“Drip!” Bullet looked down at the gruesome knife mark on his chest, blood trickling down the grooves of his muscles, dripping onto the charred ground.
Especially at this moment, Gern’s mocking face was even more…
“Are you toying with me?” Bullet clenched his teeth, his pupils slightly constricted, then he grinned, revealing a ferocious smile.
“Since that’s the case…” He slowly raised his hand, wiped the wound, and his fingertips were covered in blood.
Then he suddenly clenched his fist, and blood splattered between his fingers.
Conqueror's Haki erupted, dark red lightning wrapped around his entire body like mad snakes, the ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch, and broken stones floated up.
Gern flicked the blood beads off his blade. The edge of black blade eight desolations showed pale white cracks, and the surrounding air twisted due to high-frequency vibrations.
“What?” He tilted his head, a dangerous arc forming at the corner of his mouth, “Finally willing to be serious?”
“Don’t get carried away, you bastard! I’m not the same as I used to be!!!” Bullet roared, slamming his right fist onto the ground.
“Combined Armor!!”
“Rumble!!”
The entire island trembled violently. Countless rocks, warship wrecks, and even metal fragments in the seawater were drawn towards Bullet as if by an invisible hand, converging madly.
His body was instantly enveloped in thick metal, layer upon layer, finally transforming into a giant steel titan hundreds of meters tall!
Black Armament Haki covered his entire body like liquid, and dark red Haoshoku lightning flowed across the metal surface.
Every piece of armor squirmed like a living thing, adjusting to the optimal defensive posture.
“Tsk tsk tsk.” Gern narrowed his eyes slightly, the blade of black blade eight desolations trembled gently, emitting a low hum.
“The awakened Combined Fruit…” He murmured softly.
“You still chose your weakest fighting style, just like back then!”
“Now, let’s see if your vibrations can still shake me!”
Bullet, who hadn’t heard Gern’s words, let out a furious roar from within the steel titan, like a muffled thunderclap.
The next second, the titan’s right arm suddenly lifted, and the metal restructured, forming a giant warhammer, entwined with black and red Haki, slamming down with full force!
Before the warhammer even arrived, the terrifying pressure had already caused the ground beneath Gern’s feet to collapse.
“Heaven Quake: Boundary Break!!” black blade eight desolations instantly slashed horizontally.
The moment the blade and the warhammer collided, space shattered like a mirror, and pale white shockwaves exploded in a ring.
The impact cleared the uneven ground within a hundred-meter radius, instantly turning it into a flat arena.
Gern’s feet were deeply embedded in the ground, holding the blade with both hands to resist, but the smile on his lips grew even more unrestrained.
“Good power…” He spun around abruptly, the blade sliding up the side of the warhammer, its high-frequency vibrating edge tearing the metal armor inch by inch!
“But it’s not enough!!”
Bullet’s pupils constricted, and his left fist suddenly shot out, the metal giant arm rocketing straight towards Gern’s face like a cannonball.
Gern neither dodged nor retreated, his left hand forming a claw, and he fiercely grabbed at the void.
“Heaven Quake: Sky Shackles!!”
“Crack!” Bullet’s fist abruptly stopped above Gern’s head, as if hitting an invisible wall.
Pale, spiderweb-like cracks appeared in space, forcibly locking down his attack!
“Not good, being bigger makes it…“ Bullet was startled, realizing that his fighting style was problematic.
But Gern was already dragging Eight Desolations, sparks and lightning trailing from his arm, rushing straight towards him!
“You’re too clumsy, Bullet.”
As he spoke, the edge of black blade eight desolations burst forth with dazzling white light. Wherever the blade passed,
Space was neatly cut open like thin paper, and the metal armor was shattered at the molecular level, turning into dust and scattering!
“Boom!!” Bullet’s steel titan’s chest was forcefully split open by this single strike, and the moment his body was exposed,
A Black Blade came straight at him. Bullet barely dodged, but Gern’s figure was like a Flying Thunder God.
He had already rushed in front of him, grasping the hilt of Eight Desolations, wrapping it in purple-black Haki, while simultaneously, vibrating particles transformed into a light blade extending to fifty meters.
“Heaven Quake: Fifty-Meter Great Blade… Slash!!”
“Bang!!” Bullet’s body was heavily struck in the waist by this slash. His Armament Haki armor shattered, and he was sent flying backward like a cannonball, staggering back repeatedly.
