Chapter 218: Three Battles Against Keluo

Behind Keluo, a snow-white tail swayed lightly with the air currents surging around him.

Invisible wind pressure blew away the surrounding sand and dust; in just a few breaths, it stirred up a cloud of dust and smoke.

He raised his eyes to look at Xiang Gaowen, once again revealing that eager, eager-to-try look:

"The Kamaitachi Fruit fits my fighting style perfectly, pushing my speed far beyond what it once was."

"Right now, I really want to test just how big the gap between us truly is."

As he spoke.

Keluo couldn't help but stick out his tongue and lick his lips.

He was the executive who had followed Xiang Gaowen aboard the ship from the very beginning, witnessing Xiang Gaowen's nearly inhuman rate of growth all along the way.

Especially after witnessing Xiang Gaowen learn Shigan and the Six Styles one after another, Keluo became even more convinced that the man standing before him possessed talent beyond imagination.

What he understood even more clearly was this.

At least in the East Blue, the gap between Xiang Gaowen and himself had not originally reached this current state, where the end seemed nowhere in sight.

Nor could it give him the feeling of being utterly unable to resist, as he did now.

Originally, Keluo had already given up hope of catching up to Xiang Gaowen, but the appearance of the Kamaitachi Fruit brought him new hope.

The moment he first saw the Kamaitachi Fruit in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he had already determined that this was the fruit most suited to him, a fruit born for him alone.

An invisible whirlwind capable of cutting through everything.

How similar was this to when Keluo activated Shigan, indiscriminately attacking everything around him?

Although after he later awakened his Observation Haki, he could already freely control the direction of Shigan, it no longer carried the chilling sense of oppression it once did.

Fortunately.

With the acquisition of the Kamaitachi Fruit, everything would be resolved.

Thinking of this, Keluo's fingers trembled continuously.

The tail behind him and the surging air currents around him both spoke of the battle intent rising within his heart, nearly impossible to conceal.

The distance between us is finally beginning to shrink!

At this moment.

Keluo was utterly convinced of this, so much so that he couldn't help but begin to fantasize in his heart: could it be that he might truly surpass this man before him?

Will there be such a day?!

There absolutely will be!

Whoosh—!

Xiang Gaowen swung his blade, shattering the air blade shooting toward him, then looked up at Keluo, a slight smile curling the corner of his mouth:

"Let's get one thing straight first."

"The loser isn't allowed to cry!"

"Don't joke around!"

Just as Keluo's slightly helpless voice landed, he had already transformed into a Kamaitachi and rushed to kill before Xiang Gaowen.

Clang!

The Guanshi Zhengzong and the blades on the Kamaitachi's arms clashed hard in mid-air.

Scattered force poured down toward the ground, causing the earth beneath their feet to collapse nearly one meter right then and there; dust rose up, obscuring their figures.

The next instant.

A pure white figure flew backward out of the dust and smoke.

Hiss!

Keluo forcibly drove his claws into the soil, skidding nearly a hundred meters before barely stabilizing his stance.

His arms trembled uncontrollably from exhaustion, yet his eyes appeared exceptionally bright under the moonlight:

"Truly monstrous strength!"

"But if this is all you have, it won't take me long to catch up to you!"

"Strong?"

Xiang Gaowen slowly walked out from the dust and smoke, tilting his head to look at Keluo:

"This level is far from being called strong, and cannot compare to monsters like Shiki or Kizaru, who stand at the pinnacle."

"Whether it is you or me, there is still an indescribable distance between us and the pinnacle of this world."

"We..."

Xiang Gaowen once again recalled his suspicions regarding the Red Dragon.

This feeling of fate not being in one's own hands, of being led by the nose by someone or even some kind of will, made him instinctively feel displeased.

And to break all of this, there was only one method: one's own strength.

Strong enough to break free from all bonds and defeat every opponent; at that time, all schemes and plots would be nothing but clay dogs and tile chickens!

Xiang Gaowen deeply believed this, and even more so believed that he could achieve it.

"Still too insignificant."

"Weak?!"

The corner of Keluo's mouth twitched:

"You really don't know how to speak tactfully at all."

As he spoke.

Keluo's body underwent another change.

The sharp blades on his spine receded, while the blades on his arms became longer and thinner; invisible air currents churned around his feet, rendering his entire body semi-transparent.

The fur all over his body fluttered with the churning air currents, and combined with Keluo's faintly reddening eyes, he appeared all the more sinister.

"The hybrid form?"

Xiang Gaowen stood in the distance, quietly watching Xiang Keluo's transformation.

The three most basic forms of Zoan-type users.

