Jack's initial long-range Hyper Beam unfortunately missed, failing to achieve the effect he had expected. Many times, Jack was a stubborn person, so in order to achieve his goal, he decided to try again.
The energy of the Hyper Beam gathered once more at the tip of his trunk, locking onto the area where most of the pirates were gathered. Those pirates were not just sitting around waiting; as Jack was charging up, they also launched attacks at him.
Explosions rang out one after another, but the result was always the same; crossbow bolts and solid rounds were deflected, bullets fell powerlessly to the ground, and ordinary shrapnel couldn't harm Jack's body, at most leaving a few unremarkable marks.
Not to mention causing any effective damage, they couldn't even interrupt Jack's charging, and before those pirates could get close to him, Jack's Hyper Beam was already fully formed.
This time, Jack did not miss. Hyper Beam accurately struck the platform in front of the plaza.
Boom!
Upon hitting the target, the Hyper Beam triggered a secondary explosion; the blast and smoke engulfed many pirates, but as the explosion erupted, another pirate leapt from the platform and appeared in front of Jack.
He wore only a simple tight vest, his bulging muscles accentuated by his clothing, and with that ferocious gaze, a murderous intent radiated from his eyes.
Drunkard Gerst — bounty of 859 million Berries — currently the pirate with the highest bounty in Fullalead, and also the strongest in overall combat ability. Although multiple pirate crews were gathered in Fullalead, Gerst held the greatest authority.
"So what if you're one of Kaido's officers? Does that mean you can bully us as you want?!"
"Bully? In the world of pirates, only strength matters. If you haven't even realized that, why bother being a pirate?"
Among the officers of the Beasts Pirates, Jack has the strongest immunity to trash talk. If others are merely unaffected by it, then Jack doesn't even think about it at all. No matter what the enemy says, Arceus and Kaido's orders are absolute.
Whether strong or weak, he didn't care. As long as someone was identified as the enemy, he would go all out.
"You're the boss here, right? Then I'll start with you."
At this moment, Jack was still in his beast form. He raised his forelegs high and then slammed them heavily onto the ground in front of him, a tremendous amount of energy being injected into the ground.
The entire plaza began to shake in response.
Under the effect of the tremors, the ground split apart, and amid the churning earth and rocks, many pirates were buried directly in the fissures.
"Damn it, can a Mythical Zoan even do something like this?!"
Earthquakes had always been a source of fear for pirates. Even though Whitebeard had been dead for a year, his world-destroying ability had left a mark in their hearts.
If it weren't clearly known that Jack was a Zoan user, Gerst would've suspected he had eaten the Quake-Quake Fruit.
In reality, earthquakes weren't as terrifying as in games. Injuring a powerful individual wasn't easy, but Jack's attack still triggered panic.
With his incredible defense and the earlier Hyper Beam, Jack had already demonstrated terrifying deterrent power, and with the addition of this earthquake, the morale that Gerst had painstakingly rallied quickly collapsed.
Getting pirates to attack a monster like this was already a tough task. Pirates weren't a disciplined army, and forcing them into a suicide mission meant being prepared for them to betray you on the spot.
Unless there was overwhelming power or charismatic leadership, pirate crews were always extremely unstable.
"B*stards! Keep attacking! No running away!"
Seeing his subordinates trying to flee, Gerst angrily shouted at them; when they ignored his orders, Gerst casually flicked his hand, and a purple liquid splashed out, completely covering a fleeing pirate.
If Whitebeard could lead his men to attack Marine Headquarters using his strength and position within the Whitebeard Pirates, then Gerst relied purely on brute-force intimidation.
After being covered by the liquid, the fleeing pirate's expression suddenly changed drastically.
His face turned bright red, his eyes grew extremely dull, and he even began hiccuping drunkenly. His body no longer tried to escape, and instead turned back to look at Jack.
"Alcohol makes people feel intoxicated. This is a good thing. Once drunk, the human brain is controlled by alcohol, and thus no longer feels fear."
"Follow my orders! Kill that guy in front of you! Don't force me to help you find your courage!"
