"Damn it, don't get too cocky!"
Enraged and alarmed, the other pirate beside Ryan Hunter could no longer stand by.
He had a powerfully built frame, his muscles knotted like rock, every inch of him brimming with explosive strength.
He was Finn Harris, once the vice-captain of Ryan Hunter's crew and a Muscle-Muscle Fruit user with a bounty of 130 million Beli.
Thanks to his Fruit ability, he could freely enhance the muscles throughout his body. Even normally, he possessed several times the strength of an ordinary person; when he unleashed his full power, he could easily overturn a small pirate ship.
Before his words had faded, Harris stomped down hard, instantly cracking the ground beneath his feet.
The muscles in his right arm swelled wildly. He clenched his fist and hurled a punch at Beiyuan Heng with a howling gust of wind.
The air before him was violently compressed into a pale white Air Bullet the size of a fist. Wrapped in a piercing shriek, it shot straight for Beiyuan Heng's chest.
A trace of interest flashed through Beiyuan Heng's eyes, and his previously lazy, unfocused gaze instantly sharpened.
Just as the Air Bullet was about to strike his chest, Beiyuan Heng suddenly moved.
"Paper Arts."
His body relaxed instantly, drifting sideways in an incredibly bizarre posture like a feather floating in the air. The Air Bullet grazed his clothes and slammed into the stone wall behind him.
"Boom!"
The Air Bullet blasted a deep hole into the wall.
When Harris saw that his attack had missed, his expression instantly darkened. He had completely run out of patience.
He stepped forward again, gathering strength in both hands as the muscles in his arms bulged. Ignoring the pirates and underlings watching nearby, he fired dozens of Air Bullets at once like a torrential downpour.
Explosions rang out one after another. Flames shot skyward, and the scene was instantly thrown into chaos. Most of the surrounding buildings were blown apart, while rubble flew everywhere.
Many pirates who had been watching the spectacle failed to dodge in time. They were either hurled away by the shockwaves or struck by flying debris, collapsing to the ground and howling in pain.
Seeing the devastation before him, Harris instead threw back his head and laughed arrogantly. "Let's see how you dodge now!"
Yet Beiyuan Heng had long since vanished from the smoke-filled battlefield.
"Paper Arts: Following Shadow."
A cool voice came from behind Harris. This was an advanced technique Beiyuan Heng had developed from the basic Paper Arts.
The moment Harris fired his Air Bullets, he had completely shifted his body into Paper Arts, using the airflow generated by the explosions to silently drift behind Harris like a ghost. He had made not the slightest sound throughout.
Even Beiyuan Heng had needed nearly a week of repeated practice before he fully mastered this move.
"Shigan: Fang."
Beiyuan Heng gave a low shout. His fingertips instantly hardened with Iron Body, becoming as sharp as steel, before he thrust forward. Fast as lightning, his fingers struck Harris directly over the heart.
But instead of the sensation of piercing through a heart, it felt as though he had struck a piece of resilient rubber. An immense resistance came from his fingertips.
Relying on his years of battle instincts, Harris sensed the mortal danger and activated his Fruit ability in advance, adjusting the muscles throughout his body into their most resilient state and barely blocking the fatal blow.
Harris's entire body stiffened, cold sweat instantly soaking his back. He hurriedly leaped backward, putting distance between himself and Beiyuan Heng, his eyes filled with lingering terror.
Had he been a moment slower, he would already have been dead.
However, few of the pirates present understood just how perilous that exchange had been.
They only saw Beiyuan Heng's attack get blocked by Harris and immediately began shouting and jeering.
"Brother Harris, kill him!"
"Make him pay for us! Teach that Marine brat a lesson!"
Listening to their cries, Harris felt both furious and helpless. He stared fixedly at Beiyuan Heng, yet he did not dare step forward rashly.
"Enough! Shut up!"
At that moment, Ryan Hunter roared. His voice exploded like thunder, and the entire area instantly fell silent.
All the pirates who had been heckling shut their mouths in fright and lowered their heads, not daring even to breathe loudly.
"What a bunch of trash!"
Ryan Hunter coldly swept his gaze over the surrounding pirates, his eyes full of disgust and contempt. Those fools only knew how to watch the show and make noise. They were utterly useless.
