“Heh heh…” Bullet slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a scarlet streak appearing as his knuckles grazed the wound, the curve of his grin almost tearing his cheek.
“Experience over?” His voice was like sandpaper rubbing steel, each syllable carrying a boiling fighting spirit.
“Roger is dead… I’ve lost my only goal.”
With a crackling of bones, he straightened his body like a mountain.
His knotted muscles gleamed with a metallic luster under the sun, and Armament Haki flowed over his body like a living entity.
First, fine black lines, then converging into a surging tide.
“But!!” Bullet suddenly roared, slamming his right fist onto the ground.
“Boom!!” Centered on him, the pitch-black Armament Haki surged outwards like a tsunami.
The ground disintegrated the moment it was touched, and shattered stones were ground into dust before they could even fly.
This pure Armament Haki torrent even distorted the light, making the distant warship wreckage twist and deform as if kneaded by an invisible giant hand.
【Devil Form】
Displaying his Armament Haki to its extreme, his speed and strength are greatly enhanced, while his entire body turns pitch black, like a “devil from hell.”
This is also one of the reasons he is called “Devil’s Heir Barrett.”
“Can… can Armament Haki do this?” Libo’s rabbit ears stood straight up, watching Bullet transform into a devil.
“It’s just like…” Tesoro’s pupils also trembled, his Adam’s apple bobbing with difficulty: “A devil!!”
“Armament Haki externalization and fusion? No wonder he’s called ‘Devil’s Heir Barrett’!”
Gern’s black hair flew in the wind as he slowly raised black blade eight desolations, its high-frequency humming resonating across the battlefield.
Then, he reversed his grip and plunged black blade eight desolations into the ground, the blade sinking into the rock layer in an instant.
“Buzz—”
Pale white shockwaves rippled out from the blade, and wherever they passed, Bullet’s externalized Armament Haki split like a tide encountering reefs.
Amidst the high-frequency humming, Gern released the hilt, letting black blade eight desolations stand upright on the trembling battlefield.
“Using vibrations to counteract Haki? Interesting.” Bullet licked his teeth.
The next second, both their figures vanished simultaneously.
“But to choose to abandon your weapon when facing me, isn’t that a bit too arrogant, Heaven Quake?” Bullet’s fist, with Armament Haki condensed at its peak, contained no flashy techniques, only the ultimate in power and speed.
With enough force to shatter a mountain, it surged directly towards Gern’s face!
“Arrogant?” Gern’s pupils narrowed slightly, and the moment his Observation Haki predicted the trajectory, his body instinctively reacted.
He chose not to meet it head-on, but rather shifted half a step to the side, his left arm wrapped in Black Flash Haki, using his elbow as a shield to precisely intercept the inside of Bullet’s wrist.
“Black Tremor: Intercept!”
“Bang!” Amidst a dull impact, Bullet’s punch was forcibly deflected, grazing past Gern’s ear.
The wind from the punch pulverized all the debris within a hundred meters behind him.
At the same time, Gern’s counterattack was faster; he instantly placed one hand on the ground and spun, his legs whipping out consecutively, his heels wrapped in high-frequency vibrations, sweeping directly towards Bullet’s waist!
“Black Tremor: Kagura Dance!”
Bullet sneered, not dodging, his abdominal muscles suddenly tensing, Armament Haki covering them like steel for defense.
“Thud!” Amidst a dull impact, Bullet’s body remained motionless; instead, he used the force of Gern’s kick to launch his left fist like a cannonball!
In the nick of time, Gern used his arm to spring up, then crossed his arms to block.
“Boom!” The force of the punch penetrated his defense, numbing his arms and sending him sliding backward, his feet plowing two furrows in the ground.
But before he could even stabilize himself, Bullet lunged like a beast, his fists blurring into afterimages, unleashing a storm of attacks!
The wind from each punch created a vacuum effect, forming countless visible vacuum ripples in an instant.
Gern’s figure flickered within the flurry of punches, using his unique “Micro-Tremor” Observation Haki at full power to evade attacks with the smallest possible movements.
When he occasionally couldn’t completely dodge, he would intercept the punch with a fist wrapped in shockwaves.
But it had to be said, Bullet’s growth speed was truly terrifying; he was completely different now from when he was instantly defeated by one move back then!
“What’s wrong? Can you only dodge?!” Bullet laughed wildly, suddenly changing his move, launching an uppercut from below upwards towards Gern’s chin!
“No, I like you even more, Bullet!” Gern’s eyes sharpened, finally no longer holding back.
His right fist was also wrapped in purplish-black Haki, and vibrating particles rapidly collapsed at the peak of his fist, meeting Bullet’s punch!
The moment their fists collided, a terrifying shockwave exploded in a spherical shape, the ground within a hundred meters collapsing with a roar, and dust soaring into the sky.
A sharp pain shot through Bullet’s fist, and his finger bones emitted faint cracking sounds under the high-frequency vibrations.
Gern’s right arm, however, was merely numb, and he simply shook it off.
For a moment, both men retreated simultaneously, but the fighting spirit in their eyes grew even more intense.
“Hahaha, that’s more like it!” Bullet, as if having found a new goal, likewise shook his numb hands like Gern.
Immediately, Armament Haki covered him again, “You’re no worse than that Roger guy!”
Gern didn’t answer, only slowly assumed a strange starting stance.
His left palm pushed forward, his right fist retracted to his waist, and the aura around him suddenly became restrained, like the calm before a storm.
Bullet’s pupils narrowed slightly; his beast-like intuition made him feel danger.
The next second, Gern’s figure suddenly vanished!
“Tremor Step: Instant Flash!”
Almost at the same moment, Bullet’s Observation Haki gave frantic warnings, and he suddenly twisted his body, sweeping a whip kick behind him.
“Bang!” Gern’s knee strike collided with his whip kick, and an explosion of air erupted.
But Gern’s offensive was continuous; his right fist, like a venomous snake, shot out from an odd angle, aiming directly for Bullet’s throat!
Bullet hastily leaned back, the wind from the punch grazing his throat, leaving a bloody mark.
“Ah!” He roared, his arms clamping down on Gern’s shoulders like iron tongs, attempting to suppress him with brute force.
But Gern’s body, at that moment, vibrated at high frequency, directly materializing and slipping out of his grasp like a fish, then he swung a hand-blade at the back of Bullet’s neck!
“Don’t even think about it!” Bullet roared, his Haoshoku erupting with a bang, forcibly shaking off Gern’s attack.
Then, seizing that instant of an opening, he charged his right fist to its limit, Armament Haki and Haoshoku intertwined, and punched towards Gern’s chest!
Gern had nowhere to dodge and crossed his arms, choosing to meet it head-on.
“Boom!!!” The terrifying force of the punch sent him flying hundreds of meters before he barely managed to stop.
“Whoosh!!” From the collapsing dust, a pale beam of light suddenly shot out; Bullet tilted his head to avoid it, but his cheek was still grazed, leaving a bloody mark.
“As expected!” But from within the dust, Gern slowly stood up, a wild smile playing on his lips as he patted his clothes.
“It seems I have another good candidate for my ‘Calamity’!”
Bullet laughed wildly, clashing his fists together, his muscles rippling like steel: “Is that so!?”
The sea breeze carried the scent of gunpowder across the battlefield, and their Haoshoku clashed again.
The sky, it split open.