"Roar!" With a furious roar, a Marine man with a scar on his chin instantly transformed into a towering dinosaur, blocking Minos's Flying Slash.
Of course, he paid the price for it. One of his claws was dripping with blood, revealing a wound deep enough to expose the bone.
Drake, an Ancient Zoan Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Allosaurus Fruit user. He would later become one of the pirate Supernovas and even join Kaido's Beasts Pirates, though his true identity was a Marine undercover agent.
Minos had not expected this guy to be from the same class as Smoker and Hina. The three of them were probably the strongest recruits of their Marine class.
"Are you still struggling under these circumstances? The gap between you and me should be obvious to the naked eye by now." Minos looked at the three standing before him, then at the reserve Marine officers behind them.
Smoker, who had originally been lying on the ground, got back to his feet. Among the reserve Marine officers, someone seemed proficient in medicine and had roughly treated Smoker's wounds in less than a minute.
Even so, being able to stand with injuries this severe made him a warrior. If he was wounded again, he might actually die.
"Hina will never surrender to a pirate!"
"As long as I'm still standing, the victor has yet to be decided!"
Hina and Smoker spoke at the same time. Without another word, Drake's body shifted into his hybrid form before he charged forward.
"Divine Speed—Lightning Flash." In almost an instant, Minos turned into a dazzling streak of light again. Rather than colliding with Drake, he charged straight into the ordinary Marine reserves in the rear.
Their strength was clearly far below that of Smoker, Hina, and Drake. The weaker ones were probably about as strong as "Iron Club" Alvida when Luffy first set sail, while the stronger ones were around Arlong's level. Against Minos, who excelled most at Divine Speed attacks, they barely had time to react before being cut down one after another.
"Damn it! What are you doing?!" Smoker roared, turning both arms into billowing smoke that swept toward Minos.
"Idiot, don't you know that when facing Haki, recklessly using a Logia ability only turns you into a target?"
Minos sneered and swung his black Haki-coated sword. With a swish, a trace of red immediately appeared within the smoke.
It was not as though Logia users were inevitably countered upon encountering Haki. Some Logia users with extremely advanced Observation Haki could judge an opponent's attack path and transform into their elemental form beforehand to evade the strike.
However, Smoker's Armament Haki and Observation Haki were both a complete mess. He had not even awakened them, so Minos easily found where his true body was hidden amid the elemental transformation.
"The idiot is you. Hina has caught you!"
Hina's crisp voice rang out from within the hazy smoke. With a click, a black iron shackle locked around a thick right arm.
"That's why I said you're idiots. Fighting an Observation Haki expert in a smoky environment is stupidity at its finest."
Minos's voice sounded behind Hina. The moment surprise appeared on her face, a streak of sword light pierced through her chest.
"Urgh!" Hina spat out a mouthful of blood. Only then did she realize that the person she had grabbed was actually a Marine Minos had knocked unconscious. "So cunning... Hina... fell for it..."
Minos withdrew his sword. Although it had pierced through her chest, he had deliberately avoided her vital organs. First, he had a fairly good impression of these Marines. Second...
Minos felt that if he truly wiped out all these Marines, his Karma Points would probably soar high enough for three transactions...
Well, perhaps the next time, the Three Admirals would come as a group to farm him.
The smoke gradually dispersed. Both Smoker and Hina had collapsed to the ground. Only Drake, whose massive body made sneak attacks impossible even within the smoke, remained standing where he was.
As for Golden Lion and Zephyr, Golden Lion had long since split the island in half and taken Zephyr to the other half to fight.
Otherwise, the aftershocks from those two big shots' battle alone would probably have severely injured most of the Marines. There would have been no need for anyone to fight at all.
"You're the last one left." Minos smiled at Drake. Comparatively speaking, in the eyes of someone who had grasped Armament Haki, Drake was probably the hardest to deal with among the three.
Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit abilities were plain and simple: they enhanced strength, physique, and speed. Yet in a sense, such abilities were also the best at increasing combat power in the early stages.
Drake took a deep breath and stopped wasting words. The dinosaur-man suddenly rushed at Minos, swinging an axe and a longsword at the same time to unleash an X-shaped slash.
Minos raised his longsword over his head and blocked the attack. A moment later, he and Drake each retreated two steps.
"So that's it. You're a speed type? Your strength is powerful, but it lacks the oppressive force of your speed." Drake spoke as if trying to encourage himself.
"I am indeed a speed type, but if you think my strength is only at this level..." Minos smiled as all three of his eyes glowed with a faint blood-red light. "Then you are gravely mistaken."
Kirin Mad Blood! The original Kirin Blood could already bolster Minos's strength. Now that he was actively drawing out his bloodline's potential, it granted him a boost no weaker than the Evil Eye King transformation.
If the strength stacked from the Evil Eye King transformation was included as well, then the power he gained after transforming had probably already far surpassed that of ordinary Zoans. Even among Ancient Zoans, few could compare.
Of course, Drake alone did not require such immense strength. Even this Mad Blood state was merely Minos testing his new power.
It felt quite good. There was a faint sense of being overwhelmed, but that was merely a side effect of his sudden surge in strength. The violent killing intent carried by the Kirin Mad Blood had long been completely neutralized by the Holy Grail Wine.
Minos lightly clenched his fist and did not use his sword again. For one thing, he had never undergone adaptation training in this state, so his control had weakened somewhat. If he used swordsmanship again, its power would increase, but so would its openings.
For another, since this battle had been meant to test and adapt to his power, he naturally needed to prolong it a little. If he killed his opponent in one move, how would that differ from cutting down a target dummy?
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