Chapter 290: Three-on-Three

The first to make a move was Momousagi, who transformed into a giant pink dragon, and her target was obvious: the genuine Azure Dragon Fruit user, Kaido of the Beasts.

"Worororororo! What is going on with you? How do you have the same Devil Fruit ability as me?"

Kaido roared, and without waiting for Momousagi to answer, he charged straight at her, his entire body wreathed in terrifying tornadoes.

The giant pink dragon that Momousagi had transformed into showed not the slightest fear and likewise slammed into Kaido of the Beasts; accompanied by rumbling sounds, the two giant dragons whipped up endless storms and lightning in the sky.

Momousagi herself possessed the strength of an Admiral-candidate, and after being strengthened by Uchiha Feiyu and training in various advanced martial arts, plus the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit that exceeded the Awakening realm, her overall strength could be considered the highest among Uchiha Feiyu's current harem.

Even though Kaido of the Beasts was vaguely considered the strongest among all Pirates, even among the Four Emperors, he could not gain the upper hand when facing Momousagi.

The gap in Three-Color Haki between the two sides was not large, and Kaido certainly held the advantage in physique, but because of the difference in Devil Fruit development, this part of the advantage was pulled back by the beyond-Awakening-level Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit.

The greatest ability of a Zoan Devil Fruit is to increase physical strength, and among them, Mythical Zoans like the Azure Dragon Fruit provide an almost unimaginable boost to physique once developed to Awakening.

It was precisely by relying on this boost that Momousagi was able to stand against Kaido in her dragon form, fighting to a draw.

On the other side, Princess Shirahoshi slapped the surface of the sea, and the water currents on the ocean instantly condensed, turning into spears that pierced toward Charlotte Linlin in the sky.

After Princess Shirahoshi was strengthened by Uchiha Feiyu and developed her own physique, she had also put in the effort to learn various advanced combat techniques such as Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu passed down by the Dragon Palace Island.

Her physical Haki was already sufficient, and as Poseidon, her affinity with the sea was also top-tier; in a very short time, she had mastered these unique Fish-Man techniques to perfection.

While in the sea, she only needed to exert a little force to mold seawater into the shapes of blades, spears, swords, and halberds, blasting them at the enemy in the sky.

Charlotte Linlin, riding the thundercloud Zeus, waved her hand, condensing countless lightning bolts in the sky; the lightning grew eyes and mouths, and like sprites, they bombarded the sea.

"Heavenly Full Great Freedom Heavenly God!"

The flashing lightning and the blue seawater collided, erupting with a deafening roar, but for both Shirahoshi and Charlotte Linlin, this kind of "elemental attack" was not the ability they were best at.

Charlotte Linlin, the Iron Balloon, and Shirahoshi, the Poseidon, were most skilled in their own physical bodies.

However, compared to Momousagi being able to fight Kaido of the Beasts to a draw, Shirahoshi's strength was a small notch below Charlotte Linlin's, and her combat experience and Three-Color Haki were also far inferior; although she possessed the super ultimate move of summoning Sea Kings, the Sea Kings had no way to exert their power against the flying Charlotte Linlin.

Fortunately, Shirahoshi was currently hiding in the sea, and Charlotte Linlin did not dare to jump down to engage in close combat with Shirahoshi; otherwise, if suppressed by the seawater and besieged by a group of Sea Kings, this monster Queen would definitely not be able to hold out.

The battle between the two became one in the sky and one on the sea surface, firing long-range moves at each other, yet unable to truly pose a threat to the other.

On Red Hair Shanks' side, the Pirate Empress Hancock stepped up to meet him; compared to Kaido of the Beasts and Charlotte Linlin, Shanks was a large notch behind in physical constitution and didn't even have any Devil Fruit abilities, but in terms of Haki, he could be called the number one person among Pirates.

At least the application method of Conqueror's Haki known as Observation Killer was something Kaido of the Beasts simply did not know, let alone Charlotte Linlin; judging from his performance in One Piece, Shanks' Observation Haki ability to foresee the future was also much stronger than the other Four Emperors.

And as the Pirate Empress of Nine Snake Island, although Hancock's Haki level was not bad, it was definitely not a match for Shanks; being able to achieve Conqueror's Haki Infusion was already her limit, and she could not perform higher-level applications.

