The Wooden Sword Shinra

World recalled what Vidal had said earlier: Garp was on his way here.

He did not know whether it was true, but he felt he could not gamble on it.

If Garp did not come, the most he could do was kill two troublesome brats. But if Garp really did come, he would lose everything, including his life!

The potential reward was nowhere near worth the risk!

At that moment, Issho, blood on his lips and a large patch of his clothes stained red, flew over to Vidal on a piece of wood. With a solemn expression, he joined Vidal in confronting World above them.

"Make me a sword, a sturdy one!" Issho said.

"Here!"

Vidal held his palm downward, and a wooden longsword immediately rose from the Apis Divine Bull. He then infused it with Photosynthetic Energy to further strengthen it.

Soon, Issho held a longsword that shimmered faintly green, identical in shape to the one he had carried before!

"Great sword!"

"I'll carry it as my sword from now on!" Issho said with a smile, enduring the pain in his chest.

Just then, a warm hand settled on his shoulder, and the wondrous Photosynthetic Energy quickly restored his stamina and healed his injuries.

World's expression darkened further at the sight. This guy could not only heal himself, but also do the same for others?

End this quickly!

Take them out in one go!

"More-More: Sixtyfold Speed!"

[Bang—]

He stomped down hard and surged into motion again, but the disturbance this time was nothing like before.

World blasted the surrounding air aside, creating a temporary vacuum where he had stood. Before more air could rush in to fill it,

he crossed more than a hundred meters in an instant and appeared before the Apis Divine Bull, bringing his blade down with a white storm that had nearly condensed into solid form.

The massive bull's head shuddered in the storm. Cracks spread from its horns, and it broke apart until it was completely shattered!

The terrifying force continued through the bull's entire body. Cracks of all sizes appeared in dense clusters, and it finally plunged into the turbulent waves.

Now Vidal and Issho had no barrier left to rely on, and World was already right in front of them, sword in hand. Radiating a violent aura, he watched them like a predator eyeing its prey.

"Let's fight him, Issho!"

"Right!"

"Hahaha, you overestimate yourselves!"

[Boom—]

Both sides vanished from their positions almost simultaneously, but World's overwhelming advantage in speed still let him strike first with his pitch-black broadsword.

The green-glowing Bokken in Issho's hand and Vidal's long leg, wrapped in Armament Haki, met the blow together.

But even with their combined strength, they were still somewhat weaker than World, whose power had been amplified sixtyfold. After a stalemate lasting only a dozen breaths or so, they spat blood and flew backward.

But as before, the Photosynthetic Energy in Vidal's body quickly restored him.

The Bokken in Issho's hand glowed even brighter, passing Photosynthetic Energy through his gripping hand and into his entire body.

The sword Vidal had given his friend was no disposable weapon. Its material was far superior to ordinary steel,

and it could also use sunlight or other light sources to produce Photosynthetic Energy and store it within the blade. The energy could further strengthen or restore the blade, as well as heal its wielder and restore his stamina when he was injured!

Of course, its energy storage capacity and recovery speed could not compare with Vidal, the ability user himself, so it served only as basic support.

Even so, this Bokken was far beyond ordinary blades. It could even compare with the Famous Swords known as Skillful Grade Blades.

It was more than enough to support Issho in battles of any intensity, now and in the future!

Its name was Shinra.

"Too slow, brat!" Byrnndi World turned into a bolt of black lightning and gave chase.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared above Vidal, who had just stopped himself from flying backward. His thick right leg, cloaked in powerful Haki, came crashing down in a merciless axe kick.

Vidal's expression changed. It was too late to dodge with Shave, and a technique like Kami-e was completely useless against an Observation Haki lock.

"Wood Ingot Wall!"

Since he could not rely on his physical techniques, he could only turn to his Devil Fruit ability. Tea-brown wood immediately extended from his body, rapidly forming a thick, curved wall around him!

"A pile of rotten wood won't save you!"

World cruelly smashed through the sturdy-looking wooden wall with one kick, then continued toward Vidal's chest without losing any force.

"Gravity Blade!!"

A wave of purple energy crossed the space between them, blasting toward Byrnndi World from the side at high speed. But against his sixtyfold speed, the attack was still a step too slow.

Not to mention that World was already within arm's reach of Vidal!

But Vidal seemed to have another solution. A giant mangrove nearby suddenly whipped out a rapidly lengthening branch, which quickly wrapped around his waist to pull him over.

But it was still a little too slow—or perhaps World had increased his multiplier again!

Just as the branch began to pull, World's heavy kick accelerated again at the same time, slamming into the arms Vidal had raised to defend himself.

[Bang!]

As expected, even arms strengthened by Photosynthetic Energy snapped on impact, and the kick finally caved in Vidal's chest!

It was essentially a fatal injury.

"Vidal!" Issho's face turned ashen, and he let out a furious, muffled roar.

"Hahahaha, he's dead! He's as good as dead!"

Having used Armament Haki over his entire body to withstand Gravity Blade unharmed, World laughed wildly. But then he suddenly realized the kick had not felt right.

"Huh?! Wood?"

He looked down and saw that Vidal, who had been alive and well a moment ago, had turned into a horribly broken pile of human-shaped wooden blocks in the blink of an eye.

"I'm here." Vidal's voice suddenly rang out, and both men looked over instinctively.

Pale-faced, Vidal emerged from the trunk of a mangrove. That was right, he emerged from it; his lower body was even still joined to the tree itself.

"That was close! Really close. If I'd been even a little slower, I'd be dead now."

"I didn't expect sixtyfold speed to be this terrifying. What about seventyfold, eightyfold, or even a hundredfold?"

All he could think now was that Monkey D. Luffy truly deserved to be the protagonist, having dealt with someone this powerful with a single Fire Fist Pistol.

Sure enough, the results of Luffy's fights in the movies were no reference at all!

"Brat, you're the rumored Special Paramecia user, aren't you?" Byrnndi World asked, his face grim.

Vidal climbed out of the trunk and stood on the thick, long trunk, bathed in green light. Smiling, he said, "That's right. What, are you jealous?"

"Hmph. You think I'd be jealous of a dead man?"

"Besides, my More-More Fruit is the strongest Devil Fruit!"

World looked at him disdainfully. He was completely satisfied with his More-More Fruit and had never thought any other fruit ability was stronger.

"I'm just curious how you dodged that certain-kill attack."

"That..." Vidal rubbed his arms, which still ached faintly, and drew out his words to build suspense. Finally, he said, "I'm not telling you!"

He had no habit of shouting out how his techniques worked, and he certainly was not going to tell World that the branch's purpose had not been to pull him over.

Or rather, that could only be considered its first purpose. Its second was to provide a connection between Vidal and the mangrove.

Because of his Special Paramecia ability, he was a plant man with the physical makeup of a tree. Thus, he had turned his body entirely to wood, then escaped instantly through the branch into the tree connected to it.

So that branch had effectively served as a network cable!

The signing contract has been sent out! I hope everyone will continue to support this book once it is officially signed. The signed authors' new-book rankings are a great place, with much more exposure!

This book is also now twentieth in the light novel category of the public authors' new-book rankings, just making it onto the first page! Thank you all so much for your support!