"Nearly immortal, huh? Let's see if you're still alive after I slice you into pieces!" Oniguma sneered coldly as he heard the words of the Second Division members, swinging his military blades and charging straight at them.

"Cheap tricks. You ants think you can defeat us just by relying on some strange ability? What a joke!" Doberman also moved in, his expression icy as he slashed at the elite warriors of the Second Division.

"Kill them! Let's show them the might of our Second Division!"

"Flash Gun!"

"Impact Dial!"

"Flame Lance!"

"Take this—Burning Cannon!"

The Second Division members unleashed a barrage of attacks using their Sky Island Dials, frenziedly counterattacking Ghost Spider and Doberman. But the reality was cruel—Ghost Spider and Doberman were both elites among Navy Headquarters' vice admirals. Even with all their dial-enhanced gear, the Second Division fighters were outmatched and repeatedly sent flying by the vice admirals' strikes.

Still, none of them gave up. With the help of the Mind Net, they avoided fatal blows and threw themselves back into battle, fearless of death.

"What terrifying resilience…"

Even Sengoku, standing high above, couldn't help but be moved. He had read reports about this strange regenerative ability called the "Healing-Seal Mark," but seeing it firsthand was something else entirely.

The recovery rate was simply monstrous—perhaps not even awakened Zoan users could rival it.

With just over a dozen elite soldiers bearing these marks, it was as if they had summoned a small group of Zoan-ability users on the battlefield.

If Rosinante wanted, he could form an army that was practically unkillable.

Even Steel Bone Kong's face turned grim.

"They're all excellent warriors… That bastard Rosinante actually pulled them into the world of piracy!" Garp growled furiously at the side.

Just then, a naval officer ran over in a panic.

"Report to the admiral! We've found news of Vice Admiral Kuzan. He was ambushed on his way to reinforce Armory A1—caught in some kind of unknown suppression. He's unable to support A1 now!"

Everyone froze. Sengoku's eyes widened in disbelief, and even Kong and the others wore shocked expressions.

"What? They managed to stall Kuzan? Could it be… Is the enemy also someone with admiral-level strength? Was it Rosinante? Or maybe Katakuri?" Sengoku asked seriously.

Everyone present knew: Kuzan was already at admiral-level strength. His promotion papers were already submitted—just awaiting approval.

If someone in the Gray Kingdom could stall him… then that enemy was clearly also an admiral-class threat.

Only Rosinante, or maybe Katakuri, could pull that off.

"No… we didn't see who it was," the officer replied nervously. "The attacker uses a space-based ability. The bullets came from seemingly nowhere—right out of thin air, almost point-blank against Vice Admiral Kuzan. Their rifles are more powerful than ours, with an insane rate of fire. A single bullet can blow a man apart, and they were spraying rapidly. Occasionally, laser swords even shoot out of wormholes and stab into the Vice Admiral to stop his movements."

The officer's face was pale, still stunned by what he had witnessed.

Acting on Sengoku's orders, the officer had taken a search party to track down Kuzan along the path to Armory A1. The base wasn't large, but following the route, they eventually found him.

When they arrived, Kuzan was standing alert, scanning the empty surroundings. Other than Kuzan and a few lifeless navy corpses on the ground, there was no one else in sight.

Just as the officer was about to approach, Kuzan shouted, "Watch out for enemy snipers! Don't come any closer!"

Startled, the officer stopped in place and focused his senses on the area. But there was nothing—no enemy in sight for a long stretch in every direction.

Still, he knew Kuzan wouldn't give a false alarm.

Just as confusion crept in, out of the corner of his eye, the officer saw it—a sharp bullet materializing right next to Kuzan's head, fired from empty air. Before anyone could react, it pierced through Kuzan's skull cleanly.

Then—dozens more bullets followed, tearing Kuzan's head into a bloody mist.

"V-Vice Admiral Kuzan's head… it's been blown apart!!" one of the accompanying soldiers cried out in shock.

This was one of the Navy's monster vice admirals, a man with admiral-level power—reduced to a shattered corpse right before their eyes?

But just as disbelief settled in, a chill began to spread in the air. Ice mist gathered rapidly—Kuzan's shattered head began to reform piece by piece until it was whole again.

"Tell the Admiral I won't be able to reinforce A1," Kuzan muttered lazily. "What a pain… I'll probably get chewed out for this later."

"He's healed again!" the soldiers gasped.

"Don't be so surprised. Vice Admiral Kuzan is a Logia user—normal attacks can't hurt him!" the officer snapped to his men.

"True, but whoever's attacking me isn't trying to kill me—they're trying to keep me pinned here. The bullets don't have Haki—if they did, even I would be in trouble. But it looks like I'm going to be stuck dealing with this for a while," Kuzan explained.

"Vice Admiral, please—tell us, who's behind the attack?" the officer asked again.

"Tell the Admiral and the Fleet Commander… to beware the Bloodbound Guard of the Gray Nation," Kuzan said grimly.

But just as the words left his mouth, two searing laser swords burst from wormholes—shooting upward from the ground, piercing through Kuzan's shoulders and nailing him in place.

Still, the chill of his ice powers spread rapidly, freezing the laser blades in moments. As the frost tried to creep into the wormhole's opening, it closed just in time to avoid being frozen.

"This Hole-Hole Fruit… it's even more troublesome than I imagined," Kuzan muttered, narrowing his eyes.