Pirates: I Maxed Out Conqueror's Haki First Because I Can't Die

After just one punch, he lost consciousness and could no longer fight.

Hum!

Bullet's Conqueror's Haki rippled through the air, filling the space around everyone. The world behind him turned purple-blue, and the air grew heavy and suffocating.

"I've waited a long time for this!"

"Today, I can finally erase the humiliation of that defeat."

Bullet slowly rose from his seat, his mouth twisting into a savage grin. His fists clenched with audible cracks.

"Huff!"

Crocodile exhaled a mouthful of smoke, his expression turning grave.

Bullet was a terrifying opponent. There was no doubt about it.

He seemed even stronger than when Crocodile had last fought him.

I'd like to see how you plan to bring a man like this under your command.

A demon!

As the thought crossed his mind, Crocodile glanced at Xia Le, who remained calm beside him.

The next instant, Crocodile's heart jolted. A violent shockwave whipped his coat upward as a ring of ferocious pressure radiated outward at terrifying speed.

In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire island.

The purple-blue backdrop rapidly turned black and red. Cracking sounds rang out from the ground, stones, and trees as fissures spread across them.

This terrifying Conqueror's Haki was even more oppressive than Bullet's, weighing heavily on every heart.

Several pirates near Bullet lost consciousness without a sound, unable to withstand the pressure.

Only then did Xia Le speak with a smile.

"Bullet!"

"I didn't come here to fight you."

He held out his right hand.

"I admire the hell out of you!"

"Come serve under me as a Marine!"

Crocodile stared at him in disbelief, then put a hand to his forehead.

Was this really the method his superior had come up with to win over an unyielding powerhouse?

It was terrible!

Sure enough, Bullet's furious laughter rang out the next second.

"You want me as your subordinate?"

"Then beat me in a fair fight first!"

Xia Le burst out laughing and knocked his fists together.

"That's easy!"

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Three Punches

Nearly the entire island was shrouded in black and red. The pressure of Conqueror's Haki seemed to bring even the air to a standstill.

The two men faced each other, sparks seeming to flash between their gazes.

Bullet's demonlike eyes were bloodred and ferocious. His aura had reached its peak.

He had never accepted that defeat. Brief as it was, it had shaken him to his core.

Roar!

Bullet let out a thunderous growl and drove both legs against the ground. He vanished instantly.

At the very moment Bullet moved, Xia Le vanished from where he stood.

Their speed was almost unbelievable, proof that both had honed their physical skills beyond human limits.

Whoosh!

A thousandth of a second later, they were face-to-face.

Fury blazed in Bullet's eyes as he threw a punch, his face twisted with rage.

Xia Le grinned broadly. His right fist tightened with a faint crackle, and black-red lightning appeared around it.

The next instant, their fists collided.

Bang!

A dull impact rang out. A ripple laced with fine arcs of lightning roared outward in every direction.

Horror flashed across Bullet's face. With a crack, his right arm, coated in Armament Haki, snapped. It could not withstand the terrifying force surging from his opponent.

Conqueror's Haki Infusion!

Bullet roared inwardly. He had felt this power from Roger before.

An even greater force surged toward him. Black-red lightning crackled along his arm, threatening to engulf his entire body.

Bullet shuddered and sprang back on instinct.

Thud!

He landed heavily, his weight caving in the ground beneath his feet.

Crocodile took a drag on his cigar and fixed his gaze on Bullet's right arm. After a single exchange, it hung limp and useless, already ruined.

Clearly, Xia Le's strength had overwhelmed him in that brief clash.

"Hahahaha!"

"Bullet, your reactions are sharper than last time!"

Xia Le laughed.

He kicked off the air, changed direction, and appeared above Bullet. His right hand closed into a fist again, his arm drawing back for another blow.

Bullet's expression shifted. He knew exactly how powerful that fist was.

Red light flickered in his eyes as he tried to foresee what would happen next.

Observation Haki.

Almost immediately, a fierce, violent wind struck the top of his head. The pressure in the air changed as black-red lightning shot downward.

Xia Le moved like a flash of lightning and swung his fist.

Hum!

The air thundered. Lightning flashed as a savage impact spread across thousands of meters and crashed down.

Bullet moved, retreating quickly to evade it. Ahead of him, the ground, trees, and undergrowth shattered inch by inch and collapsed into chaos. Cracks raced outward like fractures across a broken mirror.

Too fast! Everything was happening too fast!

The speed alone showed how devastating the force of that punch was.

This guy!

Bullet's heart shook.

Facing Xia Le head-on, he felt the full weight of his terrifying presence. Every breath felt as though ten thousand mountains were bearing down on him.

Fists of overwhelming force, speed like lightning, and an unrelenting storm of attacks.

It was only their second exchange, yet all Bullet could do was dodge!

"Hahahaha!"

Another burst of laughter came from above.

Then came that crushing, terrifying pressure.

Bullet looked up. The sky was black and red, streaked with lightning, and a fist was hurtling straight toward him.

His pupils contracted sharply at the sight.

In that brief span, he had already retreated nearly two thousand meters from where he had stood. Yet Xia Le was clearly faster!

Fist Bone Meteor!

Xia Le laughed.

Black-red lightning erupted from his right fist. A crushing surge of force spread downward, bearing straight toward Bullet.

Boom!

The punch plunged toward the ground. It was still dozens of meters away, yet its impact took effect in a ten-thousandth of a second. Dust and weeds flew upward, and ripples spread across the earth as though a boulder had fallen into a lake.

Bullet's entire body seemed to twist as the punch drove him into the ground. He was embedded in it without the slightest pause.

His consciousness vanished at once.

Before he blacked out, this iron-willed man who had devoted himself to becoming the strongest felt nothing but shock and a flicker of fear, as though he faced a natural disaster.

That fist wrapped in black-red lightning made him feel as though he were facing another Roger!

It held the same unstoppable force, the same overwhelming grandeur.

He had lost. Utterly and completely!

At last, even Bullet's unwilling heart accepted it. Faced with such power, he felt a fear he could not resist.

Three punches!

This time, it had taken only three punches!

Xia Le landed on the shattered ground. His white cape fluttered behind him as he looked down.

"Take him with us, Little Sand!"

"He's tough. He probably won't die!"

Crocodile walked over and blew out a ring of smoke. Sand stirred in his hand and lifted Bullet, whose body was covered in blood and whose bones were broken in several places.

Then he surveyed their surroundings.

His eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of two enormous craters, each thousands of meters across, as though meteorites had struck the island. The snapped trees in the surrounding forest were even more startling.

Three punches had completely transformed the island's landscape.

So this is the power of the world's strongest?

Crocodile murmured to himself and took another drag on his cigar.

He remembered how he had once dreamed of challenging Edward Newgate.

Did that man possess power like this, too?

The two returned to the warship. When the others aboard saw Bullet covered in blood, they were at a loss for words.

"Sir, didn't you say we were going to recruit someone?"

"Is he dead?"

"With that many broken bones, he might as well be."

"The famous Douglas Bullet ended up like this after facing the commander."

"Commander Xia Le, just how strong are you?"

The officers could not stop talking.

Xia Le waved a hand. "We can probably still patch him up!"

"He's got a sturdy body. Once we fix him up, he'll be useful!"

He paused, then broke into a grin.