Chapter 330: A Careless Defeat

The voice fell.

Galin's expression darkened slightly.

Seeing Im's evaluation of Gao Wen, an ominous premonition stirred vaguely in his heart, yet he could not say exactly why.

He drew a deep breath, and only then did his mood settle with some difficulty.

In any case, as an Ability User, once he sank into the sea, there was absolutely no possibility of escaping on his own.

What awaited Gao Wen was nothing but the single outcome of waiting to die in the seawater.

And neither Xia Mu Luo Ke nor the old woman would possibly allow Gao Wen's subordinates to come to his rescue.

What lay before Gao Wen was already a situation of certain death.

At this thought, Galin's heart steadied somewhat.

Especially when he swept his gaze around and noticed the looks in the eyes of the Five Elder Stars and the others, he felt all the more reassured.

As the current Commander of the Knights of God, his standing ranked only below Im and the Five Elder Stars, and in a certain sense, was on equal footing with the Five Elder Stars.

Only that the Five Elder Stars were the ones who openly ruled the world, while the Knights of God answered only to Im.

"Wait for news."

"Perhaps something interesting will happen, who knows."

Accompanying his words, two wings like a bat's unfurled from Im's shoulders, and the smile at the corner of his mouth grew unmistakably broad.

The few below the throne exchanged a glance, then stood respectfully to one side, waiting together with Im.

……

A few minutes earlier.

Britannia.

The forest sea stretched without end.

Wrapped all over in white bone, having entered his Second Bone form, Ajin, along with Lord Tai Zuo Luo and Dai Si, ran for their very lives, leaving behind a dragon-like trail of dust.

This kind of flight had already gone on for half a month.

Yet the figure in the clouds clung to them like a maggot on bone and could not be shaken off.

"This can't go on!"

"That guy holds the aerial advantage, and with the so-called absolute defense of the Door-Door Fruit, it's only a matter of time before he catches up to us!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo looked at the figure in the clouds drawing ever closer, his heart gripped by an urgent sense of peril.

During this period, they had not failed to try joining forces to engage the Sky Knight Bevir, but unable to crack the opponent's Door-Door Fruit ability, they had been beaten into fleeing with their hands over their heads.

But now there was no longer any room to retreat.

Lord Tai Zuo Luo knew clearly that whether it was himself or Ajin, their stamina was gradually approaching its limit, and they could no longer bear any longer a drain.

If they wanted to escape, there was only one way: a fight to the death!

At this thought, a touch of madness had already crept into Lord Tai Zuo Luo's heart.

Yet that touch of madness was, in the very next instant, crushed ruthlessly by Ajin.

"It's useless!"

"By the combat rating standard the Captain set, I'm roughly at mid-Gold; if you had enough Gold power to sustain it, you might be stronger than me, but reaching upper-Gold would already be the absolute ceiling."

"And that guy… has probably already reached the limit of Gold; even if we joined forces, we wouldn't be his match!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo's breath caught; however unwilling, he had to admit there was not the slightest flaw in what Ajin said.

"Then what do we do?"

Ajin raised his eyes toward the distance and said:

"Yesterday, I already received word that the Captain has entered Britannia's territory; the spot where he crossed in is roughly the direction we're heading now!"

"All we can do right now is hold on!"

"Hold on until we're in front of that man, and everything will be fine!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo was taken aback; glancing at Bevir pursuing them from the clouds, a chill of dread still lingered in his heart:

"Does that man really have that kind of strength?!"

"He does!"

Ajin's words, delivered with absolute certainty, made a nameless thread of confidence rise up in Lord Tai Zuo Luo.

Yet at this very moment.

Screech—!

In a piercing sound of tearing air, a sword qi shot down from the sky, landing before Ajin in an attempt to cut off his path forward.

Yet unexpectedly, Ajin paid it no heed at all, taking the slash head-on; the bone-formed upper half of his body was split open, wounding the true body hidden within.

Threads of fresh blood ran down Ajin's frame, yet not a flicker of wavering showed in his eyes; if anything, his steps quickened still further!

Clack! Clack! Clack!

The sound of the bone hooves grew more urgent.

At some unknown moment, the figure hidden in the clouds had already vanished without a trace.

The killing intent behind them, vague as it had been, also vanished completely into nothingness.

"Are we saved?!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo let out a long breath.

When he turned to look back, he saw that Ajin's shoulders and back were already soaked with fresh blood.

"You…"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo could not help being moved.

"This debt of gratitude, I've noted it down."

"Don't talk about those trivial things."

A Jin shook his head, appearing completely indifferent; such matters were not enough to weigh on his mind.

"It is not yet safe."

