Chapter 53: The Mammoth's Fury
"Boss Jack is coming! Boss Jack, hahahaha!"
"I can't get away, hahahaha!"
"..."
BOOM!
The colossal body crashed down, shaking the very foundations of the archipelago. Seven or eight unlucky Beast Pirate grunts were smashed directly into the pavement, their fates sealed beneath the weight of their own commander.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the Beasts Pirates "Pleasures" Soknunu!]
[Reward Gained: 40 Enhancement Points!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the Beasts Pirates "Pleasures" Vito Rigues!]
[Reward Gained: 35 Enhancement Points!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the Beasts Pirates "Pleasures" Wright!]
[Reward Gained: 40 Enhancement Points!]
[...]
[Current Accumulated Points: 395 Points!]
Ian listened to the system's prompts with cold detachment. He had heard similar chimes too many times during his tenure on the island. Besides, his mood today was one of pure, unadulterated fury.
When Cavendish had come, his quarrel was with Ian and the Marines. But Jack and his crew? Their eyes held nothing but a desire for mindless destruction. To them, innocent lives were as insignificant as grass. Every single pirate here today... none of them would leave this island alive.
The "Pleasures." They were the failed experiments, those who had consumed defective Artificial Devil Fruits and gained no transformative power, only a perpetual, manic laughter as a side effect. The technology was imperfect, the failure rate abysmally high. The "Gifters" who had accompanied Jack were the rare successes, yet even they could only achieve partial, incomplete animalistic transformations.
As Ian landed safely back on the ground, the Gifters who had managed to dodge the initial impact rushed forward, their fear overridden by bloodlust.
"Hahaha, kill him! He's alone!"
"Let's get him together! Help Boss Jack crush this brat!"
"Hahaha, taking his head will be a great achievement!"
The mindless human-wave tactic was a signature, brutish strategy of Jack's subordinates, believing they could overwhelm any foe through sheer numbers.
Ian watched the laughing, sword-wielding Pleasures charge him, his voice dropping to an arctic chill. "The boss is a fool, and the underlings are just as clueless. When is it your turn to speak here?"
His eyes hardened. An invisible, yet tangible pressure erupted from him. Crimson electrostatic flashes crackled around his body before shooting outwards in a devastating radial wave.
Conqueror's Haki... Pressure Strike!
Hiss!
Hiss!
...
The Haki, manifesting as red psychic arrows, radiated in all directions. The charging pirates felt as if a sledgehammer had slammed directly into their souls.
Cough!
Ahhh...!
Amidst screams of agony, the tall, burly men collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut, blood spraying from their mouths. They had been shouting about killing Ian, but in the end, they hadn't even touched the hem of his clothes.
The four Gifters further back were also affected, staggering under the mental onslaught.
Snap!
The bow Speed had just drawn shattered in her hands under the Haki's assault.
Holdem gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead as he resisted the tremendous pressure.
Pfft!
Ginrummy, the weakest among them, vomited blood and collapsed to her knees. If not for Sheepshead catching her, she would have lost consciousness entirely.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the Beasts Pirates "Pleasures" Houta!]
[Reward Gained: 35 Enhancement Points!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the Beasts Pirates "Pleasures" Scylla!]
[Reward Gained: 40 Enhancement Points!]
[...]
[Current Accumulated Points: 1865 Points!]
The greatest advantage of his advanced Conqueror's Haki was the ability to effortlessly clear away the insignificant trash. In one fell swoop, the fifty elite New World pirates Jack had brought were utterly wiped out.
From within the settling dust, the mammoth's form shifted. It seemed to shrink considerably.
Boom! Boom!
The footsteps were noticeably lighter now.
"Jock Ian," Jack's voice rumbled, now coming from a more humanoid height. "I never thought you possessed the Qualities of a Conquering King, like Big Brother Kaido. Now I'm not so offended about being sent to kill you." His upper body was now that of a massively built man, though his face still retained shrunken tusks and a trunk-like nose. His lower body remained that of a mammoth. This was Jack's Human-Beast hybrid form—a fusion of mammoth and fishman.
"Do you think mastering Conqueror's Haki is enough to defeat me?" he snarled. "You're still just trash who ate a common Zoan fruit!"
Ian frowned, his nose wrinkling in genuine distaste. He couldn't help but voice his thoughts aloud.
"You are so damn ugly!"
Ian wasn't trying to be mean or sarcastic. It was an honest observation. The fusion of a mammoth's hybrid form with a fishman's body was... truly, profoundly ugly. It was like a hulking brute had stripped naked and started doing a handstand in front of him. Ian suddenly felt his eyes had been violated.
He recalled his own initial depression upon discovering he had eaten the Human-Human Fruit, a Zoan-type that seemingly offered no transformation. Now, seeing Jack's third form... he felt a lot more balanced. It was better to have no transformation at all than one that was so utterly image-destroying!
"You sharp-tongued, foul-mouthed little bastard!" Jack roared, his rage boiling over. "You will soon realize that this is the most perfect fighting form!"
Enraged, he ripped the two ivory-like decorations from his shoulders. As the white leather sheaths fell away, they revealed two massive, sickle-shaped blades, which he gripped tightly in his hands. The weapons, named "Kokuto," gleamed wickedly in the dim light.
The air grew heavy. The preliminary skirmish was over. The stage was now set for the true clash between the Marineking and the Calamity.