A Punch Sends Zephyr's Arm Flying Halfway (Seeking Votes)

"Waaah!!"

Zephyr was stunned on the spot. His voice caught in his throat as though he had been struck by a heavy hammer, turning instantly hoarse.

He could not understand it, could not believe it. Could pure physical strength truly reach such a level? Beyond the limits of human physical ability, was there really a realm like the surging blood and vitality before him—the unrivaled power of the Demon Back?

"Buzz! Buzz!!"

The Navy warship shook and groaned under the force of Norse's erupting blood and vitality.

The calm sea began to churn with waves, and schools of Sea Kings grew restless, as though some powerful force were provoking them while also suppressing and threatening them.

"Zephyr, aren't you going to satisfy my desire?"

With the power of the Demon Back activated, Norse spread his feet wide, clenching fists bulging with veins. His entire body brimmed with long-lost strength, as if a single punch could smash everything before him.

His tousled golden hair flew wildly above his head, completely standing on end. Blood and vitality carrying violent energy surged upward, even sweeping across and engulfing the entire Navy warship.

Norse's invincibility, confidence, presence, and pure strength all reached their peak at that moment, yet all he wanted was a powerful opponent to engage in a physical battle with him.

Without question, Zephyr before him was the best possible choice.

All the Navy cadets were intimidated by that roar.

In truth, they had long been suppressed by Norse's presence and power. Their bodies felt heavy, their hearts filled with fear, and a terrifying thought had even begun to take root deep within their minds.

The thought that Norse was the strongest Sea King on land could not be driven away at all.

Though the female pirates aboard the Kuja pirate ship were only watching Norse's eruption from afar, they could still recognize and feel the terrifying power behind it.

More than anything, they were shocked and incredulous.

Over the past three years, none of them had known that Norse possessed such a powerful hidden strength.

But they quickly transformed those feelings into pride in Norse and absolute trust in him, even a certain reliance on his strength.

On the other side, Zephyr stood at the scene.

Though he was shocked and found it unbelievable, that did not mean he feared Norse. On the contrary, in the very next moment, he was filled with immense excitement and boundless fighting spirit.

"Hahaha... I'll beat you flat with everything I've got."

Zephyr was fired up, his entire body brimming with vigor. He clenched his iron-hard fists as well, and his entire right arm was even coated in Armament Haki.

Norse answered even more domineeringly, "My fists are harder than pig iron. How confident are you?"

Just like that, the two first pitted their invincible presences against each other.

In terms of aura and dominance, Norse was clearly superior, firmly suppressing the younger Zephyr.

"Norse!!"

"Zephyr!!"

Their momentum soared as they roared each other's names with incomparably intense fighting spirit, as though it granted them an extra surge of strength and ruthlessness.

Their clenched fists shot toward each other like lightning.

Both of them punched unbelievably fast.

To some extent, their speed had already exceeded the limits of human punching speed, reaching around 0.34 times the speed of light. One could even see violent shockwaves tearing through the air around their fists, directly distorting the space they passed through.

In the eyes of those around them, Norse's and Zephyr's punches were like two invisible forces capable of toppling mountains and overturning seas—utterly shocking and terrifying.

In the blink of an eye, Norse's fist collided with Zephyr's Armament Haki-coated fist.

"Boom!!!"

It was like two enormous mountains crashing together, producing a deep, heavy muffled boom. At the same time, an invisible blast of air erupted explosively from between their fists.

It continuously swept across and filled the surrounding sea and sky.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Gales rose one after another, whipping across the sky and sea.

Under the force of that wind, the massive Navy warship swayed up, down, left, and right like a battered little boat, as though it might break apart at any moment.

The Navy cadets aboard the warship could not open their eyes at all. They only felt that there was a storm at the center of the battle, along with an oppressive murderous aura.

Because of that, they could only vaguely make out the two men in the center of the deck still locked in a contest of strength.

"Your fist really is much harder than I imagined."

Zephyr felt a dull pain running through his entire arm. He had never expected Norse's flesh-and-blood fist to be even harder than his fist coated in Armament Haki.

But in the next moment, Zephyr roared furiously, "How can you prove anything to me if you think you can contend with me without using your full strength?!"

"Boom!"

As Zephyr roared, veins bulged once more along the fist and arm clashing against Norse's, as though even more power had gathered within that arm.

He sent Norse flying several meters away in one burst, but Zephyr himself was suffering.

That explosive reversal seemed to have drained his body dry. He began gasping heavily, sweat pouring down his face.

"I understand! But you've already lost. Next, I'll knock you down with one punch!"

Norse's arm and fist were likewise jolted, but unlike Zephyr, he did not apply localized Armament Haki to his fist, because he had never used the power of the Demon Back beneath Armament Haki.

He was worried that a full-force blow might kill Zephyr on the spot.

After all, Zephyr still held great value to Marine Headquarters. If Norse really punched him to death here, Marine Headquarters and the World Government would likely hunt him down with everything they had.

That would make what Norse intended to do next exceedingly troublesome. So, he felt it was necessary to test Zephyr's strength with a punch first, while also measuring the upper limit of his own Demon Back power.

Then Zephyr saw Norse, shrouded in a bloody aura, use localized Armament Haki to coat his fist. His fighting spirit surged as he said, "That's right. It should be like this. Only now are you qualified to take my full-force blow."

"As you wish!"

The blood throughout Norse's body boiled, his invincible and arrogant bearing instantly magnifying. He looked down on Zephyr and said, "After this strike, you won't have any chance to struggle before me again."

Just like that, Norse and Zephyr's fists collided again like bolts of lightning.

This time, none of the various forces from before swept outward.

Only half of Zephyr's right arm flew away in a bloody mess, landing on the sea hundreds of meters away before being swallowed by a Sea King.

Norse's face showed no emotional change as he watched Zephyr grit his teeth in stunned silence. "Your arm is gone. Does that count as a loss?"

The upper half of Zephyr's right arm had been reduced to a bloody mess, blood still spraying through the air and splattering all over Norse's bare body.

Yet neither of them cared, because they both understood that this was the cruelty of battle!

"I lost! But I was fortunate enough to witness a terrifying power beyond the limits of physical strength. Instead, I feel excited and thrilled, hahaha..." Zephyr tightly gripped the mangled half of his right arm with his left hand, forcibly enduring the pain tearing through his body as he managed a smile.

To tell the truth, it had all happened too quickly. Zephyr had not even had time to react before half his arm was smashed off and sent flying. But at the instant their fists collided, he seemed to have felt a true mountain, filled with the power of some primordial beast.

Boom!

Suddenly, a thousand-meter-long dragon-like Sea King, likely the supreme overlord of this Calm Belt, burst through the surface and appeared directly before the Marine warship, intending to swallow both ship and crew in a single bite.

"You're courting death!"

Norse vanished from where he stood like lightning. With the power of the Demon Back active, he threw a full-force punch at the enormous thousand-meter Sea King.

Boom!

A muffled explosion rang out as a blast wave swept from the Sea King's body, while torrents of blood sprayed like rain.

A gigantic, bottomless bloody hole had appeared in the Sea King's body.

P.S. Thanks, everyone, for voting.