Splat! Splat!
Two faint yet distinct sounds of flesh being pierced rang out in quick succession.
The two guards who had just loaded the cannonballs did not even see their attacker before holes appeared through their armored necks.
Blood sprayed out. The two clutched their necks and collapsed limply to the ground. Before they could even scream, their pupils had already completely dilated.
"Kill him!!"
The surrounding guards reacted instantly, raising rifles and blades as they charged Lucci without fear of death.
Even as their comrades died before their eyes, they did not retreat in the slightest—these were dead soldiers the World Government had trained for over a decade. Their minds held only one thought: carry out orders. To them, death was merely the inevitable result of mission failure.
The three patrol ships on the horizon simultaneously turned their cannons, dozens of naval guns locking onto the top of the fortress. They showed no concern for the lives of their own guards. With a flash at their muzzles, they were about to unleash indiscriminate bombardment.
"[More-More: Twentyfold Speed]"
Lucci erupted with an overwhelmingly powerful aura. His body abruptly changed as he entered the humanoid form of the Cat-Cat Fruit: Leopard Form. The lines of his muscular body stretched his tailored black suit taut, and his already peerless Soru became even more terrifying under the twentyfold amplification of the More-More Fruit.
The air was torn apart by his speed. A fully solidified afterimage remained where he had stood. The two Luccis moved in perfect synchronization, both bracing one hand against the ground and spinning rapidly with centrifugal force, carrying the violent air currents around them as they simultaneously kicked out two semicircular vacuum slashes.
"[Rankyaku: Round Sever]!"
The instant the two slashes left his body, both their speed and size expanded