Human-Human Fruit Cheat vs. Smooth-Smooth Fruit Cheat

"I didn't expect you to have such a good eye... Are you the martial artist at sea who defeated Arlong?" The captain across from him looked somewhat surprised.

"I didn't expect you to take Arlong's ship."

"But you also ruined my plans. I'm a Smooth-Smooth Fruit user. I was originally planning to kill Arlong and make a name for myself, but you beat me to it. Still, it doesn't matter. Once I kill you, the name Eric will shine across the East Blue!"

"Boys, get the cameras ready! Make sure you capture your captain's glorious moment of fame!"

Eric was bursting with pride as he pulled out a katana and walked toward Ling Donglai.

"I'll give you three moves!"

"One question first. You've got enough treasure aboard this ship, right?" Ling Donglai crossed his arms and looked at the pirate whose name he had never heard before.

"Haha, what, did you come to join us because you heard our ship had plenty of treasure?" Eric asked with his hands on his hips.

"Thunder Strike!"

After getting a definite answer, Ling Donglai pointed a finger at Eric.

A blinding bolt of Azure Thunder flashed past too quickly to react to, but the instant it touched Eric, the lightning strike... curved away and blasted another pirate to death.

"Oho, is that your ability? It's nothing special." Eric had clearly been startled, but once he realized he was unharmed, he relaxed again.

As for his dead subordinate... dead was dead.

Out on the sea, human lives were cheap.

"100,000 Volts!"

Ling Donglai clenched his hand, and rumbling thunder encircled Eric before slowly fading away.

"That's your last move, idiot. Everything you do is useless. All those attacks will just slide right off!" Eric burst into smug laughter.

Ever since he had eaten that strange Devil Fruit, no one had been able to hurt him. At the same time, his speed had become as light and swift as the wind.

"This is my first time fighting an opponent who's also a Devil Fruit user. I can tell you're nervous, so it must be your first time too."

Ling Donglai lowered the hand he had used to release the lightning.

"Don't be afraid of me. Just attack me. I'll control the pace... I hope you can entertain me."

"Damn it, what the hell are you talking about? Afraid of you—a guy who can't even touch me?" Eric snapped, waving his katana around.

"I said I'd give you three moves. If I break the rules by attacking, how am I supposed to hold my head up in front of my men?"

"But your men are already dead, aren't they?" Ling Donglai gestured around Eric.

Only then did Eric stiffly turn his head.

The terrifying lightning might not have been able to hurt him, but his companions had not escaped death.

"You... what have you done?!" Eric's eyes gradually reddened. Around him... there were corpses everywhere!

He could no longer suppress his emotions. Gripping his katana, he slashed at Ling Donglai.

Too fast!

Even Ling Donglai could only barely catch that fleeting blur.

Ling Donglai leaned back and dodged the slash. Eric's fruit cheat had given him extraordinary speed.

But his slashes were too mechanical. As long as one followed their trajectory, they could be avoided. They did not even give Ling Donglai a sense of danger. Perhaps—Eric himself had not yet adjusted to his own speed.

"Rigid movements breed weaknesses."

After dodging the sweeping strike, Ling Donglai still had the leisure to critique his movements.

"Thrust faster. Thrust harder!"

"Don't... tell me what to do, bastard! Aren't you being far too arrogant?!" Eric gritted his teeth and swung repeatedly. His movements were smooth and swift, as though there were no resistance at all.

That was the Smooth-Smooth Fruit cheat—it treated resistance as if it did not exist!

His speed had been innately superior to everyone else's.

Taking a step back, Ling Donglai moved. Even if Eric's fruit-given cheat made his sword swings unrefined, Ling Donglai still had to be cautious.

He threw a punch—a normal punch!

The punch struck Eric, but slipped past him in an instant.

Faced with that fist as large as a sandbag, Eric instinctively backed away in fear. Yet he failed to dodge the punch. Only when the fist wrapped in white bandages, faintly streaked with blood, slid off his body did Eric remember that he had a cheat.

"I told you, your attacks are useless. Just let me chop you to death!"

That instinctive retreat made Eric fly into a rage from shame. His fear had been far too obvious—he had retreated three whole meters in one go!

"One minute has passed."

"What are you talking about?" Eric looked up at the body that seemed sculpted by an artist.

That body alone gave him a sense of oppression just by standing there. Even his calm words made people unable to help but dwell on them.

One minute—what did that mean... Could it be!

A flash of realization struck Eric, and a terrifying thought came to him. Was that how long it had been since Ling Donglai boarded the ship and began attacking them?

Only one minute? How was that possible? In just one minute, he had gone from a mid-level captain commanding dozens of pirates to a solitary man!

Realizing this, Eric could not stop himself from gasping for air.

The pressure his opponent gave off became even more obvious.

What kind of... what kind of monster was this?!

Sweat dripped onto the wooden deck, each drop painfully clear. In the blink of an eye, a puddle had formed beneath Eric's feet.

Every second felt like a year!

The hand gripping his sword trembled slightly...

How had he dared to raise his sword against such a monster? Shouldn't he have escaped immediately in one of the spare boats?

When had he ever become this brave?

Eric, what the hell are you doing?!

"Not attacking anymore?" Ling Donglai asked.

His steady, powerful voice was like the toll of a great bell, striking Eric's heart and making him reflexively raise his sword to stab forward.

Ling Donglai stood there without moving.

But—Eric's katana stopped before Ling Donglai's broad, bare chest.

His hand shook, and his body would not move—this was the natural response of fear taken to its extreme.

"Dodge! Why aren't you dodging?!" Eric grabbed the hilt with his other hand as well, holding the sword with both hands.

Tears rolled from his eyes.

Was it humiliation, helplessness, or fear and inferiority?

Ling Donglai said, "Don't hesitate. Try again. Stab at me."

Eric said, "I can't. Enough already. You're this strong, so why are you still in some small place like the East Blue?! Why?! Why?! Why?!"

The katana fell to the ground.

"Why are you doing this to me? Toying with me—does that make you so happy?" Eric dropped to his knees on the deck.

"First, I'm not strong." Ling Donglai picked up the katana from the ground and flicked it.

It was a very sharp blade.

"Second, I wasn't toying with you. I simply desire worthy opponents, and you can do better than this."

Ling Donglai planted the fallen katana into the deck and entered the cabin to search for the stored valuables.

The sword stood before the kneeling Eric.

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