Gern, on the other hand, used the recoil to directly flip backward in the air and land, slowly closing his eyes.
The blade of black blade eight desolations drooped slightly, and from the tsuba as a singularity, rough, tree-root-like pale white cracks frantically extended outwards.
For a moment, it was like a giant ice flower, Condensation in mid-air.
“Heaven Quake…” Gern’s voice was very light, yet it was like dropping a bomb on the entire battlefield.
The next second, his figure suddenly vanished.
Bullet’s pupils sharply constricted, attempting to defend, but—it was too late!
A pale white blade light, like divine punishment, pierced through heaven and earth!
Wherever the blade passed, space silently shattered, and time seemed to stand still for an instant.
Bullet’s steel titan didn’t even have time to react. Gern was already a hundred meters behind him, slowly opening his eyes.
“Divine Slash.” As he spoke, a straight white horizontal mark appeared on the titan’s chest, followed by space tearing open to reveal a pitch-black void.
“Crack—crunch—”
The metal armor disintegrated inch by inch, the ability of the Combined Fruit was shattered at the molecular level, and the entire steel titan collapsed like a sandcastle!
“Pfft!!” Bullet’s body fell from the shattered metal, violently spitting out a large mouthful of blood, his knees buckling, and he heavily knelt on the ground.
“Cough… cough cough…” He gasped heavily, his eyes filled with disbelief, “How is this possible? Just now, clearly…”
At this moment, Gern’s figure slowly approached, black blade eight desolations pointed diagonally at the ground, and he lightly flicked his wrist.
The scattered bandage fragments in the air seemed to be summoned, gathering and re-wrapping around the blade of black blade eight desolations.
The gray-white strips of cloth fluttered slightly in the wind, as if they had never been broken.
Looking at the man walking towards him, Bullet stared intently at Gern, the bloodstains on his lips still fresh, but he suddenly grinned and laughed.
“Ha… Hahaha!!” His laughter was hoarse and maniacal, “Truly… exhilarating!!”
“Stop pretending! All your emotions show on your face, you guy.” Gern finished speaking, slowly raising his blade, its tip pointing at Bullet’s brow.
“You lost again, Bullet.”
Bullet sneered, looking directly into Gern’s eyes without fear. Blood continuously overflowed from his wounds, yet it still couldn’t hide his madness.
“Heh heh… Hahaha!” He bared his blood-stained teeth, “So what? Do you want to kill me?
Or are you going to parade me around with Sea Stone handcuffs like Roger, proclaiming your achievements?”
Gern did not answer immediately, just quietly looked at him.
The next second, “Clang!” black blade eight desolations returned to its sheath at his waist.
Bullet frowned, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Gern then slowly spoke: “Didn’t you feel life was meaningless because you lost your goal, which is why you chose to rampage?”
“…..!” Bullet’s pupils suddenly constricted, his breathing momentarily halted.
“You…”
“If that’s the case…” Gern interrupted him: “Then let me become your goal.”
His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable sense of pressure.
“You lost to me twice.”
“Roger, I also arrested him.”
Bullet’s fists clenched suddenly, his knuckles cracking: “Roger wasn’t at all…”
“But the fact is, he lost!” Gern’s voice suddenly rose, his gaze sharp as a blade.
“I captured him alone! If he truly was a so-called ‘strong man’—
Whether it was despicable or cunning! He wouldn’t have given me any opportunity whatsoever!
Because these techniques are useless in the face of absolute power.”
Bullet gritted his teeth, the anger in his eyes surging, yet he couldn’t refute.
Because Roger’s decision from the very beginning was to seek death!!
“Moreover…” Gern stared at Bullet, a wild smile slowly forming at the corner of his mouth.
“I’m certain…”
“I have the right to make you follow me for the rest of your life because you can’t defeat me!”
Bullet’s breathing became heavy, and Haoshoku lightning faintly flickered around him.
But this time, he didn’t roar, didn’t retort, just stared intently at Gern, as if trying to see through him.
Gern extended his hand, palm up, his gaze like a torch.
“The things Roger didn’t lead you to comprehend, why not…”
“Let me show you, the so-called…”
“Appearance of the World’s Peak!”
The sea wind howled, and on the smoke-filled battlefield, Gern’s voice boomed like thunder.
“The Devil among my ‘Calamities’…”
“Douglas Bullet!!”