“That really… is an irritating thing to hear.”
He clenched his fists, and a series of cracking sounds followed.
Although Nereus showed undisguised contempt toward Bullet, Bullet did not become careless because of it.
Looking back on his life, Roger was the most special person he had ever met.
The reason Bullet had made the choices he had today, and the reason he regarded Nereus as a sufficiently powerful opponent, all stemmed from a single sentence Roger had once spoken.
Seeing Nereus standing with his guard wide open without putting up any defense, Bullet did not wait for him to prepare himself like a traditional duelist would. The moment he rose to his feet, he launched his attack.
Bullet stomped forward and burst into motion. Under the influence of Haki, both of his arms had completely turned blue, and even his face was stained by the color of that Haki.
The unique Haki made him resemble a blue demon, which was also the origin of his nickname, “Demon Heir.”
“Ultimate Cannon!”
Although Bullet’s entire upper body was enveloped in Haki, it was still obvious that an even greater amount of Haki was gathering toward his right arm.
No matter who it was, the amount of Haki within their body was finite. Once it was exhausted, time was needed to recover it.
In the original timeline, Bullet mastered some unique techniques after awakening his Devil Fruit. However, the giant form created after transforming the island was indeed effective against wide-area attacks like the Marines’ Buster Call.
No matter how numerous they were, weak cannon fodder could never compete with such a colossal monster.
But in battles against opponents of the same level, that enormous and cumbersome body was nothing more than a burden.
Its gigantic size looked terrifying, but it also caused Haki to be spread even thinner. Even with Bullet’s vast reserves of Haki, distributing it across a giant of that scale would reduce its defensive effectiveness.
At present, Bullet’s fruit had not yet awakened, so he could not create such a thing. In truth, that was a good thing.
If he really entered that state, he would lose even faster.
Under the same circumstances, Bullet in his normal form could actually last longer against Nereus.
Though it was only the first punch he threw, Bullet made no attempt to test the waters. He was already fighting with his full strength.
Nereus didn’t put up any defense just as before, even looking somewhat bored as he let out a yawn.
None of this affected the punch Bullet threw. He firmly believed that as long as this punch landed, it would change that contemptuous attitude and teach Nereus the consequences of underestimating an opponent.
Back on the battlefield, he had encountered countless enemies like this—too many to count. There had been enemies, traitorous comrades, and even the commanding officer.
And in the end, all of those arrogant fools had died. Only he remained alive.
Boom!
Bullet threw a punch overflowing with confidence. As a thunderous explosion rang out, the ground beneath them shattered and cracked apart, while the pressure generated by the collision swept outward in all directions.
The sensation at the front of his fist told Bullet that he had hit his target. Until the very end, Nereus had made no attempt to dodge.
Yet according to his Observation Haki, there was no one standing before him at all. That alone proved that Nereus’s Observation Haki was superior to his own.
Someone with stronger Observation Haki could completely conceal their presence from another person’s Observation Haki and evade detection.
There were even special cases like Red Hair’s. His Observation Killing, derived from Conqueror’s Haki, could directly nullify an opponent’s Observation Haki, making the target impossible to sense.
Once Observation Haki became useless, all that remained was the body’s natural senses. Although his punch had clearly struck something, his opponent had not moved back even an inch.
As the dust dispersed, Bullet finally saw the scene before him with his own eyes.
An invisible barrier stood between the two of them. The land on Bullet’s side was covered in cracks, yet the ground behind Nereus remained completely untouched. There was not even a trace of dust.
Even a light fallen leaf lay quietly upon the ground.
“Armament Haki alone can’t break through the defenses of Conqueror’s Haki. Since Roger left such a deep impression on you… I’ll use something you’re familiar with.”
Before Bullet could understand what Nereus meant, Nereus raised his hand like a blade and slashed toward him.
There was no weapon in his hand. Yet the movement felt indescribably familiar to Bullet.
Whoosh!
The wind from the palm strike rushed toward him. Almost instinctively, Bullet crossed his arms before his body, concentrating every last bit of Armament Haki into them.
Black-blue Haki condensed solidly around his arms, while the emitted portion formed a thick, heavy shield before him.
But none of it mattered.
Crack… crack…
The instant it came into contact with Nereus’s attack, Bullet’s defenses shattered like a mirror. They did not even last a single second.
The next moment, Bullet’s body was sent flying backward. He tried to regain control of himself, but could not.
The terrifying force seemed intent on tearing him apart. Only after he was blasted all the way to the shallows, with his calves sinking deep into the muddy shoreline, did Bullet finally manage to come to a stop.
Bullet knew very well that it was not because he had withstood that attack. Rather, Nereus had deliberately chosen to send him flying to this exact spot.
What it meant to be blown away in a single strike by a Fish-Man powerhouse who wasn’t even taking advantage of a water source was something Bullet understood clearly. His opponent had not even used a Devil Fruit ability.
For Zoan users, the strongest form was the Human-Beast form. The all-around enhancement to physical abilities after transforming into Beast Form was enough to produce a qualitative leap in strength. That single attack alone had already demonstrated the gap between them.
Most importantly…
“Kamusari…”
Having only his calves submerged in seawater was not enough to leave Bullet completely weak and powerless. The hand-blade strike Nereus had just unleashed was clearly Roger’s Kamusari.
For Bullet, who had challenged Roger for years, that technique was all too familiar.
“How do you know that move?!”
Bullet was both shocked that Nereus could use Roger’s technique and angered that he had used it.
He was shocked because, throughout all those years, it had been Roger’s signature move, and almost no one had been able to learn it.
He was angered because Nereus was obviously not proficient with it. It looked more like a casual strike than anything else. Yet it was precisely that casual strike that had left him utterly unable to resist.
“I don’t owe you an explanation for that. You lost. Do you accept it?”
The reason Nereus knew the technique was simple – Roger’s soul.
More accurately, it wasn’t just Roger’s technique. Including Rocks, every soul that entered the River of Death allowed Nereus to understand the abilities and combat skills that person had mastered in life.
The only issue was that the River of Death contained an enormous number of souls, and under normal circumstances, Nereus had no interest in examining them one by one.
Even Roger’s Kamusari had been something he had learned on the spot just moments ago. He had his own way of fighting and saw no need to imitate others.
The only reason he used Kamusari here was because Roger happened to be especially effective against Bullet.
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