“You b*stard, moss-head! Get down!”
The battle just now had actually been quite short. In just a brief exchange, the four main combatants on the ship had been completely wiped out by Bat-Man.
For the Straw Hats, an opponent who could fly freely, was proficient in both types of Haki, and was a Zoan user was even harder to deal with than Crocodile.
Before Crocodile successfully reflected on himself and received a version update buff, he was no match for Bat-Man.
Decades ago, Crocodile could have still been a threat to Bat-Man, but after losing his fighting spirit and focusing all his energy on Pluton, he was now no longer a match for Bat-Man.
After pushing the people off their body, the four people nervously turned their gaze back to Bat-Man. This opponent seemed even more terrifying than before.
Of course, there was someone far more frightened than those four.
“Usopp, Chopper, make sure to protect me.”
When Bat-Man attacked, he cancelled his Supersonic, allowing the so-called “Weakling Trio” to react. Instinctively, Nami hid behind Chopper and Usopp.
“Damn it, where is Hercules?! Where did it go at such a crucial moment?!”
In truth, Chopper and Usopp were just filling the numbers. The one truly worth relying on was Hercules. The beetle on their ship was far more dependable than the people—this was now common knowledge for Nami.
Although the people on the ship could be relied upon in times of danger, in times of no danger, they were the biggest source of danger.
However, Hercules had flown away shortly after they arrived on Skypiea, and no one knew when it would return.
At this moment, Bat-Man was facing a fierce assault from the four combatants. But no matter how they attacked, they couldn’t even graze him. Every one of their moves was completely within Bat-Man’s expectations.
Even when they managed to land a combo strike, it was blocked by a mysterious black substance that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
“What the hell is with this guy? Isn’t his ability supposed to be a bat? How does he have such ridiculous defense and reaction speed?!”
Their journey through the Grand Line had broadened the Straw Hats’ horizons, giving them a deeper understanding of Zoan-type and Logia-type abilities.
“You know, Zoan users have more detailed classifications. I’m not just any ordinary bat—I’m a Mythical Zoan user. They are even rarer than Logia-type… at least, they used to be.”
If one were to ignore the Beasts Pirates, then Mythical Zoan abilities were indeed rare. But factoring in the Beasts Pirates, calling them “rare” would be a bit of a stretch.
After giving a brief explanation, Bat-Man pulled out the bow and arrows from his back.
“The warm-up is over. Now it’s time to get serious.”
He grabbed a handful of arrows from the quiver and fired them downward without even looking. It seemed like random shooting, yet every arrow was aimed precisely at its target.
This was a sonar-guided arrow he developed using his Supersonic move. It was not as convenient as Setsuna’s Aura arrows, but it does have a basic guidance system.
Boom!
“Watch out! These arrows explode!”
“We saw that! You don’t need to tell us!”
Zoro swung his sword to slash away an incoming arrow from Bat-Man, but the moment his blade made contact, the arrow exploded. The power of Armament Haki put him at a huge disadvantage. As they looked at Bat-Man who kept firing from the sky, they found themselves at a complete loss on how to counter him.
They finally managed to get Luffy in close while also sealing off his escape route above, but Bat-Man instantly stomped his legs dozens of times and used the Soru movement technique to slip out of their encirclement.
Their advantage in numbers couldn’t bridge the overwhelming gap in strength. And with their current strength, they couldn’t overcome the power of Haki, leading to their successive defeats at Bat-Man’s hands.
Sanji and Bon Kurei were the first to fall, which only increased the pressure on Zoro and Luffy.
“Luffy, that guy… he can predict our attacks.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I came up with an idea.”
Luffy adjusted his hat, then suddenly executed a shocking move.
“Gum-Gum Space-Out!”
Luffy’s eyes became vacant, his body wobbled, and he completely relaxed, looking as if he had turned into an actual idiot.
“You… are you joking right now?!”
Seeing Luffy pull a stunt like this at such a crucial moment, Zoro couldn’t help but want to smack him with his sword hilt—but to his surprise, Luffy dodged it effortlessly.
“Interesting. Looks like this might actually work. Chopper, give me a hand—launch me up there!”
With Sanji and Bon Kurei down, Chopper had no choice but to join the fight. Using his enhanced strength, he propelled Zoro into the air, allowing him to approach Bat-Man once again. But the moment he got close, he realized—he had been tricked by Luffy.
He had assumed Luffy had developed some kind of technique to counter Bat-Man’s prediction ability, so he had gone in first to draw fire. But in reality, Luffy just kept spacing out, doing absolutely nothing, even as Zoro got taken down.
“You b*stard…”
Before losing consciousness, Zoro cursed under his breath a couple of times. However, no one could tell whether he was cursing Bat-Man or blaming his captain for being such a troll.
After sacrificing one of his own teammates, Luffy returned to normal.
“Damn it… this won’t work. I can’t attack like this at all.”
Gum-Gum Space-Out was a technique he had developed specifically to counter the unknown power of Observation Haki. By emptying his mind and acting purely on instinct, he becomes unpredictable and thus cannot be predicted by his opponent. However, this also meant that he had no way to counterattack.
“Brat, the world of pirates isn’t child’s play. If you don’t have the resolve to put your life on the line, rookies like you will never be a match for me.”
Bat-Man appeared beside Luffy like a ghost, sinking his sharp fangs into his neck. As poison spread through his body, the main combatants of the Straw Hat Pirates were all defeated.
At this moment, Nami and Usopp’s combat strength was negligible. The only one who piqued Bat-Man’s interest was Chopper.
“A reindeer, huh? The thing you ate… seems quite special.”
Ordinary Zoan-type only have three transformations, but Chopper’s Rumble Ball can distort the wavelengths of the Zoan-type Devil Fruit’s transformation, turning the three transformations into seven. To Bat-Man, this single item is far more interesting than the entire crew combined.
At the same time, Chopper was struggling internally. He had already consumed two Rumble Balls, and the effect was soon about to wear off.
In a way, the Rumble Ball was a kind of poison—it only lasted three minutes. If he took a second pill within six hours, he would lose control over his transformations.
Just now, the fact that he was able to assume his Point forms had been pure luck.
Now, as the second pill’s effect was fading, if he took a third one…
Holding the Rumble Ball in his hand, he glanced at Luffy’s unconscious body, and Bat-Man’s words echoed in his mind.
“The resolve to gamble with your life…”
Crunch. The third Rumble Ball was crushed between his teeth.
In the next instant, a massive reindeer monstrosity appeared before Bat-Man. But instead of fear, his eyes were filled with nothing but excitement.
Chapter 926 Rumble Ball and Excited Bat-Man
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