Fierce Battle with Kizaru

"You bastards really know what you're doing!"

Just as Jiang Lin and Luffy exchanged a grin, two dark figures leaped down from a towering tree and landed in front of Jiang Lin.

"You even kicked PX-4 onto a warship. I'll give you that."

The newcomer was dragging the "corpse" of the Pacifista Jiang Lin had just kicked off the island. Another, undamaged Pacifista stood beside him.

"Pacifistas. I didn't expect to run into two at once."

Jiang Lin shook his head helplessly. The moment he saw the newcomer's face, he knew who he was.

Sentomaru, captain of the Marine Headquarters Science Unit—and the man Kizaru had been trying so hard to find.

"Who are you?"

Luffy looked at the newcomer curiously.

"Sentomaru. He's a tough one."

Jiang Lin answered Luffy's question for him.

"Attack, PX-1!"

Sentomaru watched Jiang Lin with a grave expression. He had already contacted Kizaru and heard about Jiang Lin from him. That was why he wasted no words after appearing and ordered the Pacifista to attack.

"Light-speed... kick!"

At Sentomaru's command, the Pacifista's entire body lit up as it prepared to fight. But Jiang Lin moved faster than anyone present. A dazzling yellow flash streaked past, and before the Pacifista could make a move, he kicked it straight off the Sabaody Archipelago.

"You—"

Seeing the Pacifista taken out in an instant, Sentomaru snatched the giant axe from his shoulder in shock. Before he could swing it, Jiang Lin rushed up to him with a devilish grin.

"Here's a free ride home!"

Yellow light flashed, and Sentomaru went flying off the Sabaody Archipelago.

"So cool!"

After seeing Jiang Lin display his strength again and again, Luffy's eyes did more than shine. They looked ready to burst into hearts.

"He's so strong!"

Nami stared at Jiang Lin in confusion. With his strength, he could easily crush the entire Straw Hat Pirates. So why did he want to join them?

"Could that be..."

Robin watched Jiang Lin's movements thoughtfully. She, too, was stunned by his strength.

"How strange. Sentomaru told me he was coming this way. Oh... you're here too. Have you seen him?" As the Straw Hat Pirates wrestled with their own thoughts about their newest member, Admiral Kizaru injured Nami, who stood near the front, with a beam from his finger and came strolling out.

"Nami!"

"Nami!"

"..."

The Straw Hat Pirates' cries were nothing compared to the fury burning inside Jiang Lin.

"You... are dead!"

Seeing Nami hurt sent Jiang Lin into a rage. Before his rebirth, he had watched Ace die before his eyes, powerless to do anything. Now that he had crossed into the world of pirates, he would never again let a character he loved be hurt or killed in front of him.

"Yata Mirror!"

Dazzling light flared beside Jiang Lin. His body followed it, appearing above Kizaru's head.

"Oh? You've really put me in a bad mood!"

Kizaru narrowed his eyes and extended four fingers. Four brilliant yellow beams shot straight toward Jiang Lin.

Whoosh!

Jiang Lin used Yata Mirror to evade Kizaru's attack, then raised his left leg high and kicked down hard.

"Yata Mirror!"

Yellow light flashed. Before Jiang Lin's kick could land, Kizaru used Yata Mirror to dodge it.

"Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"

Jiang Lin crossed his arms before his chest. Dazzling light flashed, and a dense barrage of light bullets rained relentlessly down on Kizaru!

"He's so strong!"

"He's way beyond us!"

"He's fought a Marine Admiral for this long—and left him no chance to fight back!"

Chopper, Robin, and Sanji stared at the battle in such shock that they momentarily forgot to tend to Nami.

A Marine Admiral was among the Marines' strongest fighters. Jiang Lin had never made a name for himself in the world of pirates before. He probably didn't even have a wanted poster.

Yet this man with no glorious past had pushed Kizaru, a Marine Admiral, to the point where he couldn't fight back.

"What kind of monster is he?"

"Just how strong is he?"

Those questions lingered in the mind of every Straw Hat Pirate.

"A pirate Marine Headquarters hasn't even noticed yet. Your strength is worth an eight-hundred-million-Beli bounty!"

Kizaru's eyes sharpened. He was finally getting serious. He hadn't used his full strength until now, and Jiang Lin had spent the whole fight driving him back. It was making him, a Marine Admiral, look bad. If he didn't show what he could do, he might not even get paid anymore.

"Is that so? I'd say six hundred million!"

Jiang Lin chuckled. All his abilities came from Kizaru, so the higher his own bounty, the stronger that made Kizaru look. He didn't mind taking a loss and putting a lower price on himself.

"Is that so? Then let's see how strong a six-hundred-million-Beli pirate really is."

Dazzling yellow light flickered. Faced with Yasakani Sacred Jewel, Kizaru dodged the attack with a single swift movement. Both he and Jiang Lin wielded the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit. Only close combat could settle their fight.

Whoosh... whoosh...

Beams of light shot wildly across the battlefield. Trees exploded the instant the beams struck them.

Like two trains hurtling at full speed, Jiang Lin and Kizaru raced back and forth through the forest of Island No. 12 in the Sabaody Archipelago, trading blows.

The cape of justice on Kizaru's back whipped in the wind. Every so often, a pale-yellow beam struck it, punching a finger-sized hole through the fabric.

As Kizaru's clothes grew ragged, holes began appearing all over Jiang Lin's clothes too.

As the fight intensified, both men came closer and closer to fighting in the bare flesh.

"Oh, my. I didn't expect you to be this troublesome!"

Kizaru grinned at him from across the clearing.

"You're no slouch yourself, Mr. Borsalino!"

Jiang Lin stood off to one side, breathing hard. His body was, after all, that of an ordinary nobody. No matter how handsome he looked, it offered him no help in a fight this intense. His lack of stamina was instead putting him at a growing disadvantage against Kizaru.

"That's enough, Kizaru!" Just as Jiang Lin and Kizaru finished their brief respite and prepared to clash again, an old man with white hair and a white beard emerged slowly from the nearby woods. He wore a white cloak and a pair of flip-flops.