Chapter 429

With Akin’s low voice, the bone armor that had completely enveloped him shattered piece by piece, revealing the true form hidden within.

But that form was not what anyone had expected—not Akin’s flesh, but a monstrous creature entirely wrapped in black spines!

Fierce, sinister!

The sky was clear blue, the clouds long since scattered by consecutive battles.

Blinding golden light bathed the arena, and also fell upon Akin, whose entire body was sheathed in black bone armor.

And carried with it an indescribable, chilling aura!

“This guy… this guy under Knight Gao Wen… what kind of monster is he?!”

“Luffy has gone this far—even unleashed his ultimate Gear Fourth: Snake Form—and still left not a single scratch?!”

Sabaody Archipelago.

Xia Qi leaned against the bar, staring at the projection showing the Straw Hat being snatched up by Akin’s hand, her eyes wide with astonishment.

With three months of intensive training from Lei Li and Jia Ba, plus the Straw Hat’s own immense latent potential rooted in d, his combat power was no longer the same.

He was even close to Lei Li’s level!

Yet now, facing Akin, he was utterly suppressed throughout.

“Lei Li…”

Xia Qi couldn’t help turning to look at Lei Li:

“If you faced that guy…”

“The new era…”

Lei Li’s hand paused slightly on his wine flask, his gaze deeply complex:

“There’s no ship left to carry us old relics… Britannias isn’t my stage anymore.”

Though Lei Li didn’t directly answer, Xia Qi saw the melancholy in his eyes.

Before her eyes surfaced the scene from two years ago, when Gao Wen’s crew first arrived at Sabaody Archipelago.

Back then, Captain Gao Wen already possessed combat power rivaling the Four Emperors, but his crew still had a long way to go to reach the summit.

To reach that point, Roger’s crew had spent over a decade, enduring countless battles and facing innumerable strong opponents.

Among them, titans like Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and Rocks—each one alone was a threat the World Government had to handle with caution.

Yet Akin, Zoro, Sanji, and the other newcomers achieved the same level in…

Just two years.

And now, Akin’s combat power had already surpassed Lei Li’s!

Xia Qi’s heart tightened:

“Is Luffy in danger?!”

Lei Li shook his head:

“If Akin had used his full strength from the start, Luffy would have been defeated in that instant.”

“What he’s doing now isn’t so much fighting Luffy as…”

He paused.

Lei Li’s gaze settled on the projection, but his mind echoed with the image of Gao Wen.

“You know of Nika’s existence… so you must have seen it too—the One Piece and the future of this world!”

“Are you trying to draw out Nika’s power?!”

“No!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lei Li rejected his own guess:

“Knight Gao Wen would never do such a thing!!”

“If he wants something, he takes it with his blade—not with a destined savior.”

“So…”

His thoughts grew increasingly complex, and gradually, Lei Li began to understand what Gao Wen truly desired.

In his gaze lay shock, astonishment, and a kind of boldness once possessed but worn away by time.

“So whether it’s the legendary Nika, the current Four Emperors, or the legends of the last era—they’re all merely seeds for the Martial Arts Tournament!”

“What you truly want is an opponent!”

“A strong enough opponent to make you excited!”

“If you’re unbeaten in this age, you create a rival worthy of yourself?!”

“How arrogant!”

After a sigh of admiration, Lei Li drained the fiery liquor in his flask; the alcohol cut through his throat like a blade, reigniting a glow in his withering body.

In drunken haze,

Lei Li seemed to return to the tumultuous adventures of twenty years ago!

…

Time rewound, a few minutes earlier.

Dressed in black bone armor, Akin casually tossed the Straw Hat toward the distant wall, smashing a deep crater into it, then stepped forward one by one, radiating unmatched pressure toward the Straw Hat.

Thud—!

Thud—!

Thud—!

His footsteps echoed like restless drumbeats in the silent Round Table Arena.

Even the spectators’ heartbeats quickened, as if about to leap from their throats!

“This form…”

“Three Bones—Six Heavenly Demons!”

Barrette leaned against the windowsill, gazing down at Akin in the arena.

As one of Gao Wen’s top workaholics, he had fought Akin over ten times and knew him well.

Yet now, seeing Akin’s final trump card, he too was stunned.

“When Akin used this move before, it never had this kind of presence—was this a hidden ability?!”

“This is aimed at me!”

Barrette’s lips curled into a smile, arms crossed, posture casual yet radiating absolute confidence:

“But now, the battle should end—this farce is over.”

Kaido and the others nearby made the same judgment as Barrette.

Sabo and Kid, seeing this, couldn’t help but show growing anxiety.

Luffy losing was one thing—but if he lost his life here…

Not worth it!

“I won’t lose!”

A stubborn voice rang out from the distant rubble.

Luffy pushed aside the rubble pinning him down; his body was drenched in blood, yet his eyes burned with even greater resolve than before.

His fists clenched tighter, the Conqueror’s Haki born from his will surging violently, so intensely that mere movement sent crimson lightning crackling around him!

“Huh…”

He exhaled a deep, heavy breath.

Luffy shattered the floor with one foot, charging against Akin’s overwhelming pressure, unleashing all his strength to strike at Akin!

“Gum-Gum Nine-Headed Snake!”

Luffy thrust both fists forward, squeezing every last ounce of power from his body!

He had reasons he couldn’t lose: a jesting promise to Kid, his pursuit of the One Piece, and some inexplicable premonition.

If he retreated here, he would forfeit his chance to advance further and claim the throne.

“Ahh—!”

With a roar, Luffy swung both fists through the air, leaving countless afterimages so fast even Observation Haki couldn’t track them.

Even Qiangzhe who had mastered future-predicting Observation Haki would struggle to dodge, because…

Fast!

Faster than nerve conduction, faster than thought itself!

Among the abilities derived from Observation Haki, future prediction was undoubtedly one of the strongest—but like the food chain, no ability was absolutely invincible.

Even if you saw the future, if your body couldn’t react in time, it was useless!

To Luffy, this move was like Akin’s Two-Bone form’s bone spear—only brute force could block it.

But…

Akin’s Observation Haki had also been cultivated to an extreme level.