Feeling the tension hanging heavy in the stagnant air, Deuce and the other spectators couldn't help but stare intently at the climactic duel unfolding between these two legendary fighters.
Although Jerry had concentrated his Conqueror's Haki into a tightly controlled area around himself, Bullet was simultaneously pushing his own Haki to its absolute limits. Even before their physical attacks could connect, the invisible forces rolling endlessly through the void had already begun colliding with tremendous violence.
In a split second, Bullet's eyes fluctuated slightly with what might have been doubt or concern, before quickly returning to their usual determined focus.
As expected, in this direct contest of Conqueror's Haki supremacy, Bullet found his own spiritual pressure rapidly losing ground, like a small boat struggling against a devastating hurricane. He could only pour every ounce of his remaining willpower into maintaining his Haki output, desperately trying to prevent his last stronghold of resistance from being completely overwhelmed.
In the blink of an eye, both combatants' attacks continued their collision course, and their devastating punches met in mid-air without any interference or hesitation.
A deafening impact exploded like divine thunder, echoing between heaven and earth with enough force to shock observers to their very cores.
Violent shockwaves spread outward from both fighters' positions, and the tremendous reaction force caused them to be hurled involuntarily in opposite directions across the battlefield.
Amid two thunderous crashes, impact craters hundreds of meters apart exploded simultaneously, sending tremors through the entire devastated landscape.
Within moments, a figure suddenly materialized from the smoke and dust closer to Deuce's observation position, then vanished again like a streaking meteor moving at impossible velocity.
At the same time, a powerfully built silhouette burst forth from the distant crater, but moved noticeably slower than his opponent.
Jerry accelerated through the air and in a flash approached Bullet, who was visibly staggering from the exchange.
As Jerry advanced, the shadowy outline of a massive dragon seemed to appear and disappear around his form, radiating majestic and overwhelming spiritual pressure.
Bullet stared at his enemy approaching with renewed violent intent, and a fanatical smile spread across his bloodied lips. "That's exactly what I wanted! Come at me with everything!"
After delivering this challenge, he spun around and swung his fist once more, rushing toward Jerry, who suddenly leaped upward as his entire figure became an indistinct blur.
"Dragon King's Domain!" Jerry's voice rang out with absolute authority as a dragon that seemed both real and ethereal suddenly materialized and completely engulfed Bullet's form.
Amid the earth-shaking roar that followed, the ground trembled violently, and a seemingly bottomless crater appeared in the landscape, rapidly filling with water that bubbled up from underground springs.
"Whew! Your raw physical power really is incredible," Jerry admitted with grudging respect as he strode casually out from the settling dust cloud, a confident grin spreading across his face. His overall demeanor remained completely calm, and his expression had already returned to its characteristic nonchalant amusement. "Fortunately, I've got quite a few tricks up my sleeve. Otherwise, I might be the one lying in that crater right now."
Jerry gently massaged his chest and abdomen while raising his other hand to wipe a small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. Then he flashed a thumbs-up gesture toward Deuce and the rest of his crew.
Through his advanced senses, Jerry could detect that Bullet's life force had become extremely weak and was on the verge of extinguishing entirely.
Seeing their captain's victory signal, Deuce and the others returned the same enthusiastic thumbs-up. Kotatsu cut off the live broadcast transmission at precisely the right moment, while Carina waved a permanent pointer in her hand with an unmistakably smug smile.
Earlier, after Jerry had followed Cavendish and the others to the surface, Deuce and his companions had rushed Festa under his horrified gaze and beaten him senseless without any regard for fair play or moral ethics.
Subsequently, Carina had volunteered to take Carrot as backup while she interrogated their defeated host and turned every possible hiding place completely upside down.
With her professional thief's keen instincts, even without Festa confessing the locations of his entire collection, Carina had easily discovered all of his most valuable possessions.
Jerry walked slowly toward his waiting crew members, glancing at his system interface with obvious satisfaction.
"Excellent. There's been an unexpected bonus," he observed while studying the skill panel for several moments before shifting his attention to the lotus interface display.
