Whoosh!
A figure so fast it became completely blurred rushed out from the direction of the kingdom's army.
The Spider Pirate captain wanted to do something, but unfortunately his hands and feet couldn't keep up with his brain. That figure had already brushed past his body, and a beautiful spray of blood bloomed in the air.
The menacing Spider Pirate captain fell down in an utterly undignified way.
The surging wave of pirates also stalled because of his fall and because one extra person had appeared on the field.
Vane's gaze swept past these ordinary pirates and landed directly on Erkoya. A powerful aura radiated from the other man, a kind of strength that was difficult to describe.
A master.
The other side also seemed to notice the powerful presence on Vane's body. The originally calm, even slightly bored expression gained a trace of excitement.
This was a very good opponent, but he wouldn't rashly engage right away. Better to test the waters first.
Naturally, testing the waters was something Mad Dog Gutt would do.
It wasn't that Mad Dog Gutt understood his thoughts so well—he was simply mad. Seeing such an opponent, he would naturally be the first to bite.
Boom!
Mad Dog Gutt stomped down with his foot, cracking the ground, and his entire body leapt several meters into the air as he lunged toward Vane with killing intent.
A mere deputy wasn't qualified to fight Vane at this point.
"Want to touch my boss? Get past me first."
A lion's roar rang out as Tant transformed into his lion-man form, leaping into the air and colliding head-on with Mad Dog Gutt.
In lion-man form, Tant stood over three meters tall and was no smaller than Mad Dog Gutt. Their collision was evenly matched, and they were knocked off to another part of the battlefield, where they faced each other in a standoff.
Although this Gutt wasn't a Devil Fruit user, his physical body was not inferior to Tant's at all. Tant only had the advantage of a Devil Fruit; otherwise, he would have been defeated with a single slap.
"Quite a good opponent for Tant."
Evenly matched, or even slightly inferior—very suitable as Tant's opponent.
Tant let out waves of lion roars to intimidate his enemy. Mad Dog Gutt, however, looked extremely excited. Those who were intimidated were the other attacking pirates—having a Devil Fruit user suddenly jump out, especially a ferocious lion monster, was terrifying.
Vane turned his gaze back to Erkoya and said loudly, "Erkoya, are you going to make a move directly, or should I clear out some of your cannon fodder first?"
At this moment, the other pirates all chose to remain silent. Didn't they see the Spider Pirate captain get instantly taken out in a single exchange? Speaking up would be courting death.
King versus king, general versus general.
An opponent of this level should be handled by Erkoya, who carried a 70 million Belly bounty.
Without waiting for Erkoya's answer, Vane's eyes locked directly onto a pirate captain with a bounty. His legs exerted force using the technique of Frost Breathing, his figure blurred again, and in the blink of an eye his Whirlwind Cutting Fist, wrapped in a cyclone, was about to pierce the opponent's neck.
Huff! Boom!
A hard fist suddenly appeared in front of Vane's fist.
As their fists collided, a small shockwave rippled out, shaking the surrounding people unsteadily. The pirate captain who narrowly escaped death scrambled and crawled away from the two of them.
Terrifying! The pirate with a 70 million Belly bounty was terrifying—and this unknown Rose faction powerhouse was just as terrifying.
Both of them vanished and reappeared at speeds that the other pirates present couldn't capture with the naked eye.
The clothes on both of their arms were torn into shreds by the force of their clashing fists.
They exerted force again, their fists colliding, and then both retreated a short distance.
Vane looked at Erkoya with growing interest. "Rokushiki[Soru]? Did you come from the Marines, or from the World Government?"
...
That's right. The move this guy used just now to instantly appear in front of him was clearly the [Rokushiki] commonly used by Marines and World Government agents, also known as the Marine Rokushiki.
Soru: By repeatedly and rapidly stepping on the ground, explosive reactive force is generated to achieve high-speed movement, making it impossible for opponents to capture one's position.
Geppo: By using powerful leg strength to step on the air, high-altitude movement is achieved, allowing attacks from the enemy's blind spots.
Shigan: By concentrating the body's power into the fingertips and releasing it instantly, the attack power of the fingertips rivals bullets and can easily pierce the human body.
Rankyaku: By using ultra-high-speed kicking techniques to create vacuum slashes with formidable attack power.
Tekkai: By strengthening muscles and increasing blood flow, the body becomes as hard as steel, possessing powerful defensive capability, but movement becomes difficult while in use.
Kami-e: By unloading the body's power and flexibly controlling the body to evade attacks, a high-difficulty defensive technique.
However, just like how a three-man squad somehow has four people, the Marine Rokushiki also includes another technique called [Seimei Kikan].
Seimei Kikan is not a specific move, but a general term referring to fine control over various parts of the body.
Through training in Rokushiki, one can perfectly control the body and thus cultivate Seimei Kikan.
Seimei Kikan can consume the energy within the body to rapidly heal oneself, enhance bodily perception, and store energy.
On this sea, if a person can master all of the Marine Rokushiki and reach a certain level of proficiency, having the strength of a criminal with a 100 million Belly bounty is not a problem.
This is roughly equivalent to Kaku of CP9 sixteen years later—the long-nosed puppet, the giraffe who fought Zoro.
If one not only masters Rokushiki but also integrates Seimei Kikan into it, allowing the techniques to complement each other and even comprehending secret techniques of Rokushiki, such a person would deserve a bounty of 200 million or even 300 million on the sea.
A representative figure in this regard is also someone from CP9—Rob Lucci. Although he ultimately lost his battle with Luffy at Enies Lobby, he did indeed show everyone the charm of Rokushiki.
Although in the new era, especially during various battles involving the Yonko, Rokushiki became a set of techniques that weren't very impressive, and Tekkai was patched into a weakened version of Armament Haki.
Even so, this truly is one of the most practical training systems for widespread promotion on the sea.
As long as you can train—even if you train poorly—you can escape the role of cannon fodder.
Train decently and you're a cadre, a minor officer.
Train to the peak and you're like Garp, the Galaxy Fist, one punch per mountain.
...
Vane felt a small surge of excitement—even more excited than when encountering a Devil Fruit user.
He had originally planned to go all out and draw his blade to resolve things directly.
Now it seemed unnecessary. He wanted to activate the Transparent World to observe how the body's muscles exerted force and how blood flowed when Rokushiki was executed.
Using this to reverse-engineer Rokushiki and improve his own unarmed combat techniques, which he could then teach to others.
He now hoped more than anything that the opponent would be stronger—strong enough to have mastered Rokushiki—so that he could copy the general operational principles of Marine Rokushiki one by one.
Erkoya grinned, stretching his mouth extremely wide, instantly turning his original suited middle-aged-man aura into that of a deranged clown.
"You've got some insight, kid. Every time I tell myself not to use it lightly, but every time I run into an opponent who interests me, I just can't control myself."
"Can't control myself from using the strongest methods to tear the target into pieces… Even though once they're caught they're going to be hanged anyway, why can't I just tear them apart directly?"
"I'm sick of that hypocritical Marine justice… Being a pirate makes me much happier."