"Come on, Ian!!"
With a roar, Bullet locked his eyes on the towering skull fortress. Ian's presence was right at the top.
Still as powerful as ever.
No—he had grown even stronger than when they clashed a few months ago!
This monster who wasn't even seventeen yet... was still in the middle of his explosive growth phase!
But that's perfect!
In fact, that's just what he wanted!
"Let's fight to the death!!"
His terrifying physique made even his breath whip up a raging wind, sending sand flying across the beach.
"What a monster," Sasaki couldn't help but exclaim. "Just standing in front of him makes my whole body tremble."
"Don't go near him! That's not someone we can take on!" Jinbe shouted. "Wake up anyone affected by the Conqueror's Haki!"
Under his command, the pirate squads immediately moved into action.
They began waking up the unconscious pirates scattered across the beach and nearby areas, quickly evacuating them. This place was about to become a battlefield.
Even though Lord Ian's strength meant there probably wouldn't be much collateral damage... you could never be too sure.
"He's coming!"
Jinbe suddenly looked up. A black lightning bolt streaked across the sky.
Ian's overwhelming power allowed him to leap from the top of the skull tower, covering several kilometers in a single bound, plummeting straight toward Bullet on the coast.
"You're here, Ian!!"
This time, Bullet was nothing like the stern-faced man from their last meeting. Now, he was wild with excitement, laughing maniacally as both hands slammed down onto the deck of his massive ship.
"Hahahahaha! Then let's get started!"
Clank-Clank Fruit, activate!
He hadn't just spent these past months training—he'd also made a trip outside of Hachinosu and gathered a huge cache of weapons.
He even took the time to build a steel battleship, which he named the Catapult Slingshot.
Only with that could his Clank-Clank Fruit's power truly be unleashed.
In an instant, a purple substance engulfed the massive ship, forcefully molding it.
The next second, a towering metal giant stood firm on the shore.
"Regret your arrogance, Ian!!"
The giant's body leaned backward, his right arm raised high, and an overwhelming force gathered within it. A dark purple Haki suddenly enveloped the massive limb.
"Oh?"
Descending from the sky, Ian crossed his arms in front of his chest and chuckled lightly. "Internal Destruction Armament Haki—not bad."
It had taken him over a year to progress from basic hardening to mastering internal destruction. Bullet really was a prodigy.
Of course, the main reason was that Ian had to wait until his strength reached a certain level to support advanced techniques—while Bullet didn't need to.
"Ultimate Cannon!!"
The air wailed in agony!
The enormous fist suddenly shattered the atmosphere, and the invisible shockwaves coiling around it seemed to twist the very fabric of space!
Worthy of the name Ultimate Cannon—this was truly a strike powerful enough to obliterate an entire mountain range!
But—
Crack!!
Black lightning crashed down!
At the end of the lightning was Ian's raised fist.
"You've still got a long way to go."
Ian laughed wildly. "King Punch!"
It had been a long time since he'd used this technique.
Mainly because there weren't any opponents on the sea nowadays worthy of Ian charging up for an entire hour just to fight.
Even when facing someone like Whitebeard or Kaido, Ian was completely at ease—fighting when he wanted, retreating when he pleased. No one could do anything to him.
And with Ian's strength continuing to grow, the King Punch's power boost had become increasingly negligible—its cost-effectiveness was now very low.
But the power wasn't what mattered.
The true advantage of the King Punch was that it allowed Ian to unleash devastating shockwaves with his bare hands.
Even just the energy gathered in the few seconds of flight became a powerful shockwave, infused with both Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
In the next moment, a blazing beam of power wreathed in Haki lightning came crashing down.
Inside the giant's body, Bullet's eyes suddenly widened.
Blinding light enveloped him once again—just like the last time he faced the combined ultimate attack from Yamato and Hancock.
But this time—
He was no longer the same man!!
"RRRAAAHHHH!!!"
Bullet roared, pouring all his strength into his right fist.
He was going to crush that falling pillar of light!
Two tremendous forces collided, and the clash of their overwhelming Haki triggered a terrifying explosion.
A violent wind swept up clouds of yellow sand, and the shockwave was so intense that even Jinbei and the others struggled to stay on their feet.
"What unbelievable power!"
One of the pirate captains under Ian's command, a long-armed tribe boxer named Flock, had excitement burning in his eyes. "So this is the power Lord Ian possesses!!"
"No! This is just the tip of the iceberg of Lord Ian's strength!"
Even though it was merely the tip of the iceberg, Bullet was already feeling the heavy pressure.
Such incredible strength!!
His massive right arm trembled uncontrollably, as if it would shatter under the strain at any moment.
This bastard!
He hasn't even used his abilities yet!!
Bullet clenched his teeth. As expected, there was no way he could defeat this guy with internal-destruction Armament Haki alone!
But this was a fight he absolutely had to take!
Boom!!
A brilliant beam of light finally pierced through the machine giant's right arm and smashed it down onto the nearby beach.
In that instant, it was like a nuclear bomb had detonated. A dazzling explosion of flames erupted, engulfing the colossal giant in its terrifying blaze.
The massive blast obscured Ian's vision, but it didn't matter—his advanced Observation Haki had locked firmly onto Bullet's presence.
"Ian!!"
From within the inferno, a dark shadow shot forth!
Bullet charged forward with both fists clenched, surrounded by a purple-black Haki.
This time, he didn't coat his entire body in black.
After mastering a higher level of Armament Haki, he had learned to concentrate his power more efficiently.
Now, his fists were far stronger than before.
"Haaah!!"
A signature pirate-style turtle punch!
No technique, no form—just pure speed like a raging storm, and sheer power. Bullet's fists became countless afterimages, crashing down on Ian like a torrential downpour.
There was no denying it—Bullet had grown much stronger.
His Armament Haki had always been top-tier, and with his mastery of advanced techniques, his strength had soared to new heights.
Right now, even without using his abilities, he was roughly above the level of a Vice Admiral.
However.
"Weak beyond words!"
Ian clenched his fists tightly, his haki surging. "Super Destructive Fist!"
Using his future-sight Observation Haki, he easily found a flaw in Bullet's attack, then punched straight through that gap, smashing fiercely into Bullet's face.
Bullet's cheek instantly deformed from the blow, his eyes rolling back.
The spirit shock from the Conqueror's Haki wrapped around him, leaving his mind blank.
Whoosh!
Bullet transformed once again into a meteor and crashed thunderously into the sea below, sending up earth-shattering waves.
The seabed beneath was even blasted into a huge crater hundreds of meters deep, and the exploding water rained down like a fine drizzle over Hive Island.
"It's over."
Sasaki sighed in admiration. "Amazing! As expected of Lord Ian! Even facing such a powerful opponent, he still crushed him completely!"
"That's only natural!"
Flock said. "The officers didn't even bother to come watch. This was a battle whose outcome was decided from the very start!"
"Jinbe, help me pull this guy out."
Ian lightly landed on the battered shoreline. "Then have him use his ability to rebuild the beach for me."
The ability of the Clank Fruit was still very convenient—Bullet could freely control objects he had fused with.
Restoring the destroyed and messy beach back to its original state wasn't impossible.
"Yes!"
Jinbe immediately dashed forward, then leapt into the now violently churning sea.
**********
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