Virtue: Bagua

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The dull, violent roar of metal collisions exploded like thunder in the ears of the surrounding pirates, making many of them instinctively cover their ears, their faces going pale.

Every clash of weapons, fists, and kicks smashed spiderweb-like cracks into the ground, sending rubble flying.

Yet the longer they fought, the greater Ryan Hunter's shock became.

He had already activated his Devil Fruit power and entered a fully beastified berserk state.

His entire body was covered in fur, and his strength, speed, durability, and basic physical abilities had all surged by more than an order of magnitude.

Even so, Ryan Hunter could still clearly feel waves of numb, stinging pain coursing through both arms.

The palm gripping his spiked club had split open from the violent recoil, blood seeping through his fingers.

The pitch-black spiked club, unimaginably heavy in an ordinary person's eyes, had gradually become heavy and sluggish even under his full-strength swings, its speed slowing by half a beat.

Is this guy really not a Devil Fruit user?

Ryan Hunter stared fixedly at the young Marine locked in fierce combat with him. His heart churned with shock, while an uncontrollable brutality rose within him.

In such intense close-quarters combat, the Marine before him remained utterly composed. Not a drop of sweat had appeared, and his breathing was still steady, as though this fierce battle was merely an ordinary warm-up.

If this dragged on, his stamina would continue draining, and defeat would be inevitable.

"Hah!"

In another head-on clash, Ryan Hunter used the recoil from his spiked club striking the other man's fist to pull back sharply, instantly opening several meters of distance.

Unlike their earlier probing exchanges, his gaze was now savage. He had already made up his mind not to hold back in the slightest.

Thick white vapor burst from Ryan Hunter's mouth and nostrils as billowing steam rose from his body. His already exaggerated beast form swelled again, his shoulders and back bulging, his fangs growing longer, his bestial features becoming even more distinct and ferocious. The pressure radiating from him was nearly tangible.

In this deeply beastified state, his stamina would drain at an astonishing rate, but in exchange, his strength and speed would multiply, while his body's regenerative ability would rise to a terrifying level close to immortality.

Back then, he had relied on this very move to withstand one of Kaido's Thunder Bagua strikes without dying on the spot. It was also this regenerative ability that had earned him the reputation of being "undying."

Discarding all unnecessary reason and flashy techniques, Ryan Hunter's eyes turned blood-red. The heavy black spiked club became light as a toy in his hands once more, whistling through the air with piercing force.

Yet the very next second he tightened his grip on the spiked club—

Ryan Hunter's figure abruptly vanished from where he stood, leaving behind only a blurry afterimage.

His incomparably violent aura, along with the crushingly heavy spiked club, surged toward Beiyuan Heng's face with unstoppable momentum.

He paid no heed whatsoever to Beiyuan Heng's incoming attack, intending to endure the damage, trade injury for injury, and risk his life against his opponent's.

In his view, he was nearly immortal in this state. Fighting this way guaranteed his victory.

Beiyuan Heng was briefly suppressed by the sudden berserk assault, his movements stalling for half a beat.

But he reacted extremely quickly. The fist originally aimed at Ryan Hunter's heart instantly changed form, opening into a palm as overwhelming force erupted.

His palm slammed viciously into Ryan Hunter's charging body, blasting the berserk beast away. He crashed through a row of low buildings in the distance and fell into the billowing dust.

A moment later, Ryan Hunter struggled up from the ruins. A mocking smile barely tugged at his ferocious beastly face as he rasped in a harsh voice:

"What's wrong, brat? Afraid to take one of my blows head-on?"

Beiyuan Heng smiled faintly, his tone calm.

"I've only been wearing this Marine uniform for a short while. I ought to take care of it. I can't let you dirty or tear it."

"Damn it, you arrogant brat!"

Ryan Hunter was thoroughly enraged and charged forward again with a roar.

Under this nearly suicidal, frenzied assault, his attacks were tricky and vicious, every strike deadly, his speed reaching its extreme.

Even Beiyuan Heng's Paper Arts could not evade them all. The sharp end of the club and Ryan Hunter's claws and fangs eventually left several shallow scratches and tears on his Marine uniform.

Beiyuan Heng's counterattacks were equally fierce, his precise fists and kicks landing continuously on Ryan Hunter's body.

In an instant, they left bloody holes so deep that bone was visible across his body, spraying blood everywhere.

However, those gruesome wounds rapidly healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Flesh wriggled, and the wounds closed.

But Beiyuan Heng keenly noticed that the speed of his opponent's recovery was gradually slowing as his stamina drained.

Ryan Hunter clearly knew that his condition could not last. The spiked club in his hands swung with increasing violence and force, his offensive becoming even more frenzied.

"One final move! I'll send you to hell!"

Ryan Hunter threw back his head and roared. The white vapor around him thickened until it nearly became mist, while all the strength in his body crazily gathered in his arms.

"Virtue: Bagua!"

This was a technique he had imitated to the very limits of his ability.

When he had followed Kaido in the past, he had been fortunate enough to witness the "World's Strongest Creature" unleash Great Virtue: Thunder Bagua.

That world-destroying power had filled him with endless longing.

After countless attempts at imitation and contemplation, even though he had yet to master Haki, he had still grasped a tiny fragment of its essence and created this imitation killing move.

Facing this vicious move modeled after the Four Emperors' strongest strike, a trace of surprise finally flashed through Beiyuan Heng's eyes. Yet there was not the slightest fear in them. He merely sighed softly, neither dodging nor defending as he allowed the black spiked club to smash fiercely into his body.

"Boom—!"

The massive impact shook the entire battlefield, but the expected sound of an iron club crushing flesh never came. Instead, there was a crisp, muffled clang like metal striking stone!

Ryan Hunter felt a terrifying recoil force far exceeding the power of his own swing surge wildly back through the spiked club. Both arms went numb in an instant, and he nearly lost his grip on his weapon.

His pupils contracted sharply. With a sidelong glance, he saw a pitch-black substance tightly coiled around the part of Beiyuan Heng's body that had been struck.

"What a waste of this uniform..."

The hint of regret in Beiyuan Heng's voice instantly jolted him awake from his shock.

He had just tried to retreat when his body suddenly froze in place, as if invisible ropes had tightly bound him, leaving him unable to move.

Looking down, he saw azure currents of air wrapping around his entire body layer by layer, completely restraining his movements.

"Rankyaku: Entangling Shadow."

His heart pounded wildly as he exhausted all his strength trying to break free. With his physique, he needed only half a second to shatter the restraint.

"Give up resisting."

Beiyuan Heng's calm voice sounded beside his ear.

"Six Powers Secret Art: Rokuogan."

An invisible, powerful shockwave poured from Beiyuan Heng's fists, piercing directly through Ryan Hunter's body.

The violent airflow instantly scattered the dust filling the sky. Every building along the muddy road nearby was shattered by the aftershock, rubble spraying in all directions.

When the dust settled, Ryan Hunter's eyes had rolled back, and his entire body convulsed before he crashed to the ground, unconscious.

Even so, the wounds across his body that had yet to fully heal continued to wriggle slowly, proclaiming the terrifying regenerative power that had earned him the title of "undying."

"Truly worthy of being called undying."

Beiyuan Heng slowly walked forward and spoke indifferently.

"Cough, cough..."

Ryan Hunter, lying on the ground, painfully coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. It felt as though every bone in his body had shattered, every inch of muscle screaming with agony. He could not move even a fraction.

Only now did he finally realize that he had never truly withstood Kaido's Thunder Bagua back then. He had merely triggered the Honey Badger Fruit's ability and barely clung to life.

Just like now.