When You're Out in the World, What the Hell Is the Use of Having More People?!

Ignoring the hostile looks around him, Bullet stretched slightly. His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on the captain of the Jackal Pirates, Heinrich Böll.

"Oh, a 70 million bounty?"

"Sounds pretty good. You're a Zoan Devil Fruit user too. You should be stronger than the trash under your command."

"Hmph, courting death!"

Heinrich Böll's expression changed drastically, his face turning vicious as a stream of white vapor shot from his nostrils.

"Brothers, kill him!"

At Heinrich Böll's command, dozens of pirates under him surged forward at once, looking menacing.

Facing the crowd's encirclement, Bullet kept his hands in his pockets and said with a disdainful expression,

"When you're out in the world, you need strength and connections. What the hell is the use of having more people?!"

Boom!

With that, he stepped forward and glared. Conqueror's Haki erupted instantly, an invisible pressure spreading outward with overwhelming force. The entire scene fell silent.

The next moment,

Thud, thud...

The pirates closest to Bullet collapsed first. Then, like dominoes, the surrounding pirates fell one after another. In the blink of an eye, a huge mass of them was sprawled across the ground.

"So they're just a bunch of worthless punks." Bullet sneered.

Heinrich Böll stood frozen in place, his eyes blank and cold sweat pouring down his face. His cigar fell from his mouth to the ground. The terror he felt was beyond words.

Just moments ago, they had been numerous and imposing. Now, out of the entire crew of dozens, he was the only one left standing, reduced to a lone commander.

Seeing this, Xia Luo could not help feeling somewhat envious. Conqueror's Haki was one of the highest powers among pirates. He had not even awakened it yet, while his little brother had mastered it first. It would have been a lie to say he was not jealous.

Once he awakened Conqueror's Haki and learned Conqueror's Coating, his Thunder Bagua would truly live up to its name!

"Trash is trash. Now it's your turn, Jackal. I hope you can give me a good time!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bullet turned into an afterimage and charged toward Heinrich Böll at high speed.

At that moment, Heinrich Böll had yet to recover from the previous shock when Bullet sent him flying with a punch.

Boom!

Heinrich Böll's body shot away like a cannonball, smashing through several large trees before finally coming to a stop.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Blood trickled from Heinrich Böll's mouth as he struggled to his feet. He looked at Bullet in terror and said in disbelief, "What was that just now? Just one look and..."

Bullet grinned savagely. "Want to know? Sure. Beat me, and I'll tell you. But if I accidentally beat you to death... heh heh."

Bullet's contemptuous gaze stirred Heinrich Böll's ferocity. He roared, "Brat, who the hell are you looking down on?! I'm Jackal!!"

Roar!

Heinrich Böll swiftly transformed into his Human-Beast Form. He had a human body and a dog's head, orange-yellow fur covering him from head to toe. Sharp claws extended from his hands and feet, gleaming coldly.

He let out a furious roar.

"Brat, don't think that can scare me. You've completely enraged me! Next, I'll show you the price of angering me!"

With a swoosh, Heinrich Böll appeared in front of Bullet, moving with astonishing speed. His sharp claws ripped viciously toward Bullet's heart.

"Not bad speed."

"But..."

Bullet grinned. He swiftly reached out, grabbed Heinrich Böll's wrist with a backhanded grip, then used the momentum to turn and slam him into the ground.

"Not fast enough!"

Bang!!

The ground instantly shattered, forming a massive crater.

"Damn it!"

Heinrich Böll climbed out from the bottom of the crater, his ferocity fully unleashed. He charged at Bullet again at full force.

Not far away, Xia Luo stood with his arms folded over his chest, watching the battle between the two with great interest and no intention of stepping in.

Before eating the Devil Fruit, Bullet definitely would not have been Heinrich Böll's match.

After all, he had a 70 million bounty, and this was 1489. He was certainly no ordinary pirate.

