BOOM!
The several-hundred-meter wooden giant crashed down onto the exposed seabed, shattered rock blasting outward like shrapnel.
Half-crouched beside the crater, it raised one colossal arm—
and slammed it down.
The limb sank halfway into the rock.
"ROAR!"
The giant growled.
It had caught Zephyr.
With a steady pull, the arm rose again—its mountain-sized fist clenched tight around Zephyr's leg.
Like pinching an ant.
No hesitation.
The giant stretched its arm sideways—
and began to swing.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, Zephyr's body smashed into the hardened seabed over and over, shockwaves kicking up clouds of dust and pulverized stone.
Romu coughed lightly.
With a flick of his hand, he brushed aside the incoming grit and guided the crimson flower downward, hovering beside the wooden giant.
The giant stopped swinging.
It lifted Zephyr upside down into the air.
Blood trickled from Zephyr's mouth and spattered onto the rock below.
He dangled helplessly by one leg.
"Kh… Romu…"
"Marine justice… won't be defeated by pirates… I—"
The giant swung again.
Its arm blurred like a windmill.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Romu clicked his tongue.
"Pitiful justice," he muttered.
On the cruise ship, the trapped Marines stared in horror.
Their admiral—
a toy in the giant's hand.
Every impact made their hearts lurch. Some twisted their heads away. Others squeezed their eyes shut.
It was too brutal to watch.
Zephyr's entire body was coated in jet-black Armament Haki, yet wounds split open across his skin. Blood flowed freely.
This power…
Each collision rattled his skeleton. His sense of balance vanished—weightless one moment, crushed the next. His thoughts blurred.
His breathing weakened.
Even his Haki began to flicker.
He was on the brink—
Then—
his eyes snapped open.
His aura surged back, denser than before. The fading gray Haki flared into deep black once more.
"Shhh—"
Energy erupted from his battered frame, black waves rolling across his body.
Romu's eyes narrowed.
He instantly pulled back, the crimson flower carrying him away from the seabed.
A cold voice cut through the chaos:
"Six Powers Secret Art — Six King Gun!"
BOOM!
A thunderous blast detonated behind Romu.
He spun—
and froze.
The wooden giant was crouched awkwardly—
its entire right arm gone.
Above—
Zephyr hovered at Romu's altitude.
Romu frowned—but not in surprise.
If a Marine admiral fell that easily, the title would be meaningless.
"…He's stronger," Romu murmured. "More than twice."
He studied Zephyr.
The admiral's uniform hung in tatters. His upper body was bare, crisscrossed with bleeding wounds.
Yet his Haki was pitch-black and suffocating.
His chest expanded and contracted with heavy, controlled breaths. His feet tapped the air in steady rhythm.
Gone was the warm instructor.
What floated there now was a weapon.
Cold.
Razor-sharp.
Like a supreme blade forged for war.
Zephyr rolled his neck once.
He drew his fists together.
Muscles bulged like coiled steel cables. The air around his hands twisted violently—
compressing.
Compressing again.
Under immense pressure, invisible air thickened into substance—
a faint violet-black glow.
"Six Powers Secret Art — Six King Rapid Gun!"
A barrage erupted.
Fist-sized air bullets tore forward in succession.
Zephyr's eyes hardened.
"This ends now."
The space around his hands warped continuously.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
High-pressure air shells streaked across the sky in a fan-shaped storm—like a peacock spreading its tail, except every plume was violet-black and lethal.
All of them locked onto a single target—
the wooden giant four hundred meters away.
In this state of total combat focus, Zephyr had abandoned tactics like strike the controller.
He would annihilate everything.