Shu's Guilt

Wuli had not expected this battle against one of the Sea Kings to be so difficult.

As someone who could hold his own for a short time against Pirate Supernovas like "Captain Kidd" Eustass Kid and "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro,

he was actually having such a hard, exhausting fight against one of the Sea Kings from the Calm Belt.

The enormous Sea Kings was not only immensely powerful, but its defenses were absurdly tough as well. Wuli had used many sword techniques, yet they had only cut through its hide. Aside from enraging the Sea Kings even further, they seemed to have had little effect.

This made Wuli clearly realize his weakness: his attack power was too low. Against a colossal creature like this, he needed real, tangible strength. Swordsmanship alone, without strength to back it up, made it difficult to bring down one of the Sea Kings.

If he had Armament Haki, the boost to his attack power would not be insignificant—it would increase severalfold.

He had already understood this clearly when he fought those at Marine Headquarters who could use Armament Haki. Unfortunately, he had yet to comprehend Haki himself, which troubled him greatly.

Bang!

He narrowly dodged the Sea King's attack, stepped onto its head, and used the momentum to launch himself into the air.

Roar!

The shockwave generated by the sound gave Wuli considerable trouble. His body stalled slightly, and he inwardly cried out, This is bad.

Sure enough, he sensed a powerful presence closing in from behind. One of the Sea Kings had opened its gaping maw and lunged at Wuli.

Its blood-red eyes were filled with savage madness. Drool streamed endlessly from its mouth like torrential rain, while the tiny splashes it kicked up on the raging sea were hardly worth mentioning.

Wuli's eyes narrowed. He gripped his sword in reverse and spun in place, drawing up seawater to form a highly defensive wall of water.

Shigure Soen Ryu: Shibuki Ame.

The people watching from the Marine warship tensed at the sight, staring worriedly at Wuli in the air.

The lone figure fighting one of the Sea Kings looked somewhat frail, and every time Wuli faced danger, they could not help but break into a cold sweat for him.

"Colonel Shu, the situation is extremely unfavorable for Colonel Wuli. Should we go support him?" a Marine asked Shu. It was not that they lacked faith in Wuli; this one of the Sea Kings was simply too powerful. The fact that Wuli had been able to fight it for so long was already remarkable.

"There's no need. Believe in Colonel Wuli! If we go, we'll only get in his way and distract him," Shu said solemnly. His feelings at that moment were even more complicated than those of the Marines.

They were both Marine colonels, yet Shu was far weaker than Wuli. Or rather, Wuli was far stronger than an ordinary colonel.

But none of that was an excuse. As Wuli's partner, his own strength was so lacking that he could only stand by and watch Wuli fight alone. It did not sit well with him at all.

This was the second time he had felt utterly ashamed of his own weakness. The first had been when he fought the Straw Hat Pirates at Enies Lobby.

After two years, the Straw Hat Pirates had grown at an astonishing rate. He had not remained stagnant, but his progress had been too small—so small that he no longer even qualified to fight them.

Shu clenched his fists. If they survived this crisis, he would work hard to improve his strength. At the very least, he wanted to be able to fight shoulder to shoulder with Wuli.

Just as Shu's gaze drifted and his thoughts wandered somewhere unknown, a loud crash snapped him back to his senses.

Bang!

A figure crashed heavily onto the warship, smashing a human-shaped crater into the deck. Wuli did not remain lying in the crater.

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. The instant he caught the Sea King's opening, he sprang to his feet, leaped into the air once more, and launched another attack at it.