Wood's True Strength Revealed

"Clang—!"

Another exceptionally crisp clash of metal rang out. As Wood brought his longsword down, Iron Arm Cook blocked it with his other arm, which was also covered by an Arm Gauntlet.

The blade struck the Arm Gauntlet, sending a shower of sparks flying.

Gripping his sword with both hands, Wood pushed down with all his strength, yet his expression showed obvious strain.

Clearly, in a contest of strength, even after a period of training, the newly adult Wood still lagged behind Cook, whose larger build gave him a clear advantage.

Wood needed both hands to wield his sword, while Cook could hold him at a standstill with just one. And the deadlock did not last long, because Wood soon saw Cook's other fist hurtling toward his head with a piercing whistle.

With no advantage in strength, Wood had no intention of meeting him head-on. He nimbly sprang backward several times in succession, once again opening up enough distance between them.

"Kid, when I saw you dare to show up alone before our Iron Arm Pirates, I thought you had some guts.

"But looking at you now, you're nothing more than a coward who only knows how to scurry around."

Iron Arm Cook was tremendously strong, and his specially made pure iron Arm Gauntlets gave every punch the force of several tons.

But he was not without weaknesses. His strength was impressive, but his speed was utterly lacking.

The full-arm gauntlets made entirely of iron enhanced both his offense and defense, but they were far from light.

Ever since the fight began, Iron Arm Cook had been desperately chasing Wood. The surrounding ground had long since been smashed into craters, yet he had not even touched the corner of Wood's clothes.

Cook had gone from brimming with confidence to being utterly irritated by his inability to hit Wood. By now, Iron Arm Cook was furious beyond measure!

In contrast to Cook's agitation and rage, Wood remained calm and paid no attention to Cook's taunts.

This was not some hot-blooded anime where he could just rush in and trade blow for blow. He was not the chosen one, nor did he have invincible plot armor.

In a real fight to the death, strength alone was not enough. You also had to use your brain.

Cook had been unable to achieve any results against an opponent who appeared weaker than him for such a long time. Mentally, he was already at a disadvantage.

And moving around in such heavy Arm Gauntlets was a tremendous drain on stamina. Compared to Cook, Wood, who had merely been dodging left and right, had spent far less energy.

Once Cook's stamina began to fail and he could no longer fight calmly, that would be Wood's best chance to strike.

Granted, fighting this way did not look anything like the style of a strong man, nor was it the way men of the sea were supposed to fight.

But Wood did not care in the slightest. So what if it was a little underhanded? He only had one life. Securing the greatest results with the smallest advantage was the true way to victory.

In fact, with Wood's speed advantage and the swordsmanship he had absorbed from his mind over the past year, he had a chance of defeating Cook head-on. He did not need to resort to such methods.

But it was only a chance, and even if he defeated Cook, he would inevitably suffer quite a few injuries.

And Cook was not Wood's only opponent. He was facing the entire Iron Arm Pirates.

If he defeated Cook only to be left covered in wounds, then what difference was there between winning and losing?

One must not forget that Wood was currently the only fighting strength Maple Leaf Island could muster. If he and Cook both went down, the other residents would have little ability to resist the rest of the Iron Arm Pirates.

"Captain Cook, since this brat is being so underhanded, why don't we just go after the people on the island instead?

"We're a pirate crew. Who says we have to fight him one-on-one?

"And it's not like we need to defeat the brat in front of us before we can enter the island's town."

The speaker was the Vice Captain of the Iron Arm Pirates. Compared to the not-too-bright Cook, he often served as the crew's tactician.

Upon hearing the Vice Captain's suggestion, both Wood and Cook showed strong reactions.

Wood's face turned grave. What the man had said was precisely what he had been worried about from the very beginning.

That was why Wood had kept provoking Cook from the start—to draw all the hatred onto himself and make Cook forget about everyone else on the island.

There was no way Wood would not recognize Iron Arm Cook. Even though the timeline Wood knew contained no such person, proving that he was merely a minor nobody.

Still, ever since the system had given him the mission to protect Maple Leaf Island, Wood had specifically collected bounty posters for many rookie pirates across the Four Seas.

Iron Arm Cook, with his twenty million Belly bounty and notorious reputation, was naturally among them.

It was precisely because he had learned about Iron Arm Cook beforehand, combined with their brief earlier encounter, that Wood had made that series of moves.

But now, it seemed that his plan to drag Cook down until he lost his composure and completely exhausted his stamina would not work. He had to act first!

Unlike the grave-faced Wood, Iron Arm Cook's eyes immediately lit up at the Vice Captain's suggestion, and he revealed an exceptionally cruel smile.

"Kid, if you want to keep running, then keep running. Once I've killed everyone on this island, I'll come back and deal with you nice and slow.

"Men, go slaughter all the children and old people on the island first! Keep the men alive for now to cut down trees for us, and keep the women for the brothers to have some fun with."

The Iron Arm Pirates were not exactly numerous, but they were not few either. There were nearly a hundred of them.

At Cook's command, they immediately shouted and charged toward the town.

Seeing this, Wood naturally had no time to keep circling around Cook. In a flash, he appeared in front of the first wave of pirates.

"One-Sword Style: Iai: Falling Cherry Blossoms!"

Sharp blade light burst through the air. By the time Wood's longsword returned to its sheath, the nearly ten pirates before him were already covered in crisscrossing slashes.

The instant Wood's sword fully entered its sheath, the wounds on their bodies burst open. The spraying blood was like cherry blossoms blooming in the air.

Seeing the swordsmanship Wood had displayed, the Iron Arm Pirates were clearly stunned.

Previously, in front of their captain, Wood had only been able to flee in panic, giving them the impression that he was nothing special.

But now it seemed that it was not that he lacked strength—he had been hiding his true power from the very beginning!