Chapter 127 - 127. Defeat

Diamante gripped his sword tightly. He rushed forward and swung his sword.

Leo was about to meet his sword with his fist when he sensed several small objects fly in his direction.

He took back his fist and used soru to move back.

Bang! Boom!

The ground cracked and caved in suddenly. Dust flew everywhere but Leo saw what exactly caused the ground to cave in.

It was several large iron maces and iron balls.

Devil Fruit.

Leo said to himself. He was curious to see what kind of power Diamante had.

He used soru and flashed towards Diamante.

Armed!

His fist was coated with busoshoku haki as he struck out.

The air started to twist and turn when his fist passed through. Diamante suddenly pulled his cape and placed it infront of him.

Leo's fist landed on the cape.

Oh?

His fist struck a steel cape rather one made of cloth.

Diamante coughed out blood behind the steel cape. Though he was able to stop the attack the aftershock from the strike still shook his internal organs.

This time Leo didn't retreat. He advanced and struck the air several times.

The iron ball enlarged in mid air and fell towards Leo. But they were met with his fist coated with busoshoku haki.

Cracks formed on it's surface, soon it burst apart.

Diamante was starting to panic. His cards were useless against his opponent.

Escape!

He didn't hesitate and made a decision.

Leo watched him run away and shook his head, "You can't escape."

Soru!

He flashed towards Diamante. In an instant he was right behind him.

A black fist enveloped by his intent struck down on Diamante.

Boom!

Like a canon ball Diamante was blasted away. He crashed through a building and fell hard on the ground.

Crack!

The ground cracked and caved in when he fell.

Diamante spewed out blood. He felt several of his bones break. A sense of powerlessness washed over him.

Leo landed beside him.

Diamante coughed out blood and suddenly grinned, "Haha, bastard! So what if you defeated me, your ship and crew are done for."

Leo looked at him with a teasing smile, "Well, lucky for you my wife left something on the ship. She went back to get it."

Diamante didn't understand what Leo was saying.

Leo didn't explain. He grabbed one of his legs and started to drag him through the ground.

They soon reached the deck and saw dozens of men on the ground twitching.

Diamante's eyes flew wide open.

What the hell was happening?

Shinobu walked out from the ship and asked, "Is he their leader?"

Leo nodded, "Yeah."

He called out Mace and asked him to chain Diamante.

Mace nearly fell down when he saw Diamante. He swallowed his saliva and asked, "Captain, what should we do about him?"

Leo rolled his eyes, "What else? He attacked me, I beat him. Cuff him kairoseki and throw him inside the brig."

Leo patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I broke several of his bones, he won't be able to move, much less make a ruckus."

Mace was about to cry. My dear captain, that's not the issue here.

He sighed at his bleak future and dragged Diamante to the brig.

The other pirates were also rounded up.

Leo set their course for marineford. With such a huge catch his salary should see a large increment.

Just as they docked at marineford Leo's Den-Den Mushi rang.

Kachak!

He answered it and from it came Sengoku's voice, "What happened? Why did you capture Diamante?"

Leo replied, "He attacked me and I caught him. I will give you a detailed report later."

Sengoku said, "Alright. Try to be careful when you go out next time. Doflamingo isn't gonna take this lying down."

Leo smirked, "I know. I do hope he will come personally. I would like to see how he is gonna make me fish food."

Sengoku brushed off the topic and said, "Diamante will be collected by Doflamingo later this evening."

Leo suddenly went silent.

Sengoku expected his silence and said, "Let it go. Some things can't be helped."

He hung up after saying that.

Leo shook his head and brushed off the topic.

...

New World, Dressrosa.

Doflamingo looked out the window. His face was clouded by a cold expression.

"I didn't expect Diamante to fail. This marine, he isn't simple."

Trebol asked, "What next Doffy? Should we send someone else?"

Doflamingo shook his head and smiled, "No need. When the time comes I will deal with him myself."

...

Leo was training inside a kairoseki room when Mace walked in.

"Captain, Diamante was released."

Leo stopped what he was doing for a second.

Mace sighed and said, "That's why I told you captain. I know you are strong, but those guys have connections all the way to the World Government. Even if we capture them, at the end we have no choice but to give them back. It's not like we can kill them as we like."

Leo didn't comment and continued to train.

When he got home Shinobu was waiting for him with a table full of dishes.

"Trying to cheer me up?"

Shinobu smiled, "And why would you need that? If something this small could influence you, you wouldn't have come this far."

Leo laughed. She was right. He wasn't bothered by what happened. Though he didn't like it, it couldn't possibly influence his mood.

He sat down and ate heartily.

Sitting outside he pulled out the Dragon - Tiger medallion. He stared at it for a while and injected some of his spiritual energy into it.

He could feel a faint connection between it and him. But it was far from enough for him to understand how it worked.

~sign~ it gonna be while before we can go back.

He put the medallion away and closed his eyes. Immediately he entered a trance and started training his spiritual energy.