White fur covered Zeraora’s original coat, with only a streak of differently colored fur remaining on the top of his head. Electric currents coursed through his skin, and terrifying lightning flickered across every strand of fur.
Several black stripes appeared even more dangerous against the white backdrop. This was far more than a simple change in appearance.
As the eldest son, this was Zeraora’s unique berserk transformation. Even without Outrage, it provided a comprehensive boost to his physical abilities, equivalent to a buff personally granted by Arceus.
The claws at his fingertips extended like short daggers, and the fangs at the corners of his mouth exuded a dangerous aura.
Under the enhancement of Outrage, his eyes turned blood-red, and his beast-like gaze sent a chill even through Kizaru.
“What a coincidence. Every time it involves the Beasts Pirates, I always run into you.”
The playful look on Kizaru’s face faded, replaced with a hint of seriousness, as if he had switched to an entirely different style.
His previous mission location had been far from here. First, he obtained the Eternal Pose to the G14 base from a Marine branch, then received SWORD members’ Vivre Card from Doll.
Although his main objective was Garp, not just anyone had Garp’s Vivre Card, nor would they always carry it. Compared to taking a detour, it was faster to use what Doll had, since they were operating in the same area.
Kizaru had already used his maximum speed, yet he was still intercepted by Zeraora midway. This meant that reinforcements from the Beasts Pirates had arrived as well.
Unlike the Marines, where only he could provide effective support in a short time, that island was in Beasts Pirates’ central area. The longer the delay, the more enemies would gather.
“If you came here and ran into me, isn’t that only natural?”
In an instant, Zeraora and Kizaru had already switched positions. Lightning coiled around the tips of Zeraora’s claws, and under the conversion of his internal energy, the immense electrical energy had already taken on a physical form.
“Thunder Claw.”
Kizaru was no less prepared. At this moment, he held two light swords, one in each hand.
“Ama no Murakumo Sword.”
They hadn’t merely switched places. What just occurred was not only a clash of sword and claw, but also a clash of lightning and light. In that brief moment, both had launched more than one attack, but the speed was so extreme that no outsider could see it clearly.
If one couldn’t keep up with their speed, they couldn’t fight them at all. For anyone else, whether to fight or not would be up to Kizaru, but only Zeraora could impose absolute restraint on him.
“I don’t feel like fighting you right now, but it looks like you won’t let me go that easily.”
Kizaru swung his sword to the side, and several lasers shot along the blade’s direction, destroying the Aura arrows fired from midair.
The Glint-Glint Fruit affected his entire body. Whether light arrows or anything else, they were merely extensions of his ability. Launching lasers through weapons posed no difficulty for Kizaru.
“You really are bullying a lone man.”
High in the sky, Setsuna had already entered her Sulong form. Her fur, elongated under the stimulation of Sulong, flowed with the wind. The longbow formed from Aura in her hands was fully drawn, each arrow shooting out like a full moon.
“Yasakani Sacred Jewel: Scared Yata Sange!”
With his twin swords circling at his sides, Kizaru’s body emitted an extremely dazzling light. The brilliance was so intense it was almost blinding. Unlike the previous laser beams, what he unleashed now were waves of laser slashes.
“Sacred Yata Mirror.”
At the moment of the attack, a beam of light transmitted toward the distance. He knew clearly that such a large-scale technique would have little effect while Zeraora still had plenty of stamina.
This massive attack was mainly to buy himself a brief window of time.
His speed was already very close to Zeraora’s. If he could gain even a few seconds of advantage, it would be extremely difficult for Zeraora to catch up again.
As long as he could use the Sacred Yata Mirror to successfully widen the distance, Kizaru could continue his original mission. But before he could leave the battlefield, Aura arrows once again homed in on him, and Zeraora followed closely behind, sticking close to him.
Aura spheres were also condensed in his hands, and the Aura arrows fired by Setsuna were drawn by the Aura power in Zeraora’s hands, converging to pincer Kizaru.
Aura itself was an extremely mysterious force. Everyone possessed their own Aura. Even if one could neither see nor hear, the unique ripples of Aura could still convey their identity to others.
Zeraora wasn’t particularly skilled in Aura, but he could still use it to some extent. Combined with Setsuna’s increasingly refined control over Aura power, the two could execute highly unique coordination.
“We’ve fought each other plenty of times. Don’t overestimate yourself. If you think you can leave this easily, you’re dreaming!”
