Chapter 196: The One-Armed Admiral
It was in that moment that Kizaru finally understood.
No wonder...
No wonder at Enies Lobby, even after he'd watched the kid lose consciousness and sink into the sea, he had somehow managed to escape.
So he can breathe underwater...
"What... are you?" he managed to force out, his voice a weak, dry rasp in the pitch-black depths. "A fish-man? You don't look like one. Another extinct, taboo bloodline? Or... are you some kind of experiment I've never even heard of?"
"What kind of stupid question is that?" Shane sneered, his black hair whipping around him in the deep-sea currents. His Haki-wreathed fist tore through the water pressure and slammed forward again. "What bloodline this, what race that... I'm a goddamn human being!!!"
BOOM!
The punch, crackling with black-and-red lightning, drove deep into Kizaru's abdomen. With the sickening crunch of breaking ribs, Kizaru's body was shot backward like a cannonball, smashing through countless reefs before embedding itself deep within the wall of a trench.
Shane watched him coldly. Kizaru's presence had weakened further, but he could still move. He was nowhere near his limit.
So damn troublesome!
These Marine Admirals were no different from monsters. Even completely helpless in the deep sea, just a punching bag, he was still this durable. If ordinary attacks couldn't finish him...
"Then let's try this one, old monkey!"
Shockwaves erupted from under Shane's feet, and he shot forward like an arrow, instantly closing the distance.
GRAB!
His left hand clamped around Kizaru's throat like an iron vise, pinning him to the trench wall. His right hand slowly rose—
VWOOM!
Black-and-red lightning converged in his palm. All the Conqueror's Haki he could muster was compressed, spun, and forged into a spinning, crimson disc.
Godsplitter!
The overwhelming killing intent made Kizaru's eyes snap open. He stared at the crimson disc, inches from his face, a look of resignation in his eyes. So... the old man didn't make it in time after all.
In that case, I have no choice but to use that technique...
"Yata no Kagami!"
VWOOM!
A path of golden light shot down from above, illuminating the dark depths and focusing entirely on Kizaru. In an instant, his entire body began to glow with a brilliant, blinding golden light, like a divine statue.
Shane instinctively closed his eyes, but his attack didn't falter. He thrust the Godsplitter forward.
SCHLICK—!!!
The crimson disc swept past like the Reaper's scythe.
Blood sprayed. An arm flew high into the water. Shane sensed this with his Observation Haki and frowned slightly.
It missed? At this range? That was impossible.
But it didn't matter. Kizaru was still in his grasp. The attack had drained most of his Haki reserves, but he had enough left to finish the job. The light faded, and Shane opened his eyes again.
Hm?
Shane blinked, tilting his head. He looked at the Kizaru in his hand, then back and forth. Something was wrong. A trade-in? The Kizaru he was holding was pristine, his justice coat and pinstripe suit brand new. His presence was strong, as if he were back at the start of the fight.
"I see..." A grin spread across Shane's face. He suddenly remembered a piece of information that only he knew. Kizaru could create a clone of himself. The clone possessed all his abilities and could perfectly mimic his presence, making it nearly impossible to distinguish from the real one, even with Observation Haki. However, its actual combat power was a severely downgraded version.
A clone!
He obliterated the fake Kizaru with a single punch, then shot upward toward the surface.
At the same time, on the ice plain.
The real Kizaru appeared where his clone had been, crashing down from the sky. His knees slammed into the ice with a dull thud. He was on one knee, his left hand gripping the hilt of his light-saber, its tip plunged deep into the ice to support his trembling body.
He was a wreck. An absolute wreck. His pinstripe suit was in tatters, revealing a blood-soaked shirt underneath. His face was as pale as paper, his lips an unnatural shade of blue, like a terminally ill patient fresh from the ICU.
And the most shocking thing... was his empty right shoulder. Where his arm should have been, there was only a gruesome stump, the cross-section of flesh and bone clearly visible. Blood was still pouring out, dripping onto the ice and freezing into dark red crystals.
"Cough, cough..." He coughed violently, each breath sending a sharp pain through his chest. In fact, there wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt. The eyes that were always filled with lazy amusement were now bloodshot, his pupils trembling.