However, besides Haki, Hancock herself possessed two complementary Devil Fruit abilities: the Love-Love Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit; as the most beautiful woman in the One Piece World, the Faith Power gathered on her was also not small.

Therefore, whether it was the rule-based Love-Love Fruit or the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which concerned fundamental force, they had both been developed by her to a terrifying degree; if not for the limitations of her own physique and stamina, Hancock's Devil Fruit ability would definitely be ten times more terrifying than Whitebeard's! "Pirate Empress... I didn't expect my opponent to be you!"

Shanks wore a smile on his face, looking polite and refined; behind him, the Red Hair Pirates lined up, their massive aura surging into the clouds.

The Red Hair Pirates were once known as the Iron Wall Pirates and were the most balanced in strength among all pirate crews; one can imagine the strength of these officers of the Red Hair Pirates who could be "balanced in strength" with Red Hair Shanks.

It could be said that the strength of just Red Hair Shanks and his dozen or so pirates was enough to rival large pirate crews with thousands of members, such as the Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, and the Charlotte Pirates.

"What, Shanks, are you planning to come at me all together?"

Hancock looked at the members of the Red Hair Pirates and frowned slightly; don't let Hancock's pride fool you, she was actually very self-aware—she didn't know if she could win against Red Hair Shanks alone, let alone against the entire Red Hair Pirates.

"That certainly won't be necessary... how about we two settle this one-on-one?"

Shanks stepped onto the bow, a smile on his lips, speaking in a seemingly heroic manner.

In reality, although Shanks was not exactly a heinous villain, as a pirate, he was clearly not a pedantic person; the fact that he could come to participate in this pirate alliance showed that he was definitely not a fool who believed in one-on-one duels.

The reason he was willing to have a one-on-one duel with Hancock in this battle was because he knew very well that when it came to numbers, they were not the ones with the upper hand.

Don't forget that Uchiha Feiyu and the others were still staying on the giant Sea King in the back! With such a great god backing them up, if they really broke the rules, the ones to suffer would definitely be the Red Hair Pirates. In this situation, a duel was actually more favorable for Shanks; if he could take the opportunity to defeat Hancock, it would count as significantly reducing the strength of Uchiha Feiyu's side.

"Heh, since that's the case, then come!"

Hancock leaped from the deck of the ship and jumped onto the back of a turtle Sea King hundreds of meters long, a proud and provocative smile on her face as she beckoned to Shanks.

Shanks also leaped onto the back of the Sea King, his smile quite sincere, and he didn't feel provoked at all: "Pirate Empress, is it? Was that the Tremor-Tremor Fruit of the old senior Whitebeard you used just now? I remember you used to be a Love-Love Fruit user, right?"

"Hehehe, trying to gather intelligence? Then I'll tell you: I am now a dual-fruit user! Whether it's the Love-Love Fruit or the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, both are now my power!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Hancock kicked out, her beautiful jade leg wreathed in dense Haki and pink and white light, kicking straight at Shanks' head.

The western sword, carrying tiny black lightning, blocked Hancock's kick, but the vibration power carried by Hancock's foot also made Shanks retreat repeatedly.

"What a terrifying attack power! My hand feels like it's going numb."

Shanks shook the western sword in his hand, looking somewhat troubled, but his actual performance remained very relaxed: "It seems I'll have to get serious now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the western sword slashed out a Flying Slash that tore the sky and split the earth; Hancock was caught off guard and was blasted away.

"Cough, cough... Damn it, there wasn't the slightest sign from my Observation Haki; is this the ability known as Observation Killer?"

Falling onto the back of another Sea King, Hancock wiped the blood from her wound and climbed up, a hint of annoyance in her eyes; for top-tier powerhouses on the sea, they rarely used their eyes and ears in battle, relying more on their Observation Haki to predict attacks.

Shanks' Observation Killer undoubtedly directly sealed the power of Observation Haki, which was no different from blocking an opponent's eyes before a fight, causing huge trouble for Hancock, who was fighting him for the first time.

