Sage laughed, "I just don't want to be knocked into the sea, this ship isn't that sturdy."
Hawkins' current strength is formidable, but Sage still doesn't take him seriously. The reason for dodging is simply because the ship can't withstand the impact; if he blocked, he himself would break the ship, and falling into the sea wouldn't be fun.
Even back in the East Sea, the luck he got after encountering Buggy would lead him to sea beasts if he fell into the sea. Now, here on the Grand Line, with his bad luck, he might summon a giant Sea King.
That would really be troublesome...
"Is that all?" Sage asked.
"You have to defeat me first!" Hawkins twisted the sword hilt, and the needle-like sword formed again, transforming into the Rice Straw Sword, twisting and extending like a snake, heading straight for Sage.
"Never mind..."
Sage shook his head, reached out a hand, and curled his fingers, "Judging by strength, it's adequate. That's it then. By the way, next time you meet someone with higher Haki proficiency than you, don't expose your gigantic physique, it'll be like a target..."
On his five fingers, coiling black fire flowed, as he struck forward, smashing the Rice Straw Sword apart, directly hitting Hawkins' massive body.
Bang!
Hawkins' straw body arched backward, flying off and crashing into the ship captain's quarters on the deck.
Boom!
The entire structure was shattered into pieces, collapsing, while Hawkins' huge body shrank and fell onto the ruins.
"Captain, captain!"
The pirates on the deck shouted in surprise.
Except for the guy with three braids on his head, the rest were wearing cloaks that covered their whole bodies, like cultists from who knows where.
"Calculate again!"
Sage snarled with laughter, "What's your survival rate left now?"
In the center of the ruins, Hawkins lay in human form, nine shattered Scarecrows protruding from the cracks in his body, while he himself was covered in blood, unable to move at all.
From the pirate ship he encountered earlier, he planted ten Straw Dolls as a precaution, apart from the one that received Sage's punch directly earlier, the remaining nine were killed in that instant.
Sage's strike caused Hawkins to endure nine fatal injuries, and also hit his real body.
"Seems like there's no more calculations to be done. Ability Users truly are miracles of the sea, and I thought your internal body would shatter a bit more, but now it's just bleeding... hmm, bones are also broken, overall it's not bad."
He flashed over to Hawkins, grabbed his back collar, dragged him along the deck, and walked toward the Death Star.
Adding the Tenha Kassatsu's internal destruction, for those with frail physique and lacking Haki, it's too easy.
If it were purely external Haki, even if it were a Haki Bullet, it would likely only attack once, causing Hawkins to suffer a single heavy injury.
But the Tenha Kassatsu is different; it targets Secret Holes, its technique exploding within the body, causing damage beyond death.
Otherwise, how could one literally blow a person up?
This isn't just a metaphor, Sage truly can physically blow a person up with a punch.
If it weren't for those Straw Dolls that can act as substitutes, even if he deliberately held back, this guy would likely struggle to survive.
"And as for you guys..."
He looked at the frightened, hesitant pirates and laughed, "Your captain has joined my Pirates. Those who want to board my ship, come on; those who don't, escape yourselves, hwa hahahaha!"
Without bothering with those pirates, he grabbed Hawkins and jumped onto the Death Star, casually tossing the unconscious Hawkins onto the deck, "Pearl, take him to the ship doctor for treatment, let him come see me when he wakes."
"Captain Sage, are you recruiting him?"
Pearl walked over to Hawkins, disdainfully saying, "This guy looks pretty weak."
"Weak?"
Sage chuckled, glanced at his crew on the deck, "What do you all think?"
"Master Sage, he's indeed not strong, although his presence looked intimidating, you knocked him down with just two punches." Bellamy called out.
Gin hesitated for a moment, "Besides the final gigantic Scarecrow, the rest don't seem strong either."
Renedia shook her head, "That God of Death stick feels very terrifying."
"Correct." Marika laughed from the side, "He's very strong."
Lily gripped her sword hilt, glanced deeply at Hawkins, "I'd say it's fifty-fifty..."
Sage nodded approvingly at the three women, "You've got keen senses, not bad."
Hawkins is certainly not weak, he can even be considered strong.
Renedia's intuition is accurate; she feels fear because she instinctively realizes she's no match for Hawkins.
Ability is a miracle of the sea; even Haki only plays a resistance role, far from a suppressor; some abilities, no matter how strong some people may be, can still be restrained by abilities.
Her ability and Hawkins' are clearly distinct; once subjected to Hawkins' ability, she becomes Hawkins' scapegoat, so feeling terrified is correct.
Marika, although immensely strong and with great combat sense, is helpless against abilities, at best she could use long-range attacks, leveraging heavy objects to prevent Hawkins from approaching, otherwise, reaching within ability range would make her a scapegoat too.
The only truly perceptive one is Lily.
She knows Armament and is highly agile. She can slay Hawkins' Straw Dolls, and with the next move, she can defeat Hawkins. However, her Haki isn't sufficient to counter Hawkins' ability; once subjected to it, Hawkins can eliminate her as well.