The dignity of a Marine Admiral? His effortless composure? It was all gone.
In its place was an emotion that was foreign to him—fear. The fear of having walked to the brink of death and back.
Cough... I was careless.
Kizaru struggled to his feet. He knew Sengoku's strategy. He knew that he couldn't defeat Shane, not unless they fought for days on end. And likewise, Shane couldn't defeat him. His job was simply to stall, to wait for Gion to finish her fight and provide support. And even if Gion failed, there was still the ultimate trump card: Garp.
But... he had been too arrogant. He had never imagined the kid's mastery of Conqueror's Haki was so advanced that he could completely seal off his ability to disperse into light. He'd been dragged into the sea and nearly killed. If he hadn't, as a precaution, left a clone on the warship... he would have died in those depths. In the deep sea, his real body couldn't use his Devil Fruit powers. The clone had to initiate his ultimate escape technique, "Amaterasu Switch," which used a beam of light to instantly swap the positions of his real body and the clone, regardless of distance. It was a move he rarely used because the cost was immense... it drained most of his stamina and sent waves of agonizing pain through his body.
But compared to what Shane had left him with... or rather, taken from him... it was nothing. He finally stood up straight, his face grim as he looked at his empty right shoulder.
His right arm was gone. He'd lost a massive amount of blood. Combined with the side effects of the Amaterasu Switch, his condition had plummeted. He was in no shape to continue fighting Shane. He had to retreat.
But could he? He could escape at any time. Even in his weakened state, he could turn into light, and Shane wouldn't be able to stop him... But he couldn't just abandon his comrades, his subordinates. He clenched his light-saber, his gaze sweeping over the Marines still fighting desperately on the ice.
Gion and Kuina were still locked in a stalemate. But the other battlefields were already decided. Momonga and Dalmatian had been defeated by Jack; they were lying on the ground, coughing up blood, barely conscious. The other officers were scattered and incapacitated. As for the Warlord he'd brought with him, Enel... he blinked, his eyes widening in shock. Not far from him lay a corpse with a snapped neck.
Enel... is dead? How?! That guy was an annoying braggart, but with his Logia powers, he should have been able to escape... Kizaru's gaze shifted to the tall, impassive figure walking toward him.
The Tyrant, Bartholomew Kuma. This guy was a true monster. His strength far exceeded the bounty the Marines had placed on him.
CRACK!
The ice behind him shattered. A powerful, terrifying presence locked onto his back. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Shane had caught up.
He was surrounded. Not that it mattered. The battle was a complete disaster. They had lost. But even so, he couldn't flee alone. He couldn't save everyone, but he had to create an opening for his remaining comrades to retreat.
"This is why... I hate being a babysitter..." Kizaru muttered. He steadied himself, ready to fight again, when suddenly—
BOOM!!!
A violent shockwave slammed down from the sky! The ice plain shattered, and the sea erupted!
This presence is...
Shane's eyes narrowed. He looked up.
From the heavens, a powerful figure descended like a falling star. Short, graying hair, a rugged face, muscular arms wreathed in a terrifying aura of black-and-red lightning—
The Hero of the Marines, Monkey D. Garp!
"Hey, you little punk! Long time no see! We can catch up later! I can't just stand by and watch you wipe out the future of the Marines!" Garp laughed wildly, the black-and-red light on his right fist growing brighter, illuminating the entire night sky.
"GALAXY IMPACT!!!"
His roar echoed through the heavens. Before the fist, coated in the Haki of a supreme king, even landed, the terrifying pressure was already cracking the ice for a thousand meters in every direction! The very air warped and collapsed. Black-and-red lightning danced like wild dragons. A massive, circular shockwave expanded, making the entire area look like the end of the world.
"Garp?!"
Shane's eyes lit up. His fighting spirit erupted like a volcano, and his blood began to boil. He clenched his right fist, and all the remaining Conqueror's Haki in his body was compressed and focused into it. Black-and-red lightning wreathed his arm, forming a cross-shaped glare of crimson light at his knuckles.
"I can do that too, old man!" he roared with laughter, stomping his foot and shattering the ice as he shot upward like a cannonball.
"GALAXY IMPACT!!!"
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