The moment he realized this, Peter's eyes couldn't help but light up.
When he first exchanged for the Six Powers of the Navy, the product description mentioned that the Six Powers of the Navy could awaken Armament Haki and Observation Haki after long-term practice.
Peter was quite looking forward to this at first, but after waiting for a full two months without any sign of awakening, he gradually put it out of his mind.
But looking at it now, the reason he hadn't been able to awaken Haki before was entirely because the level of combat was too low.
Now, when facing an opponent of Hulk's level, just a single accidental spark of inspiration was enough to awaken Armament Haki.
After realizing that his Armament Haki had awakened, Peter naturally hoped to fully master Armament Haki during this battle.
Not to say he'd improve to the level of Ryuo in one go, but he at least had to reach the point where he could use it at will.
He thus decisively gave up the idea of using long-range attacks and focused solely on fighting Hulk in close combat.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Peter's figure flickered frantically in front of Hulk, launching attacks from all directions.
In just a short dozen seconds, Peter hammered out hundreds of punches on Hulk.
But without exception, none of these attacks triggered Armament Haki, and hitting Hulk's body was no different from scratching an itch.
Just as Peter was starting to doubt if he had guessed wrong earlier and hadn't actually awakened Armament Haki,
A strange feeling welled up in his heart.
He subconsciously looked down and, as expected, noticed at the moment of punching that his fist had been covered by a layer of pitch-black substance at some point.
Boom!
When his fist smashed into Hulk, the sound produced was even more muffled than before.
"Roar!!!"
Hulk let out another cry of pain, his massive body sent flying backward uncontrollably as if hit by a high-speed train, smashing into a pile of ruins and crushing the originally large brick walls into powder.
"Holy crap!"
In the distance, Tony's eyes almost popped out, and even Gwen and Felicia couldn't help but cover their mouths in shock:
"What just happened? Peter actually punched that monster away?!"
Could it be... Peter has gotten stronger yet again while fighting Hulk?!
In the center of the battlefield, Peter looked at his fist with a thoughtful expression.
He had definitely awakened Armament Haki, but why was it so inconsistent?
What was different about that punch just now compared to his previous attacks?
Peter quickly recalled that punch in his mind, and the conclusion he reached was... his emotions when he threw that punch were clearly more... irritable?!
Could it be because of this?
It seemed that in the setting of the Pirate King World, Haki itself is a power of belief; that is, only if you believe you are strong can you harness this power.
Once your mindset changes, not only will you be unable to use Haki, but your appearance will even turn ugly, and you'll completely become a shut-in... isn't that right, Gekko Moriah?
So... should he change his mindset?
Firmly believe that no matter how strong Hulk becomes due to anger, he can still blow him up fair and square?
Thinking this way, Peter looked at Hulk climbing out of the ruins, hesitated for a moment, and then used a long-lost martial arts technique on him—the Solitary Yang Finger plus the Lion's Roar:
"Come at me!"
Sure enough, noticing Peter's gesture, a cross-shaped vein instantly popped on the forehead of Hulk, who had just climbed out of the ruins.
He roared madly, clasping his hands into a hammer shape and smashing them toward Peter.
Facing Hulk's move, Peter forced himself to give up his speed advantage and instead raised his fist toward the opponent.
Boom!
The next second, Peter was completely hammered into the ground by Hulk... Boom! Boom! Boom!
The enraged Hulk seized this opportunity and frantically punched Peter, who had been smashed into the dirt!
Having lost the initiative, Peter could only subconsciously raise his hands to protect his face for defense, while simultaneously activating the power of the horse talisman to quickly heal his injuries.
But the enraged Hulk was truly too fierce.
Hulk, with his eyes red from fighting, simply didn't know what fatigue was.
He just punched Peter again and again, and with every punch, the violent force made the earth shake frantically.
"Peter!"
Tony, Gwen, and the others in the distance were all terrified by this scene, and they each subconsciously wanted to rush up to help and confirm if Peter was still alive.
But just as they were rushing over, they suddenly heard Peter's roar coming from the deep pit:
"Have you had enough!"
Boom!
The next second, Hulk's massive body crashed to the ground, and at the same time, Peter's figure soared into the sky.
The moment Peter reappeared, Gwen and the others all noticed a difference.
Peter's suit was originally white-gold, but now, the upper half of that suit had completely turned pure black!
Armament Hardening!
Looking at the Armament Haki covering his upper body.
Although that layer of Haki quickly receded like a tide after he sent Hulk flying.
Peter clearly felt the changes in his body.
Now, he could finally be certain.
Armament Haki is indeed a power of belief.
Except for Peter, this belief wasn't some "I am number one in the World," but rather "I can protect my family and ensure they are never harmed."
Because of a previous deviation in interpreting his own belief, Peter had been suppressed by Hulk the entire time.
Although he wouldn't die, he truly couldn't find even a moment's chance to fight back.
It wasn't until he heard Gwen and Felicia's voices and used his Byakugan to notice them preparing to rush up and help him regardless of the danger.
Only then did Peter realize what he truly cared about.
The bottleneck that had been shackling him was also instantly broken.
The Armament Haki, which had only been used twice before, was not only perfectly mobilized but also instantly completed a half-body coverage! Even the strength of the Armament Haki seemed to have risen a level because of it.
Looking at Gwen and Felicia in the distance, Peter couldn't help but mutter in his heart:
So you two were the key to me mastering Armament Haki... At the same time that Peter finally figured out how to use Armament Haki well, Hulk also climbed out of the ruins once again.
In his anger, he wanted to replicate his previous success.
But this time, his plan was destined to fail.
Facing Hulk's incoming punch, Peter still chose a head-on confrontation without dodging.
The difference was that this time, what he raised was no longer a fist, but... his entire palm!
Armament Hardening: Hell Stab!
Under the dumbfounded gazes of Gwen and the others, Peter's palm stabbed into Hulk's incoming punch, and the two sides actually came to a standstill in mid-air.
During the stalemate, Peter suddenly retracted two fingers.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The moment his pinky and ring finger were retracted, the Lightning on Peter's body instantly surged.
Amidst this surging Lightning, Peter completely suppressed Hulk, who was twice his size, and slammed the mid-air Hulk ruthlessly into the ground.
"It's time to end this."
Under Hulk's terrified gaze, Peter's middle finger also slowly retracted.
Pfft—
The moment his middle finger was retracted, Hulk's palm was instantly pierced through, and Peter... his offensive did not stop there.
His index finger landed on Hulk's chest with unabated momentum, instantly piercing completely through Hulk's chest...