Chapter 14: Scoop Death, Tekkai, and Rommel's Kamaitachi

"I don't believe it!"

Xiang Keluo gritted his teeth, swallowed the taste of blood in his mouth, and launched the Scoop Death technique again. His entire body turned into a phantom and vanished into the air.

Although the speed of the Spoon was fast, among the powerful figures he had fought before, some had been able to keep up with the Spoon's speed.

But Scoop Death was different.

To achieve that exaggerated speed, he had even abandoned his perception, trading indiscriminate attacks for a speed more than double that of the Spoon.

"Humans cannot keep up with this speed!"

Xiang Keluo's voice, now distant and now near, came through the air again.

The ferocious claw knives launched indiscriminate attacks once more. From the mast to the deck railing, everything within sight was being added with cut marks at super-fast speeds.

In his rage, Xiang Keluo's speed was even a third faster than before!

Yet in his blurred vision, the figure standing in the center of the deck remained as immovable as a mountain, emitting an invisible pressure merely by existing.

"With this strike, you will not die!"

"I will die!"

Xiang Keluo gritted his teeth, crossed his arms to protect his face, and spread his sharp claw knives at his sides. The blades tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek.

"Scoop Death - Ghost Weeping!"

The words fell.

Xiang Keluo turned into a streak of light and charged at Gao Wen. He barely raised his head, barely opened his eyes, and looked at Gao Wen in the distance, but his blurred vision met a pair of eyes devoid of any emotion...

He really saw it!

The instant this thought arose in his mind, Xiang Keluo felt a chill run down his spine. Immediately, Gao Wen's indifferent voice suddenly appeared in his ears:

"Xiang Keluo, the limit of humans is much higher than you think!"

The words fell.

A silver-white light rapidly expanded in Xiang Keluo's vision. In an instant, he realized that Gao Wen had simply placed his sword on his inevitable path.

But in the Scoop Death state, he had almost completely lost control of his body, able only to barely perceive the enemy's position and control the general direction.

At this distance... there is no dodging!

I will be cut in half at the waist!

In this moment, Xiang Keluo recalled the horrific scenes of the enemies he had once killed, and his heart actually calmed down. Or rather, he had foreseen this day ever since he killed his former captain to seize his position.

Only now did he truly realize that when he felt tired of the pirate life, he was already old.

And pirates do not age; they only die!

"Qie—!"

The next instant.

Xiang Keluo crashed directly into it, but the chilling sensation of his body being severed as expected did not come. Instead, only a large hand with distinct knuckles pressed firmly against his chest.

"Keh!"

Xiang Keluo coughed up another mouthful of blood. Although he avoided being cut in half at the waist, being forcibly stopped at such a speed was no different from being hit by a cannonball.

At least five ribs were broken, and his internal organs suffered varying degrees of damage. Breathing felt like fire burning in his chest.

Da!

A long sword pressed against Xiang Keluo's shoulder. The blade had curled and even shattered during the fierce fight just now, but the person holding the sword inspired even greater awe.

"The East Sea is too small; it cannot hold you, nor can it hold me."

"Become my second-in-command, Xiang Keluo."

Gao Wen spoke again to recruit him; he truly wanted to take the man before him under his wing.

Even without discussing potential, the evaluation that Xiang Keluo's intelligence was second in the world made him a top-tier strategist, and besides, Xiang Keluo's potential was also impressive.

A screen invisible to everyone else unfolded before Gao Wen's eyes:

【Name - Xiang Keluo】

【Potential - Bronze】

【Rating - Iron: Possesses extremely outstanding talent in footwork, unfortunately, his physical talent holds him back, but Iron is not his limit!】

Yes.

Xiang Keluo was the only existence Gao Wen had seen so far, besides himself, whose potential surpassed Iron.

According to the system's evaluation standards, if a Bronze-level talent were developed to its limit, one could reach the threshold of a general in the Navy, and among pirates, one would be a figure with a bounty over a hundred million, capable of serving as an executive of a major faction.

Besides, Gao Wen was also very interested in Xiang Keluo's footwork technique named Scoop Death.

Some had compared this footwork to the Navy's Six Powers' Tekkai, but in Gao Wen's view, the two were completely incomparable.

To use an inappropriate analogy, Tekkai is a blink, while Scoop Death is acceleration.

The principle of Tekkai is to strike the ground ten or even dozens of times in a short period to exchange for super-strong explosive speed.

The Spoon, however, can maintain a super-high-speed state continuously, but it possesses the flaw of being uncontrollable.

This skill bears great similarity to Cavendish's second personality, the White Horse known as Rommel's Kamaitachi.

Both possess speeds exceeding normal human strength and both have their own limitations, but obviously, the upper limit of Scoop Death is higher.

After all, as long as the perception problem during high-speed movement is solved, all the final flaws of Scoop Death will be fixed, and Gao Wen happens to know the method.

"Heh."

Xiang Keluo chuckled lightly, and a look of relief appeared on his face instead:

"So this is my end? It's truly ugly~"

"Hahahaha~"

The hoarse laughter echoed over the sea surface.

The members of the Black Cat Pirates who had just escaped disaster slowly returned to the deck, but the scene before their eyes was completely the opposite of what they had imagined.

Xiang Keluo knelt half on the ground, grinning widely, facing death with calm acceptance after defeat.

Gao Wen looked down from above, a hint of regret in his eyes.

"The Spoon Death was broken? How is that possible? The speed of that move—how could anyone keep up with it?"

Sam spat out a string of questions; if not for the wounds on his body still throbbing faintly, he would have taken all of this as a dream.

But seeing Xiang Keluo kneeling half on the deck, all his questions now had answers.

"Knight Gao Wen, I have heard this name before; the bounty is only eight million. How can he be so strong?"

Bu Zhi slowly stood up and asked in confusion.

A sea breeze blew past, bringing a chill while whipping a wanted poster onto Bu Zhi's face.

He snatched it down, glanced at it, and his body shuddered violently; his speech began to stutter:

"F-f-f-four, forty-eight million?"

"What forty-eight million?"

Sam stuck his head over, saw the number on the wanted poster, matched the photo with Gao Wen in the distance, and felt a chill run down his spine:

"Knight Gao Wen, the bounty... forty-eight million Beli? Isn't Arlong the highest-bountied in the East Blue? When did such a big shot appear?"

"I..."

But just then, Gao Wen's gaze swept over.

The cat brothers did not hesitate for a second; they raised both hands high and announced their surrender.

Even to show they posed no threat, they removed the cat-claw weapons from their hands as well.

"We surrender!"

"Captain Gao Wen, we have some influence in the East Blue; we are valuable to you!"

Gao Wen did not reply; instead, he turned his head to look at Xiang Keluo and said coolly:

"That hypnotist named Zango has also surrendered; in fact, your intelligence was revealed to me by him."

"Xiang Keluo, you no longer have a chance to turn the tables."

(End of this chapter)