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Chapter 120is out!!!! +40 advanced chapters monthly
"Kami-e!"
Baishui muttered the technique's name as his body began to sway erratically. He fluttered like a leaf caught in a draft, completely devoid of any predictable pattern, and effortlessly slipped past his opponent's assault.
"Tch, the Marines' Rokushiki?"
The attacker had clearly traded blows with Rokushiki users before, instantly recognizing Baishui's footwork. He began swinging his arms at a breakneck pace, lashing out from the left and right. His speed was genuinely startling.
Yet, Baishui continued to dodge with absolute ease.
The man gritted his teeth. Pretty tough, aren't you, kid!
He pushed his hands to move even faster. The air was filled with the cold gleam of his blades, a barrage so dense it left barely any room to breathe, let alone react.
But even against such a relentless flurry, Baishui remained completely unfazed. He danced around every single strike; not a single attack managed to graze him.
"Impossible! Kami-e alone doesn't give you this kind of evasion!" The man finally realized something was very wrong. He backpedaled, holding his arms out in front of him like the twin scythes of a praying mantis. He narrowed his eyes. "Kid, what kind of ability is that?"
"Heh, you don't need to know that," Baishui replied with a cheeky grin, throwing the exact same arrogant tone the man had used earlier right back at him. "All you need to know is that you're about to lose!"
"You little brat... the biggest mistake young people make is overestimating themselves!"
The man's face darkened with rage. He spread his arms like wings and vanished from his spot, leaving a massive crater in the snow behind him.
"Moon Shadow Blade!"
With a sharp swoosh, the man materialized directly behind Baishui, his twin blades slicing fiercely toward the young Marine's neck.
Clang!
The attacker had been absolutely certain Baishui wouldn't have the reaction time to counter such blinding speed. But to his utter shock, Baishui had simply raised an arm and blocked the lethal strike head-on with his bare flesh.
"How is that possible?!" the man shrieked in disbelief. He prepared to vanish again, but a sudden, chilling smile tugged at the corner of Baishui's mouth.
"Trying to run? It's not that easy!"
Baishui's right hand was already poised, pointing like a gun. He pulled the imaginary trigger.
Pierce!
The man felt a sudden, vibrating hum beneath his ribs. An instant later, unimaginable agony washed over him, completely paralyzing his attempt to retreat. He looked down in horror.
There, just below his ribcage, was a hole the size of a fist. The flesh was charred and mangled, wafting the stomach-churning scent of burnt meat.
"Light Particle Kick!"
Before the man could even process the mortal wound, Baishui brought his leg up and delivered a devastating kick. The impact sent the pirate flying, his body skidding violently across the frozen wasteland.
"Phew! This guy should have a bounty of around 200 million Berries, right?" Baishui exhaled smoothly, watching the defeated pirate lay motionless in the snow.
"Die!"
But the moment Baishui let his guard down, the downed man suddenly vanished from the snowbank.
He reappeared right behind Baishui, throwing all his remaining strength into a desperate right-armed swing. The strike unleashed a razor-sharp shockwave of compressed air that sliced a deep fissure into the snow beneath them—a true testament to the attack's lethal power.
He's strong!
Even Baishui was slightly taken aback, feeling a prickling sensation of danger wash over his body.
"Gyahaha, die!"
The man cackled, though he looked incredibly weak, as if that final strike had drained the very last drop of his stamina. Still, he was confident. Even fighters stronger than him had fallen to this exact trick when they let their guard down. That was how he had survived this long, killing stronger men one by one.
He fully believed Baishui was about to join that list.
He desperately wanted to see the terror and despair on Baishui's face. To him, those two expressions were the most beautiful sights in the world.
But Baishui's reaction completely betrayed his expectations. There wasn't a trace of fear or unwillingness on the young man's face—at most, he looked mildly surprised.
"Light Particle Energy Cannon!"
