The area a thousand meters from the beach.
The once-flat ground had become like the surface of the moon.
Everywhere the eye could see, there were craters. The ground was cracked, fissures spreading everywhere like a scene from the apocalypse.
"What are you doing?"
Gustav looked at Victor in confusion.
Victor had suddenly thrown a massive boulder toward the beach.
This left Gustav baffled.
Victor did not answer. His Observation Haki had spread all the way toward the beach.
He had just predicted that Tokikake would be unable to rescue Kennard, so he had lent a hand.
The Special Operations Unit was his foundation. They were a force he could rely on, and would form the core of his future forces at Marine Headquarters.
Victor did not want to lose too much combat power.
"Kid, you're strong, but don't underestimate me."
Gustav had already exchanged several moves with Victor.
Victor possessed tremendous strength and incredible speed, while his Armament Haki was frighteningly hard.
Unbelievable!
Victor was only twenty years old!
"Oh." Victor responded calmly.
"Even Roger and Whitebeard wouldn't dare look down on me like that."
At that moment, Gustav's body began to change.
His skin turned gray, as if a thick layer of plaster had attached itself to it.
Gustav's head became that of a crocodile, and a thick tail grew from his back.
Victor's expression remained calm as he looked at the giant crocodile more than fifty meters tall before him.
He had already read Gustav's profile.
In his Deinosuchus form, Gustav possessed terrifying bite force.
Even a warship would be easily crushed between his jaws.
Of course, that was not the most terrifying part.
The Deinosuchus's entire body was covered in armor. Bony plates growing within its skin made it extremely difficult to pierce.
Besides that, the Deinosuchus possessed terrifying vitality and recovery abilities.
A Deinosuchus could survive for a long time without eating.
Moreover, it had four atria. During a hunt, its powerful heart could pump large amounts of oxygen-rich blood to its tail and head, enhancing its explosive power.
Relying on this Devil Fruit, Gustav had challenged powerful figures throughout the New World.
Gustav, now transformed into a Deinosuchus, swung his tail.
The thick tail swept across the area, smashing a hillside dozens of meters high to pieces.
He was showing off the strength of his transformation!
"I know you're difficult to deal with, which is why I found some help."
Victor spoke calmly.
"Hahaha." Hearing this, Gustav assumed Victor wanted to call in more Marines to surround him. "No matter how many people come, I won't be afraid. Before I fall, I'll eat a great many people."
Gustav's terror lay in how extensively he had developed his Devil Fruit ability.
According to intelligence from Marine Headquarters, Gustav had already awakened it!
After a Zoan Devil Fruit awakened, it granted terrifying recovery abilities.
Combined with the Deinosuchus's naturally thick hide, high attack power, immense vitality, and powerful recovery, defeating Gustav was no easy task.
That was why Roger, Whitebeard, and the others had never wanted to become entangled with Gustav.
Victor smiled and shook his head. "You may have misunderstood."
"Misunderstood?" Confusion filled Gustav's eyes.
Victor smiled. "I don't like anyone interfering in my battles. I have never been inferior to anyone in my life. Whether it's Roger or Whitebeard, I don't believe I'm weaker than them."
"You're really arrogant..." Gustav had not finished speaking when he saw Victor "transform."
"This is my first time using its power in battle."
Victor's body grew larger. His original height of 3.1 meters instantly surged to thirty meters.
At the same time, tattoo-like patterns of the sky, earth, sun, moon, mountains, rivers, and stars appeared across his body.
Even more exaggerated were his muscles. The knotted muscles were hard as stone, as solid as granite.
An oppressive aura that made it difficult to breathe radiated from Victor's body.
Like a god!
"Ah, what is this?" Gustav's eyes widened.
Victor raised his right hand, and a faint golden light covered his fist.
"Divine Judgment!"
Victor pressed his right hand downward, and the golden fist transformed into a massive golden fist of light that shot toward Gustav.
Gustav tried to dodge with his enormous crocodile body, but there was nowhere to escape.
"Boom!"
The fist of light struck the ground, pulverizing it. The area around Gustav was blasted apart, and the entire island trembled.
The two sides fighting on the beach both stopped.
"What's going on?"
"Was that impact an earthquake?"
"Could it be an undersea volcano erupting?"
The violent tremors left everyone on the island uneasy.
"It's a Mythical Zoan!" Gustav cried out in horror.
A Zoan Mythical Zoan could transform its user into an animal or figure from myth or legend. In addition to the Zoan trait of enhancing the eater's physical abilities, it also granted certain special supernatural powers.
It was the strongest category among Zoan Devil Fruits!
At the same time, Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits were incredibly rare—rarer even than Logia Devil Fruits and Ancient Zoans!
The Deinosuchus might be rare, but it was utterly incomparable to a Mythical Zoan!
"Yes. Fighting you would take quite a while, so I found some help and had them look after my subordinates. That way, I can fight you without holding back."
Victor, now transformed into a titan, stared expressionlessly at Gustav.
From the perspective of a god, he looked down upon the insignificant crawling insect before him.
"No wonder you dare act so arrogantly. But even if Sengoku came, he still couldn't defeat me."
Although he had taken a punch, Gustav's body rapidly recovered. His Devil Fruit had awakened, and his recovery had reached a terrifying level.
However, Gustav knew that his beast form could never defeat Victor!
Thus, Gustav transformed again, taking on the form of a crocodile giant, much like the Jailer Beasts of Impel Down.
But after the Deinosuchus form awakened, his body became even larger.
"Roar!"
Gustav threw his head back and roared furiously.
"Rumble!"
The earth shook violently. The ground beneath Gustav's feet could no longer withstand his power, and dense cracks appeared, spreading in every direction.
"Ah!!!" Accompanied by his roar, Gustav's enormous body suddenly launched itself into the air!
Gustav spun in midair, then traced an arc through the sky before charging straight at Victor!
"Bring it on!"
Victor raised his arm and slammed his fist toward the giant crocodile's head!
A fist wrapped in Armament Haki collided in midair with a crocodile head wrapped in Conqueror's Haki.
BOOM!!!!
A devastating shock wave swept across the entire island. Everyone present felt as if they had been plunged into the apocalypse, and the ground itself began to collapse.
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