Before he could finish speaking, the Grizzly Bear King pressed down on its hind legs and sprang up to Luo Chen, ramming its head viciously into his abdomen.
"Bang, bang, bang!!!"
"Pfft!"
Luo Chen crashed through three trees in succession, only coming to a stop when he hit a fourth. He spat a large mouthful of blood onto the ground, then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his arm.
"Cough, cough! What tremendous strength. I suppose you really do deserve to be called the king of this land. But I'm not so easy to bring down!"
With that, Luo Chen charged straight at it. His right leg lashed out like a whip, leaving a white streak in the air as it swept heavily toward the Grizzly Bear King's head.
"Bang!"
"Thud, thud, thud!!!"
The Grizzly Bear King left its head unguarded and took Luo Chen's kick squarely, producing a deafening sound. It stumbled backward again and again, shaking its head in an attempt to clear it.
"Roar!!!"
After shaking its head for a while, the Grizzly Bear King roared at him and charged at him at great speed. In the blink of an eye, it thrust out its right paw, tracing a parabola through the air as it reached Luo Chen's side, aiming to tear him apart at the waist.
"Whoosh!"
Luo Chen heard the sound its body made and reacted instantly. He flipped slightly forward, stepping on Kuma’s paw to get behind it. The Grizzly Bear King’s claws tore straight through the tree in front of it, slicing the trunk into four pieces that crashed to the ground, filling the surroundings with dust.
"Roar!"
The Grizzly Bear King realized that the little bug had dodged its attack yet again and angrily turned its head to roar at him.
"All that roaring is driving me crazy. You may not be sick of it, but I am. Shut up! King Fist: Mountain Suppression!"
Luo Chen turned and picked at his ear with a finger as he spoke. Then he clenched his five fingers into a fist and struck forward. The tremendous force of the punch stirred up a gust, forming a fist imprint from the punch's wind. Like a mountain, the fist slammed into the Grizzly Bear King's back and sent it flying.
"Crack!"
Luo Chen's blow sent it crashing into a boulder with a rumble, and then the sound of bone breaking reached his ears.
"Crack!"
The Grizzly Bear King struggled to rise, but Luo Chen had broken its spine. With a bang, it finally fell limply to the ground, never to stand again.
"What? I thought you were a decent opponent. I didn't expect you to be finished so quickly. The Grizzly Bear King really is trash. No wonder you couldn't become the overlord of this land and could only scrape by in this area."
Luo Chen tried to provoke it with his words, hoping it would stand up and fight him again. But his ultimate technique was simply too powerful and had broken its spine outright. Otherwise, the Grizzly Bear King would not have been defeated so easily. Luck had played a part in it as well.
"Since you can't stand, let me give you the final blow and show you the respect due to the strong. King Fist: Heaven Shaker!"
The incomparably tyrannical force of the punch traveled through his fist into the Grizzly Bear King's body, destroying its last trace of vitality. The Grizzly Bear King closed its eyes in resentment and breathed no more.
"Clatter!!!"
Seeing that it had finally stopped breathing, Luo Chen sprawled on the ground without any regard for appearances, panting urgently.
"Phew! It's finally over. After chasing me for a whole day and night, did you really think I had no temper? Now you know how powerful I am, don't you? That's what you get for looking down on me. Wasn't I the one who won in the end?"
Luo Chen murmured to the dead Grizzly Bear King's remains.
After a while, Luo Chen recovered some of his strength and stood up again, walking over to it.
"Schlick!!!"
Using his palm as a blade and coating it in blood-colored baleful aura, Luo Chen cut off both bear paws, gutted the entire black bear, and skinned it, taking the whole hide off intact. Carrying them behind him, he headed back to his territory.
Night fell. Luo Chen sat on an open patch of ground with a burning campfire before him. Two bear paws hung over it, dripping with oil as they roasted over the coals, filling the air with a tempting aroma.
Luo Chen's mind, however, was elsewhere. His eyes closed, he recalled his experiences in the day's battle, drawing on them to gain combat experience and constantly improve himself. The battle had also brought him considerable gains: his Observation Haki had become more proficient, and he had developed some exceptionally powerful physical techniques that did not rely on his fruit ability. His body, too, was growing ever stronger, bringing him closer and closer to those monsters.
The days passed one by one, and Luo Chen spent them immersed in training, gradually growing stronger.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye. By now, Luo Chen had spent three years in the pirate world.
On this day, a major event occurred on Sky Island. A group of pirates from the New World entered Sky Island through a special passage in the second half of the Grand Line and barged in.
Although the people of Sky Island still lived under Enel's brutal rule, their lives had been somewhat peaceful. Now that peace was shattered. The pirates violently barged into their lives, began plundering on a large scale, and brutally murdered the residents of the White Sea.
"Hmm, what happened? It seems unfamiliar presences have entered this place. Are they intruders?"
Luo Chen stood on the branch of a large tree, gazing toward the town on Sky Island. Just now, his Observation Haki had suddenly detected unfamiliar presences entering the area, prompting him to pause his training and look that way.
"Lord Luo Chen, God Enel needs you. Please hurry over. Everyone has been urgently summoned to the temple. Baa!"
A divine soldier ran over in a panic and reported to him.
Is that so? Is it related to what just happened?
Luo Chen thought to himself, then turned to the divine soldier and spoke.
"Understood. I'll go right away."
"Yes, I'll go inform the others now. Please set out quickly. Baa!"
The divine soldier saluted him, then turned and left.
Not long after he departed, Luo Chen straightened his clothes and appearance and used his ability to fly to the temple.
At the Sky Island temple, the other four priests arrived one after another, but an argument over this operation broke out at the entrance and quickly turned into a brawl. As the four fought, they crashed through the temple doors.
Inside the temple, Enel was not seated on his divine throne; it seemed he had not yet arrived. The other attendants of the god stood to one side, watching the Four Priests fight without intervening.
"Boom!!!"
After an exchange, all four were forced back by one another's attacks. They each assumed a fighting stance and stared fixedly at their opponents.
"Tch! Haven't Lord Enel and that guy arrived yet? Honestly, they summoned us all, but they haven't come themselves."
Shura glanced toward the divine throne and was the first to speak.
"I'm already here."
"Crack!"
As soon as the words fell, a bolt of lightning struck in their midst and instantly transformed into Enel. He swiftly attacked the Four Priests, sending each of them flying in short order. Under Enel's lightning-fast assault, they were beaten without any chance to fight back and could only defend themselves.
"Crack!"
Enel turned into lightning once more and returned to the divine throne in the temple. He sat down cross-legged, picked one up, and took a bite before speaking to them.
"Your training still isn't up to par. You need to work harder!"
"Hmph! Isn't that perfectly normal? We can't stand against you, God. By the way, Lord Enel, hasn't that brat Luo Chen arrived yet?"
Shura did not argue with him. He simply sat down and asked.
"He's already here. He's been nearby watching you fight all along!"
Enel waved the apple in front of them as he spoke. Then he addressed a certain direction.
"Aren't you coming out, Luo Chen?"
"Whoosh!!!"
The sound of rushing wind reached everyone's ears. Then Luo Chen flew above them on beating wings and slowly descended.