Chapter 290: Lost Your Cool, Old Dog?
Akainu considered himself a pure soldier, a man who believed that if you could fight, you shouldn't waste time talking. Therefore, the moment the word "animals" left his mouth, his figure had already shot down from the hillside, pouncing towards Zoro and Sanji like a ravenous tiger!
"Great Eruption!"
With a roar, the searing magma from his arms coalesced into giant fists, whistling through the air! However, Sanji and Zoro remained as calm as ever, standing shoulder to shoulder, a hint of mockery in their eyes.
How dare they! Akainu's killing intent intensified. Do these two low-life pirates have any idea what kind of trouble they've caused?!
Just as the magma fists were about to hit, a black figure descended gracefully from the sky, landing in front of them. Slender fingers rested lightly on the hilt of a sword.
"We meet again, Sakazuki," Shane said calmly, looking up with a slight smile. "You should have come for me directly. What's the point of bullying children?"
CLANG!
A flash of a blade, a magnificent black-and-red sword slash, instantly cleaved the magma fists in two! The sundered magma exploded in mid-air, raining down fire and setting the surrounding trees ablaze. Akainu was hit by the aftershock of the sword strike and was sent stumbling back more than ten steps before he could dissipate the force.
"SHA! NE!" Akainu's eyes were fixed on the figure before him, his teeth clenched as he spat out the name. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?! Do you know the consequences of your actions?!"
Hatred! Nothing but pure, unadulterated hatred! In his eyes, this handsome young man, not even twenty years old, who had only been at sea for a little over a year, had already surpassed Whitebeard, even the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger! He was the one person on this sea that Akainu wanted to erase most of all!
"Go help the others clean up. This old dog is mine," Shane said, glancing at Akainu. He sheathed his sword and casually instructed the two behind him.
"Yes, Big Bro Shane!" Zoro and Sanji said in unison and immediately took their leave. They exchanged a subtle glance, a hint of smugness in their eyes. That was a Marine Admiral! A terrifying being at the very pinnacle of the world! And they had just trash-talked him to his face and then casually walked away. Borrowing the tiger's might feels so good! Though their legs were still a little weak…
Sizzle!
On the searing, molten ground, "Now I can answer your question," Shane said calmly, walking forward. With each step, the magma beneath his feet solidified and cooled under the pressure of his Haki, turning to black, scorched earth.
"Consequences?" He stopped when he reached the top of the slope and said flatly, "Aren't the consequences right in front of you? The world is now short three hundred-odd parasites. I just did what you Marines should have done."
"Absurd!" Akainu roared. "The Marines uphold the order of the seas! Justice! Don't you dare get ahead of yourself just because you can shout a few slogans!"
"A pirate is a pirate! No foresight, no sense of the bigger picture!"
"You think killing the World Nobles will make the world a better place? No! It will only create more chaos! It will only make the seas more turbulent! More people will suffer because of you!"
"Order? Foresight?" Shane repeated, and then he couldn't help but burst out laughing. "BWAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"What are you laughing at!" Akainu's eyes darkened. "Was I wrong?!"
"Sakazuki, we've been enemies for a long time, but I have to admit, there have always been a few things about you that I've admired," Shane sighed, looking at Akainu with pity. "For example, you truly hate pirates, you're not afraid to fight, you're resolute, and you have the spirit of a soldier."
He shook his head and sneered. "But now, looking back, it's clear I overestimated you. I overestimated you greatly! Sakazuki! Tell me, what is this justice and order that you're so determined to uphold?!"
"Look at this land!"
"Is your so-called justice letting the World Nobles run rampant, slaughtering civilians?"
"Is your so-called order helping them, standing guard for them?!"
BOOM!
Shane took a sudden step forward, looking down on Akainu, his Conqueror's Haki exploding outwards, churning the surrounding magma and making the very air hum!
"Sakazuki! I ask you, who do you serve? Justice, or the authority of those scumbags in the Holy Land?!"
The veins on Akainu's forehead bulged, magma boiling on his fists, but for a moment, he was speechless.
Shane didn't wait for his reply. "You say that by killing the Celestial Dragons, I'll make the seas more chaotic? Hmph, don't you laugh when you say that?"
"What is the true source of the chaos in this era? What is it that has made the seas so turbulent, that has made life so hard for the people, that has driven countless men to piracy, that allowed Roger to rally so many to his cause with a single shout?! Don't you know the answer in your heart, Sakazuki!!!"
Akainu's pupils shrank. "Silence!" his voice was icy, but there was a rare hint of wavering and panic in it. "What do you know, brat! The World Government has existed for eight hundred years! Its authority must not be shaken…"
"You're right, I don't understand," Shane interrupted, his expression impassive. "I don't understand why a man who claims to want to eradicate all evil would choose to turn a blind eye to the most heinous evil of all."
"I don't understand why a soldier who prides himself on absolute justice would be willing to be a watchdog, wagging his tail for the Celestial Dragons."
He narrowed his eyes, his scorn undisguised. "And what I understand even less… is how someone so hypocritical, so laughable, can have the gall to stand here and lecture me about the bigger picture and foresight."
"What you Marines haven't dared to do in 800 years, I've done!"
"The people you haven't dared to kill in 800 years, I've killed!"
"And what has your 'big picture' Marine Headquarters done in the past 800 years, besides helping the Celestial Dragons slaughter nation after nation and create more and more pirates?! What have you done?!"
Akainu's face turned beet red. His breathing grew heavy, and his temples throbbed. He clenched his fists, and magma dripped from between his fingers. "You…!"
