The Hidden Persona? (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

"Brat, you're getting way too cocky!" Giant Rhinoceros's eyes burned crimson as he suddenly burst forth with terrifying speed, charging at Longinus while smashing up the ground in his path.

Facing Alex's savage charge, Longinus calmly leaped into the air and landed squarely on the rhinoceros's back.

Alex froze for a moment, then overwhelming humiliation surged through him. He jumped wildly, trying to throw Longinus off his back, but Longinus's legs were as steady as rocks, as though rooted to his back. No matter how Alex struggled, it was all in vain.

Catching an opening amid Alex's furious, chaotic movements, Longinus drove a fist into Alex's vulnerable eye.

"Moo!"

The rhinoceros howled in pain and no longer dared to maintain his beast form. In an instant, he shifted into his human-beast form, looking like a deformed Minotaur with a horn growing from his nose.

Longinus used the opportunity to land on the ground. Before Alex could adapt to the changes in his body, Longinus's long leg whipped into his waist, sending him flying hundreds of meters. He crashed through countless trees before finally coming to a stop.

"Gulp!" The invading pirates swallowed with difficulty, chills rising in their hearts. Could even their transformed captain not defeat that brat?

"Aahhh!" Alex's eyes were bloodshot, and streams of white mist blasted from his nostrils. He had clearly been enraged beyond measure.

Seeing Alex charge again, Longinus frowned slightly. Zoan Devil Fruits provided far too great a boost in the early stages. This Alex had fully inherited the Giant Rhinoceros's thick hide and sturdy flesh. No wonder he had repeatedly escaped the Marines' attempts to capture him.

Even in his half-beast form, Alex stood over three meters tall. His muscles were knotted like forged steel, and as he charged, he resembled a granite puppet trampling the earth.

But before Longinus, this violent Minotaur was as helpless as a folded-paper toy. Longinus first shattered his knee with a kick, then another tremendous force struck his waist, forcing him to kneel on one leg and roar in rage.

The Devil Fruit had granted Alex remarkable physical gifts, but it clearly had not done much for his agility, allowing Longinus to toy with him at will.

Yet Alex refused to retreat even in a fight to the death. He knew his advantage was his ability to take a beating. Even trading a hundred injuries for one opportunity would be worthwhile. Besides, if it came down to endurance and attrition, he absolutely did not believe that brat could outlast a Zoan Devil Fruit User like him.

Alex crossed his arms tightly before his face, vicious light gleaming in his shadowed eyes. At the instant Longinus kicked him in the chest, he forcibly swallowed the bloody taste rising in his throat and grabbed Longinus with his fan-sized hands.

"Brat, I've got you!" Alex seized Longinus's fists, as though he were half-kneeling on the ground and wrestling him for strength.

"No, I've got you!" Longinus slowly broke free from his grip, like someone forcing down an opponent's hand in an arm-wrestling match.

"Your strength... how can it be..." Alex's mouth fell open, as though his exaggerated performance was meant to conceal the shock in his heart.

Whoosh! A silver bullet grazed past Longinus's cheek.

"Not bad, sniper. Do you have any other tricks?" It was as though he had eyes in the back of his head. As the sniper round, trailing a long flame, closed in on the back of his head, Longinus suddenly tilted his head aside and evaded the lethal shot.

"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible! How did you do that?" Alex's eyes bulged as he could no longer hide his horror.

If his earlier shock had been an act to lower Longinus's guard and create an opening for the sniper, then now Alex truly could not believe his eyes. How could anyone foresee danger coming from behind? That sniper round had come from an absolute blind spot!

Quincy, a swordsman in name but actually a sniper, was even more incredulous. How could someone remain alert for a sneak attack while fighting the captain? And his sniper rifle was high-end equipment acquired from the North Blue. Its bullets were supposed to be completely silenced!

As though venting the fear in his heart, Quincy emptied every bullet in his gun without pause under the immense pressure.

However.

"Interrupting my fight... means you need to be prepared to die!" Longinus effortlessly dodged every bullet and even turned his head to glance over with the corner of his eye.

As though he had been stared at by the Grim Reaper, Quincy felt the blood throughout his body freeze. Before the gazes of all the pirates and townspeople, he threw down his sniper rifle and fled in blind panic.

Alex was nearly furious enough to explode. His first mate actually had so little faith in him. That brat was still caught in his hands... Wait, why did he seem to be flying through the sky?

"First Mate, watch out!"

"Lord Quincy, watch out for the hidden weapon!"

Hearing the alarmed cries of his pirate subordinates, Quincy could not help turning back for a look. His pupils instantly shrank. This was the most despicable and vicious hidden weapon in the world—the Alex Missile!

Thrown at extreme speed by Longinus, Alex possessed enormous kinetic energy from his mass and velocity. In everyone's eyes, he was no less powerful than a solid cannonball.

"No... don't... aaah..."

Boom!

The Alex Missile struck its target perfectly, crushing Quincy directly into a round meat pancake. Everyone present swallowed in horror.

When Alex climbed back up and saw Quincy's mangled corpse, fear drove him to consider retreating.

"Brat, you've got skills. I'll let you off this time!" Alex said as he turned and retreated toward the shore.

"After killing so many people, you think you can just leave after making an empty threat?" A gentle voice sounded from behind him, but it made Alex's body stiffen.

"Brat, don't push your luck. Your strength isn't bad, but you're still not quite capable of killing me. At worst, I'll wear you down for a whole day and night. Then we'll see who dies first!" The rage in Alex's heart suppressed his fear once more.

"Eradicating evil completely is something I understood long ago!"

Longinus charged forward again. Though he continued suppressing Alex as before, Alex's repeated falls and recoveries instead gave him confidence.

"Idiot, I told you long ago—you can't kill me!" Alex sneered threateningly. "Just wait. Once your strength is exhausted, I'll kill those meat pigs one by one right before your eyes, then end your life!"

Longinus abruptly stopped and said faintly, "Haven't you noticed the change in our surroundings?"

For some reason, hearing Longinus's lifeless voice made a chill rise in Alex's heart. It was as though that gentle, easygoing brat had suddenly become another person, like a vicious ghost crawling out of hell.

Steadying himself, Alex looked around and discovered that their battlefield had unknowingly shifted to the shore.

"So this is what gives you confidence? Though the sea is indeed the nemesis of Devil Fruit Users, I'm not stupid enough to let you force me into it." Thinking he had seen through his enemy's intentions, Alex relaxed instead.

When Longinus rushed at him without a word, Alex skillfully protected his eyes, clearly intending to carry his strategy of taking hits to the extreme.

Suddenly, a wave of agonizing pain struck him. Alex could not help lowering his head, only to discover in horror that a Long Sword had pierced straight through his chest.

"Idiot, what I meant was that here... no one will discover my secret!" Longinus's voice drifted faintly beside Alex's ear.

"You... why..." Alex could not understand. Why had that brat suddenly produced a sword out of thin air? Why had his Giant Rhinoceros hide, which even bullets could not penetrate, been pierced as easily as paper?

Yet he could no longer ask those questions. His body crashed to the ground, blood seeping into the grooves as even his soul was devoured. The blade gleamed with a scarlet light.

A new book is setting sail. I ask all new and old readers for your strong support! This author will definitely do everything possible to write this book well!