Crushing Kizaru (Ticket)

He moved.

Norse suddenly drew back his fist.

But Akainu, standing before Norse, still showed no reaction.

Akainu's expression seemed to have frozen completely at that moment. His entire body was like one that had lost all sensation and consciousness, remaining in the posture of throwing a punch and attacking, without making another movement.

Bloodlust overflowed from Norse's body. He greatly acknowledged the man before him and said, "Only opponents who earn my recognition and respect get to enjoy a full-powered strike from me like this."

Yet at that moment, the silent Marines around them saw, within Norse's pupils, a victorious beast wantonly roaring at a defeated foe.

"Quick, get someone over here! Immediately perform a full physical examination and emergency treatment on Admiral Akainu!"

The military doctors aboard the Marine warships immediately came to their senses. Though they feared the enemy before them, Norse, saving lives was their duty and their obligation as doctors. They rushed onto the battlefield at once, carrying stretchers.

"His heart has stopped beating! Begin emergency treatment immediately!"

"There's a response in his heart rate! Continue cardiac resuscitation!"

"His heart rate is recovering unstably! Put him on life support immediately, put him on life support immediately!"

A group of Marine doctors wielded advanced medical instruments, constantly working over Akainu's body. Akainu's condition looked extremely dire. It seemed Norse's previous punch had directly stopped his heart, and he was now undergoing critical resuscitation.

Norse did not stop those chattering people. Instead, when he turned toward the forest, boundless fury and invincible fighting spirit seemed to blaze within him once more.

Hancock had originally stepped forward a few paces with a silk handkerchief, intending to temporarily bandage the wound on Norse's arm, but Norse raised a hand to stop her.

Boom!!

In the next instant, Norse exerted force with his foot, stomping the ground open and leaving behind a deep, cracked crater.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

Then Norse suddenly broke into a sprint, charging toward the forest at the center of the island with his blood surging through his entire body. Every step he took collapsed and tore apart the ground.

"This man's explosive power is incredible!"

"How terrifying. It has completely surpassed the limits of human strength."

"That guy is simply an unbeatable beast. Could he really be the strongest creature on the surface?"

Countless Marines stood rooted in place with their rifles in hand. Once again stunned by the strength and terror of the pirate Norse, they no longer had the courage to fire. Their legs had gone weak.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

In the blink of an eye, Norse charged into the forest in an utterly tyrannical state. Along the way, punch after punch from either side had already smashed through dozens of trees over ten meters tall.

It seemed the battle just now had completely ignited Norse's interest. Right now, he desperately wanted to find a strong opponent and hurt each other.

"Bastard!"

Golden Lion Shiki suddenly cursed at Norse. "Are you fucking done yet? This is my battle with that monkey Kizaru!"

Whoosh!

When Norse fixed his savage gaze on Golden Lion Shiki, who had cursed at him, the muscles all over his body tightened to the limit. With a forceful push from his toes, he shattered a wide stretch of ground beneath him.

Suddenly, Norse sprang into the air and viciously swung his palm diagonally at Golden Lion Shiki.

"So fast!"

That was Golden Lion Shiki's first reaction. In his haste, he immediately clenched his fist and punched toward the attacking Norse.

"Argh!"

To his surprise, Golden Lion Shiki suddenly screamed.

He was clearly no match for Norse's terrifying strength. It felt as though his punch had struck a warship running at full power.

Half of Golden Lion Shiki's arm suffered a comminuted fracture in the collision. Norse's palm sent his entire body flying sideways, and he crashed to the ground dozens of meters away without getting back up, apparently having passed out on the spot.

"Oh? What terrifying explosive power!"

Kizaru was nearly dumbfounded as he watched from the side, yet he subconsciously uttered one of his usual lines.

"You're looking down on me?"

Norse suddenly turned his head toward Kizaru behind him. "Then I'll stomp you beneath my feet and look down on you!"

Laser Beams!

Kizaru frowned and lightly pushed off the ground with both feet, sending his entire body flying backward.

At the same time, Kizaru gathered photons at his fingertips and calmly fired one straight laser after another at Norse.

Boom! Boom!!

Every one of Kizaru's attacks moved at the speed of light and possessed immense power, but their sole weakness was that they were straight-line attacks that could not turn.

Facing Kizaru's beam attacks, Norse swiftly evaded them with the precognitive ability of Observation Haki. All the laser beams struck behind him instead, erupting with explosive force.

Norse had already used the opportunity to close the distance with Kizaru. Although Kizaru possessed the Glint-Glint Fruit, he had not turned into light. As he watched Norse's fist tear through the air toward him—

Glint Kick!

While in midair, Kizaru immediately concentrated photons in his leg and unleashed a kick of light at Norse, intending to block Norse's attack before counterattacking him.

Kizaru was confident in the immense power of his kick of light. It was an attack capable of easily destroying an entire building, let alone a target made of flesh and blood.

Norse had no intention of dodging Kizaru's immediate counterattack. Instead, he coated the arm he used to punch with Armament Haki, intending to withstand—even shatter—the opponent's Flash Kick head-on.

"Boom~ Buzzzzzz~~!"

How fast was the speed of light? It seemed to take no more than the blink of an eye, a presence beyond the calculation of time. The flash struck Norse's fist without question.

Unfortunately, Norse in his Demon Back state was simply too formidable, especially with that blood-energy fist coated in Armament Haki.

Kizaru's Flash Kick was shattered inch by inch on the spot, while Norse's Armament Haki-clad fist slammed toward Kizaru's foot in the blink of an eye.

"Phew!"

Kizaru sucked in a cold breath.

He had not expected the opponent's fist to possess such terrifying power while radiating blood energy.

At that moment, Kizaru naturally did not dare try using his foot to withstand Norse's fist head-on. Just as Norse's punch was about to strike his foot, Kizaru immediately transformed his leg into light, completely evading Norse's attack.

"Godslayer Strike!"

Who would have thought that, upon seeing this, Norse grinned at the elementalizing Kizaru and suddenly accelerated.

In that instant, Norse launched a full-force assault, smashing a fist into Kizaru while he was still transforming into light. He blasted Kizaru from the air several meters deep into the ground, sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere.

"Ah! Urgh!"

Kizaru screamed, spitting out a spray of blood.

However, when Norse's punch slammed him into the ground, Kizaru's body completely transformed into light. Badly wounded, he suddenly flashed away toward the outside of the forest and fled.

Norse did not pursue Kizaru. Instead, he concealed his Demon Back where he stood, and all the blood energy spilling from his body began to withdraw inward.

Although he had lost some more blood energy this time, Norse's body was extremely tough. For now, he could still endure the weakness and exhaustion that came after relaxing.

He walked over to where Golden Lion Shiki lay unconscious, grabbed the long golden hair on Shiki's head, and dragged Shiki along the ground toward the shore.

By then, the two Marine warships had already raised sail and set off.

One carried Admiral Akainu, who lay on a stretcher and had yet to leave the critical stage, while the other carried Admiral Kizaru, who had suddenly returned severely injured and lay on the deck. Both ships sped away at full speed.

In truth, Norse could not be blamed for being too brutal. Kizaru and Akainu had simply been too unlucky this time.

Their original plan had been for the two of them to join forces and suppress the pirate Norse. Who could have expected Golden Lion Shiki to appear?

This had unknowingly shattered the plans and arrangements the two had made, and they were directly crushed one by one by Norse.

Of course, if the two had joined forces, they might have been able to battle Norse for ten days and ten nights. It would not have ended with one severely wounded and the other uncertain whether he could survive the critical stage.