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Chapter 460: Wind-Fire Gatling
The corners of Neferpitou's mouth stretched all the way to her ears, revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp fangs.
Deeper within the nest, upon the throne, a green figure waited in silence. He was born to rule over all. Any existence that dared challenge his royal authority would be mercilessly crushed.
A cross-dimensional clash of powers was about to unfold on this cursed land.
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In the clearing at the edge of the forest, the dirt had been churned into a mess. The air was thick with a pungent, burning stench and the foul smell of slime.
Luffy pulled himself out of a mud pit, spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
The spider-legged gorilla monster swung its thick arm toward him. Luffy pushed off with his legs, leaping high into the air. The gorilla's fist smashed into the ground, leaving a large crater.
Ace slid in from the flank. The iron pipe in his hand burned with crimson flames. With a vicious swing, he slammed the pipe into the gorilla monster's knee joint. The monster let out a cry of pain.
On the other side, Sabo formed hand seals. A sharp, cyan wind blade sliced through the corrosive slime spat by the frog-headed monster.
The three brats gathered back-to-back, gasping heavily for air. The flesh and skin of these three monsters were absurdly tough. Ordinary physical attacks couldn't inflict fatal wounds, and their stamina seemed endless.
"This isn't working," Sabo wiped the sweat from his forehead. "My Anemo element is almost depleted."
Ace gripped his still-smoking iron pipe tightly. A fierce determination shone on his freckled face. "Then we'll just roast them all at once."
Luffy pushed his straw hat to the back of his head, flashing a wide grin. "I agree!"
Opposite them, the mantis monster let out a grating, mocking laugh. "Is this all human cubs can do?" It waved its two bone blades. "Once we've had enough fun, we'll slice you into mincemeat."
Right then, dense rustling sounds echoed from the surrounding thick bushes, like countless feet scuttling across dry leaves.
Ace's expression changed. He smelled an extremely strong, foul wind blowing in from all directions. Pairs of blood-red compound eyes lit up in the dark woods.
Ten. Dozens. A full hundred Chimera Ant Peon Ants crawled out from the shadows. Their appearances were bizarre in a thousand different ways. Some looked like centipedes with human faces; others resembled bipedal crocodiles. Every single one radiated a bloodthirsty malice.
They surrounded the three brats in an airtight circle. Even the tree branches above them were draped with drooling monsters.
The frog-headed monster croaked triumphantly. "This is the search party sent by the Queen. You can't escape even if you grow wings today."
Looking at the dark mass of monsters surrounding him, Luffy felt no fear. Instead, he clenched his fists tightly. An incredibly violent aura was brewing within his young body. It was an unreasonable disposition of a King. Though still immature, it had already begun to take shape.
Ace exchanged a glance with Sabo. The tacit understanding they had cultivated on Mt. Colubo required no words.
"Luffy," Ace lowered his voice. "Use that move we practiced in the mountains."
Luffy's eyes lit up. "The one that burned the whole mountain bald?"
Sabo offered a wry smile. "That was an accident. But we can't worry about that now."
Sabo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He mobilized all the remaining Anemo element in his body. The surrounding air began to flow violently. The fallen leaves on the ground were swept up into the air.
"Wind's Grand Ode!" Sabo's eyes snapped open, his hands thrusting forward.
An extremely violent cyan eye of the storm formed in the center of the monster horde. The powerful suction yanked dozens of Peon Ants straight into the air. They let out terrified shrieks but couldn't break free from the eye's restraint. In a very short time, the eye of the storm expanded into a tornado that connected heaven and earth.
Ace moved. He planted his iron pipe into the ground and brought his hands together in front of his chest. A crimson light, more dazzling than the midday sun, bloomed in his palms. That was the ultimate Knight's secret technique he had obtained in Teyvat.
"Dawn!"
A massive, fiery bird soared from Ace's hands. With a crisp, piercing cry, it dove straight into the eye of the storm Sabo had created.
Wind fueled the fire. Fire amplified the wind.
In an instant, the original cyan tornado transformed into a terrifying firestorm. This was the most unreasonable elemental reaction of the Teyvat continent: Swirl.
The heat of the flames was compressed by the eye of the storm to a truly horrifying degree. The surrounding air distorted from the heat. The Chimera Ants caught in the eye didn't even have time to scream before they were roasted into charcoal.
"Luffy! Now!" Ace roared.
Luffy's legs compressed to their absolute limit like springs. He shot toward the firestorm like a cannonball.
In mid-air, Luffy stretched his arms back dozens of meters. "Gum-Gum—"
Using the centrifugal force from the outer edge of the storm, his stretched arms gained terrifying acceleration. Sonic boom clouds even formed around his fists due to the high-speed friction.
