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Sabaody Archipelago.
On a wide, open field, surrounded by tall, scattered trees and devoid of any residential areas.
"Were you… also kicked over here by that bastard Marine?" The voice was strained, clearly embarrassed at being punted like a soccer ball.
"…"
Silence! A dead silence!
There were a total of four people present. "Gluttonous Woman" Ularasova, in her normal, muscular form. The long-haired and tattered German, still dripping mud and with a clear boot print on his face. And the ferocious-looking Sanchez and Outlook, who were currently in a staring contest.
"Hey! I told you if we had just attacked him together, we might have been able to take that guy down!" Sanchez grew more agitated as he spoke, even pointing to a slap mark on his own cheek as he questioned Outlook. "Aren't you a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user? You should be able to take a hit better than me! If you had just held him off for a moment while I attacked from behind, we wouldn't have been kicked over here."
"Heh, I think you just wanted to use the opportunity to stab me in the back," Outlook retorted.
German, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, finally couldn't take it anymore. A vein throbbed on his forehead, and his mouth twitched. Are these two idiots? And is that guy pointing out his slap mark to mock the boot print on my face?
"Stop arguing, you fools! Right now, we should just scatter and run!" German held the others in contempt. The other Supernovas had bounties just over 100 million, while his was over 200 million. He believed his strength was far superior to theirs.
"We can't run," the muscular Ularasova said, shaking her head.
"Hmm?" x3
Her words immediately drew the attention of the other three. Even Sanchez and Outlook stopped their bickering and waited for her explanation.
"You're all probably wondering, right? How that Marine was able to find all of us so quickly."
"Was it the Marine intelligence agency?" Sanchez guessed.
"No. It was Haki."
"Haki?" x3
"Yes. It must be Observation Haki, and a ridiculously powerful version of it. I'd bet our every move is under that Marine's perception right now."
"What!?" x2 An ominous feeling washed over Sanchez and Outlook.
German, on the other hand, was thoughtful. "Is Haki that black substance? The one that can touch the real body of a Logia user?" (The author notes: There has been some debate about whether Haki has a color to those who haven't awakened it. I'll just write that it has color here, since the anime and manga contradict each other. Not my fault.)
"Huh? You're a Logia user?" Ularasova was surprised. No wonder his bounty was so much higher than theirs. A Logia's elemental form was incredibly powerful; in the first half of the Grand Line, it was practically unstoppable.
"How did you know?" German asked.
"Are you an idiot?" Ularasova shot back.
"You…" German's face flushed with anger, but he held it back and looked at Ularasova, waiting for the answer to his question.
"Armament Haki," Ularasova didn't disappoint him, mainly because she was afraid he would lash out at her in anger.
"Clap! Clap! Clap! To think there are people in Paradise who know about Haki. How rare."
Just as German was about to discuss Haki further with Ularasova, the sound of applause suddenly reached their ears.
"You again?" The four of them followed the sound and saw Kanos Atlas, dressed in pure white, standing within their line of sight. The vicious Marine was looking at them with a cold smile.
"Don't be nervous. He's just a Marine Vice Admiral, not an Admiral. I don't believe the four of us Supernovas can't stop a single Vice Admiral!" German sneered, trying to rally the others to fight Atlas together.
Outlook looked at German's slightly messy face, a feeling of unease in his heart. Hey… big bro, does your face hurt when you say that?
"At this point, we have no choice but to fight for our lives. I've already called my crew for backup. If we can just hold out for a while, we can use sheer numbers to wear him down. He has to have a limit to his stamina," Ularasova said, nodding in agreement.
"Alright!" x2
None of the pirate captains present were fools; they had naturally already contacted their crews. They just needed to stall for a little while.
"You people… you truly know nothing about Marine Vice Admirals." Atlas shook his head slightly and began to walk toward them.
"Mud Swamp: Cannonball!"
"Accelerate!"
German and Outlook attacked first, one from a distance and one up close. It was hard to believe it was their first time working together.
But… Atlas continued his leisurely pace, his expression unchanged in the face of their attacks.
Swish! Outlook's axe was the first to reach Atlas's neck. It seemed the cold glint of the blade was about to sever his artery. Heh! Outlook could already picture the Marine clutching his neck, tears of regret in his eyes.
"You're… too slow."
Atlas only tilted his neck slightly. To an onlooker, it looked like nothing had changed, but Outlook's attack had missed completely! With Atlas's incredible reflexes, augmented by his Observation Haki, even a user of the Speed-Speed Fruit could barely touch him.
Bang! He ignored the incoming mud projectile, spun around, and delivered a vicious whip kick straight into Outlook's chest! A burst of explosive flame erupted from his back, the terrifying heat and concussive force instantly vaporizing the mud ball. The current Atlas was basically a human Dragon Talisman, able to fire explosive flames from any point on his body, 360 degrees without a single blind spot!
"Pfft!" Outlook coughed up a mouthful of blood and felt his caved-in chest. His ribs… were broken!
Sanchez and Ularasova were shocked at how quickly their two comrades had been defeated. Not daring to delay, one transformed into his centaur form while the other's muscles bulged, ripping her clothes to shreds!
"ROAR!" x2
As if venting their rage, the two of them roared in unison, their massive forms creating an oppressive aura.
"Swamp: Mud Field!" Not to be outdone, German, who considered himself the strongest, secreted a large amount of mud, instantly covering the area in a disgusting swamp that rapidly spread toward Atlas!