"Angry?" Shane grinned, pressing his advantage. "But what makes you angriest of all is that every word I've said is the truth, and you can't refute it!"
"Enough! Enough! ENOUGH!!!!" Akainu's head snapped up. The wavering in his bloodshot eyes was gone, replaced by a savage rage. "You arrogant brat! Who do you think you're talking to?! My path of justice, which I have followed for decades, is not for you to judge!"
The moment Akainu roared, his right arm transformed completely into magma. The searing, molten rock boiled, distorting the air around it.
"Dark Hound!"
Fast, vicious, precise! A technique with the highest piercing and destructive power in the world! The magma arm shot out, and in the blink of an eye, it was at Shane's chest!
However, Shane was still grinning, his eyes calm. "Lost your cool, old dog?"
"But a move like this is only good for an old man with one foot in the grave. What use is it against me?!"
As Akainu attacked, Shane's right arm had already tensed. The moment he clenched his fist, a tide of black Armament Haki covered his entire arm, and a faint red electricity crackled around it!
"Galaxy…"
He turned slightly, his right arm drawing back. The very space around his fist seemed to crack under the pressure of his Haki!
"—Stardust Breaker!"
BOOM!!
The moment the fist and magma collided, a violent shockwave erupted, shaking the entire kingdom! The ground instantly collapsed. For hundreds of kilometers, the trees withered, the land was covered in flowing magma, and then, in the next instant, it was shattered and broken!
The name of the move was from a manga Shane had read in his childhood, but that was just a name. In essence, it was his ultimate improvement of Garp's Galaxy Impact! Faster! Stronger! More capable of concentrating all the Conqueror's Haki in his body into a single point! A truly terrifying power, like the explosion of a planet's core!
"What?!" Akainu's face changed. He felt an unprecedented force from the fist, not only canceling out the impact of his Dark Hound but instantly overpowering it! His entire magma arm was shattered, turning into a rain of fire that scattered in all directions!
"Ugh!" Akainu grunted, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He was thrown back dozens of meters, his feet carving two scorched trenches in the ground.
And Shane was still standing in the same spot, his fist smoking, his Haki still radiating.
"Compared to our last fight, I am no longer inferior to you in any way. And in the realm of pure power and Haki…" Shane flicked his hand and said flatly, "…I am superior!"
"Don't get cocky!" Akainu roared. He slammed his arms into the ground, and magma erupted from beneath!
"Hound Blaze!"
Three giant magma hounds roared as they burst from the ground, their savage magma jaws opening wide as they lunged at him!
ROAR—!
The magma hounds attacked from all sides, but Shane just chuckled and, with a flash, vanished! A sense of crisis washed over Akainu. A red glint in his eye, years of battle experience made him spin and throw a punch without hesitation! But he was too slow! Shane's teleportation was even faster than he had imagined. The moment he had turned halfway, Shane's fist, wreathed in dense Haki, was already smashing into his nose!
CRACK!!
The punch landed squarely. Akainu's face caved in, his nose was broken, and he was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into a distant mountain!
"Cough…!" Akainu struggled up from the rubble, wiping the blood from his mouth. The anger in his eyes burned even brighter, but a strong sense of unease was growing in his heart! What this kid said was true! He wasn't boasting! In terms of speed, strength, and Haki, he was not inferior in any way. In fact, he was slightly superior! The gap was small, but when all those small advantages were added up, the effect was far greater than the sum of its parts. It had completely eliminated any possibility of him overpowering him in a short amount of time!
But he had to try! He would bet the glory of the past few decades, bet his path of justice, and take this man down today, to restore order to the seas!
With that thought, Akainu stepped out of the crater. His body swelled, and searing magma erupted from his palms. He was like an erupting volcano!
"Meteor Volcano!"
RUMBLE—!
The earth trembled, the sky was blotted out, and countless magma meteors rained down, turning the entire valley into a hellscape!
"Let's see you dodge this!" Akainu's roar echoed amidst the eruption. His eyes were red as he stared at Shane's figure, watching as the countless magma fireballs completely engulfed him. Got him!
However, the next sound he heard was Shane's sneer. "Dodge? An attack of this level is supposed to make me dodge?"
Before the words had even faded, the first magma fireball had slammed into his chest!
BOOM!!!
In the deafening explosion, searing magma splashed in all directions, instantly burning the surrounding trees to ash. But when the smoke cleared, Shane's figure was still standing. His shirt had been mostly burned away, revealing a muscular chest. And the magma, hot enough to melt gold and iron, had only left a few shallow burns on his skin, which vanished in an instant.
"What?!" Akainu's pupils shrank, his face a mask of disbelief.
The second, the third, the fourth… more and more magma fireballs rained down on Shane. The shockwaves from the explosions spread out in circles, the ground completely melting, the air distorting from the intense heat. But that slender figure just kept walking steadily through the meteor volcano.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
Shane's skin began to redden, the muscles more defined in the intense heat. He didn't care. He lowered his head slightly, his black hair falling over his eyes, and the sneer on his lips grew more pronounced. After another dozen fireballs, his skin finally began to show signs of burns, cracking open. But strangely, no blood flowed from the wounds. Instead, wisps of white steam rose, and the wounds began to heal rapidly in the intense heat.
"Monster… he's a monster!!!" On the far edge of the battlefield, a Marine officer who had witnessed this scene's eyes were twitching, and he trembled as he whispered, "Is… is that a body a human can possess?"
That man… at this moment, he was like a demon emerging from hell, exuding a terrifying aura that demanded the world to bow before him! An invincible, overwhelming presence
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