However, Hancock was not without advantages; the beyond-Awakening-level Love-Love Fruit was activated instantly, and the Sea King beneath her feet and the endless sea instantly turned a gray-white color; rocky islands appeared on the endless sea—that was the result of being completely petrified by the Love-Love Fruit.

The strange petrification power spread out, directly creating rocky islands on the sea, and the pink light did not stop until it reached Shanks' feet, where it was blocked by pitch-black Haki.

"This is the fruit ability of the Love-Love Fruit..."

Shanks' relaxed expression gradually faded; he realized that he seemed to have underestimated this Pirate Empress—she was not just a lucky person who had obtained Conqueror's Haki Infusion and dual-fruit abilities and barely stepped into the top tier of the sea, but a sea monster who had developed her fruit ability to an incredible degree!

The Love-Love Fruit was originally exclusive to bullying the weak, but in her hands, it had completely turned into a large-scale petrification ability, and even he had to treat it seriously—rule-based abilities were always unreasonable; no matter what level of powerhouse, once hit, there was a possibility of being killed instantly.

Although a large amount of Haki could interfere with Devil Fruit abilities, the consumption of Haki to counteract a Devil Fruit ability developed to this level was extremely severe; even though Shanks was the one among the Four Emperors famous for his Three-Color Haki, he felt some strain when counteracting the petrification ability.

But then, an even more terrifying blow arrived; a white ball of light emitting terrifying vibration power struck instantly, and the stone islands and the sea were shaking crazily in an instant, as if being held in the hands of a giant and shaken.

Just the leaked vibration had such terrifying power; it was hard to imagine how terrifying the real vibration ball of light was. Shanks' face was tense, and his western sword, Gryphon, was instantly wreathed in black lightning, colliding directly with the ball of light.

Following a sky-collapsing and earth-shattering shake, waves hundreds of meters high were whipped up on the sea again; the Sea Kings floating on the entire ocean fled frantically, but some Sea Kings that were too close were still affected by the vibration and directly turned into a mist of blood.

The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was not like the Love-Love Fruit, which belonged to rule-based Devil Fruits, but while it sacrificed that kind of one-hit-kill bizarre ability, the vibration power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit could not be forcibly offset or extinguished by Haki; it could only be met head-on with Haki.

With a loud boom, Shanks was sent flying backward; even with his strength, facing such a powerful vibration ability, he could not remain unscathed—being able to be sent flying was already not easy, as the true damage brought by the vibration power was not so easy to dissipate.

If he had stood still like a post and taken this vibration move completely, even with Shanks' physique, he would have had to vomit three liters of blood and suffer serious injuries.

As for now, Shanks climbed up and wiped his mouth: "An attack power even more terrifying than that old senior Whitebeard... this is really hard to deal with! This Pirate Empress is actually able to develop the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to this extent; isn't that a bit too unreasonable!"

"This level has already surpassed the Devil Fruit Ability of that old man Whitebeard back then. In such a short time, how on earth did she develop her Devil Fruit to this level?"

Although Shanks was completely baffled, as a Pirate with a big heart, he did not overthink it; instead, he swung the western sword in his hand without hesitation, and countless crescent-like Flying Slash attacks instantly slashed toward Hancock.

Whether it was Hancock or Shanks, both were the type of existences whose attack power far exceeded their defensive power, and because of this, the battle between the two was even more spectacular.

Shanks did not have the Undying Body of Kaido or the Iron Balloon physique of Charlotte Linlin, and in terms of physique, he was also far behind Whitebeard—being able to have an arm bitten off by a Sea King, even if there were intentional factors involved, his physical constitution was still far worse than the other Four Emperors.

If it were any other of the Four Emperors, even without any defense, they would be able to snap the teeth of a Sea King.

As for Hancock, her physique was also ordinary; even though Uchiha Feiyu had strengthened her, it was definitely not comparable to Charlotte Linlin or Kaido, and while it was certainly much stronger than Shanks, in a battle of this level, this slight strengthening of physical defense could not withstand Shanks's Armament Haki at all.

Therefore, when facing attacks, both of them mainly relied on dodging; Shanks had Observation Killer, while Hancock's Devil Fruit belonged to the large-area damage type, so the battle between the two was basically a contest between an assassin and a mage.

(End of this chapter)