Eroking
patreon
Chapter 175: I'm a Monster Too!
🕑 Added 2025-09-07 12:00:15 +0000 UTCChapter 175: I'm a Monster Too!
"Akainu lost?"
Nami was taken aback for a moment, then she pumped her fist and cheered. "As expected of my brother!"
"Don't celebrate too soon. It's not that simple,"
Kuina said, looking at the sea and shaking her head slightly. "No one in this world can defeat a Marine Admiral that easily. If they lost their combat ability just by falling into the sea, then the majority of the top powerhouses in the world wouldn't be Devil Fruit users."
Huh???
Nami was completely confused.
What can you do if you've fallen into the sea?
The last time she had been napping on the bow of the ship, she had rolled over and fallen into the sea.
She had immediately become weak and disoriented. If Gin hadn't noticed and jumped in to pull her out, she would have drowned.
Kuina was speechless.
Can you really compare yourself to a Marine Admiral?
She sighed and was about to explain when she seemed to sense something and her expression grew grim as she looked off into the distance.
"Are they here?"
It was now close to dusk.
In the setting sun, Marine fleets appeared in three directions at almost the same time: the north, the southwest, and the southeast. The base numbers on their sails were all different.
The other crew members followed her gaze and also noticed the scene, their expressions varied.
"We're surrounded!"
Nojiko impatiently put on her Mithril Gloves and slammed her fists together, a biting cold emanating from them. "Hehe, just in time. There was no one to fight on Fish-Man Island. My hands were getting a little itchy."
"Are we having a naval battle?" Robin chuckled. In the past, it would have been difficult for her to even get close to an enemy ship, but now that she had mastered Moonwalk and could even use her fruit to create wings, she was also a formidable fighter at sea.
"G-1, G-5, G-14,"
Smoker said, blowing a smoke ring. He pulled out his jitte from behind his back and said calmly, "The Marine fleets of the three New World branches are all here at the same time. Tsk, they're really giving us a lot of face."
"Let's do it like before, everyone!"
Nami said, puffing out her chest, full of confidence. "You guys take care of the troublesome Marine Vice Admirals and the like. As for the Captains and the grunts, I, the user of the Flame-Flame Fruit, will hold them off for you!"
"Is that so?"
Zeff, who was still slowly clearing the table, said, "Let me remind you, you're in the New World now. Even the low-ranking Marines, many of them can use Haki."
"Huh?! That's so cheap?!"
Nami's face fell. Her eyes darted around, and she looked at Jack. "Then my mission is yours, Jack! I-I'll just stay here and guard the ship! I won't let any cannonballs or anything hit it!"
"No problem, Boss Nami!" Jack immediately grinned in response.
"Can you handle it on your own?" Smoker asked, shooting a sidelong glance at Nami.
"It's fine. I'll stay too. The front line is for you young people,"
Zeff said, picking up the last few plates with a grin.
That's more like it. With the old geezer's leg techniques, The Curtain Call would be completely safe. Smoker finally nodded and, under Nami's gritted-teeth glare, he looked away.
"That's the plan, then,"
Kuina said, her right hand on the hilt of her sword, and she took a deep breath. "We'll attack them head-on, and we'll hold off the warships in the distance. We absolutely cannot let them interfere with Lord Shane. Does everyone understand?"
"Understood!"
"Alright, prepare for battle!"
SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!
Several figures shot out from the deck with Moonwalk, and in groups of two or three, they charged toward the warships in three different directions.
…
On the shore, Doll was still staring at the sea. Normally, she should have returned to her warship and met up with the other Vice Admiral from the G-14 branch to command her fleet and complete the encirclement.
But… if Admiral Akainu had lost his combat ability, what was the point of the encirclement?
And besides, she absolutely did not believe that Akainu was a man who could be so easily defeated…
BOOM!!!
In that instant, a large area of the sea near the old lighthouse suddenly began to churn violently.
So it's true!
A look of joy appeared in Doll's eyes.
In her pupils, the previously azure seawater, with the spot where Akainu had sunk as its center, was now turning a crimson red at a visible rate.
In just a few seconds, the sea within a radius of several hundred meters was completely boiling, and the churning waves had turned into searing magma, turning the entire sea area into a fiery inferno!
