Inside CP9's hotel room, the atmosphere was tense.
Lucci struck first, appearing behind Lin Yan in a blur. His Armament Haki-coated Finger Pistol stabbed toward the center of his back:
"Finger Pistol: Yellow Lotus!"
The Six Powers master's speed was indeed astonishing, but Lin Yan was faster.
He did not even turn around. He merely shifted slightly, letting the Finger Pistol brush past his clothes and miss. At the same time, he reached back with his right hand and caught Lucci's wrist.
"Too slow."
Flames erupted from his palm, instantly engulfing Lucci's entire arm.
"What?!" Lucci tried to turn into an element-he was a Zoan and could not do that, so he could only withstand it head-on. He coated his arm in Armament Haki, but the intense heat still burned his skin black.
He decisively retreated, shaking off the flames, his gaze grave. "This temperature... something's wrong."
Ordinary flames could not hurt him through his Armament Haki, but Lin Yan's flames were hot enough to melt Armament Haki!
Kaku and Jabra attacked from both sides.
"Tempest Kick: White Thunder!"
"Iron Body: Wolf Fang!"
A slashing wave and a pair of wolf claws struck simultaneously.
Lin Yan still neither dodged nor retreated. He extended his left hand, palm facing outward:
"Flame Emperor Body: Fire Wall."
A half-meter-thick wall of crimson-gold flames appeared out of thin air. The Tempest Kick struck the wall and was vaporized by the heat; the wolf claws raked against it, sizzling from the burns.
Jabra screamed and pulled his hands back, his palms already blistering.
"This guy's flames... are even more terrifying than the Flame-Flame Fruit!" Kaku exclaimed in shock.
Blueno silently appeared above Lin Yan, pressing his palm toward his head:
"Door-Door Fruit: Air Door!"
He wanted to transport Lin Yan's head into another dimension, but the moment his palm touched Lin Yan's scalp, a layer of flame armor blocked it.
"The Door-Door Fruit?" Lin Yan looked up. "Interesting."
He suddenly reached out and caught Blueno's wrist, flames spreading along his arm.
"Aaaargh!" Blueno tried to open a door and escape, only to discover that his ability had stopped working-the Haki within the flames interfered with his fruit's activation!
"Haki is the bane of ability users," Lin Yan said. "Your doors can't open my space."
He squeezed lightly.
Crack-!
Blueno's wrist broke, and he passed out.
Five against one, and ten seconds into the fight, one of them was already out of action.
Kalifa released bubbles from a distance. "Soap Sheep Cloud: Great Tsunami!"
Countless bubbles surged toward Lin Yan, attempting to extinguish the flames with their cleaning power. But Lin Yan's flames were no ordinary flames. The bubbles evaporated as soon as they drew near.
"The Bubble-Bubble Fruit... is indeed effective against Logias." Lin Yan nodded. "But it won't work on me."
He snapped his fingers.
Snap.
All the bubbles instantly ignited, turning into fireballs that rushed toward Kalifa instead. Kalifa dodged in panic, but a fireball still grazed her, burning several holes in her clothes and exposing the black bodysuit underneath.
"Bastard!" Kalifa's face flushed red-with anger.
Lucci, Kaku, and Jabra regrouped for another assault. With seamless coordination, they launched fierce attacks from three angles.
But Lin Yan still handled them with ease.
He had not even drawn Flame's Protection. He simply condensed his flames into three flaming blades to fight the three of them separately.
Clang, clang, clang, clang-!!!
Blades collided, sending sparks flying. Lucci's leopard claws, Kaku's giraffe kicks, and Jabra's Wolf Fang were all blocked by the flaming blades.
"Is this all you've got?" Lin Yan sounded a little disappointed. "Then it's time to end this."
He suddenly withdrew the blades and pressed his palms together:
"Flame Emperor Body: Domain Expansion."
Humm-!
A spherical space with a fifty-meter radius centered on him instantly became a world of flames. The floor, walls, and ceiling all erupted in crimson-gold flames, and the temperature soared to five thousand degrees.