"Let's see you dodge this!" At the same time, the transformed Sanchez and the giant Ularasova charged at Atlas from both sides!
"Heh~ Allow me to show you… the gap between you and the world." Atlas looked at the charging pair with a disdainful smile. He stretched out his arms, palms facing them!
Ugh! Ugh!
Two muffled grunts sounded at almost the same time! Sanchez's hooves and Ularasova's massive fist were caught in Atlas's single hands!
"What kind of monstrous strength is this!?" Ularasova cried out, her face a mask of disbelief. Was this monster really someone they could defeat?
Atlas paid no mind to their thoughts. He lowered his center of gravity, engaged his core, and, like a god hurling an elephant, threw the two behemoths straight at German! Splat! The impacted German instantly dissolved into a splash of mud, only to reform a short distance away.
"Two useless trash heaps!" German's face was grim. He slowly enveloped himself in mud, half his body sinking into the ground.
"You're not much better."
"When did you…" German was horrified. A sense of crisis washed over him, and he quickly surrounded himself with a thick layer of mud. It was the fastest reaction he could manage…
"Blast!"
BOOM!
Engulfed, German felt a violent shockwave slam into him, and his vision spun. The explosive flames ignited the gases from the swamp, and clusters of fire, like a clinging plague, spread rapidly across the mud field.
Suddenly, Atlas's right arm was coated in Armament Haki as he raised it to block! Clang!
"I saw you coming! Don't think my Observation Haki is just for show," Atlas said, looking at Outlook, who was now locked in a struggle against his arm. He tapped his temple with his left hand and spoke in a teasing tone. As he finished, he snapped his leg up in a powerful kick!
Whump!
A huge spray of blood erupted, and Outlook was sent flying. In mid-air, one could vaguely see… his jaw… was shattered!
"You aren't the 'tender shoots' of a new era. There are no remnants of a bygone age coming to save you," Atlas said to the four fallen pirates, a statement that left them completely bewildered.
"Get up! The three of us can stall a little longer!" German, seeing the unconscious Outlook, said with unwilling defiance.
"Even if our crews get here, can we really beat this guy?" Sanchez noted that after fighting them all, Atlas's pure white suit was still completely spotless!
Damn it! Is this guy even human? Ularasova spat out a mouthful of blood, cursing wildly in her mind.
"Ularasova, what happened to you?"
"Carmena!?" Ularasova looked up and saw her ship's cook, Carmena, arriving with a group of their crew members.
"Get out of here!" Ularasova screamed. Although Carmena's fighting ability was completely at odds with her appearance, she was no match for the man in front of them. She now realized the gap between them and the world was not something that could be bridged with mere numbers. But a small part of her still clung to that delusion.
However, it was already too late.
"Captain, we came as soon as we got your order!"
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
In a short while, the crews of the other three pirate groups had also arrived, staring in shock at their battered captains.
"What a lively gathering. Thank you all so much for greatly reducing our Marines' workload," Atlas said, surveying the crowd with some satisfaction.
Silence! No one dared to speak. The captains they trusted had been defeated by a single young Marine? Fear, confusion, astonishment—a complex mix of emotions washed over them. An absurd but undeniable thought emerged in their minds. Today, they were all going to die here…
"There are a few too many people. Let's clear the field a bit."
Atlas's pupils constricted. Black-and-red lightning danced wildly, and a terrifying pressure enveloped the area. The world seemed to turn black and white!
Conqueror's Haki!
Thump! The weaker crew members were the first to fall. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the once-dense crowd collapsed one after another!
"This is…" Ularasova's pupils shrank, her voice strained. Conqueror's Haki! I'd never mistake it! How can there be a man like this in the Marines!?
"Phew~ much better. With fewer people, it's easier on the eyes," Atlas said, looking at those who were still standing. The only ones left were the captains and their first mates. There should have been eight, but Outlook, the user of the Speed-Speed Fruit, had already been knocked unconscious by Atlas!
"What… what kind of monster is this!?" The remaining pirates looked at the instantly cleared field, their scalps tingling with fear. This technique… is it also a type of Haki? Sanchez and German immediately recalled Ularasova's explanation.
"My apologies, but I'm in a hurry to get to dinner, so if you could all just lie down, that would be great," Atlas said with a wide grin, his white teeth shining in the sun.
Huff… puff… huff…
Kyros was breathing heavily, his mind focused, his hands gripping his broadsword tightly as he stared intently at Glennon.
"What an impressive Marine. How about you join my pirate crew?" Glennon's expression was ecstatic, the hand holding his rapier trembling slightly. Both men were battered, covered in cuts of varying sizes and depths, sweat and blood caking on their skin.
An opening!
Kyros's leg muscles tensed. In an instant, he flashed in front of Glennon, his sword raised high for a downward slash!
"Speed is power. Have you… ever been kicked by me?"
As the voice rang out, Atlas's figure seemed to vanish into thin air—or rather, it vanished from the visual range of every pirate present!
Swish!
BANG! x7
Before anyone could react, seven muffled thuds sounded simultaneously. A deep crater suddenly appeared on the chests of all seven conscious pirates! Several of their ribs had likely been driven into their organs, and the intense pain was almost enough to make them pass out instantly.
"What a pain. If I kill them all, Sengoku will surely lecture me for a long time…"
"It's such a dilemma…"
Hearing Atlas's muttering, the pirates who had been struggling to stay conscious finally coughed up a mouthful of blood and plunged into endless darkness…
As for whether they were dead or alive… heh.
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach the top 100)
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