Gales swept dust into whirling spirals across the square.
Burgess lay motionless in the crater, white smoke still rising from the back of his head.
Across from him, the Blackbeard Pirates wore grim expressions.
"What an arrogant brat."
A cold voice rang out from the top of a distant clock tower.
At some point, the sniper Van Augur had leaped onto the roof of the building, dozens of meters high.
He knelt on one knee at the edge of the gray tiles, his long-barreled flintlock rifle braced steadily against the railing.
The dark muzzle trained on Zhao Hai's temple.
"Fate has already decided the outcome."
"At this range, my shot won't miss."
Augur's slender index finger squeezed the trigger.
With a crisp click of the firing mechanism, a special lead bullet coated in Armament Haki shot through the air.
The bullet tore through the wind, heading straight for Zhao Hai's face.
Upstairs, Sengoku's expression shifted slightly, and he was about to call out a warning.
Zhao Hai did not even turn around.
His powerful Observation Haki clearly mapped the bullet's trajectory in his mind.
Without so much as a blink, he casually raised his right hand.
A layer of pitch-black hardened Haki coated his index finger.
Lightning Release chakra fused with the tremendous force of his finger, compressing into a small ball of air at its tip.
"Finger Gun: Flying Finger!"
Zhao Hai flicked his finger behind him.
The compressed air bullet whistled out, striking the tip of the incoming lead bullet with perfect accuracy.
A deafening clang rang out.
The special lead bullet was knocked off course, its tip splitting apart as fragments scattered across the flagstones.
Zhao Hai's air bullet continued toward the clock tower without losing any of its force.
Atop the tower, Van Augur's pupils contracted