The only sounds left were Harris's heavy, ragged breathing and the drip of blood steadily flowing from the assassin who had been defeated in an instant earlier.
Ryan Hunter snorted coldly and grabbed the spiked club at his side.
The two-meter-long spiked club, covered in sharp iron spikes, was as light as a small wooden stick in his hands.
The instant he lifted the club, his body abruptly became a black shadow, moving so fast that only an afterimage remained.
In the next instant, his massive figure appeared directly above Beiyuan Heng.
"Whoosh!"
A sharp tearing sound filled the air as the spiked club swept down toward Beiyuan Heng with unstoppable force, like Mount Tai collapsing overhead.
The club howled through the air, and the powerful wind pressure blew Beiyuan Heng's hair backward. His cheeks even felt a faint sting.
Facing this heavy, overwhelming blow, the laziness in Beiyuan Heng's eyes completely vanished, replaced by blazing fighting spirit.
He had been worrying about finding a suitable opponent. Ryan Hunter's arrival was exactly what he wanted.
"Now this is more like it."
A battle-hungry smile curled across Beiyuan Heng's lips. With a light kick, he sent a long sword lying by his feet into the air, then steadily caught its hilt and gripped it tightly.
"Clang!"
Blade and club collided with a piercing metallic ring, sending sparks flying.
A powerful shockwave spread outward from the two of them, making the surrounding rubble jump.
An irresistible force traveled from the spiked club through the long sword and into Beiyuan Heng's arm. Fine cracks instantly covered the blade in his hand, while the ground beneath his feet was pressed into a shallow pit by that tremendous strength.
Beiyuan Heng was slightly surprised, but the excitement in his heart only intensified.
Ryan Hunter, on the other hand, was even more shocked. He had created this move by imitating one of the Four Emperors, Kaido's Thunder Bagua.
Almost no one in the first half of the Grand Line could withstand it, yet this young Marine had blocked it head-on.
At that moment, a cold gleam flashed in Beiyuan Heng's eyes as he exerted a little strength through his arm.
"Iron Body: Utsugi Resonance."
The immense force from the spiked club actually traveled through Beiyuan Heng's body and back into the spiked club in Ryan Hunter's hands!
The powerful recoil made Ryan Hunter's hands tremble violently. He nearly lost his grip on the club and could not help taking two steps back, leaving deep depressions in the ground beneath his feet.
"You little brat!"
Ryan Hunter was completely enraged. With a furious roar, silver-white fur burst from beneath his skin and covered his entire body. His frame continued to expand, his eyes turned blood-red, his fangs protruded, and he grew ever more savage.
Dog-Dog Fruit: Honey Badger Form!
"Not bad. It's been a long time since I met someone like you."
Beiyuan Heng tightened his grip on the long sword, the fighting spirit in his eyes burning even fiercer. There was not the slightest trace of fear in him.
As Ryan Hunter exerted his full strength, the spiked club in his hands erupted with even greater power and smashed viciously toward Beiyuan Heng again.
The long sword in Beiyuan Heng's hands could no longer bear the strain. With a crack, it shattered into dozens of fragments that scattered in every direction.
Without the sword in its way, the spiked club charged straight toward Beiyuan Heng's face with world-destroying force. Its iron spikes glinted with icy coldness, as though they would crush his skull to pieces the next instant.
Beiyuan Heng stopped holding back as well. Both hands instantly hardened with Iron Body, and he directly reached out to catch the spike-covered club.
The sharp iron spikes stabbed fiercely into his palms, yet they could only leave shallow white marks. They could not pierce his Iron Body defense at all.
Ryan Hunter had completely entered his full beast form. His reason was replaced by savage animal instincts, and his attacks grew even fiercer. The heavy spiked club seemed like a toy in his hands as he swung it wide and hard, every strike carrying immense force.
Relying on his masterful Paper Arts footwork, Beiyuan Heng nimbly weaved through the gaps in the club's attacks while continuously counterattacking with his Iron Body-hardened hands. Every collision produced a dull, thunderous boom.
For a time, smoke filled the battlefield, and the entire ground was shaken several centimeters lower by their battle.
Every clash left the watching pirates horrified. They kept retreating, afraid of being caught in the aftermath.
The intensity of this battle had already surpassed the standards of the first half of the Grand Line. It was more like a clash between powerhouses of the New World!
Before you continue