Zeraora was very familiar with Setsuna’s Aura. Under the guidance of his Aura, Setsuna only needed to draw her bow rapidly in a general direction, and the arrows she released would gain tracking capability.
“Susanoo • Light Slash!”
As Kizaru brought his hands together, the two weapons merged into one and swept horizontally toward Zeraora. Setsuna kept her distance from him, entrusting all close combat to Zeraora, leaving Kizaru with no openings.
A dazzling semicircle erupted in the sky centered on Kizaru, temporarily forcing Zeraora back, but Kizaru also noticed something.
“Looks like I’ve entered your domain.”
His gaze fell upon the buttons of his clothes; the metal buttons seemed to be pulled by some kind of force.
Among the veteran three Admirals, Kizaru had a rather special background. He had once cooperated with Vegapunk on research for a period of time.
Setting aside differences in standpoint, Vegapunk’s technological prowess was indeed outstanding. Even though Kizaru wasn’t a scientist, he had been influenced to some extent.
“Your ability… it’s not just electricity, is it?”
“You can take your time figuring that out.”
Zeraora didn’t bother explaining anything to Kizaru. Wrapped in lightning once again, he engaged him in battle. In truth, Kizaru’s guess was correct. He had indeed fallen into the combat domain of Zeraora and Setsuna.
In places beyond the range of human sight, Setsuna’s Aura had already spread out into a vast Aura net, allowing her to lock onto Kizaru’s position more quickly.
And the power Kizaru sensed was Zeraora’s magnetic field.
Zeraora could release massive currents from the pads of his hands and feet, generating a powerful magnetic field.
This magnetic field was the fundamental force behind his flight and high-speed movement. The stronger the power he unleashed, the stronger the magnetic field became. Those strands of Magnet Pull were precisely why Kizaru couldn’t shake him off no matter what.
The three unleashed their attacks freely across the vast sky, constantly shifting the battlefield, yet Kizaru was unable to break free from the two of them. His mission had reached a stalemate.
Meanwhile, on Socializing Island, the pirates’ morale continued to rise.
“Go! Take that brat down!”
“Idiot, Boss Queen said to capture him alive!”
“Oh, I just got here, then we’ll capture him alive! Go!”
White streaks occasionally cut across the sea surface. Pirates who missed the air troops’ flight and found ships too slow were gradually arriving by swimming, while others rode in on waves with the help of gigantic Magikarp near Wano Country.
Ordinary Magikarp might only know Splash, but depending on the sea environment, they had evolved to adapt. At the very least, in terms of swimming speed, these large Magikarp were no less capable than ordinary marine creatures.
The newly arrived pirates were an endless source of reinforcements. For every one the Marines knocked down, two more would take their place. This endless swarm tactic was enough to drive anyone to despair, and those who dared arrive early were far from weak.
Helmeppo swung the saber in his hand at the pirate before him, but in the end, it cut through empty air.
“I saw that!”
The pirate who had dodged the slash didn’t stop moving. His cheeks bulged instantly, and a mass of unknown liquid was spat from his mouth. The moment it came into contact with the air, it vaporized, turning into a thick cloud of dense fog.
“Helmeppo! Watch out!”
The fog blocked Helmeppo’s vision. This was a bird species that lived in high mountains. They possessed special glands that could secrete a unique liquid, forming a biological smoke bomb to obstruct predators’ sight.
Seeing the sharp talons clawing toward Helmeppo, Koby shoved him aside.
“Shigan!”
“Shigan!”
The same technique collided, but it was clear that Koby was at a disadvantage.
“Glorp Web!”
Prince Grus raised his hand and threw out a lump of clay, which transformed midair into a web that caught Koby.
“Hey, hey, hey! Getting distracted like that. Are you disrespecting me?!”
A lion engulfed in flames charged out in front of Prince Grus. As the battle continued, Holed’em’s blazing mane scorched the enemy before him.
Perhaps influenced by Shanks’ “face” ability, more and more people had begun to care about saving face. In the current situation, not a single Marine could afford to relax. They each had to deal with at least one pirate, and that was only because the pirates were taking turns.
They were even placing bets on who would capture these Marines.
“Golems!”
A small giant made of clay appeared in front of Holed’em. These lifeless constructs were SWORD’s largest source of manpower—fearless, and with bodies that could regenerate like Logia types, they had once caused the pirates quite a bit of trouble.
Even when using Haki, these clay creations wouldn’t be destroyed. As a creation-type Paramecia ability, the clay didn’t share the same weaknesses as Devil Fruit user, but Holed’em wasn’t afraid of them.
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