The four CP9 members' expressions changed drastically. This environment put them at far too great a disadvantage.
"Retreat!" Lucci made the decision immediately.
But it was already too late.
Lin Yan's figure vanished within the flame domain-he had not vanished, but merged with the flames. The next second, he appeared behind Jabra and struck the center of his back with his palm.
"Pfft!" Jabra spat blood as he flew backward, crashing through the wall and landing in the street.
Lin Yan appeared beside Kalifa next and delivered a knife-hand strike to her neck. Kalifa crumpled.
Kaku tried to run, but Lin Yan was already standing in front of him and drove a fist into his abdomen. Kaku's eyes bulged as he dropped to his knees, unable to rise.
Only Lucci remained.
"Still want to fight?" Lin Yan asked.
Lucci gritted his teeth. His body began to swell, growing leopard fur and a tail-Zoan: leopard form, complete beast transformation.
"Rokushiki Ogi: Rokuogan!"
Both fists thrust forward, the shock wave compressed to its limit. This was Lucci's strongest move.
Lin Yan finally grew a little more serious and raised his right fist as well:
"Flame Emperor Body: Nuclear Fission Fist."
On the surface of his fist, flames compressed into blazing-white plasma, then merged with Armament Haki to form a strange black-and-white hue.
Their fists collided.
Boom-!!!!!!!!!!
The terrifying shock wave destroyed the entire hotel! The building collapsed, sending dust billowing into the sky. Residents along several nearby streets were jolted awake.
When the dust cleared, Lin Yan stood where he had been, completely unscathed.
Lucci lay unconscious in the rubble, his entire body charred black, blood streaming from all seven orifices.
[Ding-] [Defeated all CP9 members] [Obtained: leopard-form fruit template fragment ×1] [Obtained: Giraffe-Giraffe Fruit template fragment ×1] [Obtained: Wolf-Dog Fruit template fragment ×1] [Obtained: Door-Door Fruit template fragment ×1] [Obtained: Bubble-Bubble Fruit template fragment ×1] [Can be fused into: Zoan, Mythical Zoan, Qilin-Qilin Fruit (incomplete)] [Fuse?]
A qilin? A creature resembling four different animals?
Lin Yan thought for a moment. "Fuse."
[Fusion successful] [Obtained: Qilin-Qilin Fruit template (incomplete, 20%)] [Effects: overall physical attributes increased by 300%; grants the 'auspiciousness' trait (slightly improves luck); grants rudimentary control over the four elements of 'earth, fire, wind, and water']
Not bad. Incomplete, but with tremendous potential.
He withdrew the flame domain, walked over to the unconscious Lucci, and searched his clothes, finding a Den Den Mushi and a document.
The document's title read: [Sun Slayer Operation Plan]
Sure enough, CP9 were peripheral members of the Sun Slayer unit.
The Den Den Mushi was encrypted, but Lin Yan sent flames into its internal circuitry and forcibly cracked the password. There was an unsent message inside:
[Target's strength far exceeds estimates. Requesting CP0 support. Suspected to have awakened the Sun God's power.]
"CP0, huh..." Lin Yan crushed the Den Den Mushi. "Come on, then. I'll kill however many you send."
He turned away from the rubble and returned to the dock.
Ace and the others were already waiting there.
"Brother, that explosion just now..."
"It's dealt with." Lin Yan tossed the Pluton Blueprints to Ace. "Keep these safe. We leave Water 7 first thing tomorrow morning."
"What about Luffy and the others..."
"Let them stay here," Lin Yan said. "Luffy needs to grow on his own. We can't keep protecting him forever."
Early the next morning, the Flame Emperor prepared to set sail.
Luffy and his three companions came to see them off.
"Ace! Brother! The next time we meet, I'll definitely be stronger!" Luffy shouted.
"I'll be waiting." Lin Yan waved. "Remember what I taught you. See you in the New World in three years."
"Definitely!"
Zoro, Usopp, and Nami also said their solemn goodbyes.
The Flame Emperor sailed away from Water 7 toward their next destination-Whiskey Peak.
Because someone was waiting for them there.
Before you continue