On the surface, the skill panel appeared unchanged, but Jerry understood perfectly well that he had utilized his Conqueror's Haki in numerous ways that the system couldn't adequately describe through simple text.
After his previous upgrade and a brief period of experimental development, Jerry had pushed his Conqueror's Haki mastery far beyond the original applications of intimidation and basic coating techniques.
His advanced Haki could now not only strike paralyzing fear into the hearts of weaker creatures, but when employed against opponents of similar strength levels, it could also manipulate spiritual pressure in targeted ways to disrupt enemy thinking patterns.
This ability could even interfere with an opponent's Observation Haki, making it impossible for them to achieve future sight, while significantly weakening their precognitive abilities.
This represented Jerry's personal version of an ability similar to Shanks' legendary "Observation Killer" technique.
Through further experimentation, Jerry had discovered that this derivative capability possessed additional specialized applications.
For instance, when others were speaking, he could catch them off guard and scramble their words or thoughts. However, Jerry could currently only use this particular ability against significantly weaker individuals. Influencing powerful fighters of comparable levels would require much more practice and refinement.
Within the lotus interface, another aperture was now flashing with brilliant, dazzling light.
[System Alert: Combat analysis complete. You have utilized relevant techniques in battle against Douglas Bullet, recognized as one of the world's premier Armament Haki masters, and have earned his acknowledgment. This achievement unlocks breakthrough and fusion limitations for related abilities.]
Reading this notification, Jerry scratched his head thoughtfully, then examined the single remaining Wall-breaking Bead in his inventory before studying the two apertures that remained dim and inactive.
"So there are five Wall-breaking Beads total?" Jerry mused aloud. "But I've only obtained three so far. Where could the other two possibly be located?"
Jerry had traveled extensively throughout his years of adventure, acquiring only three beads from Fishman Island, Sky Island, and the Holy Land of Mariejois respectively.
He tried to recall the specific circumstances of those discoveries, racking his brain to determine whether there might be some intrinsic connection or recognizable pattern linking those locations.
"There's probably one waiting at Laugh Tale, right? But what about the final bead? And what happens when all five are collected?"
After several minutes of intense contemplation—comparable to the mental effort required for solving complex mathematical problems—Jerry shook his head and dismissed his speculation. "Forget it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
With this practical decision made, he prepared to utilize his remaining Wall-breaking Bead without further hesitation. Just as he was about to activate the item, he suddenly remembered the potential consequences and looked up toward Deuce and the others, who were still engaged in casual conversation.
"Hey! Get away from here!" Jerry shouted with obvious concern. "I don't know if I'll lose control of my abilities again!"
The moment these words reached everyone on the hillside, they were startled into immediate action and began running for safer distance.
Obviously, having learned from previous experience, none of them wanted to risk being caught in whatever supernatural phenomenon was about to occur.
"Perfect," Jerry confirmed after sensing that his crew had reached a safe distance. He returned his attention to the system interface and carefully placed the Wall-breaking Bead into the third illuminated aperture.
An enormous surge of Armament Haki burst forth instantaneously, creating an invisible shockwave that spread rapidly outward from his position.
However, despite the howling winds that accompanied this release, the already devastated landscape sustained no additional damage.
This was because simultaneously, Jerry's enhanced Armament Haki was rapidly transmitting outward with him as the epicenter, coating and reinforcing a vast area of the surrounding terrain.
Although Deuce and the others couldn't observe the specific phenomena occurring beyond the hillsides, they all felt violent tremors shaking the entire island beneath their feet.
After what seemed like an eternity, the vibrations gradually subsided, and Jerry's familiar silhouette slowly appeared at the summit of the hill.
He called out cheerfully to the members of the Black Star Pirates, "Ha! I accidentally transformed into a high-powered human pile driver... or should I say, a living seismic generator, and gave this whole island a therapeutic massage! Is everyone alright over there?"
The casual way he described potentially catastrophic geological effects was so perfectly characteristic of Jerry that his crew couldn't help but smile with relief, knowing their captain had successfully completed whatever mysterious enhancement he'd been attempting.