Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue

At those words, the entire deck fell silent.

But before long, undisguised laughter rang out across the deck.

"Hahaha, what's this pretty boy saying? Get past him first? You may be White Dove Ivan, but you're badly injured now. You're no match for Captain Alvida!"

"That's right! Just thinking about capturing the White Dove famous throughout the East Blue gets me all worked up!"

Amid the pirates' flattery, Alvida covered her mouth and laughed.

"Hohohoho! You bastards are right! I, Alvida, am the strongest and most beautiful woman pirate in the entire East Blue! Isn't that right?"

"That's right! Captain Alvida is definitely the most beautiful woman in the East Blue!"

Hearing their enthusiastic agreement, Alvida laughed even louder. She addressed Ivan, who wore a "stubborn" expression before her.

"Hey, White Dove, hurry up and surrender. If you insist on resisting, I won't go easy on a pretty face!"

Black lines covered Ivan's forehead. He was very pleased with his exceptionally good looks in this life, but that was no reason for Alvida to harass him!

He had been badly injured before and was no match for Alvida, so he had been forced to retreat for the time being. But now...

Ivan suddenly stepped forward and roared in anger, his voice briefly drowning out the thunder from the sky and the howling sea.

"Shut up, you damn old hag! I've put up with you for a long time! Today, I'm going to kill you!"

Ivan vented all his anger at being relentlessly pursued in an instant. He immediately felt refreshed, his blood boiling with excitement.

He felt great, but everyone else was stunned and alarmed.

Alvida's pirates in particular knew what their captain hated most.

Alvida hated many things, but without a doubt, what she hated most was being called ugly.

After all, she loved calling herself the number one beauty of the East Blue!

The pirates retreated several steps, staring fixedly at Alvida as they spoke uneasily.

"We're done for! That guy pissed off the captain. She's definitely going to go berserk!"

"Let's get farther away. We can't afford to get caught up in it! Iron Mace Alvida is a monster when she's angry!"

Sure enough, when Alvida heard Ivan call her ugly and a damn old hag, her eyes darkened, and a shadow fell over most of her face.

The next moment, veins bulged and throbbed on her forehead. At the same time, her plump hands gripped her spiked mace tightly, squeezing harder and harder as an eerie grinding of bones sounded.

She took a deep breath. She was now furious beyond measure.

"How dare you call me ugly! Even if you're the man I've set my sights on, I won't forgive you!" Alvida's muscles bulged as she swung the enormous iron mace in her hands with all her strength. "Die!"

The spiked mace, about 150 centimeters long and weighing 300 kilograms, tore through the air and the curtain of rain, hurtling toward Ivan's head.

That blow could punch through a warship's hull. If it landed on Ivan's head, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"Ensign Ivan!" the surrounding marines roared in grief and anger.

Normally, they wouldn't have worried, but Ensign Ivan had been badly injured in his last battle with the Arlong Pirates and had yet to recover. He was no match for Alvida!

They could almost see Ivan's head bursting open under the crushing blow of the spiked mace!

Fear also appeared on Koby's face. If Ensign Ivan died, his own fate would be even more miserable.

It seemed Alvida's spiked mace was about to drive his life back into the abyss!

But unlike his anxious subordinates around him, Ivan was completely at ease.

The spiked mace, which he had needed to treat with caution in the past, now seemed unbearably slow to him. The tremendous force behind it, enough to punch through a warship's hull, also seemed extremely weak.

Under everyone's gaze, he raised a hand in front of him.

Boom!

In an instant, his palm collided with the enormous spiked mace. The deck beneath Ivan's feet shattered, kicking up dust.

Seeing this, a tall pirate wiped the cold sweat from his brow and sneered.

"Hahaha, the captain must have smashed that pretty boy into a pulp with one blow. She should have calmed down now!"

But when the dust cleared and the scene within came into view, the pirate who had just looked so cocky dropped his jaw, his face full of shock.

"No, that's impossible!" they cried out in shock, unable to believe what they were seeing was real!

The marines were just as stunned. They knew Ivan fairly well, and the scene before them defied all reason!

Ivan had caught the 300-kilogram spiked mace with one hand. In front of him, Alvida was drenched in sweat, her arm muscles bulging. She was clearly using all her strength, yet she couldn't pull the mace out of Ivan's grasp.

And Ivan's chest was still bleeding. He was clearly still badly injured!

Seeing that she couldn't pull the spiked mace out of Ivan's hand even with all her strength, Alvida was far more shocked than the onlookers nearby.

She had fought Ivan several times before. Although he had held the upper hand, the gap between them hadn't been that great.

But...

What was going on now?!

When had White Dove gained such tremendous strength?!

Hadn't he been injured by that monster Arlong?

After briefly testing his strength, Ivan reached a conclusion.

His strength had increased severalfold compared to before, and this was only seventeen percent of the Satoru Gojo template's power!

Just one Satoru Gojo template had brought about such an earthshaking change in his strength.

If he got a few even more powerful templates, wouldn't he soar to the heavens?!

Ivan bared his teeth in a fierce grin. His entire bearing instantly turned savage, utterly unlike his usual refined and easygoing manner.

Immediately afterward, he thrust out his foot, kicking at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Boom!

Alvida's body became a blur as she was sent flying. She slammed into a wall, smashing it to pieces.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Painful coughing came from the ruins of the wall. Alvida crawled out, staring at Ivan in fear.

The Ivan before her felt like a stranger. She had never experienced such tremendous power in her life.

What on earth had happened to Ivan? Why had his strength changed so dramatically?

He was clearly badly injured, yet he could completely overpower her. Could Arlong really have injured Ivan?

Even so, Alvida wasn't too afraid.

So what if Ivan was stronger than her now? He was still no match for guns!

As a pirate, Alvida naturally didn't fight fair. After getting to her feet amid the rubble, the first thing she did was issue an order to her men.

"You bastards, get your guns and fire everything you've got at White Dove!"

At her command, the pirates immediately put on vicious expressions and opened fire on Ivan.

Bang, bang, bang!

A barrage of bullets flew toward Ivan at high speed, making the marines who had just relaxed tense up again.

But Ivan didn't panic in the slightest at the sight. Instead, his bearing grew even more brutal.

He extended a hand and curled his fingers around empty air. A deep azure light appeared in the middle of his palm.

He said calmly, "Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"