Chapter 315: Shane: Give Me Some Face
THUD!
The giant mammoth was sent flying once again. This time, its battered body crashed into half of the black rock mountain, and a shower of shattered rock rained down.
"Hoo… hoo…" Jack's eyes were bloodshot, and he was gasping for breath. This was the sixteenth time he had been knocked down. The injuries he had accumulated were now impossible to ignore. There was a large hole in his abdomen, and both of his tusks were broken, gushing blood.
But… he suddenly looked up and let out a defiant roar! He forced himself to stand up from the rubble, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and grinned savagely at Saint Garling in the sky. "Still not enough! Not enough!!! This is weaker than a casual punch from the boss during training! Come on, old fossil, show me something decent!"
Garling looked down, his brow furrowed. "Perseverance is a virtue, but to this extent, it's just annoying," he said indifferently.
In his eyes, this mammoth was no threat at all. All of its attacks were easily repelled before they could even reach him. But the damn thing was not only incredibly durable, but its willpower was also astonishingly tenacious. Every time he knocked it down, he thought he was done, but it always got back up, even more determined than before. Though, to be fair, his main focus had been on coordinating the attack on Shanks.
But even so… the fact that he couldn't finish off a low-tier pirate like this was starting to get on his nerves. How! He was nothing but an ant in his presence! His body should have been at its limit! How?! How is he still standing?! Could it be because he considered himself an officer of the Curtain Call, a subordinate of that man, that he was fighting so desperately, unwilling to bring shame to his name?!
Garling's cold gaze shifted to Shanks. He acknowledged his traitorous son's strength. If he had only sent Shamrock, the latter would have surely been the one to die. With the six immortal Holy Knights, they could have fought to a stalemate, slowly wearing him down. But with him here… there was no question. The result was what it was now!
Under the moonlight, Shanks was covered in blood, several moonlight spears piercing his back. He was on one knee, using Gryphon to support himself, barely able to stay up. He wouldn't last much longer. It seems I don't need to intervene anymore. I'll just focus my energy and finish off this dumb elephant!
A cold glint in his eyes, the moonlight around Garling suddenly intensified. "A mere low-life pirate, daring to provoke me. If you're so eager to die…" He emotionlessly raised his right hand, and a brilliant moon-wheel formed in his palm. "…then I will grant your wish!"
CRACK!
In the next moment, thick bolts of Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the moon-wheel, turning it black and red and casting a terrifying crimson glow over the entire island! Thirty years have passed! He was no longer the nameless young man from God Valley. If he had been entrusted with such a great responsibility by his lord, if he could stand above the old men who had lived for centuries and become the supreme leader of this World Government, then of course he could use the advanced application of Conqueror's Haki!
"Dammit!" Shanks's pupils shrank. He roared with all his might, "Jack! Get out of there!" He knew his old man. He was truly furious now. The terrifying power of that move was something even he, in his peak condition, would be wary of. It was not to be taken head-on!
"Dodge? That word isn't in my dictionary!" Jack roared with laughter and, instead of retreating, charged forward. "I've been waiting for you! Come on, old fossil!" What a fool! Though circumstances had forced them to team up, that Red-Hair was still as annoying as ever! In his current state, could he even dodge if he wanted to? It was better to charge forward and find an opening!
"Hmm?" Garling's brow furrowed even deeper. He's not dodging? He's charging at me? Fool! Garling was now completely enraged, his killing intent overflowing as he brought his right hand down!
BOOM!!!
The black-and-red moon-wheel exploded, and a terrifying shockwave tore through the entire island. The ground, as fragile as paper, was ripped apart and pulverized. And Jack, who took the full force of the blow, was in an even worse state. His mammoth body only lasted a few seconds before it was torn to shreds, the sound of his bones cracking echoing through the air.
"PUAH!" Jack was thrown back into his fish-man form, spitting out a mouthful of organ fragments, his vision blurred with blood. But even so, his eyes were still fixed on the center of the moon-wheel. His mangled right arm twitched, reaching for the figure high above, as if he still wanted to grab him and… pull him down! Pull him down! If the boss were here, he could definitely do it. But if he saw him now, he would be so disappointed…
As his consciousness faded, Jack's mind flashed to that man, his hands in his pockets, standing at the prow of the ship, his black hair flying in the wind, a relaxed smile on his face. As if there was nothing he couldn't do, nothing he couldn't defeat! Even if his opponent was a god! And perhaps it was because he always had such a man at his back that he, a nameless nobody from a poor background, dared to charge at a Yonko, an Admiral, and even the highest authority of the World Government, without fear…
"Boss," he mouthed, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. His body was no longer listening to him, but his right hand was still stubbornly reaching for the sky. His vision grew dimmer, but the thought grew clearer. I can't fall yet… at the very least, I have to make that old fossil pay a price!
"It's over, you ant," Garling looked down on him. His opponent's defenses were completely broken. He had no means of resistance left. He formed several more moonlight spears in his hand, ready to end this farce.
However, at that moment—THUMP!
A heartbeat, loud as a drum, suddenly boomed in Jack's chest!
"Hmm?!" Garling raised an eyebrow.
In the next moment, from Jack's supposedly broken body, an unprecedented aura erupted like a volcano! A crimson wave of energy spread out, instantly dispelling the moonlight that had enveloped the island!
Conqueror's… Haki?!
"Impossible!" Shamrock cried out. Shanks, who had been on the verge of collapse, also looked up, a hint of shock in his eyes. That oaf I thought was an idiot… in this desperate situation… has awakened Conqueror's Haki?
