Chapter 27: Deadly Duel! Kelo vs. Jin!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
……
Barely blocking Kelo’s relentless assaults, Jin’s body, despite the protective staffs, gradually bore more and more wounds.
Blood flowed freely, as if he were being flayed alive.
Kelo’s voice still echoed intermittently around him.
“I’ll peel off every scrap of flesh from your body until you bleed out and die!”
In his fury, Kelo no longer wore his former gloomy, cold expression—his face was twisted with savagery.
In this increasingly bloody scene, he felt an unprecedented exhilaration, as if his very soul trembled.
At this moment, he only wanted to flay this opponent alive!
Jin remained silent; amid the accelerating assaults, he gradually realized the core flaw in Kelo’s technique:
“His vision is restricted, and his hearing is completely drowned out by the sonic booms of his high-speed movement.”
“At this speed, even you can’t control your own body, can you?”
“The claw marks on the ground and the fallen bodies around you are the best proof—this is nothing but a blind, indiscriminate attack.”
The more he spoke,
the brighter Jin’s eyes became:
“You’re strong—far stronger than me—but compared to Captain Krik, no, to the killing machines he created, the gap is like that between beings of two different dimensions!”
“Kelo!”
“You will lose for sure! We will win!”
As he spoke, Jin swung his iron staff horizontally—it clashed directly with Kelo’s claw-blade, sparks flying through the air.
“You…”
Claw-blade met iron staff; the two locked in a struggle of strength.
Kelo clearly held the upper hand, pinning Jin down tightly—but the shock in his eyes was beyond words:
“Besides that man, how is it possible someone else has broken Shao Si?!”
“Ah.”
Jin’s lips curled into a cruel smile:
“You must be terrified of death—that’s why you created a technique that sacrifices your own senses just to crush your enemy with speed.”
“But combat is a matter of life and death—how can you win without gambling?”
“If you can’t sense anything, then leave everything to luck!”
“Intuition will tell you where your enemy will strike!”
In the next instant,
Kelo’s figure vanished from the air—Shao Si pushed to its absolute limit, his shoes melting from the heat, becoming sticky.
Kelo discarded his shoes entirely, chasing even greater speed!
Faster!
Faster!
Faster!
Faster than imaginable, swift as wind and lightning—so fast the opponent had no time to think!
On top of Kelo’s surging speed, Shao Si, already impossibly fast, shattered into an entirely new dimension.
Around him, a wind of death swept through—his ten claw-tips glowed crimson from the speed!
“Let’s gamble—whose luck will prevail, yours or my Shao Si?!”
Kelo’s battle lust surged higher; in his high-speed motion, his back arched like a predatory cat tensing its shoulders, his entire body leaning forward drastically—only this posture let him barely maintain balance.
His five fingers spread wide, maximizing his killing range.
Kelo’s face grew even more savage; Jin’s face remained calm.
In the blink of an eye,
Jin’s already mangled body was covered in countless new wounds—blood sprayed everywhere, the horror making those nearby dare not look.
“Looks like your luck’s running out!”
Kelo’s ethereal voice echoed again through the air.
“Here!”
Jin’s tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open—a strange feeling rose within him.
No reason, no logic, no cause—but I just know you’ll strike from here!
This near-precognitive instinct made Jin instinctively swing his twin staffs.
The spherical ends of his iron staffs, carrying enough force to split mountains and shatter rocks, struck Kelo’s chest and abdomen directly—BOOM!
Kelo, mid-movement, froze instantly—launched backward like a cannonball, smashing clean through the harbor’s outer wall and burying himself under falling rubble.
“Is it… finally over?!”
Jin gasped for breath, huge gulps of air.
Now that the adrenaline faded, he felt searing pain in every inch of his skin.
Jin stared at the distant ruins, his face etched with lingering dread.
Though this battle lasted only moments, it was the most perilous he had ever faced in his life.
Kelo was simply too fast—faster than any human should be. Had his technique not had this uncontrollable flaw, ten Jins wouldn’t have been enough.
“Looks like luck favored me this time!”
As Jin turned to leave, a piercing sound erupted again from the ruins…
Ssshh!
Five claw marks appeared, slicing through the boulders pinning him—Kelo staggered to his feet, one arm hanging limp, his chest burning with agony.
!
His body had reached its limit—but Kelo’s gaze toward Jin burned with startling intensity:
“Aren’t you curious?”
“How you sensed my attack like a premonition?!”
“I never thought I’d witness such a thing before entering the Grand Line—I’d never even felt it myself—but I’m certain!”
“Observation Haki!”
“Now I understand why even that monster Gao Wen looked so stunned when he spoke of this ability.”
“The advantage of reading an opponent’s attack… is too great!”
“Hehehehehehe~”
Kelo raised his hand, pushed his glasses back, his face twisted into a near-maniacal grin—he was ecstatic!
“He didn’t lie to me! He really didn’t lie!”
“I just never faced enough pressure to awaken this power hidden within me—but now it’s different. We’re equals!”
“One arm broken, over six ribs shattered by your strike, internal organs damaged to varying degrees.”
“Now… this is a fight to the death. I might die—but are you ready?”
“Monster!”
Jin sucked in a sharp breath, his face filled with utter terror:
“You’re still going to fight?!”
“Ah~”
Kelo licked his lips, the metallic taste of blood coating his tongue—he took one step forward, then another, his body trembling with every movement.
Each step left a bloody imprint on the ground.
Life or death?
He no longer cared.
A peaceful life?
It seemed meaningless now.
Only now did he truly see his own face, understand why he’d once abandoned his pirate identity—the answer was simple:
Boredom!
This dull world, the weakest of the Eastern Seas, had long since stolen any desire he had to draw his sword.
Even former opponents far stronger than him had seemed no longer unbeatable against his flawless mind.
Until he met Gao Wen—only in that battle did he feel excitement again, his soul trembling with it!
“I really am a thoroughly irredeemable villain!”
“Only combat, only pain, only bloodshed can bring me a sliver of solace in this endless, empty life!”
“Hehehehehehe—!”
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
