura pressing down like a physical weight.
Bege spat out a wad of bloody phlegm, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?" Sengoku frowned.
At that precise moment, a massive explosion rocked Loguetown from the distance. The entire island shuddered. A large mushroom cloud billowed into the sky from the town center, instantly drawing all eyes.
Sengoku whirled, glaring furiously at Bege. "Did you do this?!"
A strange, unsettling smile spread across Bege's face. Dozens of castle gates opened across the surface of his body. Inside each gate, more than ten of his crew members frantically maneuvered peculiar cannons, each consisting of multiple barrels. These were new weapons, developed by weapons experts under Bege's guidance: Multi-barrel Rocket Launchers, capable of firing over a dozen devastating rockets simultaneously.
The instant the gates opened, the launchers fired. Rockets blasted outwards, instantly swelling to enormous size just centimeters after leaving Bege's body. They weren't aimed at Garp or Sengoku. Instead, they streaked towards Loguetown – specifically, towards the residential districts. Inside Bege's castle-body, his crew were already rapidly reloading for a second volley.
"These rockets pack over ten times the punch of standard cannonballs," Bege explained, his voice laced with dark amusement as he watched Garp and Sengoku. "Hundreds of these landing in Loguetown's residential areas... well, that would cause rather massive casualties, wouldn't it?"
He grinned, the expression chilling. "So, paragons of Marine Justice, Admiral Sengoku, Marine Hero Garp... you have a choice to make. Are you going to stop me, or are you going to intercept those rockets?"
"Damn you!" Sengoku and Garp roared, their faces contorted with rage. Two terrifying waves of pressure slammed into Bege. Yet, Bege remained completely unfazed, seemingly fearless, laughing loudly. "Time's running out!"
Garp reacted instantly. Scooping up a handful of pebbles from the beach, he launched himself into the air with Geppo at incredible speed. Like a master marksman, he hurled the pebbles with blinding velocity, each small stone striking a rocket with the force of a cannonball, detonating them harmlessly in mid-air.
Just as he cleared the first wave, the second volley of rockets launched from Bege's gates, scattering outwards towards the town.
Sengoku immediately abandoned his pursuit of Bege, choosing, like Garp, to intercept the deadly projectiles. His giant golden hands clapped together in the air, sending out terrifying shockwaves that instantly detonated the vast majority of the second rocket salvo.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sky above Loguetown erupted in a continuous series of earth-shattering explosions. Massive fireballs bloomed like grotesque, giant fireworks, their shockwaves buffeting the heavens. The thunderous sounds echoed across the entire island. Terrified residents panicked, thinking pirates were launching a full-scale assault. Fleet Admiral Kong and the other Marine leaders frantically rushed towards the direction of the explosions.
"Terrifyingly strong," Bege murmured, glancing up at the two figures darting through the sky, effortlessly neutralizing his rocket barrage. He had to admit, he couldn't hope to contend with that level of power right now. Seizing the opportunity their distraction provided, he sprinted towards the sea. A sleek vessel emerged from his castle-body, hitting the water and speeding away from Loguetown.
The Marine warships stationed near the beach opened fire, hundreds of cannonballs arcing towards Bege's escaping vessel. Bege swung his sword again, a massive slash of fire erupting from the blade, intercepting the entire volley. He followed up immediately with another slash, aimed directly at the warships. An immense blade of crimson flame, moving with lightning speed, skimmed just above the sea's surface, carving a visible trough in the water as if parting the waves.
The flame slash struck the warships head-on. Like cutting through tofu, it sliced cleanly through the center of the first massive, sturdy vessel, splitting it instantly in two. Any unfortunate Marines caught directly in the slash's path were either bisected instantly or incinerated into charred remains. The attack didn't stop there; the blade of fire continued onward, cleaving through five warships in total before finally dissipating.
On the surviving ships, the Marines stared in horror. They heard the screech of metal being torn apart, followed by the terrifying rush of seawater flooding into the broken hulls. The bisected warships listed heavily, beginning to sink as Marines tumbled into the sea like spilled beans, their panicked cries for help echoing across the water.
Bege's vessel accelerated rapidly, skimming across the water and leaving a long wake behind it. Then, abruptly, it surged upwards, lifting off the water and soaring into the sky, rapidly vanishing into the distance.
He left behind an island engulfed in chaos and destruction.
He had been prepared, Bege reflected as he flew away. He wouldn't have dared to show his face in Loguetown without an escape plan. To ensure the Marines couldn't effectively pursue him, he needed chaos. He'd planted explosives throughout the town beforehand, timed for his crew members still hidden there to detonate, maximizing the confusion. The rocket launchers stored within his castle were the core of his diversion, specifically designed to force Garp and Sengoku's hand. He knew their strong sense of justice, their commitment to protecting civilians. He had gambled everything on the certainty that they would choose to save the people of Loguetown over capturing him.
Of course, he mused, if the gamble had failed, I still had other countermeasures prepared. I wouldn't have died... though the outcome might have been considerably more painful.