Bullet looked excited. He had not expected to encounter a fight that even Roy would take seriously before leaving the island.
This was all truly wonderful.
The two walked along slowly as Roy spread out his Observation Haki, clearly sensing a swift beam of light rapidly closing the distance between them.
"He's here!" Roy said softly.
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a golden light flickered and gathered at the end of the street, becoming a tall figure standing on a rooftop ahead of them.
"Oh~ how truly frightening. You've turned this place upside down. Roy the pirate, and this fellow..."
Borsalino spoke leisurely, looking at Bullet beside Roy. His gaze lingered for a moment on Bullet's burly frame. "Has someone new joined you? What a troublesome combination!"
Vice Admiral Varmo arrived close behind him. His face was stern, and his body was covered in bulging muscles. Without wasting any words, he took a fighting stance, coated both arms in Armament Haki, and locked his presence onto Bullet.
An excited grin curved Roy's lips. Looking at the Marines slowly closing in around them, he exchanged a glance with Bullet. "Let's stick to the plan. Leave that glint man to me. You handle the rest."
"Just what I wanted!"
"Hum~"
As soon as they finished speaking, both men unleashed their Conqueror's Haki. Invisible waves blasted outward, and black-and-red lightning flashed and vanished. Roy's destructive Conqueror's Haki and Bullet's Asura-like Conqueror's Haki swept across the entire area, and the ordinary Marines instantly collapsed to the ground.
Walu frowned as he looked at the streets around him, damaged by Conqueror's Haki, and his subordinates lying on the ground. "What astonishing Conqueror's Haki! What terrifying brats!"
The area was cleared!
Roy slowly floated up into the air and looked at Borsalino on the rooftop.
"Long time no see, you sleazy glint man. The wound you gave me last time still aches now and then!"
"Enough of your nonsense, 'Telekinetic Madman' Roy!"
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Kizaru leaped into the air and transformed into countless bullets of light, which rained down densely upon Roy and Bullet.
"Hey! Yellow monkey, what kind of nickname did you come up with? It sounds awful."
"Remember, when you get back this time, call me 'Heavenly Dao' Roy!"
Roy shouted, and his invisible telekinetic power instantly formed a transparent shield over himself and Bullet.
"Boom, boom, boom~"
Countless bullets of light slammed into it, producing a continuous series of explosions.
"Oh! Is that a use of Telekinesis?"
Borsalino's figure flickered among the bullets of light.
During a gap in Roy's defense, Bullet shot out from the ground like a cannonball, heading straight for Vice Admiral Varmo.
"Armament: Smash!"
His enormous fist hurtled toward Walu with the force to shatter everything.
"Tekkai: Go!"
Vice Admiral Varmo let out a low roar. His muscles swelled, his Armament Haki hardened, and he met the attack with a punch of his own! He did not believe a wet-behind-the-ears brat could defeat him.
"Boom~"
Their fists collided with a muffled boom. The paving stones beneath them shattered inch by inch, and both men's feet sank slightly into the ground.
Such tremendous strength! Walu thought in shock.
"Hahaha~ again!" Bullet laughed, never stopping as he gathered strength in his right leg and swept it at the opponent before him, his attacks coming one after another.
Walu gave no ground, countering with his masterful Marine Six Powers and Haki. Both were experts in physical combat, and they instantly became locked in battle. Their blows struck flesh with muffled thunderclaps, and the surrounding buildings were completely destroyed.
Seeing that Bullet had found his opponent, Roy unleashed his Gravity Domain.
"Gravity field, tenfold domain!"
"Hum~"
With Roy at its center, the ground for dozens of meters around suddenly sank. Borsalino, who was approaching in elemental form, faltered as though he had fallen into a quagmire.
"Oh? It can even affect my elemental form? How troublesome!"
Though Borsalino called it troublesome, his body turned into a stream of light as he tried to escape the field.
"Getting away won't be so easy!"
Sensing Kizaru's intentions with Observation Haki, Roy clapped his hands together.
"Planetary Devastation!"
Under his telekinetic control, countless pieces of rubble and clods of earth wrapped around Borsalino, imbued with Armament Haki.
Once sealed by Roy, an opponent unable to assume elemental form could be suffocated to death and could only use Haki to try to break free.
"Ama no Murakumo Sword!"
Faced with the things closing around him, Borsalino sensed the Haki coating them and did not dare let himself be enclosed as he had last time.
Light gathered in his hand to form a sword of light, and he swiftly cut down the surrounding rubble, moving so fast that he left afterimages.
But the severed rubble and clods of earth came back under Roy's control, surrounding him again like maggots clinging to bone, with no end in sight.
Borsalino glanced at Roy, feeling a deep headache coming on. He had not expected the brat before him to have grown to this level in just one year.
The mysterious gravitational suppression and the troublesome, ceaseless attacks meant that the slightest mistake would leave him under his opponent's control.
"Swish~"
Coating his entire body in Haki, he instantly broke free of the gravitational suppression and turned into light. "Speed is power. Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
"I was ready for you all along, yellow monkey."
Roy had long been prepared. His figure flashed, Armament Haki coiled around his right hand, and Telekinesis formed a transparent sphere of light. "Gravity Fist: Gravity Collapse."
Borsalino, who had flashed over to him, was struck in the abdomen and sent flying backward, crashing straight through several houses.
"What a devious brat!"
Borsalino rose from the rubble, clutching his abdomen as traces of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you talking about? I'm the one whose abdomen you pierced last time."
Roy looked at Borsalino mockingly. He still held a grudge over the beating he had taken last time.
As he spoke, he drew Frost Snow, the long saber at his waist. Though he had yet to reach the realm of a swordsman, with his ability enhancing him, perhaps he could try to make a breakthrough by fighting Borsalino and his half-baked swordsmanship.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Borsalino formed the Ama no Murakumo Sword again, blocking every one of Roy's incoming attacks.
He held an absolute advantage in speed, but Roy's all-encompassing telekinetic control, which left no blind spots, and his powerful Observation Haki always allowed him to anticipate Borsalino's movements and intentions.
Roy's occasional mental interference would also cause a momentary pause.
The battle fell into a strange stalemate.
Unlike Roy's fight, with its dazzling array of abilities, the battle between Bullet and Vice Admiral Varmo was more direct.
It was close combat between masters of physical techniques, and every exchange of blows was full of power.
"Six Powers: Tekkai Steel Fist!"
Finding the right moment, Vice Admiral Varmo drove a punch straight into Bullet's chest.
"Boom~"
Defending with Armament Haki at full strength, Bullet swayed and took half a step back. He grabbed Walu's arm before he could pull it away and grinned.
"Got you!"
Tremendous force came from Bullet's hand. Walu's expression changed, and he clenched his other hand into a fist, extended one finger, and coated it in Armament Haki before thrusting it straight at Bullet's throat, forcing him to let go and retreat.
"Marine! You're pretty good, but you're a hundred years too early to catch us!"
The two clashed again. Bullet fought more fiercely as the battle went on, occasionally releasing his Conqueror's Haki in an attempt to strike at Walu's mind.
But against the battle-hardened Walu, his newly awakened Conqueror's Haki had barely any effect.