Their Respective Battles

Sakazuki could no longer hold back. He charged straight in and unleashed his signature technique, Great Eruption.

As for friendly fire, he never worried about that. Those who survived, survived; those who did not, died. He would report them as having died in the line of duty.

"Oh? You look like you're not exactly young anymore. Why are you still so hot-tempered?" Xia Mi teased as she pulled up an earthen wall to block Akainu's attack.

Naturally, that wall could not stop Akainu, but it could block his vision.

Then Xia Mi's figure flashed, and she appeared not far from Akainu, kicking him away with a single strike.

He was not afraid of friendly fire, but Xia Mi was.

If they wanted to fight, they should go farther away.

Xia Mi followed close behind and immediately rushed after him.

That kick sent him flying onto a nearby island.

"Fenrir, go test yourself against Mr. Garp," Richard said.

"Okay." Fenrir drew out his massive Zanbato and walked toward Garp, layering various enhancing Spirit Speeches onto himself as he went.

As the King of Earth and Mountains, he could use all the Dragon Race Spirit Speeches of this bloodline.

After sensing Garp's powerful aura, he no longer held back and fought with all his strength.

"I'll deal with Onigumo. Leave Momonga, the swordsman, to Kuina." Lin Feng drew his sword and headed toward Onigumo.

"Kuina, you haven't fought a swordsman of roughly equal strength since setting sail, have you? This man should be about your level. Go fight him," Richard said.

"Alright." Kuina stepped forward and faced Momonga.

"Swordswoman Kuina. Please teach me."

Momonga immediately returned the greeting.

"Swordsman Momonga. Please teach me."

The clash between the two swordsmen was rather plain and unadorned. There were no flashy techniques or dazzling elemental effects, only flashing blades and sword shadows, every strike filled with killing intent.

Cold and sharp, there were only crisscrossing sword qi and the jagged, shattered ground sliced apart in their wake.

"Eh, what about me?" Erii's little face went blank. Why did it feel like she was the only one left with nothing to do?

"Does Erii want to fight?"

Everyone had already been assigned an opponent. The Marines were really letting them down; they had sent so few people that there were not even enough to divide up.

Richard thought it over. If necessary, he could heal the Marine rear admiral lying on the ground and let Erii have a turn, at least giving her some sense of participation.

Erii shook her head. Fighting was not fun at all.

"Then just wait here with me until they finish fighting," Richard said.

"Okay." Erii obediently sat down and looked toward the various battlefields.

Xia Mi was too far away to see, so she skipped that one.

Fenrir looked a little clumsy and seemed to be getting beaten up constantly. This old man named Garp was incredibly strong, and his combat skills were superb. Fenrir's attacks all missed him.

"Brother Richard, doesn't Fenrir need me to help him?" Erii asked.

"No. He happens to be lacking in combat experience, so he can learn more from Garp," Richard said after observing carefully.

Although Fenrir was taking a beating, he seemed able to endure for a while longer. There was no rush.

The battle between Lin Feng and Onigumo was rather unconventional.

Lin Feng primarily cultivated Classical Wuxia Qi Cultivation and the Under One Person Qi Cultivation Method, cultivating both body and life. Other than his slow growth in power, he had no other weaknesses.

To make up for that, he had also learned some sensing techniques and methods of absorbing Natural Energy from the Slug Sage.

If seeking inward was not fast enough, then he would add the power of heaven and earth from without.

He had also localized part of Ninjutsu and Sealing Technique, turning them into techniques he could use.

So despite holding a sword, Lin Feng actually leaned more toward the mage style.

For instance, Lin Feng would occasionally throw out an earth-style technique to hinder Onigumo's steps, then suddenly conjure a small fireball and hurl it at him.

With Observation Haki, Onigumo would often dodge in advance the moment he sensed that Lin Feng intended to make a move.

Lin Feng did not have Haki, but his True Qi was even more troublesome, because it could penetrate the body and attack vulnerable internal organs.

Otherwise, why did martial arts masters suffer internal injuries every now and then? Was it not because True Qi penetrated their bodies and caused their organs to shake and suffer damage?

Thus, every time Lin Feng's blade touched Onigumo's body, it dealt real damage.

If people in the Pirate World were not so thick-skinned and tough-fleshed, with even their internal organs being more resilient, Onigumo would have already gone down.

Finally, Kuina and Momonga were locked in an intense exchange, with neither gaining the upper hand for the time being.

An hour later, Richard noticed that Fenrir was about to reach his limit.

By then, Fenrir had been beaten black and blue.

Garp was having a great time. It had been a long time since he had encountered such a durable punching bag.

As for the occasional counterattacks Fenrir landed on Garp with his blade?

Sorry, they did not even break his defense. Other than shredding his clothes, they had no effect at all.

"Enough, Fenrir. This is about as far as we need to go," Richard said, stopping Fenrir.

If Fenrir still wanted to fight, he would either have to transform into a dragon or use a World-Ending Spirit Speech.

There was no need to go that far.

After being ravaged by so many powerful fighters, much of the island's shoreline foundation had already collapsed inward.

If Fenrir unleashed a major move, the entire island would sink.

Fenrir retreated after hearing that, and Garp tried to intercept him.

But a stream of water stopped him.

"Vice Admiral Garp, let me play with you next." Richard turned into a stream of water, merged into it, and appeared before Garp along with the flowing current.

Well, although he had yet to successfully enter the Mystery of Round Softness, it was not as though he had gained nothing.

Over the past few days, he had tried cultivating the Hozuki Clan's Hydrification Technique.

He had gotten nowhere when researching that secret technique in the Ninja World, but now that he had Chakra, he could try using it directly.

After all, how could merely watching compare to personally experiencing it?

And he was in the Pirate World, where the Laws of Water were especially active.

Sure enough, although the Hydrification Technique was a bloodline secret technique of the Hozuki Clan, Richard learned it after spending only a little time in this world.

Then, naturally, after learning the Hydrification Technique and carefully experiencing the sensation of becoming water, he soon entered the Water Body Profound Mystery.

He was now focusing all his efforts on mastering the Mystery of Round Softness.

As for Kizaru, Richard had casually sealed him away and thrown him into the Small World.

"Sure enough, you're a Sui Sui no Mi user." Seeing this, Garp directly mistook the Hydrification Technique for an elemental transformation ability.

"If you say so." Richard could not be bothered to explain. They could think whatever they wanted.

Garp could not quite figure it out. Did a Sui Sui no Mi really exist in the world? Why was it not listed in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia?

Could the World Government have hidden it?

Would that not make this man the natural nemesis of all Devil Fruit users?

Everyone knew that Devil Fruit users feared seawater. Even coming into contact with a large amount of freshwater would make them lose their abilities and greatly drain their stamina.

It could be said that all Devil Fruit users were people cursed by water.

Yet now, a Sui Sui no Mi had appeared? Did that mean this man was not afraid of seawater?

More and more questions arose in Garp's heart.

This man only looked carefree and rough, but he was actually shrewd beneath the surface. His mind was quite meticulous.

Unfortunately, Richard was destined not to answer his doubts.