Chapter 346: The King Who Ends Everything!

The voice landed, and the wind around them surged once more, blowing the flames burning within Avalon City into constant flickering!

Xiang Keluo's figure dissipated into the air again, sweeping across the earth in an instant, closing the distance with Jeanne, his long tail lashing out with an extremely sharp slash that could only leave a few scratches on the white dragon's feathers.

"It's useless!"

"My feathers have gradually adapted to your slashes!"

"The more continuous and dense the attacks, the stronger I become!"

Whoosh—!

The dragon tail swept horizontally, flattening the surrounding buildings; Jeanne simply dropped her defense, taking the full force of Xiang Keluo's slashes.

Sparks flew everywhere on the feathers!

The sounds of collision merged into one continuous roar, dense as raindrops, yet ultimately unable to shake the massive figure standing at the center of Avalon.

The exchange just now had been sufficient for him to test the upper limits of Xiang Keluo's abilities; such attacks had already lost all meaning to her.

Even though he was far inferior to herself, the combat power Xiang Keluo displayed could be called top-tier even on this vast sea.

To establish her own kingdom, or even strike at Mary Geoise and replace Im to become the ruler of this world, relying solely on her own power was impossible!

Jeanne had her sights on Xiang Keluo.

No!

Not just Xiang Keluo; Gao Wen's group fleeing in the distance, and even Gao Wen himself as the captain, had all caught her eye.

A captain with a record of directly defeating the combined forces of a Yonko and the head of the God Knights, a vice-captain whose combat power approached that of a Yonko, plus a crew of elite members.

Combining Gao Wen's group's combat power with the foundation of Britannias would immediately allow them to form a Yonko crew!

This was already a force that the World Government had to take seriously!

Jeanne wanted it!

Even more, she wanted to conquer the man before her, and even the man still on his way, with absolute power.

She could see through Xiang Keluo's intentions, and she had long since witnessed Gao Wen's formidable combat power!

But facing a white dragon endowed with immortality, even the Red Dragon, another legend of Britannias, would be a notch weaker.

"Still unable to recognize reality?!"

Jeanne sighed:

"Then I have no choice but to make you understand the distance between yourself and the world, so that you may realize just how vast the gap between you and me truly is!"

Hiss—!

Jeanne took a deep, sharp breath, and the temperature around her body erupted once more, scorching everything nearby like the sun!

Even without Haki, unable to strike the physical body of someone with Xiang Keluo's logia-type abilities, the terrifying high temperature was still enough to evaporate everything around him.

This was the very foundation of the white dragon's confidence!

Xiang Keluo withdrew rapidly, and only when he lowered his gaze did he discover his arm was already charred black, flesh and blood a mess.

Such injuries would be enough to render a normal person unable to fight, but for Xiang Keluo after his awakening, they only caused him pain.

The vitality of a Mythical Zoan awakener was simply outrageous!

"This is... troublesome!"

Xiang Keluo licked his lips, yet there was not a shred of retreat in his eyes; once Jeanne's eruption subsided, he charged forward again!

Fighting to this point, his goal was no longer just to hold out until Gao Wen arrived; the comrades behind him also needed time to evacuate!

Outside of Avalon.

Ah Jin and the others retreated at high speed, weaving through the dense forests of the continent.

From the battlefield behind them, roars of explosion rang out from time to time, yet not a single person looked back.

Even Chopper and Bepo were moving forward in silence.

Everyone kept their heads bowed low.

"That guy Xiang Keluo..."

"No!"

"We can't just leave him!"

Cavendish stopped in his tracks, preparing to turn around and intervene in the battlefield:

"At the very least, we can't let that guy face it alone—!"

Slap—!

Ah Jin slapped him across the face, then turned and left without looking back, leaving Cavendish standing there in a daze.

He gripped the long sword at his waist, preparing to turn around and return to the battlefield.

But at that moment, Ah Jin's voice reached his ears.

"Without you, Xiang Keluo might not die."

"But with you, Xiang Keluo will definitely die!"

"This is that guy's choice; it is the will of a vice-captain. When the captain is absent, the one who bears everything is the vice-captain!"

"This is the iron rule of the ship!"

"Stay or go, you choose!"

The voice landed.

Ah Jin showed no further intention of lingering, plunging straight into the dense forest, with Sanji and the others following closely behind, their eyes filled with unspeakable reluctance.

A flame burned in everyone's hearts!

"Be stronger, just a little stronger, and Xiang Keluo wouldn't have to face everything alone!"

"Before it was the captain, now it's the captain and Xiang Keluo; from now on, every single person must become stronger, even stronger!"

"We can't hold anyone back, we can't become a burden!"

"We..."

"We are too far behind!"