Baishui pulled the "trigger" once more. A concentrated beam of light, no thicker than a finger, shot forward. Unbelievably, the beam cleaved right through the pirate's desperate shockwave and pierced straight into his chest.
"Urgh!"
The man couldn't even react. He felt a sudden, searing heat in his chest, followed immediately by the terrifying sensation of his life force rapidly bleeding away.
He looked down. His chest was hollowed out, bearing an identical, charred hole to the one on his side.
His heart... was gone!
"How... is this... possible..."
Even as death claimed him, he couldn't comprehend how Baishui was this strong, or how easily he had been utterly dismantled.
"Oho, he took down the Swift Shadow Mantis already? Not bad at all. He was a vicious pirate with a 220 million Berry bounty, after all!"
"This Baishui kid really does have some skills!"
A surveillance officer holding a clipboard picked up a pen and drew a firm red 'X' over the pirate's wanted poster.
Elsewhere on the frozen tundra, an interesting matchup was unfolding.
The "Iron Sword Queen" Fendy, a female pirate boasting a bounty of 120 million Berries, had crossed paths with Smoker.
Fighting Fendy was actually a breath of fresh air for the gruff Marine. Because Fendy didn't know how to use Haki, Smoker's Logia-class Devil Fruit gave him an overwhelming, insurmountable advantage.
For the first time since arriving, Smoker finally felt like he could cut loose.
Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Tokikake—better known by his alias, Chaton—had also found his target. He was facing down the "Sabertooth Tiger" Torsen, who was currently suffering the bitter cold of Impel Down's Level 5.
Torsen had assumed this would be a totally one-sided massacre. And he was right—just not in the direction he thought.
Facing Chaton, the pirate quickly realized how pathetically weak his own hand-to-hand combat skills were. The brute strength he had always taken so much pride in meant absolutely nothing against the Vice Admiral.
Bam!
Another punch connected. Torsen felt his entire right arm go numb as he was sent flying backward, blood involuntarily leaking from the corner of his mouth.
"Soru!"
Chaton muttered the technique and vanished in a blur. Reappearing behind Torsen with a senbon still casually dangling from his lips, Chaton thrust his fingers forward in a tempestuous barrage. Blood sprayed from Torsen's back as he let out a harrowing scream.
"Yo, Vice Admiral Chaton! Fancy meeting you here!"
A voice suddenly rang out from behind the Vice Admiral. Chaton glanced over his shoulder to see Baishui strolling over at a leisurely pace.
"You little bastard!"
The moment Torsen laid eyes on Baishui, his eyes went bloodshot. Snapping like a rabid beast, he forcefully transformed into his Zoan state and swiped a massive claw directly at the newcomer.
Unfortunately for the pirate, the gap in power between him and Baishui was staggeringly vast. He was met entirely by a rapidly expanding blur of a leg.
Smash!
Torsen was blasted backward even faster than he had charged, carving a hundred-meter trench through the snow and sending a shower of white powder into the air.
"Yo, Baishui. What a coincidence," Chaton smiled, returning the greeting. However, a closer look would reveal that the Vice Admiral's posture was coiled with high alert.
According to Garp, every four days, four new prisoners were thrown into Level 5.
If all of Sengoku's trainees had found their designated targets, everything was fine. But what if they hadn't? This "Baishui" standing in front of him could very well be the fourth prisoner in disguise.
The Grand Line was filled with bizarre and unpredictable Devil Fruit abilities. Chaton wasn't about to drop his guard.
"Heh, you don't need to be so suspicious of me, Vice Admiral," Baishui chuckled, rubbing his nose as he noticed the older man's defensive stance. "I'm the real deal. Though, I suppose it's pretty hard to prove that right now. Fate brought us together, and fate will see us part. See ya around, Chaton!"
With that, Baishui simply turned and walked away. He didn't blame Chaton for being paranoid. In this hellhole, it was the only way to stay alive.
