Chapter 52: Just What I Wanted! Roy's Black Body Style!
"Troublesome guy..."
On the battlefield, Hanafuda was sent flying by another of Roy's punches.
CRASH!
His body smashed through layer after layer of ice, blood trickling from his head.
But after landing, Hanafuda stood up and licked his own blood.
His face was filled with savage excitement.
This time, he didn't rush to counterattack.
He had realized the danger of Roy's three fist styles.
"Golden wave... powerful force, repels anything close, causes internal damage if tanked."
"Blue wave... controls moisture, freezes everything, immobilizes the body."
"Red wave... causes combustion, even stronger than that fire brat's flames... the most dangerous one."
Almost perfect defense, powerful crowd control, terrifying destructive power—even Hanafuda had to admit Roy's 'Wave Fist' was formidable.
But because of that, he was even more excited.
Click! Clack! Click!
His teeth chattered with adrenaline, saliva dripping from his jaws.
BOOM!
Hanafuda moved again.
His legs exploded with power, Armament Haki covering his entire body as he charged at Roy once more.
Facing the charge, Roy naturally threw another punch.
VMMM!
Golden fluctuations wrapped in crimson flames blasted toward Hanafuda.
"Hm!?"
But to Roy's surprise—this time, Hanafuda didn't dodge.
BOOM!
He charged straight into the range of Roy's 'Wave Fist.'
FWOOSH!
Flames and intense shockwaves scorched his body—his flesh charred instantly, scales cracking and shattering.
But...
"ROAR!"
Hanafuda kept moving.
A low growl rumbled from his throat, growing louder.
As mentioned before, Hanafuda's nickname was the 'Lizard King.'
The 'lizard' referred to his fruit ability—the extinct ancient creature, the dinosaur.
He was obsessed with ancient species and dedicated to collecting Ancient Zoan fruits.
He was obsessed with their vitality, their terrifying strength, and their primal savagery.
So he saw himself as a dinosaur, and every battle as a hunt.
And without a doubt...
To him, Roy was a powerful prey.
"When facing powerful prey, beasts usually retreat..."
"But—I am the 'King of Dinosaurs'!"
He roared.
"The stronger the prey, the harder the hunt... the greater the proof of my kingship!"
Pain? Injury?
"That stuff only makes me more excited!"
Amidst his roar, Roy saw it clearly.
On Hanafuda's massive T-Rex body, the charred flesh and carbonized scales... were regenerating at a visible speed.
He tanked the intense shockwaves, his wounds tearing and healing constantly as he charged at Roy!
And then...
Clank!
A crisp sound—Hanafuda threw his scythe-flail weapon.
"King Dragon Lasso!"
The chain of the flail wrapped around Roy's body in an instant.
Seeing this, Hanafuda's grin turned hideous.
"Got you!"
The outcome was decided.
He was sure of it.
Fruit ability or not, Roy's fist style was tricky.
But Hanafuda had keenly spotted Roy's 'weakness.'
"Your fists have destructive power, but once I close the distance, they're meaningless... because I'll tear you apart before you can punch!"
The chain of his weapon, 'Tyrant Maru', was laced with Seastone. It weakened ability users and was incredibly tough.
Once entangled, escape or destruction of the chain was nearly impossible.
Now, he only needed to do one thing.
"Get over here!"
He wrapped the chain around his arm and pulled with all his might.
He could almost see his victory—Roy being dragged over and torn to shreds!
"Hm!?"
But in the next second, Hanafuda's expression froze.
Because after pulling with all his might, he felt...
The chain didn't budge an inch.
"I see."
At that exact moment, he heard Roy's voice.
Hanafuda instinctively turned his head.
He saw Roy standing there, his expression calm.
"Your fruit ability is very close to awakening."
Roy looked at Hanafuda, muttering to himself.
Roy knew Ancient Zoan users had immense vitality.
But Hanafuda's recovery speed... clearly exceeded the limits Roy knew.
The only answer was Awakening.
Only an Awakened Zoan user would have such exaggerated vitality.
Considering Hanafuda hadn't mastered the unique 'Transformation' of an Awakened Zoan, Roy concluded—he was on the verge of Awakening.
"As expected of a Warlord. You've got some skill."
Roy sighed.
Then he looked at Hanafuda and grinned.
Yes—this opponent wasn't like Crocodile, who happened to be countered by him. This was an Ancient Zoan powerhouse skilled in Armament Haki and melee combat, on the verge of awakening.
He was strong.
So...
"Just what I wanted."
[Fruit Loadout: Logia · Magma-Magma Fruit LV3 -> Zoan · Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Quetzalcoatlus LV3]
[Fruit Loadout: Logia · Ice-Ice Fruit LV3 -> Paramecia · Strong-Strong Fruit LV3]
Hanafuda started to feel something was wrong.
From the other end of the chain he was pulling... came a massive force!
"Hm!?"
The immense strength made Hanafuda hallucinate—he felt like he was being pulled by another dinosaur.
"This guy's strength... how is this possible?"
He stared at Roy in horror.
Roy wasn't weakened by 'Tyrant Maru,' which proved he wasn't an ability user.
Hanafuda could accept that.
But what was this physical strength, comparable to... no, even stronger than his own!?
"A physique like this... it's almost like Big Brother Kaido when he was young..."
The thought rose in his mind, but he crushed it instantly.
He didn't believe it!
"A mere Marine... how dare you compare to Big Brother Kaido... DIE!"
He roared, holding the chain with one hand and swinging the scythe end at Roy with the other!
Then...
He saw Roy raise his arm.
CLANG!
The Haki-coated blade met Roy's arm, but the arm wasn't cut.
Instead—Hanafuda heard the sound of metal clashing.
He clearly saw sparks flying from where the scythe hit Roy's arm.
"A non-ability user with skin as hard as steel—Big Mom's 'Iron Balloon'?"
Hanafuda felt dizzy.
But it wasn't over.
Because now, Hanafuda saw Roy smile at him.
And then...
Crack!
Hanafuda heard a strange sound.
It came from Roy's body.
In that moment, Roy's bones and muscles seemed to shift.
His muscles seemed to come alive, rippling and expanding.
His heart pumped blood at an abnormal speed; Hanafuda could almost hear the beating.
His skin tightened, his bones creaked.
Like a terrifying machine, pushing every ounce of potential to the limit.
The golden glow on Roy's hand receded, then began to flow through every part of his body.
He slowly freed himself from the chain, then grabbed it with his left hand instead.
"!!!"
Seeing this, Hanafuda's instinct screamed at him to retreat!
Rattle!
But the chain wrapped around his hand became a fatal tether.
"Teacher Zephyr's Black Body Style. Its essence is to master the potential of every part of the body through training, then squeeze the body to unleash maximum power."
Roy looked at Hanafuda.
Feeling the unprecedented power flowing through him, he whispered in his heart.
"This technique can work with Haki, enhancing stamina and muscle strength. And naturally... it can work with Devil Fruit abilities."
For an ability user, fruit power and Haki were no different—both were forces within their body.
And just like Aokiji combined his Ice-Ice Fruit with the 'Iron Fist' to achieve destruction rivaling Garp...
Roy was doing the same.
Although he was far from mastering the true essence of the Black Body Style...
"All that hard training recently... at least it wasn't wasted..."
"Black Body Wave Fist: Bone Crusher!"
Words fell. Fist flew!
And then...
BOOM!
Came destruction!
☆☆☆
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