"Far too behind!"

Sanji casually flicked the cigarette from his lips.

After obtaining the Invisible Black battle suit, his power had grown extremely fast, nearly reaching the Gold level.

Even now, he still felt some disdain for his own weakness.

Beside him, Law, Van Augur, Bepo, and Chopper remained silent, yet their eyes had already turned red.

A few breaths passed.

Cavendish's figure likewise caught up.

Originally, his greatest purpose in joining Gao Wen's group was merely the Martial Arts Tournament Gao Wen had promised, but now there were some other things added to that.

Even the White Horse within him had become increasingly restless at this moment!

The commotion within Avalon City continued for a long time.

Repeated high-temperature impacts erupted, sending surging heatwaves sweeping through; almost no ground within the city could be stood upon, all of it scalding lava, and many city walls had melted.

This rebuilt city had been almost completely destroyed.

Xiang Keluo was in a wretched state, covered in burns, leaning against a tall building gradually being swallowed by lava.

"Has it reached the limit?!"

He lowered his gaze to look at his own body.

Under the accumulation of countless injuries, even an awakened Mythical Zoan user could not withstand it, having reached the limit.

Now, he did not even have the strength to move a single finger.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Heavy footsteps approached, accompanied by a massive shadow.

Jeanne looked down from above, gazing at Xiang Keluo:

"Now you should finally understand the distance between yourself and me, shouldn't you?!"

"Submit to me; it is your only chance to survive!"

"Heh..."

Xiang Keluo chuckled lightly, his entire person seeming to relax at this moment as he slumped to the ground.

Jeanne's brows furrowed slightly:

"Has his spirit collapsed?!"

"Gao Wen, you've arrived too late!"

Jeanne froze, unable to react in time, before being struck by a silver-white slash that blasted her thousands of meters away, smashing through every building along the path until she barely stopped near the city wall.

A vicious slash mark across her chest had nearly split her open on the spot, her ribs severed, exposing her beating heart!

Yet Jeanne at this moment paid no heed to these injuries; forcing herself to lift her head, she saw a figure speeding from the distance, crossing a thousand meters in an instant, yet not sparing her a single glance as he landed beside Xiang Keluo.

It was none other than Gao Wen, arriving to provide aid!

"Are you alright?!"

"I won't die."

Xiang Keluo shook his head; with Gao Wen's arrival, his body, which had already neared its limit, somehow suddenly gained a bit more strength, and the corner of his mouth curled up as he spoke with slight smugness:

"I awakened, faster than you."

The corner of Gao Wen's mouth twitched:

"At a time like this, stop focusing on such boring things."

"No, this isn't boring at all; Gao Wen, you know I awakened faster than you."

"That's enough out of you!"

Gao Wen was speechless; seeing that Xiang Keluo still intended to speak, he simply ignored him, flapped his wings, and sped toward Jeanne, who had risen again in the distance.

Xiang Keluo's voice came from behind Gao Wen:

"That guy's ability is troublesome; the more he fights, the stronger he gets. Best find a chance to kill him instantly!"

"Understood!"

Gao Wen responded, a smile curling his lips as he tightened his grip on the blade in his hand.

Fzzzt—!

Crimson lightning began to surge in the air, and a wild Conqueror's Haki erupted from Gao Wen, making the already scorching air feel even more oppressive!

Standing upon the earth in the distance, Jeanne felt nothing but sheer terror!

Although the wound on her chest had healed and the feathers that had regrown were even harder, they could not bring her the slightest sense of security.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the sense of oppression Gao Wen exerted upon her now was far greater than in their previous encounters.

Especially the Conqueror's Haki permeating everywhere in the air had reached a point where even she felt suppressed!

"You..."

"How do you want to die?!"

Gao Wen's voice was indifferent, yet true fury burned within him; accompanying his interrogation, the long blade in his hand slashed out once more!

The slash, imbued with Conqueror's Haki, struck Jeanne's chest; this time it damaged her internal organs, and blood sprayed forth from her arteries!

After consecutive improvements, Gao Wen's combat power had reached the upper tier of the Legendary realm, rivaling Whitebeard and Roger at their peaks.

In this era, barring Im whose depth was unknown, he was practically the strongest of the current generation!

Striking now in a fit of rage, he held nothing back!

Jeanne—

In merely two slashes, the combat power Gao Wen displayed had already exceeded Jeanne's expectations.

She had originally thought that no matter how strong Gao Wen was, he would only be half a rank above Wales, and that his previous victory over the combined forces of Big Mom and Xia Mu Luo Ke had relied solely on the Red Dragon's terrain advantage; now she saw that reality was not so!

This little bastard had been holding back a trick all along!

Thinking this, Jeanne's mouth twitched, yet there was little fear in her heart.