Namely, the human form dominated by humanity, the beast form dominated by animality, and the hybrid form which combines the advantages of both and is the strongest.

But beyond these, there are also special forms developed by users themselves, such as Xiang Gaowen's Demon Form and Chopper's Seven-Stage Transformation achieved through Rumble Balls.

Recalling the increasing number of Zoan-type users in his team, Xiang Gaowen couldn't help but ponder whether the Demon Form could be popularized.

Pity.

This idea appeared in his mind for merely an instant before he abandoned it; it was not that Xiang Gaowen was unwilling, but the conditions were far too stringent.

To replicate the Demon Form, one must achieve one hundred percent control over the body, just like Xiang Gaowen.

Even the Six Styles' ultimate technique, Life Return, which claims perfect control over every cell, cannot accomplish this.

But this opened a new line of thought for Xiang Gaowen.

Xiang Keluo's fighting style already relies more on speed; if the Demon Form is unattainable, then the Paper Art Martial Body, which sacrifices part of the hybrid form's strength in exchange for even more transcendent speed, is undoubtedly a fighting form better suited to Xiang Keluo.

Even with the aid of Rumble Balls, achieving an effect identical to the Demon Form might not be impossible!

Thinking of this,

Xiang Gaowen couldn't help but remind him:

"You could try mastering all the Six Styles and developing an ability similar to Roubo Luqi's Paper Art Martial Body."

"That would fit your fighting style perfectly."

"Paper Art Martial Body?"

Xiang Keluo paused, silently committing Xiang Gaowen's words to memory, then shifted his attention back to the opponent before him:

"I understand."

"But for now, let me first see just how strong you truly are!"

"Xiang Gaowen... go all out!"

"Are you sure?!"

Xiang Gaowen flicked the long blade in his hand, and a greater seriousness appeared in his gaze as he looked at Xiang Keluo:

"You might die, you know."

"Certain!"

Xiang Keluo replied lightly, then once again rushed to kill Xiang Gaowen.

He stomped heavily, shattering the ground beneath his feet, and vanished from the air in an instant, his speed having risen yet another level compared to before!

During this period, he had devoted almost all his energy to studying the Six Styles, especially Soru, and naturally had gained something from it.

This current move was born from combining Soru with Shikou, a technique that instantly boosts speed and explodes into the enemy's face; its name is...

"Soru Momentum!"

Before the sound even faded,

the blades on Xiang Keluo's arms had already slashed toward Xiang Gaowen's body.

Hiss—!

The sharp edge sliced through the air, but Xiang Gaowen had long since vanished.

Just as Xiang Keluo felt confusion, an indescribably violent Haki erupted behind him, pressing down on him like a mountain until he could barely breathe.

Oh no!

Xiang Keluo whipped his head around, but before his eyes was only a silver glow that nearly obscured heaven and earth; it was Xiang Gaowen's blade.

The edge of Guanshi Zhengzong halted merely an inch before Xiang Keluo's eyes at the very last moment.

The erupted sword qi, however, struck behind him, nearly tearing the entire desert apart.

Boom—!

Howling gales whipped up the stray hairs on Xiang Keluo's forehead.

The pale moonlight fell upon Xiang Keluo's even paler face; in that single instant, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

"No matter how you put it..."

Xiang Keluo turned his head in a daze.

All that met his eyes was an exaggerated crack stretching to the very limit of his vision.

At this moment,

the wind in the desert grew more urgent and faster, whipping up sand and gravel that fell into that crack; within a few days at most, the sand and gravel would smooth over this fissure once more.

But the imprint carved into Xiang Keluo's heart would be difficult to erase.

"With such power... are you truly human? Or are you some kind of wild beast wearing human skin? No, a monster..."

Xiang Keluo's voice gradually faded.

In a sudden realization,

he became aware that the man standing before him had not gone undefeated.

On the contrary, Xiang Gaowen had lost, and not just once; he lost in the East Blue to Hawk-Eye, and at Rapeseed Port to Jin Shizi.

"Just what kind of monsters have you been fighting all this time?"

Xiang Gaowen remained silent, offering no response to Xiang Keluo's question, and merely said lightly:

"We are still very far from the pinnacle of this world."

"But to fight against such monsters, merely this level is not enough; far from enough."

"Tch—!"

Xiang Keluo snorted coldly, slowly reverting to his human form, his expression terrifyingly cold.

The slightest trace of arrogance born tonight from acquiring his ability was shattered into pieces by Xiang Gaowen at this very moment.

He also realized it at this time.

The gap between himself and Xiang Gaowen had indeed narrowed, but that slight boost in improvement held no substantive meaning in the face of such a colossal disparity.

