Punching Bellamy Away, Grit Swift Slash!

Yet Aeneas's reaction was swift. The moment Bellamy exposed his intent to kill, surging pride welled within Aeneas, instantly thrusting him into the state of Pit Grit. He braced both fists, preparing to strike with left and right.

"Smack!"

Yet Bellamy differed from any enemy Aeneas had previously encountered, capable as he was of making a huge name for himself in Tinos and nearly subverting the boss of an Underground Syndicate.

Although the Bellamy of the present could not compare to the strength he would later display against Luffy, to Aeneas at this stage, he was a major boss indeed!

For the spring ability of the Spring-Spring Fruit was in itself a terribly tricky power—bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Gum-Gum Fruit of the protagonist Luffy.

Come to think of it, this was Aeneas's first time facing a Devil Fruit user, and he wanted to see just what made a Paramecia so super!

"Spring Hopper!"

Bellamy initiated the attack directly, then compressed himself to the absolute limit without a shred of mercy, clenching both fists as he charged toward Aeneas with all his might.

"If you get beaten by this level of power, you aren't fit to be my subordinate!" Bellamy muttered to himself.

The joyful mood Aeneas had felt at first upon meeting a character from the original work and receiving an Encounter Reward was instantly washed away. Looking at the arrogant and unruly Bellamy, his gaze held only utter disdain.

"When did I ever say I wanted to be your subordinate?" Aeneas gave as good as he got, snapping right back. "Stop being so full of yourself!"

The aura of Iron Wrist began to circulate, his eyes locking dead onto Bellamy's position.

"Frontal Charge!"

Although Bellamy's offensive speed was extremely fast—virtually the fastest enemy Aeneas had encountered thus far, excluding Vergo, who used Soru.

Yet the inherent trait accompanying the Spring-Spring Fruit was that it could not turn corners mid-air.

This was one of the weaknesses of a spring human.

However, provided one was fast enough, quickly turning around to rebound upon touching another foothold while continuously building momentum and acceleration, there was no need to execute such a high-difficulty maneuver as an emergency stop and turn in mid-air.

And Bellamy was still far from reaching that level at present.

Therefore, while Aeneas could not clearly capture Bellamy's movements, he could anticipate where Bellamy would throw his next punch.

Even so, it was clearly Aeneas's first time facing the power of springs head-on. First of all, Bellamy's own strength was not weak, and after being continuously compressed and rebounded by the springs, the force transmitted into Aeneas's heavy left punch was exceptionally massive.

"No way?"

The moment they made contact, Aeneas realized the gravity of the situation.

This power is more terrifying than Little Black's! Aeneas's heavy left punch was merely meant to serve as a setup for his heavy right punch; if the left punch was crushed by the opponent, he wouldn't be able to throw the right punch at all!

Crap! The very instant Aeneas's heavy left punch made contact with Bellamy's Spring Hopper, it displayed signs of collapse. Without a shred of hesitation, he was sent flying directly by the Spring Hopper.

"Crack—"

Aeneas was sent flying straight through the air, crashing into and snapping a large tree some twenty meters behind him. The tree came down with a crash, while Aeneas's entire body felt as limp as if it had fallen apart.

"Is that all?" Bellamy instead wore a look of disappointment. "I thought I'd run into someone interesting. It seems you aren't worthy of being my subordinate!"

Although Aeneas had no intention of engaging in a war of words with Bellamy, the guy was being so damn cocky—could he possibly let that slide?

The character he was playing was the Boss Sett, after all!

"Knuckled Down!"

Aeneas didn't waste breath on Bellamy. As painful as the Spring Hopper was, it also made the pride surging around Aeneas's body grow increasingly volatile and leap about.

Just as Bellamy was surprised that Aeneas could actually stand back up, Aeneas had already charged right in front of Bellamy with golden-glowing fists.

"Wait, when—?" By the time Bellamy recovered his wits, Aeneas had already thrown his punch. It was too late for him to use spring compression now.

This was another weakness of the Spring-Spring Fruit: every single attack required prior compression and buildup—while the destructive power was considerable, against a faster enemy, Bellamy was currently nothing more than a sitting duck.

This weakness could be overcome, provided Bellamy practiced diligently to shorten that charging time.

And Aeneas, seeking to maximize his strengths and bypass his weaknesses, used Knuckled Down to push his own greatest shortcoming into the background—that being the question of whether he could successfully unleash his heavy right punch in the sequence of a heavy left punch immediately followed by a heavy right punch, achieving eightfold speed and eightfold power!

With his fists flashing gold, Aeneas's heavy left punch slammed directly into Bellamy's abdomen. Bellamy's spring legs, which had already compressed halfway, were knocked straight back to their original form.

Bellamy's entire body arched, his limbs thrust forward, saliva drooling from his mouth, his eyes bulging with fury, and veins bulging all over his body.

This was merely the heavy left punch; Bellamy's consciousness had not yet scattered. Seeing Aeneas, he just wanted to retort with some tough talk, but the very next moment, the heavy right punch hooked upward from below, striking straight into Bellamy's chest!

Bellamy's eyes flickered. This time he had prepared himself, wanting to use his spring body to dissipate the force against the ground, but the moment the heavy right punch made contact, the golden light burst.

The terrifying force concentrated at a single point and exploded instantly.

This time, it was Aeneas who punched Bellamy flying, sending him soaring straight up into the air more than thirty meters high.

Bellamy's body turned into a parabola, leaving a perfect arc in the sky before landing!

"Smack!"

Rocks shattered and turf kicked up.

Terror surfaced in Bellamy's eyes.

"What the hell?" Bellamy finally realized that the rumors were indeed true. Although it was just a snippet of gossip he had overheard, the power Aeneas had just unleashed truly lived up to the name of "Heavy-Fisted"!

This guy is terrifying! Pain racked Bellamy's entire body; how was it that he couldn't even get up for a moment?

The agony inflicted upon his body could not be dispersed or rebounded by his springs, meaning Bellamy had taken both of Aeneas's punches in their entirety.

Had Bellamy known the duration of Knuckled Down, he would surely have rejoiced that he was sent flying instead of standing his ground to take the brunt of the attack.

For the duration of Knuckled Down was sufficient for Aeneas to throw four heavy right punches.

Yet because the opponent was invariably knocked flying the moment the first heavy right punch landed, Aeneas had never fully unleashed the complete power of Knuckled Down.

Grit permeated Aeneas's entire body. His expression stirred, sensing that a breakthrough might be within reach.

He saw Aeneas take the hundred-jin iron sword off his back, controlling the Grit to gather upon the blade.

Originally, Haymaker gathers Grit into the fist, but what kind of effect would I get if I follow suit and concentrate Grit on an iron sword? Aeneas channeled his strength to the utmost, but after all, it wasn't the original Haymaker; the vast majority of the Grit dissipated.

Yet a small fraction still remained upon the iron sword.

A sudden flash of insight struck Aeneas, compelling him to swing the greatsword outward!

"Slash!"

The blunt iron sword now seemed to have transformed into a sharp weapon, actually cleaving the surrounding air apart. Gripping the iron sword tightly with both hands, Aeneas unleashed the slash!

Could that actually be a golden sword qi forming in the air?

"I'll call this move 'Grit Swift Slash'!" Watching the technique succeed, excitement welled in Aeneas's heart, though he forced down his agitation and said it indifferently.