Gerst shouted threateningly at the other subordinates, which made those trying to run away stop in their tracks.
"Hic~ Kill that guy…"
The drunken man turned back and picked up the weapon he had just thrown away, looking at Jack again with intoxicated eyes.
"Attack! No matter the cost!"
Gerst said cruelly.
"Yes! Hic"
The man responded to Gerst's order while hiccuping.
His steps seemed unsteady, so wobbly that he couldn't even walk straight—his right foot even tripped over his left, demonstrating a textbook "trip on flat ground" as he fell face-first onto the ground.
But this didn't stop his movements. Unlike the fear from earlier, now he was trying hard to carry out Gerst's command.
When he had just fallen, the weapon in his hand accidentally dropped, but even though his "drunken state" kept him from standing back up, he didn't give up.
He crawled with great effort to the sword, slowly picked it up, and staggered toward Jack like a zombie.
Gerst also brought out the thing he had been carrying on his back all along; it was nothing else but a massive wineskin. After taking several big gulps of strong liquor, Gerst also became drunk, but his tone remained incredibly menacing.
"Don't force me to use my ability on you! Anyone trying to run better think carefully about the cost!"
Gerst was the user of Paramecia-type Dero Dero no Mi.
Unlike Vasco Shot's Glug-Glug Fruit, even though both abilities are alcohol-related, the two fruits' powers are entirely different.
The Dero Dero no Mi that Gerst had eaten could produce highly corrosive liquor, which could not only corrode physical matter but even corrode the human heart. Anyone who came into contact with his liquor would either have their body corroded or lose their will and become a puppet.
Those whose hearts were corroded would die 24 hours later as their minds melted away.
The original owner of this fruit was Artur Bacca, a relative of the old man who had taken in Law. After being defeated, Artur Bacca was sent to prison, where he died, and the fruit eventually reincarnated and ended up in Gerst's hands.
Though those infected by Gerst's liquor no longer felt fear, their attacks also lost any threat. They couldn't even wear down Jack's stamina.
This kind of move works on small fry, after all, cannon fodder unafraid of death are better than regular cannon fodder. But a move like that is useless against even ordinary officers, let alone a monster like Jack.
Jack, like a steel tank, slammed aside all the pirates blocking his path and charged toward Gerst.
"B*stard… Don't underestimate me!"
Gerst showed no fear. He stomped hard with his foot, and from the ground torn apart by Jack's earlier earthquake, a giant boulder was sent flying into the air by the impact. Gerst then hugged the boulder with both arms and hurled it at Jack.
Jack didn't dodge, didn't even slow down; he simply rammed straight into the boulder and shattered it to pieces.
But Jack's momentum didn't slow down. He slammed directly into Gerst, and the massive impact sent Gerst flying. A large amount of alcohol splashed onto Jack, but it was completely blocked by his Haki.
Neither Jack's body nor his mind was affected; instead, it was Gerst who suffered terribly.
Under the influence of Jack's powerful strength, Gerst's control over his ability weakened significantly. The alcohol that had been swirling around his body instantly lost control and splashed onto the surrounding pirates, who were terrified and trying to escape.
The pirates didn't even have time to say a word before the alcohol, imbued with the power of the Dero Dero no Mi, poured down on them. In the blink of an eye, they were all turned into drunken zombies, rushing towards Jack.
But just like before, when facing an opponent like Jack, who had incredibly high defense, numbers were meaningless. These ordinary pirates couldn't even force Jack to lose any HP. No matter how flashy their moves looked, if they didn't deal damage, they were pointless.
However Gerst wasn't idle either. Seeing his underlings entangle Jack under the influence of his ability, he clasped his hands together and then flung them to the sides.
As he flung his hands, purple liquor shot towards Jack like a massive rain of arrows.
"Elephant b*stard, go to hell!"
As the arrow rain flew through the air, Gerst clapped his hands again. A large number of alcohol arrows gathered in midair, eventually transforming into long spears that shot rapidly toward Jack.
"Slightly stronger than before, but essentially no different."
