The Strange Man

Randall had now learned the Six Powers, Life Return, and both types of Haki.

He could safely say he had learned everything available to him.

All that remained was to keep training and develop his own means of attack.

At that moment, Randall sat cross-legged in a quiet spot.

He was sensing the Qi within his body.

Though he had learned Armament Haki and Observation Haki, Randall had not abandoned his plans for Qi.

He knew full well that his advantage over everyone else lay in his Qi.

It was his cheat.

The power levels in this world were not clearly defined, but one thing was certain: the strength of the Four Emperors and everything below it belonged to two entirely different realms.

Some of the Four Emperors were stronger than others, but in an actual fight, a decisive outcome was almost impossible unless the weaker side fought to the death without retreating.

And his Qi was what gave him the confidence that he could truly surpass the Four Emperors someday!

Randall sat quietly, his eyes closed and his breathing steady, as though he were asleep.

But if a powerful fighter had been there, viewing him through Observation Haki, they would have seen liquid-like white energy rising around Randall.

Like prominences on the sun, that energy burned and churned over Randall's body.

A moment later, Randall brought the heels of his hands together, his palms open and his fingers curled like claws.

With a thought, the roiling Qi slowly gathered between his hands.

Now even an ordinary person could see a point of white light slowly forming.

It gradually grew into a ball of light slightly smaller than a human head.

As more Qi gathered, the ball shone brighter and brighter.

It was like a newly risen sun.

The energy surrounding that little sun was so immense that the air itself began to tremble.

At that point, the ball of light had reached its limit.

Randall's eyes snapped open. He thrust both hands forward, and a pillar of white light tore through the air!

"Qi Wave!"

In an instant, the beam crossed more than a hundred meters and struck the piece of Seastone he had placed there beforehand.

With a dull boom, the Seastone was blasted away.

The beam kept going, cutting through the sky and punching a hole through the clouds before gradually fading into the air.

Randall, meanwhile, still held his pose with both hands thrust forward.

He was not showing off. His whole body had gone numb.

It took quite a while before Randall could move again.

Rising from the ground, Randall twitched his nose and caught a grassy, pungent smell.

It was the smell of ozone.

A short while later, Randall found the piece of Seastone he had blasted away.

On inspection, it had a very obvious dent.

Randall nodded in satisfaction at the result.

Looks like my knockoff Kamehameha turned out pretty well!

His Qi was still very weak. Once he became stronger, destroying an island with a single Qi Wave would not be impossible!

Now that's what you call a walking, talking Pluton!

"Rear Admiral Tyr! Target ship spotted ahead!"

A soldier carrying a telescope hurried down from the lookout tower and reported to a Marine wearing a Justice Cape.

At the news, Rear Admiral Tyr promptly said:

"Good! Open fire! Hurry, open fire! Force them to stop!"

Ahead of them, a pirate ship sailed with the wind.

On the pirate flag flying high above it, the two weapons crossed over the skull were not blades, but chainsaws.

The Pirates were holding a banquet on the ship's deck.

Greasy hands stuffed all kinds of booze, meat, vegetables, and fruit into gaping maws.

The owner of the pirate ship watched his men revel with emotionless eyes, standing silently and drinking as though their merriment had nothing to do with him.

But a moment later, something whistling through the air shattered the festive atmosphere.

Whoosh—

Bang—

Boom—

The cannonball landed beside the pirate ship, throwing up a spray of white foam.

The previously calm sea suddenly surged, tossing the pirate ship into disarray.

That put an end to the banquet.

Yet the captain, who had remained silent until then, suddenly had a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

It was as though this irritating chaos appealed to him more than the banquet had.

Cannonballs rained down one after another, striking precisely around the pirate ship.

They made the ship bounce across the water, leaving the Pirates aboard dizzy and disoriented.

"Sir, are you sure we shouldn't fire directly at the pirate ship?"

The adjutant beside him could not help asking.

Rear Admiral Tyr frowned and said:

"The villagers said people were taken aboard! If we fire directly at the ship, who knows whether we'll kill Pirates or civilians?"

The adjutant wanted to point out that all those abducted had been women, and they had been on the pirate ship for so long...

They probably would rather be dead by now...

But in the end, he held his tongue and chose to follow his superior's orders.

After all, had he not chosen to serve under this officer precisely because of his kindness and gentleness?

After unleashing "a few" cannonballs, Rear Admiral Tyr ordered a ceasefire.

"Bring us alongside!"

"Yes, sir!"

By then, the people aboard the two ships could see one another.

Tyr saw the Pirates, dizzy and panting from being tossed around.

But one figure among them was different from all the rest.

That figure stood straight on the deck, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, utterly still.

The earlier chaos had not affected him at all!

Tyr's heart suddenly tightened.

He had seen the man's eyes.

In those eyes, he saw indifference colder than the depths of winter, along with excitement as fierce as fire.

Those two contradictory emotions appeared in the same man's eyes at the same time.

Something's wrong with this guy!

Tyr grew wary.

Soon, the two ships drew alongside each other.

Tyr took the lead and leaped onto the other ship's deck.

The pirate lackeys still had not recovered and were in no condition to fight.

The only threat was the man standing there.

Yet, for some reason, a sudden sense of foreboding rose in Tyr's heart.

Was it because this man was so strange?

Tyr pushed the thought aside and ordered:

"You deal with the lackeys. I'll handle this man!"

"Yes, sir!"

To Tyr's puzzlement, the strange man simply let the Marine soldiers take down his lackeys, showing no intention of intervening.

That bizarre reaction only deepened his unease.

Then the strange man finally spoke.

"Marine."

The strange man stuck out his vividly colored tongue, licked his lips, and let the word slip wetly from his mouth.

A clear trace of excitement showed in his bloodshot eyes.

Tyr frowned and said:

"You're the captain, aren't you? You're just going to watch?"

The strange man replied calmly:

"Doesn't matter. They're only lackeys."