A Jin activated Life Return, controlling the muscles on his body to seal the bleeding wounds.

At the same time, he could not help but turn back, looking at the figure that had vanished into the clouds, feeling an inexplicable unease in his heart:

"That guy was almost about to succeed; why would he choose to give up at a time like this?!"

"Wait—!"

Dai Si, standing nearby, could not help but let out a cry of shock, raising a finger to point toward the end of his line of sight, his eyes somewhat dazed.

Vaguely, a roar full of viciousness entered the ears of the three present.

"Ba Hai!"

Immediately, a pillar of light struck the sea surface; the surging air wave suddenly exploded, uprooting nearby giant trees and leaving only bare ground behind.

"Damn!"

A Jin cursed, finally realizing where his unease had come from.

With danger ahead, he could only activate his ability once more.

Soon, flowing white bones constructed an outer shell, enveloping the three of them to withstand the impending impact!

The next instant—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Sonic noise, the heavens and earth roared!

The three felt their eardrums hum, then could hear nothing at all.

The earth almost boiled at that moment; the flowing soil layers were like a tide, crashing against A Jin's bone armor.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of shattering continued incessantly; A Jin ignored his wounds splitting open, fully exerting the power of the Bone-Bone Fruit, layer upon layer stacking up, yet layer upon layer shattering...

Finally, just as A Jin was about to be unable to hold on, the commotion outside finally ceased.

He let out a long breath; his entire body was almost soaked with sweat.

The bones all around slowly cracked open.

Sunlight streamed in, falling on Lord Tai Zuo Luo's somewhat pale face:

"What exactly happened?!"

"Some kind of destructive weapon undergoing a test?!"

A Jin licked his lips and spoke to deny it:

"I'm afraid not."

"It must be the Captain, engaging an enemy; the resulting aftershocks."

Lord Tai Zuo Luo glanced around; the trees within a range of nearly ten kilometers had all been flattened by the aftershocks of that strike.

The ground was covered with cracks, and groundwater gushed out from them, winding into streams.

The terrain in this vicinity had been almost completely rewritten.

"You call this... aftershocks?!"

"The Captain you speak of, just how strong is he? And what kind of existence is he fighting?!"

"One of the Four Emperors? An Admiral?!"

The first thing that came to Lord Tai Zuo Luo's mind were such existences. He had seen Navy Admirals strike before; the commotion they caused was, at most, comparable to the scene before his eyes.

But such existences invariably established their own kingdoms; for one to appear here, in Britannias, was almost an impossible thing.

While pondering, Lord Tai Zuo Luo turned to look at A Jin, seeing only the proud smile on A Jin's face:

"The Captain... is invincible!"

"Let's go."

"Didn't you say you would fund his rise to the position of a Four Emperor?!"

"Then use your own eyes to see whether he truly has such qualification!"

"That move just now, named Ba Hai; if I am not mistaken, the user should be Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors."

"In other words, this is a battle between Four Emperors."

"A Four Emperor? No, Big Mom possesses the Whole Cake Country; it is impossible, and there is no reason for her to appear in Britannias..."

Lord Tai Zuo Luo's voice gradually grew quieter.

This was because he suddenly remembered a piece of intelligence he had heard from Bacala before setting out.

A few months ago, after the great battle in Water Seven, the Four Emperor Big Mom had not appeared again; she was suspected to have died in battle.

It matched!

Lord Tai Zuo Luo's pupils suddenly contracted.

He could not help but look up into the distance, gazing toward the far-off place, striving to see the scene of the battle clearly.

But unexpectedly, the battle in the distance gradually calmed down at this very moment.

Silence reigned between heaven and earth; only the sound of the wind continued to howl.

"Has the battle ended?!"

"Who is the victor?!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo grew even more curious.

He wanted even more to see personally who this man was, one who could clash with a Four Emperor!

His heartbeat grew faster and faster.

A face of extreme youth suddenly flashed through his mind.

Golden short hair, handsome features, an innate aura of power; domineering yet not frightening, but inspiring awe!

Awe from the bottom of the heart!

Knight Gao Wen?!

No!

Such a coincidence is impossible.

That fellow should have just entered the New World not long ago, still wandering the various seas; he should not appear in Britannias.

At least, he should not appear in Britannias as it is now.

With this thought, Lord Tai Zuo Luo felt even greater urgency in his heart.

He had already decided to fund the future king of this world!

First, there was the debt of gratitude to Akin; second, the Huang Jincheng had now reached an extremely perilous state.

Perhaps even a trivial mistake would be enough to plunge it into an abyss of eternal damnation.

He needed sufficient military might to support it.

