Chapter 143: Getting Serious

At this moment, Akainu's expression finally changed.

This aura, this pressure, it was as if he were facing opponents Move Move Like Kaido or Whitebeard. Do Marines who possess Conqueror's Haki also fight Move Move Like this?

"Let me see your strength! Karl!!!"

Boom~ Akainu's other arm instantly turned into magma, transforming into a dog head. Two dogs went out to sea, turning the world upside down. The surrounding air became increasingly scorching, as if it wanted to burn this heaven and earth to ashes!

Karl: There's an enhanced version of Xiao Yan on the unnamed island, not kidding!

"Then let's try it! Admiral Akainu!"

Swish!

It was a brilliant golden blade light, with dense black-red lightning entwined around the edges. No matter what was waiting for it in front, there was only one outcome: broken! Slashed open without mercy!

The two magma dogs were split into four the moment they touched the Holy Light Verdict, revealing magma that looked Move Move Like soft candy, followed by Akainu's arm...

Realizing something was wrong, Akainu quickly blocked his vital parts, gritted his teeth, and took Karl's attack. His whole body was forced from mid-air to the ground by the blade light, and it kept digging deeper until he was embedded in the gully.

There was no movement for a long time, and Karl frowned slightly.

Although he had directly unleashed his ultimate move, Akainu's strength was so high that it was impossible for him to be killed by a single slash. At most...

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~

Magma spread out from the cracks in the gully. After a brief brewing, countless meteors shot out, falling rapidly toward the ground. Karl looked up at the sky, constantly adjusting his position to avoid being hit by the magma.

Bang, bang, bang~

The surroundings were in chaos, filled with smoke and the smell of burning. Akainu emerged from a pile of magma, turned back into solid form, his face pitch black.

"Is this the power of Conqueror's Haki? Truly terrifying!"

That's right, this was Akainu speaking, but his tone was relatively flat, without the ups and downs of Borsalino.

In the past, he hadn't felt much when facing people Move Move Like Whitebeard who possessed Conqueror's Haki, but Karl—a Marine—using the power of Conqueror's Haki to knock him down made him feel somewhat difficult to accept, and his mood was very complicated.

Akainu looked at Karl, inexplicably feeling that he had grown old. A 28-year-old young man had actually made him think he was invincible.

"Admiral Akainu, do you still want to fight?"

Akainu took a deep breath, his expression returned to calm, and he said coldly: "Of course."

As soon as he finished speaking, Akainu rushed toward Karl. It seemed the previous attack hadn't caused him too much trouble. There was no other way; Karl had to engage.

Sengoku, watching the battle, put down his binoculars and sighed: "Akainu seems to be serious."

Staff Officer Tsuru said indifferently: "With his personality, it's normal. After all, who could have imagined that Karl's progress speed would be so fast? If I remember correctly, back then Akainu even wanted Karl to be his adjutant, right?"

"As a result, now..."

Staff Officer Tsuru didn't finish the sentence, but everyone present understood what she wanted to say.

Karl's strength was indeed somewhat unexpected. Fortunately, he was a Marine; otherwise, he would be another Shanks.

Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan silently observed the battle between Sakazuki and Karl, thinking, if it were him, would he be the same as Akainu?

After thinking for a while, Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan reached a definite answer. In terms of lethality, his ice was far inferior to Akainu's magma. In terms of physique, Akainu was also stronger than him.

However, this guy Karl was too perverted. Four years ago, he was trading blows with Smoker, and now he could wrestle with Akainu. Was this reasonable?

"Tsk, tsk, tsk~ How scary! Sakazuki might actually lose to Karl!"

Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan turned to look at Borsalino: "How do you know?"

Borsalino looked as if it were a matter of course: "Of course I know. Don't forget that Karl is a Holy Light Fruit user. His sustained combat ability is not inferior even to Kaido."

"Unless Sakazuki can make Karl unable to heal in time, he will definitely be worn down by Karl."

Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan nodded and then revealed a "simple and honest" smile: "Borsalino, Karl used to be your adjutant. Can you beat him now?"

"Why would I fight him? Isn't he a Marine?"

Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan smiled awkwardly and didn't speak again.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next morning, but the battle between the two still hadn't ended.

But from the perspective of the onlookers, the battle was already over.

After fighting for a day and a night, Akainu had many more sword wounds on his body, and he was covered in dust.

Conversely, except for his clothes being tattered, Karl was unscathed, and his aura was very stable, indicating that his stamina was still very abundant.

On one hand, Karl could use holy light to restore his own injuries at any time, keeping his body in a peak state at all times. On the other hand, under the blessing of various skills, Karl became very persistent. Even if he was hit by Akainu many times, as long as it wasn't fatal, he could recover quickly.

Akainu was different. An injury was an injury, and he couldn't recover at all. At most, it was injury upon injury. Of course, his physique was strong, so even if he was slashed a dozen times by Karl, it didn't affect his movements.

"Admiral Akainu, if we keep fighting, this unnamed island probably won't hold up. How about we stop here?"

Akainu's face darkened. Just as he was about to speak, the ground not far away collapsed, and seawater instantly poured in, stirring up high waves. However, this was just the beginning.

Soon, Move Move Like dominoes, the unnamed island collapsed piece by piece. If this continued, there would soon be no place to stand.

"Hoo~"

Akainu let out a long sigh. There was no other way; this battle had to end early. It's just that he couldn't understand why Karl could be so strong.

Ability? Yes, that's right, it was his ability.

Being able to strengthen his physique and heal his injuries—just these two points made him feel somewhat at a loss.

In the past, he used magma to deal with pirates, and it was almost always effective; a touch meant a serious injury. But it didn't work well on Karl. He finally managed to break through his Armament Haki and burn him, but Karl could heal it with one holy light. How could he fight this?

After fighting for so long, wasting so much stamina, and spending so much mental energy, he hadn't even hurt a single hair. How could one not feel frustrated?

Although Kaido was about the same, he wasn't as flexible as Karl, and he had a kind of honeyed confidence that allowed him to quickly consume Kaido's stamina.

But this kid Karl was slippery. If he could land one hit out of ten attacks, that was considered accurate.

The only drawback of the Holy Light Fruit was probably that it couldn't unleash large-scale attacks. Overall, it was still a Devil Fruit that leaned toward support.

However, Karl used Haki and swordsmanship to make up for this very well. Not enough attack range? Flying slashes make up for it. Not enough attack power? Conqueror's Haki makes up for it!