Shanks took Akda head-on and traded a blow. Honestly, probably because of his young age, he suffered a bit. He was slightly inferior in raw strength and got forced back several meters.
"Buggy, protect Katherlin. Leave him to me and Shanks."
"U Understood." Hearing he didn't have to go on the field personally, Buggy was delighted. He probably hadn't expected that fat pig's strength to be this strong.
Buggy hurried to Katherlin's side, grabbed her, and ran toward the distance.
"Don't even think about running." Seeing Katherlin trying to leave, Akda naturally wouldn't allow it.
"Heh. If you want to go past, you'll have to get through me first." Baichuan blocked Akda's path forward.
"Fine. Then I'll kill you first."
The moment Akda said that, a thick killing intent erupted from him, and even his skin turned slightly blood-red.
Feeling that pressure, Baichuan and Shanks' expressions changed at the same time. For certain people, the threat of killing intent could be even more frightening than Conqueror's Haki.
"Kid, enjoy the pain that's coming." Akda revealed a bloodthirsty smile, and his pupils turned blood-red as well.
"How many people does he have to kill to end up like that?" Shanks swallowed hard and spoke with difficulty.
"Sure enough, in the New World, nobody is simple." Baichuan could tell Akda's changes weren't from any Devil Fruit ability. It was purely from killing.
"Shanks."
"Mm." The two of them signaled each other and attacked Akda from left and right.
But how could that kind of assault work on a city-defending general? He swung his huge cleaver across his front, forcing Baichuan and Shanks to switch from offense to defense. The impact震 sent both of them flying back.
Still, neither of them got discouraged. In battle, there were plenty of cases where the weak beat the strong. Besides, the two of them weren't weak either. They were elites.
They attacked again. This time, it turned into a back-and-forth exchange. Even though they'd been on the losing end earlier, as the fight dragged on, it gradually became more even.
"Two truly gifted brats." Even if Akda looked disgusting, as a general he had the experience to see what was happening. He could tell their strength was improving in the middle of fighting him.
"Kids, why don't you submit to me?" Akda tried to recruit them. "I guarantee you a lifetime of glory and wealth you'll never finish enjoying."
It wasn't that he suddenly cherished talent. It was that none of his subordinates could compare to these two.
Honestly, Akda was daydreaming. Trying to recruit two Conqueror's Haki users at the same time was basically impossible.
"Heh." Baichuan and Shanks sneered in unison.
"You want us to submit?" Baichuan spat the words out one character at a time. "You're not worthy."
"Baichuan's right." Shanks followed up. "The only person who can make me submit is the captain."
"Since you two won't take the hint, then I can only send you to die." As Akda spoke, he suddenly exploded into motion, charging straight toward Shanks. His speed was more than twice what it had been.
"I'll start by cutting down you, the little kid."
"Not good." Baichuan rushed to Shanks' front, but he was too late to counter. He could only take the blade head-on.
"Baichuan!" Katherlin screamed when she saw it, trying to rush out, but Buggy stopped her.
"Relax. He'll be fine."
"How could he be fine? That cut is so long, and you're saying he'll be fine? Are you even companions?"
"It's because we're companions that I understand him better than you!" Buggy shouted too, trying to stop Katherlin from continuing to make a scene.
"Sorry." Buggy seemed to realize his tone was too harsh, so he apologized to Katherlin. "But I know what he can do better than you do. You have to trust me."
Baichuan, having taken that slash, fell with the momentum. Seeing that he'd chopped the wrong person but still achieved his aim, Akda took a step back.
"Well?" Akda sneered at Shanks. "Now it's just you left. What are you going to use to fight me?"
In Akda's view, with two of them working together they could barely fight him to a draw. Now that there was only one, Shanks would only get toyed with in his palm.
"Why do you think he's dead already?" Shanks glanced at the fallen Baichuan. He was worried, but he didn't show it. He trusted Baichuan too much to believe he'd be fine.
"Take my hit and still not die?" Akda said confidently. "Even if his life is tough, in that state he has no fighting power."
But as soon as he finished speaking, white smoke suddenly rose from Baichuan's terrifying wound. The cut began to heal slowly, and even his clothes returned to their original state.
Then Baichuan stood up like nothing happened, reaching back to touch the place he'd just been chopped.
"That really hurt just now."
"He's really fine?" Katherlin's eyes went wide, full of disbelief.
"I told you." Buggy said with absolute confidence now. "As Baichuan's partner, I know him better than you do. He'll definitely be fine."
"I knew you'd be okay." Shanks patted Baichuan's shoulder.
Unlike Shanks' group's lighter mood, Akda's mood was awful. Not only because Baichuan stood up, but because all the bragging he'd just done hadn't come true.
"Devil Fruit ability?" As a general, he'd seen a lot, so Devil Fruits weren't unfamiliar to him.
"Sort of." Baichuan neither denied it nor admitted it.
"Shanks, fall back a bit. If I use my full strength…"
"Alright." Shanks grinned excitedly. "Feels like it's been a long time since I've seen that giant sword of yours."
"Then today I'll let you get a good look." Baichuan answered with full confidence.
Seeing Shanks leave the battle circle, Akda stared at Baichuan.
"You want to fight alone? You think you can beat me by yourself?"
"If I don't try, how would I know?"
As he spoke, streaks of white light rose from Baichuan's skin and covered his body. At the same time, a massive Sword of Damocles appeared in the sky above.
"This… this is…" For some reason, seeing Baichuan in this state made Akda feel a sacred, inviolable might.
"What is that?" Katherlin asked in shock.
"That's Baichuan's ability." Shanks, now outside the battle circle, explained to her. "Only when he uses more than 80%80% of his strength does that sword appear."
"That means just now, Baichuan didn't even use 80%80% of his power."
"Yeah." Shanks sounded a little depressed saying it. When Baichuan first boarded the ship, his strength had been far behind Shanks'.
But now, the one far behind was Shanks.
Just now, Shanks had already used close to 90%90% of his strength.
"Looks like the fighting has started." Since they hadn't gone far, Rayleigh and Roger in the city also saw the Sword of Damocles.
Because of the distance, the sword looked smaller, but that also made it easier to see its full shape clearly.
/-\
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