Piercing Through the Trump Card: A Battle of Mutual Wounds

"Rumble—!!!"

Almost exactly one-tenth of a second after he leaped back!

A terrifying spiked club as large as a door, pitch-black from end to end, came crashing down with a gale like Mount Tai bearing down on him, smashing into the stone floor where Rochi had just been standing!

The entire ground let out a pained groan!

The hard granite floor collapsed like a brittle cracker, and shattered stones blasted outward like buckshot, piercing several nearby pirates full of holes!

"Who the hell is causing trouble on my turf?!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar like that of an ancient beast, the rolling dust was torn apart by a brute force wielded with bare hands!

Under the stunned gazes of every pirate and Marine, a terrifying giant of a man, enough to fill anyone who saw him with despair, slowly rose from the crater.

He stood over three and a half meters tall, his entire body covered in black bristles as hard as steel needles!

Most horrifying of all, two sharp, thick horns glinting with a cold light grew backward from his head! Every breath he took sent scorching white vapor blasting from his nostrils, as if a volcano ready to erupt lay hidden within him!

"Captain! Captain Baron is here!"

The pirates around them, who had nearly broken down, immediately erupted into frenzied cheers at the giant's arrival, as if they had been injected with a stimulant.

"Captain of the Mad Axe Grand Fleet's Sixth Affiliated Pirate Crew..."

The giant casually slung the enormous spiked club over his shoulder. His blood-red eyes, as large as bells, stared down at Rochi from afar.

He bared a mouth full of fangs and flashed an incomparably cruel grin.

"Twenty-five million Beli bounty, 'Wild Bull' Baron!"

"Zoan-type, Ox-Ox Fruit, Bison Model user!"

Major General Rex, who was leading the charge in the distance, instantly turned grim and roared into the Den Den Mushi.

"Damn it! He's a major pirate with a bounty above twenty million! That kid is in danger!"

"In this New World, pirates with bounties over ten million possess strength absolutely comparable to veteran Headquarters captains! Maybe even majors!"

"All units, provide covering fire! Cover that recruit's retreat!" Rex urgently ordered.

But at the center of the battlefield's storm, Rochi not only failed to retreat. Instead, a trace of extreme excitement flashed in the depths of his eyes!

"A Zoan Devil Fruit user? Combat power comparable to a Headquarters captain?"

Rochi rolled his sore neck, a bloodthirsty curve lifting at the corner of his lips.

"What a... premium gift package delivered right to my door!"

Hearing that Rochi was not only unafraid but even dared to spout such arrogant words, Baron laughed in fury.

"Ha ha ha! A Marine piece of trash who isn't even qualified to wear an officer's coat dares to act so cocky in front of me?"

"I'm going to smash every bone in your body, inch by inch, then throw you to the wild dogs!!!"

With an angry roar, Baron stomped his thick hind legs violently against the ground!

"Boom!"

A huge ring of air exploded across the ground!

Relying on the savage, unreasonable explosive power of a Zoan, Baron's massive body transformed into a black gale, crossing more than ten meters in an instant and appearing directly above Rochi!

"Die, fodder!"

The enormous spiked club was like a collapsing iron wall, screaming as it tore through the air and smashing brutally toward Rochi's head!

The force of that blow was enough to smash a full-grown elephant straight into pulp!

"Rochi! Dodge it!!!"

But Rochi seemed frozen with terror, rooted firmly to the spot.

Retreat? Retreat where?

A few days ago, he might have avoided the edge of such an attack. But now, after the system's enhancement, he was a monster whose physique had reached the peak of Level 11!

"The one who should retreat... is you!!!"

Rochi neither dodged nor retreated. He took a deep breath, and the muscles in his right arm swelled violently in an instant, veins coiling beneath his skin like enraged dragons! Twisting his waist, he gathered all the strength in his body and threw a plain, direct punch!

"Bang—!!!"

His small flesh-and-blood fist collided violently with the enormous spiked club in midair!

Like two cannons firing point-blank at each other!

A visible, violent shockwave instantly burst from the collision's center, flipping every ruin within ten meters into the air!

"What?!" The savage grin on Baron's face instantly froze.

He felt an overbearing recoil no weaker than his own surge through the spiked club, splitting the web of his hand and sending blood spraying everywhere!

But Rochi ultimately suffered from the difference in level and Devil Fruit power.

Under the crushing force of absolute strength.

"Pwah!"

Rochi felt his blood churn in his chest, sweetness rising in his throat. His entire body was blasted away like a kite with its string cut!

He tumbled repeatedly through the air. After his feet hit the ground, they plowed two scorched trenches half a meter deep and more than ten meters long through the hard stone slabs before he barely managed to stabilize himself!

"What terrifying strength..."

Rochi casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The Zoan's enhancement to the body truly lived up to its reputation!

"Ha ha ha! I thought you had some real skill, but this is all you've got!"

Baron shook his numb hand, his gaze full of arrogant contempt.

"You're lucky you didn't die after taking one of my attacks!"

"But next, I won't give you another chance to catch your breath! Witness the battle technique I used to cut down countless heads in the Grand Line!"

"Bison: Chain Heavy Cannons!"

Baron gave Rochi no chance to recover and charged again like an armored vehicle!

This time, he completely abandoned the cumbersome spiked club. His thick fists became a raging storm, carrying a destructive force that utterly enveloped Rochi!

This was not merely a crushing advantage in strength, but combat experience forged through countless life-and-death battles!

Rochi instantly fell into an absolute disadvantage!

He could only desperately hold on using the blocking techniques of basic martial arts.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The dull sounds of flesh colliding rang out like a dense war drum.

Rochi's chest and shoulders were struck in succession. Blood immediately stained his white Marine uniform red, and his steps were forced back again and again!

"Ha ha ha! Useless! Before my absolute strength and experience, a hothouse recruit like you is only fit to be crushed!"

Baron grew more frenzied with every strike, each punch heavier than the last.

As he watched Rochi being completely suppressed, he could practically see the gruesome sight of this overconfident Marine having his heart punched through.

Yet just as Baron believed victory was in his grasp and had even begun fantasizing about how he would torture Rochi to death later—

He suddenly saw that the blood-soaked youth, who had been taking hits all this time, showed no expression of despair.

Instead, he slowly raised his head.

On that face smeared with blood, a chillingly mad, cold smile suddenly spread.