Zodyl hefted his massive war hammer and charged straight at Pons.
His stature and appearance were vastly different from the other pirates, so Pons could tell at a glance that this man was their leader.
It had to be said…
a giant of roughly two meters and forty centimeters barreling forward was quite an imposing sight.
Especially since Pons, in his Gengar form, stood only a meter and a half tall.
The contrast made him look even more miniature.
But Pons knew that in this world, true “powerhouses” over three meters tall were not uncommon…
some even reached five or six meters.
Compared to those truly colossal beings, Zodyl, though massive by ordinary standards, was nothing special.
And besides, Pons had the high ground.
There was no need to be overly intimidated.
As Zodyl charged, his mind was racing.
That strange thing was hovering in midair, and the ground beneath it was blanketed in poisonous smoke.
If he recklessly charged in, he would end up poisoned just like the others.
Moreover, some of his men, though not dead, were still mentally deranged and swinging their swords wildly at anyone nearby.
While he could easily overpower them, it would not look good for the captain to go around killing his own underlings.
But Zodyl had his own way of dealing with the situation.
As he reached the edge of the toxic fog, he gathered his strength and leaped…
launching himself straight toward Pons in the air.
Zodyl was not only tall but also remarkably agile.
That single bound carried him over ten meters into the air, landing him above and ahead of Pons.
This was not a world that operated by ordinary logic.
Grunts were one thing, but for a fighter of Zodyl’s caliber, such a leap was not at all surprising.
Now above Pons, Zodyl swung his great hammer down toward him.
But Pons did not dodge, nor did he block.
He did not seem concerned about being hit at all.
And indeed…
Zodyl’s hammer passed straight “through” Pons’s body, leaving him swinging at empty air.
What was this?!
Zodyl’s mind reeled in shock.
As a Ghost-type Pokémon, Gengar possessed the ability to turn intangible, causing enemy attacks to phase right through him.
In the Pokémon games, this intangibility was represented simply as immunity to Normal- and Fighting-type moves.
In the Pokémon anime, however, it was often depicted more vividly.
Zodyl’s strike missed, and his body began to fall back toward the ground.
Fortunately, he had calculated his jumping angle beforehand, so he would land outside the range of the poisonous fog and avoid being poisoned.
But Pons was not about to let Zodyl off so easily.
He aimed at Zodyl and spat two more globs of Acid Spray at him.
With no way to dodge while airborne, Zodyl could only shield his face with his arms.
The two globs of acid struck his left shoulder and ribs, sending searing pain drilling into his body from the impact points.
However, unlike the ordinary grunts who wore little to no protection, Zodyl, as captain, wore a leather vest.
The acid globs hit the vest, quickly eating through the leather and continuing to corrode the skin beneath.
While Zodyl was still injured, the vest did offer some measure of protection, so his wounds were not as severe as those suffered by the earlier grunts.
Pons gave Zodyl no time to catch his breath.
He darted to within three or four meters of Zodyl, rapidly formed a basketball-sized orb of purple-black energy in his right hand, and hurled it at him.
This, too, was one of Gengar’s moves…
Shadow Ball!
Shadow Ball did not travel particularly fast through the air, but with Pons and Zodyl so close, and Zodyl’s massive frame offering a huge target, he could not evade in time.
The Shadow Ball struck him square in the chest and exploded.
Shadow Ball packed a considerable punch.
Hit by the blast, Zodyl let out a pained roar and staggered backward several steps.
His chest had been torn open by the explosion, blood and flesh mangled.
The pain was far worse than what the Acid Spray had caused, and it planted a seed of fear in Zodyl’s heart.
He began to think of retreat.
He turned and fled, shouting to his surviving men as he ran: “Fall back, lads!
We’re getting out of here!” The surviving pirates also turned tail and ran.
Pons did not want to let these enemies return only to bite him again in the future…
especially not their captain.
He gave chase immediately.
But just as Pons was about to catch up to Zodyl, a crossbow bolt suddenly flew at him.
Pons quickly turned intangible, and the bolt passed harmlessly through him.
Had he been even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been wounded.
That momentary distraction, however, allowed Zodyl to widen the gap.
The one who had attacked Pons was Zodyl’s first mate, Oko.
He was skilled with a crossbow, and the short bow he carried was his signature weapon.
