Fragrant, with a slight hint of saltiness...
Is that sweat?
Yes, it must be!
Definitely sweat.
...
"Wait, you're not my Pei Jiang? My little Pei Pei isn't this tall!"
The Beasts Pirates' "Iron Head" girl came to her senses, but instead of panicking and fleeing, she stood her ground.
Compared to her younger brother Page One, Ulti was superior both in temperament and combat talent.
She immediately adjusted her stance, spinning around to Luo Xia's back and locking his neck between her powerful thighs.
"Speak! Who are you? Why are you wearing my little Pei Pei's clothes?" Ulti coldly demanded, clearly ready to snap Luo Xia's neck if she didn't like his answer.
"What did you do to Pei Pei?"
"Ulti, Page One is fine. He's just... just asleep," Yamato interjected at the right moment.
"Yamato? What are you doing here? And Pei Pei... really asleep?" Looking at her peacefully sleeping brother, Ulti couldn't help but feel suspicious. "No, don't try to fool me. Pei Jiang is even bleeding! It was you, wasn't it? Who the hell are you?"
"You should know who I am. Didn't Kaido send you to find me?" Luo Xia replied calmly.
"You're the newcomer Kaido-sama mentioned?" Ulti's beautiful eyes suddenly widened. "Great, just great! I was only planning to beat you up a little before taking you to Kaido-sama, but since you dared to lay hands on my Pei Pei... this lady is absolutely going to beat you half to death!"
Gritting her teeth, Ulti put on her fiercest expression. "First, let me show you the pain of suffocation..."
As she spoke, Ulti's right leg tightened around Luo Xia's neck, pressing against his carotid artery.
Tap!
Tap tap!
Luo Xia raised his hand and patted Ulti's shapely, straight legs.
"Hmph, it's too late to beg for mercy now," Ulti sneered triumphantly, assuming Luo Xia was in too much pain to speak after her chokehold.
The next second.
"What a shame," Luo Xia said, his tone tinged with regret.
Ulti: "???"
How could this guy still talk?
Shame? What shame!
"It's a shame not to use these long legs for pedaling a tricycle," Luo Xia continued, running his hand along the girl's long legs to emphasize his "regret."
"Huh?" Ulti clearly didn't understand, but what shocked her more than the words was that Luo Xia could still speak while being choked.
"You... how can you still talk?" Ulti demanded.
"I'm not mute. Why wouldn't I be able to talk?" Luo Xia answered matter-of-factly.
"No, I'm not asking if you're mute! You're supposed to be in a chokehold!" Ulti exclaimed, her emotions flaring.
"Oh, you mean this? So you were trying to choke me? I thought you wanted to play horsey," Luo Xia replied.
Since they would all be colleagues in the same pirate crew soon, Luo Xia didn't mind fulfilling a small request like playing horsey.
"Grrr! Are you looking down on me?!" Ulti was utterly enraged, her claws bared.
"Ulti, you should probably give up. You're no match for Luo Xia either," Yamato kindly reminded her.
"Shut up, Yamato! You're not getting away either. After I deal with him, you're next!"
Ulti ground her teeth, her small head rhythmically swaying back and forth.
"Armament Haki—Hardening!!!"
The girl's fair forehead became enveloped in black Haki.
"Run-Head Gun!!!"
Ulti swung her slender body with maximum force, her forehead clad in Armament Haki mercilessly smashing toward the back of Luo Xia's head.
Thud!
A dull impact of flesh resounded.
"So hard!"
Ulti couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"You... how is your head as hard as a rock?" she muttered before suddenly changing her tone. "But even if you have a rock for a head today, I'm absolutely going to smash it to pieces!"
With that, Ulti released Luo Xia, leaping into the air. Under the moonlight, her body rapidly expanded.
Animal-type Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Species: Pachycephalosaurus Form—Activate!!!
Upon landing, the long-legged beauty had completely transformed into a long-legged... dinosaur girl.
Far from feeling disappointed, Luo Xia only grew more excited.
A real man should take on a dinosaur.
"Come on! Let's see whose head is harder!" Luo Xia taunted, beckoning her forward.
"Don't get too cocky. When it comes to headbutts, this lady is the strongest among the Beasts!" Ulti declared proudly.
Run-Head Gun!!!
Transformed into her Pachycephalosaurus hybrid form, Ulti leaped once more, her protruding forehead now fully coated in pitch-black Armament Haki as she launched a devastating overhead headbutt.
Boom!
A deep, resonant impact shook the night sky, sending visible shockwaves rippling through the air.
Wherever the shockwaves passed, coastal rocks shattered violently, and the ground beneath Luo Xia's feet exploded in tandem.
Cracks spiderwebbed outward, extending over a dozen meters.
"Not bad at all. Again!" Luo Xia said with exhilaration.
The impact had slightly advanced his mastery of Armor Dragon Slayer Magic—by about 0.1%.
"Fine by me! Just don't you dare dodge!" Ulti gritted her teeth, unwilling to back down. This was the first time she had encountered a headbutt rival who could match her.
She had thought that after consuming the Pachycephalosaurus Fruit, no one could rival her in headbutting. Yet here was an unexpected master.
Luo Xia chuckled. "Whoever dodges is a coward."
"Deal!" The girl, confident in her unrivaled headbutting prowess, agreed without hesitation.
Slap!
Yamato covered her face with her hand, as if already foreseeing what was coming.
Though she didn't understand why, Luo Xia's body was harder than even her father, the Ox-Headed Ogre.
Moreover, for some inexplicable reason, Luo Xia seemed to enjoy being hit.
First it was her, then Page One, and now Ulti.
"This is a move I just developed. You should be proud to lose to it—take this! Run-Head Gun—Rain!!!"
Ulti, now fully in her dinosaur-girl form, declared haughtily as she unleashed her ultimate technique.
Like a storm, her Pachycephalosaurus-hardened head rained down in an overwhelming barrage, completely engulfing Luo Xia.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Crash! Crash! Crash!
For a hundred meters around, the very earth and sky seemed to tremble.
Dust billowed like a dragon, obscuring everything in sight.
Only after three full minutes did the tremors finally subside. The night wind gradually dispersed the dust, revealing the aftermath.
At the center of the devastated battlefield, Luo Xia remained standing—unmoved, unshaken, as steady as a mountain.
Ulti rubbed her slightly numb forehead, lips pressed tightly together. The dismissive look in her eyes when facing Luo Xia was gone.
"What's wrong? Already out of steam?" Luo Xia smirked.
"How could that be? That was just a warm-up!" Ulti wasn't just hard-headed, she was also stubborn to the core.
Run-Head Gun!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Half an hour later.
Luo Xia: "Ready to surrender?"
Ulti: "As if I'd ever surrender to you!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Another hour passed.
Thud! Thud!
The swollen-headed dinosaur woman Ulti staggered uncontrollably backward, her eyes nearly rolled completely white, blood streaming down her forehead.
After a full hour of continuous high-intensity output, her Haki had been completely depleted, both her physical stamina and mental focus pushed to their absolute limits.
Yet even so, she still refused to fall, remaining upright through sheer willpower alone.
"Young lady, I acknowledge you. When it comes to being hard-headed, I, Luo Xia, declare you the strongest!"