If he's an imposter, he's playing it incredibly cool, Chaton thought, watching Baishui's retreating figure. Usually, a fake would panic and try desperately to prove their identity. He just walked away without even trying to defend himself. He's got a lot of confidence!
Elsewhere, Momousagi had run into the most dangerous target of the current batch of four: Oblonz, the "Death Boxer," bearing a massive bounty of 300 million Berries.
Oblonz was a towering giant of a man, standing over four meters tall with abnormally long arms, heavily hinting that he belonged to the rare Longarm Tribe.
He was a New World veteran who knew how to wield Armament Haki. His fists were as hard as steel, packing explosive, bone-shattering power.
Clang!
Momousagi swung her famed blade, intercepting Oblonz's massive incoming fist. A tremor racked her body.
The physical force behind Oblonz's strike was monstrous; she was struggling to hold her ground.
Naturally, she didn't yet possess the overwhelming strength she would boast four years from now. If she did, Fleet Admiral Sengoku wouldn't have bothered organizing this grueling special training for the four of them in the first place.
"Gyaro-ro-ro! Haven't you eaten, little girl? Put some back into it!"
Just as Momousagi was pouring all her strength into parrying the first strike, the howling wind signaled a second devastating punch whistling toward her head.
"Dammit!"
Momousagi cursed through gritted teeth. She twisted her blade to catch the second fist, a shower of fierce sparks erupting from the collision of steel and Haki.
"Ugh!"
A flush of red crept up Momousagi's cheeks as the impact rattled her internal organs.
"Gyaro-ro-ro! You're full of openings, little girl!"
Oblonz's mocking voice boomed in her ears again as his first hand retracted and instantly snapped forward, aiming to crush her.
"Soru!"
Left with no other option, Momousagi vanished, breaking contact to evade the lethal grab.
But!
"Gehehe, too slow! Wide open!"
The second Momousagi reappeared, a massive fist was already looming inches from her face, leaving her absolutely zero time to dodge.
"Kamikaze Counter-Slash!"
In the face of imminent death, a brilliant, crystalline light flared in Momousagi's eyes. A flash of silver illuminated the freezing hellscape as she executed a flawless, graceful backflip, landing softly on the snow just as her sword clicked cleanly back into its scabbard.
Schwing!
The instant the hilt met the scabbard, Oblonz's extending arm cleanly severed into two pieces and plummeted to the ground.
"Aaaargh!"
Oblonz let out a heaven-shaking roar of agony. Before the blood could even begin to fountain from the stump, the horrific ambient cold of Level 5 flash-froze the wound solid.
"I'll kill you, bitch!"
Thanks to the ice sealing his wound, Oblonz didn't have to worry about bleeding out. He stomped his feet into the ice and launched himself forward like a massive, deranged panther, throwing his remaining fist in a berserk haymaker.
"Demon Cleaver Duet!"
Momousagi was not one to be underestimated. She drew her blade and surged forward, an aura of unparalleled sharpness erupting from her form. Her sword met his Haki-clad fist in a collision like a meteor striking the earth.
Squelch!
Oblonz's remaining fist split wide open. The blade sheared straight through his Haki, severing his entire arm in two. It hit the snow with a heavy thud.
Both of the arms the Death Boxer took so much pride in were gone.
Losing his balance and his momentum, Oblonz crashed forward, falling hard onto his knees. He was completely finished. What good is a boxer without his arms?
"Rankyaku!"
Refusing to leave anything to chance, Momousagi unleashed a vicious tempest kick. The compressed air blade tore across Oblonz's chest, ripping open a massive, bloody gorge.
"Gaaah!"
Oblonz screamed in torment, but without his arms, he was powerless to retaliate or defend himself.
"Incredible... this woman just effortlessly butchered a 300 million Berry bounty head," the surveillance officer muttered in awe, watching Momousagi dismantle the towering pirate. "Just how strong is she?!"