Whenever Zodyl encountered a foe he could not overcome alone, Oko would provide long-range fire support to help him win.
But against Gengar’s intangibility, his bolts served no purpose other than to cover Zodyl’s escape.
Pons showed Oko no mercy.
He closed in quickly, aimed, and fired a Shadow Ball straight at him.
The Shadow Ball struck Oko’s chest and detonated, sending blood spraying everywhere.
Oko’s body crumpled to the ground, convulsed for a moment, and then fell completely still…
his last breath gone.
Unlike Zodyl, who was tall and thick-skinned, Oko could not withstand such a blow.
That Shadow Ball had severely damaged his heart, and there was no coming back from it.
By now, Zodyl had already made it to the harbor.
With his long legs and powerful stride, he covered ground quickly even while carrying his heavy weapon.
He was fast indeed.
Zodyl scrambled aboard his ship and, without bothering with the rest of his crew, ordered the navigators left on board to set sail immediately.
After all, he could always recruit more men later…
but if he died, everything was over.
But Pons continued the pursuit.
He could fly…
so what if Zodyl had set sail?
As long as the ship was slower than he was, he would eventually catch up.
The three pirate ships had all begun to depart, each carrying only a handful of pirates.
Zodyl stood on the middle ship, directing the helmsman to flee with all haste.
Pons gave chase without pause and soon flew directly above Zodyl’s vessel.
Zodyl saw him and his temples throbbed with frustration.
He knew he was no match for this opponent, so he had no choice but to beg for mercy.
He called out to Pons: “If you stop chasing me, I’ll give you all the loot we’ve taken…
over ten million Berry!” Even as he shouted, Zodyl’s heart pounded with anxiety.
After all, if Pons killed him, he could plunder the money anyway…
and with Zodyl’s twenty-million-berry bounty, that would be another fortune on top.
In truth, Pons had no idea how high Zodyl’s bounty was.
He had no interest in the pirates’ stolen money either.
He only wanted to make these villainous pirates pay for their crimes.
“Shadow Ball!” Pons formed another orb of shadow energy and hurled it at Zodyl on the deck.
Space was tight on the deck, leaving Zodyl little room to dodge.
He could only swing his hammer up to meet the incoming Shadow Ball.
The Shadow Ball struck the surface of the hammer with a loud explosion.
The hammer was made of sturdy material, so the impact only left a slight dent on its spherical head.
Pons sneered inwardly.
He would keep firing Shadow Balls and see if Zodyl could block them all with that hammer.
Even if he did, his stamina would eventually give out…
once he could no longer swing that heavy weapon, what would he do then?
So Pons continued generating Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball and hurling them at Zodyl.
Zodyl could only keep swinging his hammer to deflect them.
Of course, continuously creating Shadow Balls drained Pons’s energy as well.
It became a race to see who would run out first.
Pons had considered using Smog or Confuse Ray instead, but the harbor was quite windy…
Smog would likely be blown away.
As for Confuse Ray, given his current level of strength, on an opponent of Zodyl’s caliber, it might not work effectively…
or at all.
At this moment, Zodyl was swinging his hammer with all his might.
Though he was managing to hold off Pons’s barrage of Shadow Balls, his terror was steadily mounting.
He could feel his strength slipping away…
sooner or later, he would collapse.
Zodyl knew that Pons must also be exhausting himself with that continuous assault.
But if Pons tired first, he could simply fly away.
If Zodyl tired first, he would be left severely wounded…
or dead.
In desperation, Zodyl hit upon a clever idea: why not jump into the sea and escape by swimming?
He did not know exactly what this creature was, but many so-called monsters were actually Devil Fruit users who had transformed using their abilities.
If this creature was also a Devil Fruit user, then it would surely fear seawater.
Zodyl, despite his massive build, was a strong swimmer.
If he could find an opportunity to dive in and swim underwater, this ability-user would not be able to pursue him.
He could hold his breath for a long time.
If he dove to a depth of over ten meters and swam at top speed for several minutes, the creature would lose track of him.
Once he surfaced again, he should be able to shake it off completely.
After that, he could find another island or flag down a passing ship to get back on land, and escape the danger entirely.
This plan carried the risk of drowning, but at least his chances of survival were far better than waiting until he was too exhausted to fight and letting that monster have its way with him.