"Cough… ha, hahaha…" Perhaps it was a final burst of life. Jack staggered to his feet, every inch of his body screaming in agony. But his laughter was wild and unrestrained. "So this is… what the boss called 'the disposition of a king'? It feels pretty good." He licked the blood from his lips, his eyes completely red, his fists clenched. "A pity I'm about to die. Otherwise, the boss would have definitely praised me." But his last wish could finally be fulfilled!
"Old fossil—" Jack used Moonwalk and shot into the sky like a cannonball, his roar shaking the heavens. "—remember this punch! It's the last gift I'm giving you before I die!!!"
BOOM!!!
Garling, having just recovered from his shock, sneered and casually waved his hand to suppress him. But the Conqueror's Haki burning around Jack allowed him, for the first time, to break through that barrier! By the time Garling realized something was wrong, the massive fist was already slamming into his cheek.
CRACK!
With a clear crack of bone, the Elder's figure was, for the first time, shaken. He was sent flying, crashing into a distant rock wall! Rubble rained down.
"Hahahaha!" Jack laughed wildly. "How was that?!"
"Lord Garling…" The Holy Knights were stunned. They looked on in terror as Garling slowly stood up from the rock wall. Though the punch hadn't done any serious damage, there was a clear, dirty fist print on his dignified face, and a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"…" Garling touched his face in a daze. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He tried to suppress the nameless rage, but he couldn't… How insolent! How audacious!
"A lowly pirate, how dare you!" Garling's eyes snapped open. "In that case, you will die without a grave!" Garling clasped his hands together, and the blood moon behind him swelled to several times its original size, a terrifying pressure descending and enveloping the entire island.
Shanks's pupils shrank—the old man has lost it! He's going to destroy everything in this area! "Dammit…" He gritted his teeth and tried to get up, but he couldn't even move a finger. And Jack, his head was hanging low, only his willpower keeping him from collapsing, but he clearly had no strength left to resist.
Just then, "Enough," a cold voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears.
BOOM!
At the same moment, a wave of Conqueror's Haki, a hundred times more terrifying than Jack's, swept across the sky! CRACK! A blinding black-and-red bolt of lightning tore across the ten-thousand-meter-long sky, shattering the massive blood moon! And Garling's own Conqueror's Haki, as if it had met its natural enemy, receded like a tidal wave!
To temporarily lose control of my Haki? How is that possible?! Garling was first shocked and angry, and then, as if remembering something, he froze and looked up in disbelief. In the night sky, a slender figure had appeared at some point. He was riding a cloud, as if he had descended from the heavens. His black coat flapped in the night wind. He landed and began to walk towards Garling, his handsome face impassive. The cloud beneath his feet dissolved into white mist and reformed into a sword behind his back.
"Hey, I'm not seeing things, am I? That guy…"
"That man is…"
The Holy Knights' faces changed as they watched the young man approach. A chill shot up their spines, and a wave of fear washed over them. One of them, his legs giving out, took a step back, and his longsword clattered to the ground.
"—it's the God-Slayer, Shane!!!"
There was no mistake! They could be wrong about anyone else, but that man, that cruel executioner, that demon who had slain the Five Elders! As Celestial Dragons, how could they not recognize him!
"Dammit! How is he here!"
"Where are the rest of the Curtain Call? Did he bring his top officers with him!"
"Danger! Retreat! Get away from him!"
Screams erupted. The once-arrogant Holy Knights were now terrified, scrambling back as if they had seen a ghost. Their encirclement formation was instantly broken.
"Th-this…" Shanks's joyful expression froze. He stared in disbelief. They were both Yonko, both ultimate wanted criminals with bounties in the billions… These Holy Knights, his so-called "compatriots," had dared to surround him without fear, but against Shane, why—why were they so afraid! Why???
"…"
And in the center, Garling's face was as dark as it could be. "Sha…ne!" he gritted out the name, his muscles tensing, his eyes fixed on the approaching figure.
But Shane didn't even glance at him. He walked straight to Jack, looked down at his pathetic state, and sighed.
"B-boss?" Jack heard the voice and his eyes snapped open. His hazy vision struggled to focus on the face before him. Eh? Am I dead? Even if he wasn't, he was close. To be seeing a flashback of the boss…
In the next moment, his ear was yanked hard.
"OW OW OW OW OW! Boss, gently, gently!" Jack cried out, then his eyes went wide with ecstatic joy. "Eh, it's really you, Boss! It's not a hallucination!"
"I thought you had finally learned to control that reckless temper of yours. Hmph, I send you to investigate a missing merchant caravan, and you end up at the heads of the Five Elders and Red-Hair?"
"I…" Jack opened his mouth, his face flushing with shame. He was about to say something, but the strong hand that had been pulling his ear released him and patted his shoulder.
"But, you fought well. You awakened your Conqueror's Haki, and you even managed to land a solid punch on the old man. You haven't shamed my teachings."
A gentle chuckle. Eh? Jack was stunned. He wasn't mistaken, was he? The boss wasn't mad at him for disgracing the crew. He was praising him! He was overjoyed. He grinned foolishly as Shane slowly stood up. In that moment, all the exhaustion and pain seemed to vanish.
"Shane!" Garling, having been ignored for so long, his eyes a mixture of anger and dread, finally roared again, "Hey! You! Why are you here?! How did you do it!!!"
He received no answer. Only a cold, emotionless voice. "I was going to say, 'give me some face,' but it seems this is our first time meeting. We have no relationship."
"So let's forget that. Let me put it in a way you'll understand better."
Shane looked at Garling and grinned. "Either get lost, or die."
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you