"Wind-Fire Gatling!"
Countless fist afterimages, enveloped in flames and fierce winds, rained down upon the surrounding monsters like a meteor shower. Every single punch carried Luffy's unyielding spirit.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! A dense cacophony of shattering bone and explosions echoed through the entire forest.
The spider-legged gorilla had its chest punched clean through. The mantis monster's bone blades were forcibly shattered. The frog-headed monster had its head blown off before it could even spit its slime.
The remaining Peon Ants fell in droves under the indiscriminate bombardment of flames and the rain of fists.
This was simply not destructive power that three kids should be able to unleash. This power blended the elemental laws of another world with the physical limits of the One Piece world.
The firestorm raged for a full minute. Trees within a radius of hundreds of meters were reduced to ash. The ground was scorched into glass-like crystals.
The wind stopped. The fire died down.
Luffy plummeted from mid-air, smashing a crater into the ground.
Ace and Sabo had also depleted their stamina. The two collapsed onto the scalding earth.
All around them lay the charred, incomplete corpses of Chimera Ants. Over a hundred monsters had been completely wiped out.
Luffy lay spread-eagled in the crater. He gasped heavily, yet an incredibly bright smile plastered his face.
"I'm hungry," he complained, rubbing his flat stomach.
Ace didn't even have the energy left to curse at him.
Sabo looked at the devastation around them. He knew very well that if not for the power brought by that dungeon, the three of them would absolutely have died here today. The danger level of this continent far exceeded their imagination.
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Meanwhile, deep within the ant nest, an extreme distance away.
Neferpitou was crouching on a massive stalactite. She had been savoring the memory of the terrifying Nen Dragon had just unleashed.
Just then, her cat ears twitched violently. Her ruby-red slitted pupils darted toward the edge of the forest.
"Meow?" Neferpitou tilted her head. She had sensed an extremely faint, yet very special fluctuation.
It wasn't Nen. It was a pressure similar to biological instinct. Though still weak, its essence was so noble it made the heart palpitate. It was like a young dragon letting out its first cry to the entire world.
"This is getting more and more interesting." The tail behind Neferpitou wagged excitedly. "It seems there are three very promising little toys over there."
She licked her lips. "If I catch them and cultivate them for a bit... wait until they mature before eating them... they will definitely taste amazing."
Just as she prepared to head over and take a look, a tall, burly figure blocked her path. It was another member of the King's Royal Guards: Menthuthuyoupi.
He possessed red skin and extremely exaggerated muscles, radiating an aura of violent rage.
"Pitou." Youpi's voice echoed in the cavern like muffled thunder. "The King is about to be born. You had best not run around right now."
Neferpitou pouted in dissatisfaction. "I just wanted to prepare a special appetizer for the King. A few very interesting guys have arrived outside."
Youpi snorted coldly. "I don't care what kind of guys they are. If they dare approach, I will smash them into meat paste."
Neferpitou didn't argue. She merely cast a deep glance toward the forest. The faint pressure had already vanished, but she remembered the scent.
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Deep in the forest, Dragon, Kuma, and Ivankov were advancing toward the ant nest.
Dragon suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned to look in the direction where Luffy's group was. A ripple passed through his purple Rinnegan.
"That kid's Conqueror's Haki... is finally starting to show itself." A tiny smirk touched the corner of Dragon's mouth.
Kuma closed his Bible, standing to the side. "Should we go back and get them? Their stamina should be completely exhausted by now."
Dragon shook his head. "No need. Blake's Failsafe Mechanism will forcibly teleport them back to the tavern if they face certain death. Let them struggle and figure it out on their own over there."
Ivankov walked over in his high heels. "Dragon-boy. You really are strict with your own flesh and blood."
Dragon didn't reply. The white aura surrounding his body grew more solid. This was the 'Ten' Reis had taught him. He had already perfectly integrated this Nen technique with his own Haki. Now, he was even more terrifying than when he first entered this dungeon.
"Let's go." Dragon looked ahead at the massive silhouette of the ant nest. "Let's go meet the King of this world."
The figures of the three men vanished into the dense jungle once more.
Reis followed far behind, dragging his severed arm. He looked at the backs of these three monsters, an incredibly absurd feeling washing over him. The Chimera Ant crisis, which the Hunter Association viewed as an apocalyptic disaster, seemed to be nothing more than a post-meal warm-up exercise in the eyes of these three.
He suddenly really wanted to know... what kind of expression the so-called Ant King would make when faced with these three unreasonable visitors from another world.
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