Warlord-level combat power was no longer enough; only a Yonko-level power had the qualification to speak of sheltering the Huang Jincheng.

"Let's go!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo took a step; liquid gold flowed from his pocket, slowly spreading out to form the shape of a skateboard, then Lord Tai Zuo Luo leaped onto the golden skateboard.

Dai Si immediately followed.

Akin opened his mouth, intending to reveal his own identity and that of his captain here, but seeing Lord Tai Zuo Luo's urgency, he shelved the thought.

The core battlefield was not far from here; at most a few minutes, and they could arrive.

By then, they would meet.

Whoosh—!

The golden skateboard sped forward, shooting toward the core of the battlefield, vanishing into the air in an instant.

At this very moment, the giant eagle hidden in the clouds slowly revealed itself.

Bevil, riding on the eagle's back, gazed at the distant battlefield; his eyes held an indescribable sense of dread, yet also a glimmer of hope:

"The group that fought the Knights of God outside the borders of Britannias?!"

"Such combat power is far more terrifying than what was seen last time."

"In the outside world, they are called Gao Wen's group, right?!"

"Undoubtedly, the leader, Gao Wen, has combat power that surpasses Arthur, even exceeding my imagination."

"What a pity."

"Once a Devil Fruit user falls into seawater, no matter how strong their power, they cannot escape death."

Bevil turned to look toward Avalon; in his eyes were anger and guilt, but above all, reluctance and fear.

He watched Akin's group disappear, tugged slightly at the reins in his hand, and the giant eagle spread its wings, flying toward Avalon.

The battlefield.

The wind and waves gradually subsided; the sea surface returned to its usual tranquility, with waves rising and falling.

Only the coastline, stripped almost bare of its skin, testified to just how terrifying the destructive power of that single strike had been.

This was nearly the strongest attack Big Mom had ever used in her life.

Most of the souls accumulated within her body were consumed; Napoleon was listless, and even her own lifespan had been depleted by at least ten years, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepening significantly.

"Monster!"

Big Mom breathed heavily, looking at the spot where Gao Wen had disappeared with lingering fear.

She had encountered countless powerful enemies in her life, yet never expected anyone to be so difficult to deal with.

After all, even the members of the Knights of God, who were nearly immortal, could be suppressed to some extent by high-intensity Haki.

But the Red Dragon was different; as long as there was sufficient earth vein energy for attack, even wounds caused by Conqueror's Haki could heal instantly.

Moreover, Gao Wen was currently the world's greatest swordsman.

And the man he had defeated was named Hawk Eye.

The weight of this achievement was no less than directly defeating a Yonko!

"Fortunately, the final winner is me!"

"Mommy~ Mommy~"

A slightly light laughter came from Big Mom's mouth.

It had been a long time since she had wanted to laugh heartily like this.

The deep-seated hatred from Water Seven back then had finally been avenged!

Xia Mu Luo Ke, standing nearby, also felt a sense of relief; he raised his hand, looking at the long sword Cerberus in his grip, which was covered in notches, and felt a similar sense of post-fight fear in his heart.

"I have fought many strong ones, yet none could compare to you."

"However, you have ultimately been defeated, defeated by your own carelessness, defeated by your own..."

Splash—!

The sound of water droplets hitting the ground entered Xia Mu Luo Ke's ears.

"Hm?!"

Xia Mu Luo Ke felt a chill on his right arm; he instinctively raised his hand, only to discover that his right arm had broken off at the elbow at some unknown time.

Blood sprayed, splashing all over the ground!

"Hngh—!"

Xia Mu Luo Ke let out a muffled groan, his face deathly pale; he staggered back several steps, then forced himself to endure the excruciating pain and look up into the distance, his pupils contracting sharply!

For standing right before him was Gao Wen, soaked to the bone, looking at him with a faint, ambiguous smile.

"This is impossible! Once an ability user touches water, they lose all strength—this is an absolute rule that no one can change!"

The only response he received was Gao Wen's contemptuous laughter:

"The strong forge their own path; only the mediocre say it's impossible!"

Swish—!

Gao Wen swung his blade, vaporizing the blood on its surface; in an instant, he reverted to his Demon Form once more, and the scattered pressure surged! Skyrocketed! Exploded!

This wild, domineering aura was like a deep ocean, devouring everything around them!

On the scene, only Xia Mu Luo Ke, chilled to the bone, and the old woman, so terrified she could barely breathe, remained.

For the sight before them had transcended the common logic of this world!

"Impossible!"

"This is absolutely impossible!"

The old woman was nearly hysterical:

"How can there be an ability user who falls into seawater yet remains completely unaffected?!"

(End of Chapter)