The unease in Jerry's heart grew stronger, especially after Metis revealed her fighting stance.
"Damn it, what's with this cat?"
The surrounding pirate crew members were even worse off. The hellish chill emanating from Metis left them standing frozen in place, too terrified to move.
At this rate, there would be no need to fight at all—they might as well surrender. Jerry did not dare underestimate her and immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability, entering a half-beast transformation. His body instantly swelled several times over, his originally slight frame growing to the size of a normal man. Gray fur sprouted across his body, and most striking of all, his front teeth became enormous, gleaming with a cold light.
Yet Metis grew even more excited at the sight. She instantly charged in front of Jerry and swung a claw wrapped in Black Flame. The massive cat paw was nearly as large as Jerry's half-beast form. Jerry likewise hardened his transformed claws and raised them before his chest, intending to block the attack.
Screech! A teeth-grating sound rang out as Jerry was sent flying by a single swipe from Metis. He crashed through several houses in succession and vanished into a cloud of dust.
At Senga's side, Kalifa pressed a finger against the bridge of her glasses, warily watching Metis, who had just displayed such terrifying power. Judging by the force and speed of that attack, this cat was already stronger than Kalifa herself, despite her having received agent training since childhood.
Where had Uchiha Senga gotten something like this? In Kalifa's eyes, Senga became increasingly mysterious.
Back to the battle.
An explosion rang out as Jerry leaped from a pile of shattered bricks and rubble. He looked utterly miserable. His upper clothes had already been torn away when his transformed body expanded, leaving him with only a pair of pants. Now even those pants were nearly ruined and barely covered his backside.
Worst of all were the deep claw marks across his chest. Strangely, no blood flowed from them; a layer of solid ice had sealed the wounds.
That ice was not helping him stop the bleeding. Only Jerry himself knew that bone-chilling cold was continuously invading his body from the wounds. He could already feel the blood in his veins slowing, and his consciousness was beginning to blur.
Jerry slapped himself across the face and felt a little more awake. He looked grimly at Metis, who was leisurely licking her claws in the distance. He knew that if this battle dragged on, he would die here today. That young Marine behind her had not even made a move yet.
If even a pet cat was this strong, how powerful was its owner? He did not dare think any further. All he could do now was use his strongest move to end this fight as quickly as possible, then find a chance to escape.
With that thought, Jerry frantically pushed his Devil Fruit ability even further. His body expanded even more, his eyes turned bloodshot, his nose protruded, and his ears lengthened. His pair of front teeth rapidly grew even larger, while his posture shifted until all four limbs were on the ground.
This was the complete Zoan transformation state. Jerry had now completely turned into a giant gray rat with enormous front teeth.
He let out two sharp squeaks, and those white front teeth became coated in jet-black Armament Haki. This was his strongest move: Blood Rat · Black Teeth.
Aiming for Metis's neck, he fiercely kicked off with his hind legs and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. He moved so fast that no one present could see his form clearly—except Senga.
Watching Jerry, who had completely become a huge gray rat, Senga thought that the physical boost from a Zoan's complete transformation was indeed quite impressive. At that speed, even he had to focus slightly to see Jerry clearly.
However, Metis remained completely unfazed by Jerry's surge in power. She let out two disdainful meows, and all the fur around her neck turned into denser Black Flame, surging outward in every direction.
The instant Jerry's front teeth touched the Black Flame, they were frozen solid. Ice spread from his teeth toward the rest of his body, terrifying him out of his wits. Seeing the ice about to spread through his teeth to his face, he gritted his teeth, halted his attack, and sharply redirected himself toward the ground.
Crack! Jerry's prized front teeth shattered into fragments the instant they struck the ground. With his teeth gone, he landed face-first. If not for the sheer toughness of his body after complete transformation, that massive impact alone would have been enough to knock him unconscious.
But even though he was still somewhat conscious, the loss of his teeth and the injuries across his body left him unable to maintain his Devil Fruit ability. He reverted from his complete transformation and lay miserably sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.
Seeing their captain reduced to such a state, the Blood Rat Pirates' lackeys threw down their weapons and turned to flee. Pirates were pirates, after all. Loyalty was not something most pirates possessed.
Like boss, like underlings. Naturally, Senga would not let this bunch of scum escape so easily. A flash of purple glinted in his Rinnegan, and Senga raised a hand and gave them the premium combo of Banshō Ten'in and Shinra Tensei.
The fleeing Blood Rat Pirates suddenly shuddered, then began bleeding from all seven orifices before collapsing limply to the ground like rotten cotton.
This method was especially suited to clearing out fodder like them. By using the opposing forces of Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in, he invisibly crushed the pirates' internal organs, leaving them without even a chance to scream.
Senga's attack took only an instant, so fast that Kalifa beside him had yet to react before every pirate in sight was already dead.
Thinking that this ability might only be the tip of Senga's strength, cold sweat appeared on Kalifa's forehead. She secretly glanced at his purple eyes and thought,
"Is this his ability? What a terrifying man. It's impossible to imagine that he's only seventeen!"
The Marine soldiers behind her, who had been mere spectators from beginning to end, were flushed red with excitement. None of them had expected Colonel Senga, who had come from Headquarters and looked far too young, to possess such terrifying strength. Only a commander like him could truly earn their respect!
Jerry, still sprawled on the ground and witnessing the death of all his men, revealed a smile uglier than crying and muttered neurotically,
"Short-sighted... so short-sighted... hahahaha..."
Splat! The sound abruptly stopped. Metis had somehow appeared above Jerry. Even in his half-beast form, Jerry had only been about the size of Metis's paw, much less now that he had returned to human form.
Metis raised a front paw and slammed it down. Blood Rat Jerry, with his bounty of 120 million Beli, vanished from this world completely, leaving behind nothing but blood.
Looking disdainfully at the bits of flesh on her paw pads, Metis used Black Flame to freeze the filth. Then she gently exhaled, and it all turned into icy dust that scattered away in the wind.
Metis let out two proud meows, shrinking back into the form of a little black cat. With a kick of her legs, she jumped back onto Senga's shoulder. Kalifa and several Marine soldiers beside them hurriedly moved a little farther away from Senga.
Watching Metis happily rub against Senga's cheek, they found it difficult to connect her with the giant cat demon that had just crushed Blood Rat Jerry with a single paw.
Senga lightly pinched Metis's little backside, making her meow shyly without end. Then he turned and gave an order to the Marine soldiers behind him.
"The battle is over. Stop standing around and clean up the battlefield."
Only then did everyone snap out of it. One after another, they rushed to count the corpses and collect the spoils. They had not contributed during the fight, so at a time like this, they absolutely could not let this young commander be dissatisfied.
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