A few white spots appeared on Jack's body. For him, these were just superficial wounds, but Jack had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by. As he ran, he transformed into his Human-Beast form before sliding toward Gerst and hurling his massive fist at his head.
But just as Jack's fist was about to hit Gerst's head, Gerst's body changed again.
"Don't be fooled just because I'm a Paramecia-type! Physical attacks don't work on me!"
Gerst roared in fury, and his body began to melt.
This was another ability of the Dero Dero no Mi. It could dissolve not just clothing and minds, but also Gerst's own body, turning it into alcohol and making it immune to physical attacks.
But this wasn't true elementalization. It was a technique that altered the body using melting.
Unlike others, Gerst could reassemble his body. After melting, he seeped into the ground, hoping to avoid Jack's attack.
Even with Haki, as long as the opponent couldn't touch him, they couldn't harm his alcohol body.
This trick might work on other Zoan-types, but not Jack.
"Idiot, I'm a Fish-Man! Fish-Man Karate: Demon Brick Fist!"
Fish-Man Karate unleashes its power by striking liquids, using vibrations through the moisture in the human body to deal greater damage. Gerst, having turned entirely into alcohol, was just what Jack wanted. In this situation, Jack could unleash the full power of Fish-Man Karate.
Boom!
After a brief delay of a few seconds, a deep crater several meters wide appeared beneath Jack's feet. The area affected extended across most of the plaza.
At the edge of the crater, the liquefied Gerst was forced back into his original form by Jack's attack. Blood flowed from his mouth, nose, and ears, and even his eyes turned bloodshot.
Jack's punch dealt severe damage to Gerst in his liquid form. Gerst now felt as if a dump truck had crashed through his body. Whether it was organs, viscera, bones, or skin, everything ached with a wrenching pain.
"Damn it… all of you, attack! Take that b*stard down!"
A large amount of purple liquid flew into the air, then fell onto the plaza like rain. In an instant, the battlefield that had been filled with fear became a gathering of drunks. Countless pirates, under the control of the Dero Dero no Mi, launched a desperate charge at Jack.
"A futile struggle. No matter how many ants there are, they can't stop an elephant."
Thud, thud!
Jack's footsteps continued forward. As he charged, a wave of high temperature enveloped his body, gradually transforming into a blazing barrier as his assault began.
Heat Crash, a Fire-type move: the greater the user's weight compared to the enemy's, the more powerful the resulting force.
"Fish-Man Karate: Heated Elephant Thrust!"
The luminous aura of Heat Crash gradually concentrated onto Jack's hand. His metallic arm even glowed red-hot, and just before his body reached its limit, Jack unleashed the punch.
The power of Heat Crash was integrated into Fish-Man Karate and thrown out with the Fish-Man Karate's power-generating technique.
Gerst didn't have time to dodge. He felt as if a massive mountain was pressing down on him, and then the high temperature ignited the purple strange liquor surrounding him, turning him into a flaming man.
The power of the Dero Dero no Mi was not weak in itself, but it was completely meaningless against Jack. Even the Logia-type-like elementalization, when facing Jack, was nothing more than a negative buff that increased the surface area for him to strike.
But whether it was the pressure or the high temperature, they were merely the prelude to Jack's attack. After Gerst was ignited, Jack's fists were fully coated in Armament Haki, and his heavy, powerful punches rained down on him without pause until there were no signs of life left.
With Gerst's death, Jack's battle also came to an end. The plaza of Fullalead was completely destroyed. Buildings were leveled, the ground shattered, and the soil cracked from the intense heat, laying the groundwork for Jack's eventual title.
Due to the nature of his combat, as long as the fight was on land, the area where Jack battled would always turn into a wasteland. The shattered ground resembled land plagued by years of drought, and all life was destroyed by the heat and pressure he released.
Countless battles spread Jack's reputation, and with Kaido's acknowledgment, Jack's bounty title eventually changed from "Steel Mammoth" to the unified term: "Calamity."
Wherever his feet tread becomes scorched earth, thus, he is called Drought. The Beasts Pirates' newly appointed Fourth Calamity.
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