The White Dragon was invincible!

Even if temporarily suppressed, as long as she was not instantly killed, she would become stronger, until her opponent's slashes could no longer harm her.

Boom—!

Another burst of white light erupted around Jeanne, scorching heat sweeping over everything nearby!

This indiscriminate attack, compressing her breath back into her body and releasing it through every pore, she was growing more adept at using.

Yet unexpectedly, a figure in the distance actually forced his way through Gao Wen's assault to kill right up beside her.

"This is impossible!"

Jeanne wore an expression as if she had seen a ghost!

The thermal radiation she released through this method had a core temperature sufficient to melt the rock beneath her feet into liquid in an instant; flesh and blood simply could not withstand it.

"You..."

Jeanne looked at Gao Wen, her lips moving, yet unable to speak!

At this moment, Gao Wen's clothing had been completely burned to ash, his crimson dragon scales scorched black, and the exposed flesh and blood had turned charred!

Yet similarly, blue energy was constantly repairing his body.

Jeanne suddenly understood.

This was the Red Dragon's ability to manipulate ley line energy.

But enduring such extreme heat, bearing the pain of burning flesh every second, yet still swinging his blade at her...

A monster!

A thoroughbred monster!

For the first time.

Jeanne felt a chill of fear.

It was not because of Gao Wen's power, but because of his ruthlessness in tearing a chunk of flesh from his opponent even while his own body burned in fierce flames!

Boom—!

Another slash struck Jeanne, sending her flying thousands of meters; across the land she swept over, a trail of magma remained.

Jeanne's heart filled with dread.

Continuing to fight this guy... she would die!

She would absolutely die!

Such an intuition arose in her heart.

In her vision, she even saw the scene of Gao Wen's blade shredding her heart!

Jeanne's mind became utterly clear in this instant, seeing many scenes that had not yet occurred; everything around her became crystal clear in her eyes, and to some extent, she even saw things that had not yet happened.

Gao Wen's blade pierced her heart, a pillar of light reaching the sky fell from above, destroying everything!

Her mind overloaded in this moment, blown apart by countless pieces of information.

If Gao Wen knew what was happening to her, he would surely be jealous until his cells separated from their walls.

All because this woman had awakened Observation Haki, and upon awakening, it was immediately the advanced form capable of foreseeing the future!

After this strike.

Gao Wen stopped; pale blue ley line energy circulated over his surface, repairing his injured flesh and blood.

His gaze fell upon Jeanne in the distance; the hand gripping his blade trembled slightly, yet Gao Wen's expression grew increasingly strange.

Speaking purely of physical strength, health pool length, and absurd abilities, Jeanne was almost the strongest enemy he had ever faced, yet she was simultaneously the weakest.

Possessing a powerful body, yet lacking the mind sufficient to wield that body.

In other words.

The current Jeanne was a noob holding a max-level account but playing with terrible mechanics.

Against ordinary opponents, she could naturally crush them with ease, but face even a slight increase in intensity, and her mentality would easily collapse.

"Boring."

Gao Wen shook his head, preparing to end this battle with the utmost speed, yet his breathing halted in the next instant!

The hairs on his back stood straight up in this moment, cold sweat soaked his vest, and an unprecedented sense of crisis descended from the sky.

Gao Wen sharply raised his head.

He saw the clouds high above suddenly dissipate, and a pillar of light one hundred meters in diameter fell from the sky!

Boom!

The earth trembled, directly blasted into a bottomless giant crater!

"This is..."

"Uranus?!"

Gao Wen's pupils contracted sharply; he had already guessed what this thing was—the ancient weapon that had erased Lulusia from the map!

Erased from the map in the literal sense!

Without a shred of hesitation, Gao Wen immediately pulled back and retreated violently; he grabbed Xiang Keluo, whom he had just fished out of Avalon's range, flapped his wings with all his might, and shot forward at the fastest speed of his life.

The next instant.

Countless beams of light, dense and innumerable, fell from the sky simultaneously, spreading rapidly outward from the center of Avalon!

Gao Wen even saw one of those light beams strike Jeanne directly on the head, blasting her into the ground before she was completely swallowed by the boundless pillars of light.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The sounds of explosion continued without cease, making the very earth tremble!

Xiang Keluo, standing on Gao Wen's shoulder, could not help but look back, yet was so stunned by the scene before his eyes that he was rendered speechless.

His lips moved several times before he finally managed to make a sound:

"What... what is this thing?!"

"The Ancient Weapon—Uranus!"

"Just like Bai Xing? The same ancient weapon as in that blueprint of Franky's?!"

"Ah."

"If we had this thing in our hands, this entire world would belong to us!"

(End of Chapter)