SWISH!
A massive wave of magma shot up from the sea, and Akainu, stepping on a giant pillar of molten rock, rose again, his entire body bathed in fire, like a red demon that had just crawled out of hell.
"As expected, it's not that simple,"
Shane said, as if he had already predicted this.
For these top-tier powerhouses who had roamed the seas for decades, falling into the sea was probably not a one-time thing. They would always have a way to deal with it.
Akainu's method was very crude.
—He had coated his entire body in a thick layer of Armament Haki to create a barrier against the seawater.
And then he had activated his ability, either eliminating the surrounding seawater or turning it into another substance, and then he had returned to the surface.
This sounded simple.
But it was very, very difficult to actually do.
A Devil Fruit user, completely submerged in seawater, the weakness was no joke.
Someone with a weaker will wouldn't even have been able to use a shred of Haki, let alone coat their entire body in it and completely block out the seawater.
Only a true powerhouse like Akainu, with an incredibly strong will, could have exploded in such a desperate situation and overcome the sea's malice toward Devil Fruit users!
"Brat…"
Akainu's face was dark, but his expression was grim as he stared at Shane.
His Justice coat had been burned away, revealing his powerful upper body, his muscles well-defined, but covered in old and new scars.
The newest one was, of course, the scar on his right shoulder, a souvenir from the battle of Thor Island, six months ago, when he had been careless and had let Shane escape.
The other scars didn't matter. They were from famous opponents. But Shane, at that time, had just been a rookie who had just entered the Grand Line.
And yet…
What a humiliation?!
For the past six months, Akainu had been thinking about the day he would meet Shane again, and he had thought that this time, he would not hold back, he would not be careless, and he would not give his opponent a chance to escape…
But the one thing he had not expected was—
…that in just six short months, his opponent's strength had already reached this level, almost on par with his own!!!
"I can't let you live! If I let you continue to grow at this rate, you will one day become the most terrifying threat on this sea!"
"On the honor and justice of the Marines, I will destroy you here today, even if it costs me my life!"
Akainu roared.
He slowly raised his right arm, and the magma, like a living thing, wrapped around it, once again forming a ferocious magma dog, but this one was much larger than before, and it roared as it pounced at Shane!
"Hell Hound: Boundless Purgatory!"
BOOM!!!
The magma dog instantly split into dozens of smaller ones, and they attacked from all sides, cutting off all of Shane's escape routes.
The sea below was already a sea of magma, and now the intense heat was distorting the air, and even the sky was dyed a dark red, as if the entire sea had become Akainu's personal battlefield!
An upgraded skill?
"Flashy!"
Shane sneered, and his figure blurred, and he shot through the pack of magma dogs. Instead of retreating, he charged straight at Akainu.
The ferocious dogs that came at him, their mouths open, were all destroyed with a single punch, and the formless magma splashed in the air, only to fall back into the sea.
"It seems…"
Akainu looked up, at the young man's figure, which was growing larger and larger in his vision.
"…one thing hasn't changed. You still like to rely on your brute strength and waste your stamina."
His face was as dark as a thundercloud, and he suddenly swung his right hand. "You like to take hits so much, then let's see if you can take all of these!"
"Meteor Volcano!"
RUMBLE—!!!
The entire magma sea suddenly began to boil, and countless magma fists shot into the sky like a volcanic eruption, and then they rained down on Shane like a meteor shower!
Shane raised an eyebrow, a rare look of surprise on his face.
He remembered clearly.
In the war at the summit, the Meteor Volcano that Akainu had used against the Whitebeard Pirates, he had first shot them one by one into the sky, and then they had fallen from the heavens. The source was his own body.
And now, even though his physical body was not in contact with the sea of magma below, he could still easily turn it into his weapon.
This was the power of an awakened Logia-type!
Sure enough, the three Marine Admirals, whether in terms of physique, physical arts, or the development of their Devil Fruit abilities, were all monsters!
But… it didn't matter!
Six months ago, on Thor Island, Akainu had ended the fight with this move, and he had been forced to jump into the sea, not daring to stay, and had had to use "Fate Sealed" several times in a row to escape.
And now?
Now…
I'm a monster too!!!
