Jotaro's lips pressed into a straight line, looking at the communicator in his hand that had lost its signal, and a sense of unease instantly welled up in his heart.
He could only think of one possibility.
That was that the Ark Maxim had suffered enemy sabotage.
"Yare yare daze…"
After a brief weighing of options, Jotaro decided he still needed to return to the Ark Maxim first, to confirm the situation over there.
Although Nezuko's combat power was strong, perhaps enough to be on par with a Marine Rear Admiral, able to deal with most enemies without problem, he still could not set his mind at ease.
Jotaro felt he had underestimated the government's wariness toward him.
"…Hope they're still fine for the time being."
Putting away the communicator, Jotaro's expression grew grave, and he rushed at the fastest speed toward the coast where the Ark Maxim was docked.
———
On top of a sand dune, Smoker held a telescope, staring firmly at the swiftly moving black shadow below.
"That person seems to be him…"
He turned his head to the side, but the lazy figure that had been there was already gone.
Smoker, "???"
"Tashigi, where is she?"
Tashigi pushed up her glasses.
"While you were speaking, she had already run down."
"Colonel, should we also follow? You should want to arrest that man, right?"
Smoker packed up his equipment and straddled his motorcycle.
"Of course!"
Ever since separating from Jotaro in Loguetown, Smoker's mind had been entirely on how to capture the other party.
Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, how could he possibly let it slip by?
"I really am a bit curious about this man named Kujo Jotaro. Is he really as powerful as you say?"
Tashigi looked at Smoker's back and asked.
"Don't talk nonsense, hurry and get on!" Smoker urged loudly.
Tashigi curled her lips.
"With that person present, even if we go, there shouldn't be any chance for us to make a move."
"Though he isn't an Admiral, his strength is on the same level as an Admiral."
"Plus that terrifying fruit, by the time we get there, Jotaro might already be captured."
Smoker gave no reply.
Though he wanted to capture Jotaro with his own hands, he also had to admit that what Tashigi said was the truth.
When they had crossed hands back in Loguetown, the power Jotaro displayed was far above his own, but not yet at the level of clashing with an Admiral.
But the man now coming from the New World was an Admiral candidate, his combat strength far surpassing Headquarters Vice Admirals, and compared to Admirals, not inferior in the least.
'Could he really be defeated here?'
For some reason, thinking of this, a sigh welled up in Smoker's heart.
———
Jotaro was about to step close to the coast.
Suddenly, the sea breeze stalled, as if condensed with a heavy sense of oppression.
"Kujo Jotaro!!! Die!"
A deep voice filled with hatred rang out, and a figure lunged in from the side.
He wore light brown clothing, a Marine cloak over his back, and upon first sight launched an all-out attack, vowing to put Jotaro to death.
Jotaro frowned, suddenly stopping in his tracks.
With just a single clash, he knew, this man was much tougher than Crocodile.
"Yaro!"
He had no time to waste here.
Tokikake clenched his fists, muscles swelling like surging waves, his body entwined with Armament Haki, incomparably pure.
BOOM!
The momentum from just swinging his arm alone created a deep crater in the sand.
"Star Platinum!"
Jotaro pointed forward, and Star Platinum instantly appeared before him, Armament Haki likewise wrapping around it.
Against an enemy like Tokikake, Star Platinum's effective attack range was only one and a half meters.
Beyond that range, Star Platinum could not use Haki, and relying on its own fists alone, it could not inflict substantial damage on this type of person.
"Go die! I want to avenge Gion!"
Tokikake shouted, charging straight at Jotaro.
After Gion had been defeated by Jotaro last time, upon returning she seemed half-soulless, listless every day, as if still brooding endlessly over letting Jotaro slip away.
She even chose to ignore Tokikake's marriage proposal.
In the past, Gion had sternly rejected his proposals. Now she directly ignored them.
How could Tokikake bear to see Gion so depressed.
He had to remove her heart's demon.
Jotaro didn't even know her, had no impression at all.
Seeing Tokikake closing in, he also no longer held back.
Star Platinum's fists swung rapidly, colliding with Tokikake's fists, ripples of shock spreading through the space.
Jotaro's expression grew even more grim.
Even his body could feel the terrifying impact from the fists clashing.
For a moment, he even had the illusion of fighting Whitebeard.
'No, that's not right! This guy's physique surpasses even Whitebeard!'
The force pressing onto his fists grew heavier and heavier, Jotaro also releasing more Haki to resist.
It was no wonder he thought this way, when he had fought Whitebeard, Whitebeard's body had already been on the decline, plus with his illness, his strength naturally couldn't compare to when he was young.
Young Whitebeard, even if he couldn't handle two Admirals at once, had absolutely no pressure against one.
But with his condition now, his strength probably only equaled that of an Admiral, maybe even less.
After all, the Admirals were in their prime, still with much undeveloped potential. Breaking through their body's limits mid-battle wasn't impossible.
But Whitebeard now, wanting to break limits likely only in a moment of burning out his final life force.
When that moment came, his death would not be far.
So Jotaro fighting the current Whitebeard was on even ground.
His own strength had not yet reached Admiral level; he was only a quasi-Admiral.
Strictly speaking, his Haki foundation wasn't as deep as Tokikake's.
He was not weak himself. The reason he failed in the Admiral candidacy compared to those two was because his influence in Marine Headquarters wasn't strong enough.
Of course, it could also be because his lecherous nature displeased those above.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tokikake's fists and Star Platinum's fists collided wildly, faintly pressing the advantage.
"Hmph! Without intelligence, you are indeed a troublesome opponent!"
"But Gion already reported your intel to Headquarters, I know all of your abilities."
A cold smile surfaced on Tokikake's face, as his fist swung straight toward Jotaro's face.
"This punch is for Gion!"
'Damn it, this guy's even so handsome!'
Staring at that extraordinary face before him, Tokikake even felt a twinge of jealousy.
'If he looked like that and proposed to Gion, would she have refused?'
At this moment, he couldn't help but suspect that Gion's absent-mindedness afterward had other reasons.
'I must destroy this bastard's face!'
Tokikake thought darkly, adding even more force to his fist.
"That woman, huh?"
Tokikake's words made Jotaro recall that day, after parting with Whitebeard, the woman who came to stop him.
That too had been a terrifying opponent, but still lost to time stop.
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