"Jie ha ha ha ha, what an arrogant brat! You really make me uncomfortable!"
"But don't worry, before I officially solve the mystery, maybe I'll show some mercy and spare your life!"
A ferocious smile spread across the Golden Lion's face as his figure slowly descended into the desert.
Snap!
He pressed his hands hard into the ground. When he lifted them, the entire island began to tremble violently.
"Lion Majesty: Earth Coiling!"
Roar!
A low growl sounded, and several massive, clay lion heads erupted from the yellow sand. As soon as they were formed, they charged directly towards Adrian.
"Little brat, it's an honor for you that I used this trick on you. You should know that the pirates I've killed with this were all famous New World ruthless people!" Golden Lion said with great pride.
As a legendary pirate who was as famous as Roger and Whitebeard, Golden Lion had every right to be proud.
But their time had clearly passed!
"Such an ordinary move... what's there to show off?" The corners of Adrian's lips curved slightly, and he simply raised the index-finger of his right hand.
"Quicksand Waterfall!"
Rumble!
The yellow sand on the ground rose into the sky, forming a shocking 100-meter-high sand wave in the blink of an eye. He pushed it towards the Golden Lion.
This was exactly the ninjutsu that Gaara used against Kimimaro in Naruto.
You're a Golden Lion, but can you really be as tough as a "Kaguya"?
As a transmigrator, Adrian's understanding, development, and application of the Sand-Sand Fruit had reached a point where he could control it with his fingers, far surpassing Crocodile's level.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
The dozen or so Earth Coiling lion heads that Golden Lion had created were instantly swallowed by the sand wave, unable to even make a ripple.
"This... how is this possible?!" Golden Lion exclaimed.
Since his debut, he had never encountered such a situation.
However, as the sand wave approached, Golden Lion was ready to take to the sky. But he was shocked to find that his legs, and the Oto and Kogarashi swords he used as feet, were tightly entangled by two sand arms formed by quicksand.
"Lion Majesty!"
Frightened and angry, Golden Lion pressed his hands to the ground again, activating the Float Fruit's ability. It allowed objects to diffuse out of fluctuations that were not controlled by gravity.
In the next second however, the monstrous sand wave whizzed up and flew over the Golden Lion's head, causing him to break into a cold sweat.
"Who is this boy? Why does he have such terrifying strength?"
A sense of unease rose from the bottom of Golden Lion's heart. Adrian's strength was unbelievable. Is this the strength a boy under the age of twenty should have? It's so unreasonable!
"He really deserves to be a veteran powerhouse with the same reputation as Roger and Whitebeard. This kind of instant reaction in actual combat is truly enviable!" Adrian couldn't help but praise.
But at the same time, he pulled his hands down violently and shouted, "This is just the beginning... The Strange Wrist of Sand!"
Swoosh!
The giant sand wave that had flown over Golden Lion's head collapsed and disintegrated. Then, under Golden Lion's shocked gaze, it quickly solidified into a massive sand arm that smashed directly on him.
"Slash Wave!"
The huge sword slash directly cut off the giant arm. Golden Lion's angry figure soared into the sky. Adrian's control and use of the Sand-Sand Fruit far exceeded his expectations.
But as a legendary pirate, how could he lose so easily?
"Smelly brat, don't underestimate me! I am the Golden Lion!"
Swish!
The crescent-shaped Slash Wave appeared again, with terrifying power that tore through the air. This time, the Golden Lion's target wasn't Adrian. It was the enormous "water mountain" behind him, completely formed by seawater. The surface of the sea for nearly a mile was cut open in an instant.
A giant "water block" half the size of an island suddenly collapsed. At this moment, Golden Lion activated his Lion Fruit ability again.
"Lion Majesty: Govern Place Earth Coiling!"
The scattered water mass instantly re-formed, trapping Adrian's figure within it.
"Jie ha ha ha ha, smelly brat, the victory has been decided! For a Devil Fruit user, the feeling of being in the sea must be very painful!" Golden Lion said with a sinister smile. "As long as you tell me the secret of how you possess two Devil Fruits, I'll let you out, how about it?!"
Though he said he'd let Adrian go, in reality, Golden Lion wanted to tear him to pieces. Twenty years of painstaking effort had been destroyed; there was no way he would let him go.
But he was doomed to be disappointed...
Because there was no one in this world who could make Adrian beg for mercy. Adrian not only possessed the fish-man constitution that allowed him to go underwater without limitation, but his Devil Fruit abilities had also been de-scaled by the system, so there was no weakness to seawater or Seastone at all.
The corner of Adrian's mouth curved slightly, and a strange smile appeared on his face.
"Little brat, you can still laugh when you're about to die, I see you— Poof! "
Before the Golden Lion could finish speaking, a blue flash of lightning appeared. The immense heat generated by the high-voltage electricity had instantly melted the sand into a glass knife, which had already pierced his face.
"Sorry, seawater is useless to me!" Adrian said with a smile. "Golden Lion, you're truly old. The era and the stage that belonged to you old guys are over. Let me give you a beautiful funeral!"
"This... how is this possible?! A Devil Fruit user isn't afraid of seawater?!" Golden Lion's eyes widened in astonishment, and he even forgot to resist. The scene in front of him simply overturned his worldview. As a Devil Fruit user himself, Golden Lion knew better than anyone what happened when they were exposed to seawater.
But the boy in front of him—how was he exempt from the side effects of seawater? And what was that transparent blade inserted into his mouth? How had he even done it?
There were so many questions, but no one was there to answer them for him.
"Oh, right, I should correct you!" Adrian's playful voice sounded again. "Actually, I'm not a person with two Devil Fruits, but... a person with three Devil Fruits!"
"Detonation!!!"