Just as Moria finished dealing with his opponent and Morris was being tended to, Sebastian's flail, whistling sharply through the air, struck Godfrey Evans's head with pinpoint accuracy.
THUD!
With a dull thump, Evans's head exploded like an overripe watermelon, red and white matter splattering everywhere.
Without even a glance at the fallen foe, Sebastian immediately led the pirates in another fierce charge against the Duchy of Dook's army.
Leaderless, the Dookian forces immediately fell into disarray, retreating step by step under the pirates' ferocious assault.
The battlefield was filled with the sounds of clashing steel and soldiers' screams. Blood stained the ground beneath their feet, and the thick, coppery scent of blood hung heavily in the air.
"Your men are nearly wiped out. Still not planning to surrender?" Bullet stood not far away, arms crossed, watching Dook III with a cold, somewhat mocking gaze.
"Bastard! Once I kill you, I will avenge them all!" Enraged, Dook III's body erupted in raging flames. Fire licked at his armor, warping the air around him with heat.
He unleashed a "Fire Fist!" The massive fist of fire screamed towards Bullet. However, compared to their initial clash, this flame was noticeably weaker, its color shifting from blazing white to a dim red.
"Your strength has waned," Bullet said disdainfully. His right fist was instantly sheathed in pitch-black Busoshoku Haki, gleaming with a metallic luster in the sunlight.
He threw a punch, directly dispersing the fire fist. Sparks flew in all directions, blooming in the air like festive fireworks.
"Damn it, how can you be this strong? Your bounty is a mere 45 million Berries!" Seeing his attack fail, Dook III's previous composure shattered completely. Compounded by his army's relentless retreat, he broke down and shouted.
"Hahaha, you're far too naive," Bullet laughed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Since when has a bounty ever represented true strength? And that bounty was from two years ago, when I was fourteen." As soon as the words left his mouth, his figure vanished from sight once more.
"Where?!" Dook III panicked, frantically looking around, cold sweat beading on his forehead and trickling down his cheeks.
"Here!" Bullet's voice suddenly came from the right. Dook III turned hastily, unleashing "Blaze: Incendiary Shell!" Blazing flames instantly engulfed Bullet, fire licking at the surrounding air.
"I told you, your fire is too weak," Bullet's voice echoed from within the flames. He emerged from the inferno completely unscathed, his Busoshoku Haki-coated fist smashing heavily into Dook III's face.
CRACK!
Accompanied by the sound of shattering bone, Dook III was sent flying backwards. He traced a parabolic arc through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground dozens of meters away, sending up a cloud of dust.
"Huff... huff... huff..." Dook III staggered to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Bullet, who was steadily walking towards him, and at the surrounding Moria, Urouge, and the horde of Beasts Pirates pirates. A flicker of despair flashed in his eyes.
"Aaaaagh! All of you, die!" With a mighty leap, Dook III shot into the air. He threw his arms wide, and countless flames began to gather above him.
In mere moments, a colossal fireball over a hundred meters in diameter had formed above Dook III's head, staining the sky a bloody red.
"Bullet, need any help?" Moria called out to Bullet from nearby, a note of teasing in his voice.
"Not necessary. This is my opponent," Bullet refused outright, his tone firm.
"Bastard! Don't you dare look down on me! Flame Emperor: Celestial Fire Meteor!" With an enraged roar, the gigantic fireball plummeted like a meteor, carrying the momentum to annihilate everything in its path.
"Huuuuu—!" Bullet took a long, deep breath. White fur sprouted across his body as his frame expanded further, his muscles growing even more powerfully defined. He finally transformed into a white wolf-human over nine meters tall, his fangs glinting coldly in the sunlight.
"Extreme Cold: Ice Cutting Slash!"
Bullet swung his right arm. Instantly, a massive vacuum slash, wreathed in freezing air, shot forth. Where it passed, the moisture in the air condensed into ice crystals.
The vacuum slash struck the colossal fireball. Unlike before, there was no explosion. Instead, it sliced through the massive fireball like a hot knife through butter, cleaving it cleanly in two. The severed halves of the fireball, affected by the intense cold, rapidly shrank and vanished, dissipating into wisps of smoke.
The vacuum slash continued forward, striking Dook III squarely in the chest. Even though he had defended with Busoshoku Haki in time, the slash easily breached his Haki defense and cut deep into his body.
SPLURT!
Blood sprayed instantly, forming a crimson mist in the air. Dook III's body, dealt a heavy blow, flew upwards over ten meters before crashing heavily to the ground, creating a deep crater. His armor was shattered; a gruesome wound on his chest gushed blood.
Bullet walked slowly towards the fallen Dook III. In his wolf-man form, each step caused the ground to tremble faintly. Dook III struggled to get up but found he no longer had the strength, forced to watch helplessly as death approached.
"It's over," Bullet said coldly, raising his Busoshoku Haki-clad claws to deliver the final blow.
"Wait, Bullet," Urouge suddenly spoke up, stopping him.
"Hmm?" Bullet frowned, but his hand stopped its motion, though he didn't kill Dook III, merely knocking him unconscious instead.
"However you look at it, this guy's a rare Logia-type," Urouge said. "Take him back to Onigashima. It's the perfect opportunity to test whether the Devil Fruit recycling method Big Brother Kaido told us about works. After all, there are still many apprentices on Onigashima waiting for powerful fruits."
"Fine. Go get the Seastone handcuffs, now," Bullet nodded upon hearing this, then ordered a few of his pirate underlings.
"Yes, Lord Bullet!" Two pirates immediately took off running towards the ships upon hearing the order.
"Ihihihihi, Urouge, why didn't you remind me earlier? My opponent was a Special Paramecia, not much worse than a Logia," Moria chimed in.
"Well... I only just remembered it myself," Urouge replied.
"Whatever. Have people search the Duchy of Dook later to see if the Devil Fruit has regenerated somewhere on this island," Moria said dismissively.
With Dook III's defeat, no one in the entire Duchy of Dook dared to resist the Beasts Pirates any longer. The Beasts Pirates smoothly incorporated the entire Duchy of Dook under their banner.
***
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