According to the Marines' wanted posters, "Jackal" Heinrich Böll could be considered one of this year's Supernovas.

There had been especially few Supernovas in recent years. In the past, there would be at least seven or eight, sometimes more than a dozen. This year, there were only five in total, all from the North Blue and South Blue. Not a single one came from the West Blue or East Blue.

There was no helping it. The West Blue and East Blue had repeatedly been "plowed over" by Xia Luo and Garp, leaving not even a single noteworthy great pirate in either sea.

It was truly miserable.

That aside.

As the saying went, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. After Bullet ate the Tyrannosaurus Fruit, his strength had already undergone a tremendous transformation. Even in his normal state, he was still a notch stronger than Heinrich Böll.

"Hahaha, that felt great!"

Bullet was having an absolute blast in this battle. He had finally vented the frustration he had built up over the past few days. Although Heinrich Böll had left several bloody wounds on him, it was no big deal.

"Hmph, it seems you're nothing special either. If this drags on, you'll definitely be the one who dies!"

Heinrich Böll threw out a harsh threat. Though he was more seriously injured than Bullet, he was a Zoan Devil Fruit user. Not only could he take a beating, but his recovery ability was stronger too. He could wear his opponent down to death.

"Jackal, you're celebrating too soon!"

Bullet shouted and immediately activated his ability, transforming into his Human-Beast Form.

In his Human-Beast Form, Bullet's height surged to five meters, close to Xia Luo's height in his own Human-Beast Form. In Beast Form, Bullet's body was nearly sixteen meters long and roughly seven meters tall, even larger than the legendary Tyrannosaurus!

After transforming, Bullet's legs became those of a Tyrannosaurus, and a tail grew from behind him. Sharp claws extended from his hands, while his upper body remained humanoid. However, his skin turned bluish-green and was covered by a thick layer of keratin, giving him astonishing defense.

Xia Luo had seen Bullet's Human-Beast Form long ago. His assessment had been that it looked like a half-dragon man: human on top, Tyrannosaurus on the bottom. Wasn't that exactly what a half-dragon man was?

As an ancient overlord, the Tyrannosaurus possessed no elemental powers or flashy abilities. What it had was the ultimate physique and incomparable strength.

"Fuck! You're a Zoan Devil Fruit user too?!"

Heinrich Böll was utterly shocked. His plan was about to collapse. He had intended to wear his opponent down, only to discover that Bullet had not shown his true strength from the start!

"All right, warm-up's over. Now, round two begins!"

A delighted smile appeared on Bullet's face. This was exhilarating.

However...

"Brat, I'll admit defeat this time. Leave some room for each other, and we'll meet again someday. How about we stop here?"

Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Heinrich Böll actually chose to back down. He pulled away from Bullet, his eyes full of apprehension as he forced a strained smile onto his face.

Among pirates, backing down in the middle of a fight was extremely humiliating. Heinrich Böll believed he had already shown the other side enough respect, but he had miscalculated.

"Stop here? Are you kidding me? I'm having a hell of a time!"

Naturally, Bullet had no intention of stopping. He said arrogantly, "Hey, don't tell me you're scared? A Supernova with a 70 million bounty is actually scared?!"

"Tch, what Jackal? You're clearly just a cowardly dog!"

Heinrich Böll's face darkened. He had not expected the other party to give him so little respect, much less mock him to his face by calling him a cowardly dog.

But when he considered the other party's strength, Heinrich Böll had no choice but to suppress his anger and grit his teeth.

"Brat, don't think I'm afraid of you. I just don't want us both to end up badly injured and let someone else reap the benefits for free."

"Besides, we don't have any deep grudge between us. You got to vent your anger in that fight just now. Why not stop here? What do you say?"

Seeing that Bullet did not seem moved, Heinrich Böll put on a fierce front despite his inner weakness. "Brat, don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. If we really fight, it isn't certain who'll come out alive!"