Faced with the rain of magma meteors, Shane laughed heartily and, without dodging, he suddenly raised his right hand, his palm open to the sky!
"Godsplitter!"
VWOOM—!
A massive, black and red disc, the size of a wagon wheel, suddenly appeared.
As it spun, it sent out countless thick, black and red lightning bolts, which spread out in all directions, making the already-dark sky even darker.
Shane didn't look up at the disc. Instead, he looked down at the endless meteors that were coming at him, a grin on his face.
His "Destructo Disc" was a modified version that he had created himself, after his failed attempts to replicate the original and his inspiration from the baboon king's sword flourish.
It was made of countless threads of Conqueror's Haki, woven together like a tapestry.
If it could be brought together—
—then of course it could also be spread apart!
The dark ring, with Shane's palm as its center, suddenly expanded, and it grew larger and larger, and a gap appeared in the middle.
By the time it was almost blotting out the sky, like a giant tree's canopy, it had become a massive, spiral-shaped object.
With Shane's palm suddenly facing down, it exploded, and it split into a countless number of sharp, black and red slashes, which shot toward the sea below!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!
Every slash, which was made of Conqueror's Haki, precisely hit a magma meteor, piercing and destroying it, and a brilliant flash of fire exploded in mid-air.
From a distance, it was like a fireworks display in the night, illuminating the entire sea.
"So easily neutralized?"
Akainu's face was grim. The longer they fought, the more he could feel how much his opponent had improved, not just in terms of physique, but in every aspect!
To be able to use Conqueror's Haki with such ease, even among the Four Emperors, he was probably second only to that Red-Hair, who was famous for his Haki.
"What are you spacing out for?!"
In that instant, Shane suddenly shot out of the smoke and dust of the explosion, his entire body wrapped in black and red lightning, his speed at its absolute peak, and he was instantly in front of Akainu!
In Akainu's stunned gaze, he threw a punch, a savage grin on his face. "Do you really have time to be distracted when you're fighting me?!"
Akainu hastily raised his magma arms to block and was pushed back a few steps. And then, he also threw both his fists out, and the two of them were locked in a close-quarters battle.
THUMP, THUMP!
The clash of fist on flesh was not as visually spectacular as before, but it made the fight more pure, and it also made them more fired up.
The two of them locked eyes, and without a word, the force in their hands, as if by some tacit understanding, grew stronger and stronger, and their speed grew faster and faster.
Before the sky had completely darkened, they had already exchanged hundreds of blows.
Their physiques were very close, and in terms of strength and destructive power, Akainu was even slightly superior. But Shane's martial arts were too strange, a combination of softness and hardness, making it impossible to defend against.
His chest, abdomen, and shoulders were repeatedly hit, and that was with him using his elemental form to avoid some of the blows. He still had many injuries, and a searing pain was coming from all over his body.
And Shane, across from him, though he also had many injuries, the speed at which they were healing was astonishing, and his aura was almost completely stable.
This made Akainu more and more frustrated and anxious. He was finally sure of one thing: his opponent, like the Admirals of his generation, was the type who was not afraid of a protracted battle, with his abundant stamina and his ability to self-heal, like an awakened Zoan-type…
Even if he was confident that he could eventually take Shane down, he couldn't hope to do it before dawn… no.
It would probably take several days and nights to decide a winner!
And as his mind raced, Shane's kick, with perfect timing, slammed into his eye.
The area around his right eye immediately caved in, leaving an ugly, dark bruise.
"You damned brat!"
Akainu roared, no longer able to contain his anger. He exploded, and magma erupted from his body like a volcano. His right fist suddenly swelled, and he slammed a punch at Shane's face.
"Dark Hound!"
This is what I was waiting for!
A sharp glint appeared in Shane's eyes. He didn't dodge. He took the blow head-on with his Armament Haki-coated chest, and his right fist, which he had pulled back slightly, suddenly rippled like flowing water.
The seemingly gentle punch, the moment it made contact with Akainu's chest, erupted with the terrifying power of a collapsing mountain!
"Spear of Elbaf… Ikoku Kiwami!"
BOOM!!!
The flesh on Akainu's chest exploded, and he was sent flying like a broken sack, coughing up a large mouthful of blood and tumbling over and over, carving a thousand-meter-long trench in the magma sea.