It was like one's Dao Power rising from one hundred to two hundred, or even three hundred, while one's opponent stood at ten thousand, or even twenty thousand.

Compared to a gap as vast as a heavenly moat, the former's growth was completely meaningless.

"Truly..."

"Just what must I do to catch up to the pace of a monster like you?!"

Xiang Keluo could not help but let out a sigh, a sense of frustration indescribable in his heart.

"My rate of growth is still too slow."

"No!"

Xiang Gaowen shook his head:

"On the contrary, your rate of growth, especially after entering the Grand Line, is very fast—so fast that it completely exceeded my expectations."

Xiang Gaowen was speaking the truth.

In the short span of one year since rising from the East Blue, Xiang Keluo's immediate combat power had advanced from Bronze to Silver tier, and after consuming the Kamaitachi Devil Fruit, he should not be far from the Gold tier; Ah Jin and the others had likewise grown with astonishing speed.

While this was certainly aided by the Seven Warlords of the Sea trait, it was equally inseparable from their own efforts.

Continuously breaking through the upper limits of their own potential was the best proof.

Originally, in Xiang Gaowen's conception, Xiang Keluo's position within the pirate crew should have been closer to that of a strategist.

The true frontline fighters should instead have been Sanji and Zoro, with Ah Jin being similar.

That these two could achieve their current level truly far exceeded Xiang Gaowen's expectations.

Now both possessed Gold-tier potential, and having each consumed a Devil Fruit suited to them, their future combat power was guaranteed to be at least at the Seven Warlords of the Sea level, making them core fighting forces in any pirate crew.

"Heh~"

Xiang Keluo chuckled lightly, then simply lay down on the desert sand, feeling the dry wind and sand strike his face, allowing the unwillingness in his heart to brew until it finally transformed into a murmured whisper:

"I will ascend to the stage where you stand."

"I definitely will."

"I will wait for you."

At the same time.

The Grand Line.

A marine warship, following the ocean current straight down, advanced toward the direction of Alabasta.

Standing on the deck, Zephyr held a Den Den Mushi from which constantly came Sengoku's voice, furious and exasperated:

"Zephyr!"

"How much longer are you going to cause trouble?!"

"The matter in Alabasta has already been fully entrusted to Kizaru; what chaos are you adding to it?"

"I have already filed a transfer application for you; just come back and sign it. Cultivating the new generation at the Marine Academy is your—"!

Snap!

Zephyr hung up the phone, raised a hand to pick at his ear, completely unmoved.

Aokiji nearby twitched an eyebrow:

"Teacher Zephyr, is it really good to do this?!"

Watching Zephyr directly confront Sengoku, Aokiji could not help but feel some regret over why, back on the teaching building, he had momentarily lost his head and joined Zephyr in this recklessness.

Allowing the conflict between Zephyr and Sengoku to continue would inevitably affect the stability within the Marines.

With the New World currently in violent turmoil and the Four Emperors fighting incessantly, should any error occur within the Marines, the final result would likely be irretrievable.

This was precisely the issue worrying the current high command of the Marines.

"Hmph."

"You aren't exactly someone who follows the rules yourself, are you?"

Zephyr smiled faintly:

"Don't tell me you truly thought what you did back at Ohara was very concealed?"

"We few old folks all saw it clearly; even Sakazuki knows, it's just that no one pointed it out."

Aokiji immediately fell silent.

He turned to gaze at the distant sea, yet what floated before his eyes was that burning evacuation ship from Ohara.

After the Buster Call destroyed Ohara, Saul vanished without a trace; only Robin, whom Saul had risked his life to save, occasionally had news filter back.

He did not regret his decision back then.

Even now, he could not agree with Akainu's extreme approach of eliminating potential danger factors at all costs; justice should not be such an extremely radical existence.

Yet Aokiji remained confused, uncertain whether his actions back then were right or wrong, and thus, over these years, he had been observing Robin's every move.

But all he saw were scene after scene of Robin being constantly betrayed, and constantly betraying others in turn.

Several years ago, Robin's whereabouts disappeared from the Grand Line, the location being precisely Alabasta.

"If that truly was a mistake, I will handle it personally."

"Well~"

Zephyr smiled faintly:

"I do not believe that was a mistake."

"A Fleet Admiral with compassion—no, a Fleet Admiral with compassion—is far more trustworthy than an extreme and radical man."

"If Sengoku ultimately hands the position of Fleet Admiral to Sakazuki, given his nature, he will only make the situation more chaotic, even to a point we would not wish to see."

(End of Chapter)