The Four Years That Were Ruined

In the rising smoke, Linley's face was grim, and he remained silent.

Vergo was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a thin layer of frost spreading to his feet.

Immediately, Linley clenched his fist and charged at him.

Vergo chuckled lightly, holding the bamboo stick in his hand horizontally in front of him, intending to block Linley's punch.

But to his surprise, the moment Linley reached him, he slammed his fist onto the ground, using his fist as a pivot. With the momentum of his charge, he spun his entire body in a large circle and unleashed a spinning kick!

Hero Skill: Dragon's Rage!

Bang!

Under the enhancement of Icebound Domain, the kick, imbued with terrifying energy, struck Vergo's bamboo stick directly.

The bamboo stick, wrapped in Armament Haki and as hard as steel rebar, immediately cracked from the impact and snapped in two!

With a crack, Linley's foot shattered the bamboo stick and then squarely hit Vergo's chest.

Even though he had used full body Armament Haki hardening, the moment this kick landed, Vergo was still shocked by its terrifying power.

"Ugh!"

Vergo grunted, half-crouching to steady himself, but he couldn't stop himself from being pushed back.

Suddenly, Linley slammed his fist onto the ground again, adjusting his stance with the force. Without landing, he unleashed another kick to Vergo's chest!

Bang!

Hero Skill: Dragon's Rage, is Linley's most powerful single-target attack skill to date. Even Garp would be repelled several steps if caught off guard.

While Vergo was strong, he was still young and considerably less experienced than Garp.

Linley delivered two consecutive Dragon's Rage kicks in a posture impossible for an ordinary person. The first kick had its power significantly reduced by the Armament Haki-wrapped bamboo stick, but the second kick landed squarely on Vergo's chest!

"Ugh... Ah!"

Vergo roared in anger, veins bulging on his forehead. He tried to endure the blow with Tekkai, but his body ultimately couldn't withstand the terrifying power contained within the kick.

With a thunderous sound, Vergo was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the wall behind him!

"Hoo, hoo!"

Linley stood up from the ground, gasping for breath, the frost spreading around him quickly receding.

Energy Value: 1400/1800!

Vergo was indeed the highest-ranking executive of the Donquixote Family; his strength far exceeded Linley's imagination, so Linley had to conserve his Energy Value.

The chaotic battle in Back Street No. 5, while shocking, hadn't actually consumed much Energy Value. Occasionally using Icebound Domain was just a momentary affair.

The only thing that truly caused Linley to consume Energy Value in large quantities was the formidable enemy before him – Vergo!

Without exaggeration, Vergo was the most troublesome enemy Linley had encountered in his many years of combat.

Compared to his opponents in the arena, Vergo's strength was immense, with top-tier Armament Haki and hand-to-hand combat skills;

Compared to Fisher Tiger, Zephyr, and Garp, Vergo harbored a complete killing intent towards Linley!

Facing such a formidable foe, Linley had no choice but to deliberately expose a weakness and leap into the air himself, luring Vergo into underestimating him.

As expected, when Vergo struck him with his bamboo stick, he didn't pursue further, which precisely gave Linley the opportunity to counterattack!

Thus, the strongest attack under the Icebound Domain – Dragon's Rage – struck Vergo's chest!

Twice!

Vergo was sent flying backward by the blows, crashing heavily into the wall, half his body embedded within it.

Linley looked at the fallen Vergo, gritted his teeth, and clutched his swollen arm, lamenting once more:

"Armament Haki, it's really tough!"

However, even so, Linley remained confident in his Devil Fruit ability.

Taking two direct hits from Dragon's Rage, even a body fully encased in Armament Haki would absolutely not emerge unscathed!

As expected, Vergo, who lay on the ground unable to get up, suddenly started coughing, clearly suffering internal injuries to his lungs.

However, after a bout of coughing, Vergo suddenly burst into laughter.

"Coming to Loguetown this time was definitely the right decision!"

"Hahahaha, Lynn Barek, is there anyone more tragic in this world than you?"

"For four years, you fought in the Sabaody Arena for a full four years, and your strength has been improving in a distorted way!"

"You're a genius in combat, capable of making me vomit blood with just your Devil Fruit ability, yet because you were a slave to the Celestial Dragons for four years, you missed the best opportunity to awaken Haki."

"If I'm not mistaken, you're currently doing your best to develop your Devil Fruit ability to compensate for your inability to awaken Haki!"

Vergo stood up from the rubble, laughing, spitting out blood from his mouth and wiping his lips.

He continued to say to Linley:

"If a person has enough talent, they will show a certain potential for Haki at the beginning of their training. You should have had this potential too, but due to the environment of the Sabaody Arena, you were completely unable to train Haki, and your potential was completely wasted."

"The training of Haki should have progressed in sync with the improvement of one's own strength, but you have instead raised your strength to a terrifying level while being a complete novice in Haki."

"One leg is long, the other is short. Because of this, you can't advance on the path to awakening Haki at all!"

"How many years will it take for you to truly learn Haki? Twenty years? Fifty years? Hahahaha!"

Vergo hadn't laughed this heartily in a long time, as he found the events unfolding before him so ironic:

"Linley Barek, you are a man ruined by the Celestial Dragons!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Vergo's laughter reached Linley's ears.

The latter simply maintained a stern expression and continued to remain silent.

After Vergo's laughter gradually subsided, Linley raised an eyebrow and asked, "Vergo, are you finished?"

"You should call me Mr. Vergo." Vergo's body was once again enveloped in black Armament Haki.

"What, do you think I don't have a weapon just because you broke my bamboo staff?"

"That was just ordinary bamboo."

Vergo clenched both fists, his muscles filled with explosive power.

"The real weapon is myself!"

Bang!

Vergo stomped his foot on the ground and charged at Linley.

With the enhancement of Armament Haki, Vergo's body's hardness far surpassed that of ordinary iron cannonballs.

In other words, Vergo was now like a siege cannon weighing over a hundred kilograms, firing directly at Linley!

He clenched his fist, his gaze beneath his sunglasses fixed on Linley's movements. Whether Linley dodged upwards, backward, or to the sides, Vergo had a plan.

He intended to end this tragic man before him with this single strike!

However, to Vergo's surprise, Linley not only had no intention of dodging but instead took a stance, right fist drawn back, preparing to unleash a blow.

Vergo roared:

"If you want to take this head-on, prepare to have your bones shattered by me!"

Whoosh!

Linley and Vergo swung their right fists at the same time!

Hero Skill: Wicked Blow.

Bang!

When their fists collided, they even created visible shockwaves in the air!

When they withdrew their fists, one of them could no longer hold its grip and loosened, its five fingers trembling uncontrollably.

And the owner of that fist—Vergo—finally showed a change in expression.

He gazed at Linley's clenched right fist, his heart filled with shock.

That was... Armament Haki?

Linley blew away the white smoke from his fist.

"Huh? What did you say? You were talking too much, I couldn't hear you clearly."