Fighting Five to One

But being able to open it did not mean Lu Ge would open it, for would that not imply he, Lu Ge, could not catch this palm strike? How could that be.

Watching the descending, sky-covering giant Buddha palm, Lu Ge had a towering fighting spirit in his eyes, his fists clutched tightly as the black gloss upon them gleamed brilliantly, displaying the aesthetics of force.

Seeing this situation, Aokiji also made a decisive move, wanting to coordinate with Sengoku, and released his ultimate technique: Ice Age!!

Cold qi surged, and with Aokiji at the center, everything around him froze into ice in an instant.

Yet just as Lu Ge closed in, he was seen already leaping high into the air, dodging the cold wave while launching upward with a punch to meet the descending giant Buddha palm head-on!

In truth, even if Lu Ge did not dodge, Aokiji would have been unable to freeze him, nor could the cold qi affect his movements, because he also possessed the Heat-Heat Fruit, and the frost would dissolve the moment it approached him; however, it was not yet time to expose the Heat-Heat Fruit, and having an ability unknown to the enemy counted as a trump card—if one could hide it, one naturally had to hide it well.

Seeing this, Akainu let out a disdainful snort, "Such an arrogant brat, actually daring to fantasize about meeting the Great Buddha head-on."

He naturally had profound personal experience of the terror of Sengoku's Buddha transformation, for that was not merely a giant Buddha, but a combination of strength, wisdom, and spirit, uniting a gigantic body like a Buddha with a sharp mind and flawless technique to turn himself into the ultimate person combining mind, body, and technique.

The golden giant Buddha was majestic and solemn. Seeing that Lu Ge actually wanted to collide with him head-on, Sengoku could be said to be overjoyed in his heart; he truly was a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger. His own attacks—even Roger the Pirate King back in the day would avoid whenever possible and not dare to casually take head-on—this brat really possessed more than ordinary courage.

Facing such provocation, Sengoku naturally would not pamper him. The giant Buddha body burst with golden light in an instant, flashing a layer of sacred radiance, and the power within the Buddha's palm suddenly intensified.

Faintly, everyone could feel an oppressive weight, and facing such a golden-bodied Buddha, one had to feel awe.

Garp, feeling that terrifying, overwhelming palm strike from Sengoku, also wore an exceptionally solemn expression, "Even Conqueror's Haki Infusion is being used; it looks like Sengoku is going all out."

Right amid the gaze of all, Lu Ge's tiny black fist collided with a crash against Sengoku's sky-covering Buddha palm—with a clang~! like a morning bell or evening drum, the piercing clash caused everyone's ears to ring with pain, and one by one they covered their ears with pained expressions.

At the same time, the shockwave caused by the collision of the two spread rapidly in a circular shape. Amid rumbling sounds, the surrounding buildings collapsed completely, shattering flying fragments of ice all over the sky.

The terrifying rebound force caused Lu Ge to plummet from the air; after all, he lacked a point of leverage and had not yet mastered Geppo. With a loud, booming bang, a huge crater was stomped into the ground by him.

Turning to Buddha Sengoku, his gigantic Buddha body was also sent leaning backward under the impact of the terrifying force, taking several consecutive heavy steps back with loud thud, thud, thud sounds before he finally stabilized his stance, truly making the earth shake and mountains sway.

Seeing such an astonishing scene, even Garp had his eyes wide open in shock, "Sengoku actually retreated! That brat actually possesses such terrifying strength?"

The reason Garp was shocked was because the strength Sengoku possessed was bestowed by his Devil Fruit ability, which was the power of the golden Buddha, yet what Lu Ge displayed was purely his own physical strength! How could this not make him feel shocked.

At such a tender age, to already possess such terrifying strength—if he continued to grow, who in this world could oppose him?

Garp immediately cried out in exclamation, "A monster! This is a genuine monster!"

Akainu's eyes were bulging out at this moment, almost popping out of their sockets, "He blocked it! He actually blocked it!"

"..." Aokiji was also silently speechless; this young man seemed a bit too strong for comfort.

Lu Ge stood within the huge crater, gazing at the golden giant Buddha ahead, and also wore an expression of admiration, "As expected of the ultimate person who combines mind, body, and technique; this strength is indeed tyrannical. However, if this is the extent of it, then the one who loses will be you."

Just as Lu Ge was concentrating fully and preparing to leap up to continue his battle with Sengoku, Zephyr's stern shout rang in his ear, "Brat, this battlefield has more than just a single enemy!"

The sound of air tearing echoed as Zephyr transformed into a blur, charging directly toward the back of Lu Ge's head.

With a bang, Lu Ge suddenly spun around and firmly caught Zephyr's fatal punch with one hand.

Zephyr immediately wore a look of astonishment, "He actually reacted in time!"

He was confident that the timing of his launch was absolutely exquisite to the peak, and even the likes of Sengoku and Garp would have failed to react in time. As a result, this perfect strike of his was actually reacted to by the brat before him?!

Lu Ge immediately wore a speechless expression—when you attacked, you roared so loudly, it would have been a ghost story if I hadn't reacted in time; besides, did you really think Big Brother's premonition was just for show?

Yet it had to be said, this Zephyr truly possessed the potential to be a hidden old-timer. If he didn't possess the premonition ability, he really would have almost fallen victim to this strike of his. Of course, the yell he let out was also a blunder.

"Your strength is far inferior to mine; who gave you the courage to dare approach my body?" Lu Ge looked at Zephyr's entire body gleaming with black metallic luster, forced to admit in his heart that this old fellow was indeed above him in terms of Armament Haki, truly living up to the name of "Black Arm" Zephyr.

"Since you have such powerful Armament Haki, I will unceremoniously accept it."

With a thought, the [Nascent Dimensional Power] within Lu Ge's body immediately began to circulate, and an incomparably massive devouring force surged forth within his palm.

The [Nascent Dimensional Power] could devour any form of energy in the world; since it could devour Mihawk's flying slash, it could naturally devour Zephyr's Armament Haki.

The Armament Haki surrounding Zephyr's body faded away like a tide, entirely devoured and absorbed by Lu Ge to adhere to the surface of his own body, causing his own Armament Haki to surge by yet another notch in both hardness and power.

Such a startling and bizarre scene left Zephyr with a look of shock, "Damn it! You bastard! What on earth did you do?!! My Armament Haki—you—you don't only possess the Door-Door Fruit?!!"

This bizarre scene naturally caused Zephyr to think of other Devil Fruit abilities.

"Damn it! This brat can actually devour Armament Haki?" Seeing this startling scene, Garp finally could not sit still any longer. With a step of his feet, he instantly shot out like a cannonball, his fist instantaneously covered in Armament Haki as he lunged forward to deliver a chest-high punch straight at Lu Ge: Galaxy Impact!

Yet Lu Ge, who was busy devouring Zephyr's Armament Haki, had no interest in fighting him. With a single thought, a dark door instantly appeared before him...