Two Big Slaps for You

Seeing this, Moke raised his leg and kicked Miss Bakkin straight into the air.

He then shouted, "Ata, Perona, Brook, Mr. 2, proceed according to plan."

Ata, Perona, Brook, and Mr. 2 understood at once and immediately rushed toward the kicked-away Miss Bakkin.

"Negative Hollows!"

Perona was the first to launch an attack...

Meanwhile, once everyone had moved away, Moke waved his hand and dispelled the fog. He was going to face Weevil head-on and properly test just what level his strength had reached.

Gecko Moria had been far too weak before. Moke had barely gotten started before that guy went down.

Weevil, on the other hand, was a pretty good opponent.

Weevil first turned his head and looked around. "Where's Mama?! Where's Mama..."

At last, his gaze landed on Moke. "Where's Mama?!"

"Whoosh..."

He raised the enormous greatsword in his hand and slashed directly at Moke. Moke narrowed his eyes, sheathed Shusui, and fastened it at his waist. Then his entire body transformed into his Dice-Dice Fruit state.

He wanted to see just how strong his body had become. Then he crossed his arms above his head!

Clang!

Weevil's greatsword slammed fiercely into his crossed arms. Moke immediately felt Weevil's terrifying power. His legs were pressed into a bend, while the ground beneath his feet shattered under the unbearable force.

When Kizaru had pursued Weevil, he had once remarked that Weevil possessed combat power no weaker than Whitebeard in his youth.

Later, Weevil had been taken down by Ryokugyu.

Therefore, Moke had always believed that although Weevil was powerful, he definitely did not possess combat power comparable to Whitebeard in his youth, as Kizaru had claimed.

An exaggeration. It had absolutely been exaggerated.

Otherwise, how could he have been taken down by Ryokugyu? Ryokugyu might have been an Admiral, but Red-Hair had scared him off from afar with a blast of Conqueror's Haki. It had been downright humiliating.

Now that he had personally experienced Weevil's terrifying strength, Moke finally understood that Kizaru might have meant Whitebeard before he ate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, when he fought purely with his heaven-defying physical strength!

Clang...

Weevil's blade continued to press down, until even Moke's arms were forced lower. The blade then struck heavily against Moke's shoulder!

Yet it did not injure Moke in the slightest.

In his Dice-Dice Fruit state, his body was already at the level of a Meito. To break through his defense, one first needed the strength to cut through a Meito in a single stroke.

Weevil was strong, but he was still far from that level.

"Hm?"

The "simple-minded" Weevil looked somewhat puzzled when he saw this. Then he grew even angrier, withdrew his blade... and raised the greatsword high once more.

Finally, he slashed at Moke again.

This time, Armament Haki was already coating his greatsword.

Moke's pupils contracted slightly at the sight.

"Armament Coating!"

Moke did not dare let his guard down. In an instant, Armament Haki coated his entire body. At that moment, he seemed to have turned into a Black Blade. Even the aura around him changed completely!

He had gone to Gecko Moria in the first place to obtain Shusui, and he had sought Shusui in order to obtain Armament Haki.

How could he possibly not absorb it?

Thus, he had awakened Armament Haki as he wished. And turning Shusui into a Black Blade required an absolutely massive quantity of Armament Haki. All that enormous amount of Armament Haki had benefited Moke.

Setting technique aside and speaking only of the sheer amount of Armament Haki...

In the entire world of One Piece, there were only a handful of people who had more than him. Probably only Hawkeye, who had turned his own Meito into a Black Blade, and Garp, who had fought across the world with his Iron Fists.

Were stronger than him in Armament Haki.

Clang...

Weevil's blade came down again, carrying the same terrifying force as before.

But with his top-tier Armament Haki, Moke successfully blocked it. That was right—his Armament Haki was far stronger than Weevil's. It had made up for much of the gap in physical strength between them.

"Ha..."

Moke shouted as all the power in his body erupted at once, forcibly pushing Weevil's blade away.

Weevil staggered back four or five steps before finally stopping.

Weevil might have been dull, but once he fought, he was not dull at all. After steadying himself, he immediately swung his blade again!

Moke refused to be outdone. This time, however, he drew Shusui.

And met the attack head-on.

Clang...

The metallic crash of blades colliding rang out once more as terrifying force continuously clashed between the two weapons.

Gust after gust of violent wind swept outward, making the clothes on both men flap loudly. This strike ended in a deadlock.

"Hahahaha..."

Weevil became completely excited, his fighting spirit soaring.

At the same time, he understood just how significant Armament Haki was in battle. It was enough to reverse the entire tide of battle!~

He now desperately wanted to learn the techniques of Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki. He believed that once he mastered the techniques of these two forms of Haki, his strength would rise another level.

"One Sword Style—Dragon-Rising Slash!"

There were many towering people in the pirate world, and in that regard, Moke was at a severe disadvantage as a transmigrator who stood only 1.85 meters tall.

So he had specially developed this move.

The Ghost Aura throughout his body burst forth, transforming into a dragon-shaped slash that shot into the sky.

Under that powerful blow, Weevil's greatsword was knocked back. The greatsword in his hand was jolted high into the air. At that moment, Weevil's chest was left completely exposed.

"Whoosh..."

Moke leaped into the air and swung both blades at once, slashing fiercely across Weevil's chest.

Boom!

Under the tremendous force, Weevil was sent flying and crashed heavily more than ten meters away. However, Moke had used the backs of his blades this time.

When Sengoku had informed him, Moke had already regarded Weevil as one of his capable subordinates. How could he truly injure him?

"Roar..."

Weevil, who had been sent flying, was furious. After flipping back onto his feet, he immediately charged at Moke, raised his greatsword high, and brought it down in a powerful overhead chop.

"Stop!"

At that moment, a tiny old woman walked over and sternly stopped him.

Weevil's greatsword came to an abrupt halt. Somewhat surprised, he looked at the newcomer. Then he was overjoyed. "Mama?"

Moke looked over as well and saw that the newcomer was none other than "Miss Bakkin."

Miss Bakkin gave Moke a meaningful look before turning to Weevil. "Weevil, that was just a misunderstanding. This is your big brother, Moke... From now on, you must listen to your big brother just as you listen to Mama, understand?"

"Big brother?"

Weevil turned to look at Moke. Already slow-witted, he looked even more confused.

Moke's face twitched. That form of address... was really something else. Weevil was quite a bit older than him... She was only taking advantage of Weevil being "simple-minded." Otherwise, anyone would have given her two big slaps!