A slash that pierced to the bone.

In that moment, Douglas Bullet felt a pain unlike anything he'd ever experienced. The thick, metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils. He had smelled this stench countless times, but never once had it stirred him like this.

Because this time, the blood wasn't from an enemy. It was his own.

"RAHHH, !"

The searing pain sent Bullet into a rage. With a thunderous roar, his right fist came crashing down toward the red-haired brat who had wounded him, Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

He would kill him. Here and now.

The attack came fast and brutal, but Yoriichi remained calm. With fluid precision, he wrenched his sword free from Bullet's hand, refusing to retreat. Instead, he stepped forward, crushing the ground beneath his foot, and thrust his blade toward Bullet's charging fist.

Sun Breathing – Seventh Form: Sunflower Thrust.

A roaring thrust, engulfed in blazing flame and the crackle of lightning, shot forward like a hurricane, its force rippling through the air in waves.

The fusion of Armament Haki with Sun Breathing techniques had elevated Yoriichi's power beyond recognition. Combined with his ever-growing Conqueror's Haki, this thrust had evolved into a strike that defied the rules of this world.

BOOM!

Blade and fist collided. At the precise point of impact, the sound of thunder burst forth.

In a single moment, Bullet's fist was pierced. The blade wrapped in Conqueror's Haki overwhelmed Bullet's own defense, penetrating the very core of his being.

"!!!"

"Conqueror's Haki… coating?!"

He hadn't seen it before. The earlier strike had come so fast that the accompanying lightning crackle was mistaken for air friction. But now, face-to-face, Bullet realized just how terrifying this red-haired boy truly was.

Never had he imagined that someone this young could block his blow, much less overpower him in a clash of Haki.

The aura surging from Yoriichi's body was monstrous. It all made sense now, how the boy had managed to draw blood.

Conqueror's Haki Coating.

A power reserved for those born to rule. Even calling such people "one in a million" would be an understatement. In truth, only a handful across centuries had ever mastered it.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni… was one of those rare few.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Bullet tried to pull back, but it was too late. The sword had already pierced through his fingers and palm, shredding flesh and muscle alike.

Blood sprayed. The pain was blinding.

But Bullet wasn't the kind to retreat.

With his free hand, he grabbed the hilt guard of Yoriichi's sword, locking it down. His fingers gripped tightly, refusing to let the blade go.

In that moment, he activated his Devil Fruit power.

Paramecia – Fuse-Fuse Fruit.

His ability allowed him to merge any inorganic object he touched into his own body. It was this fusion, combined with his brutal physical strength and Haki mastery, that made him one of the strongest pirates on the sea.

Even without awakening, merging a single sword should've been trivial.

But the blade, still cloaked in burning Haki, resisted.

Bullet's expression darkened. His fruit was being blocked.

And worse, his left hand wouldn't obey. Yoriichi's previous strike had severed a nerve.

The rage boiled over. The pain. The humiliation.

He howled and swung his left arm down like a hammer toward Yoriichi's skull.

"So scary!" Borsalino muttered nearby. Though too late to stop the strike, he took the opportunity to intervene.

Raising a finger, he fired a laser directly at Bullet's back.

Bullet didn't even flinch.

He ignored the light, focused entirely on smashing Yoriichi into the ground. His attack howled through the air like a thunderclap.

"You think I only use a sword just because I'm a swordsman?"

Yoriichi's voice was low, calm.

At the last second, he jerked his blade back, not quite freeing it, but shifting Bullet's balance just enough.

Then his left hand, coated in surging Conqueror's Haki, gripped Bullet's wounded arm, right at the fracture point.

CRACK!

The ground beneath them split apart.

The force of Bullet's strike drove Yoriichi's legs into the earth, ankles vanishing into the soil. But his hand held firm.

The pressure he applied forced blood to gush from Bullet's wound. With the Haki reinforcement, Yoriichi's raw power now surpassed Bullet's.

BOOM!

Just then, Borsalino's laser found its mark. Despite Bullet's Armament Haki, it burned a hole three to four centimeters deep into his back.

And Borsalino didn't stop.

He leapt skyward, crossing his hands as golden lights began to gather. His glowing form illuminated the dark sky.

Even Yoriichi glanced up.

Bullet's body was breaking down, he was wounded, outmaneuvered. His left hand was ruined. His right hand had been skewered. His entire body was covered in punctures and burns.

He knew. If he kept this up, he would die here.

With a low growl, Bullet twisted violently, flinging Yoriichi and the sword toward Borsalino.

At the same time, Borsalino released his attack.

A golden rain of lasers, Yasakani no Magatama, blanketed the sky and fell toward both men.

Bullet's lips curled into a cruel smile.

As the lasers descended, he turned and bolted toward the Marine dormitory.

Too late, Borsalino realized the trap, but he couldn't call back his own attack.

"Damn it!"

Helpless, he watched the lasers fall toward Yoriichi.

But Yoriichi wasn't finished.

Mid-air, he twisted, balancing himself in a backflip. With a fluid motion, his sword danced in front of him, weaving a curtain of blades.

The lasers struck, but every single beam was deflected.

One by one, they ricocheted off Yoriichi's blade, blasting the ground harmlessly below.

It was the first time since eating the Glint-Glint Fruit that someone had ever fully deflected his Magatama attack.

"…Is he even human?"

Before he could continue processing, Yoriichi disappeared into the smoke.

At the dormitory wall, Bullet extended a hand. His Devil Fruit activated.

Steel, cement, stone, the very structure of the Marine base, was torn apart and pulled toward him.

In seconds, the building was gone.

In its place stood a twenty-meter-tall stone colossus.

The entire dormitory had become part of Bullet's body.

The ground shook as the titan howled, stepping forward.

The Marines screamed.

"He's coming!! Run!"

But ordinary soldiers couldn't outrun a giant.

Bullet's massive arm reached down, stone fingers closing in on a group of terrified Marines.

ZAP!

A laser punched through the stone palm, Borsalino's.

But the stone reformed instantly.

The hand swerved, targeting him instead.

BOOM!

The ground exploded, but Borsalino was gone.

A golden shimmer revealed him behind the beast.

He looked up.

"So troublesome…"

Before he could react further, a hand pushed him aside.

Yoriichi stepped past him, face grave.

His sword was already drawn, flames licking the blade, Conqueror's Haki flaring wildly.

Then, in a blink, he vanished.

To the onlookers, only a streak of red fire remained, dancing across the earth.

Sun Breathing – Dominance Form: Midnight Radiance.

Unlike Zoro, Yoriichi didn't recite poetic spells before attacking. The only sign of his presence was the blazing arc that carved across the field.

A thunderous crack split the sky.

A beam of crimson flame sliced straight through the stone giant's chest.

The heavens lit up.

All across Dressrosa, people looked to the sky in awe, only to find nothing.

Back at the port, soldiers and citizens stared upward in disbelief.

The towering titan split in two.

The severed stone glowed with residual heat, smooth, clean, perfectly cut.

Yoriichi descended from the sky, flames curling around him.

His red hair fluttered in the wind, his forehead mark glowing fiercely.

The plaza erupted in cheers.

"Vice Admiral Yoriichi!!"

The crumbling stone collapsed, revealing a massive blond figure within.

Douglas Bullet fell, unconscious, his body cleanly severed at the waist.

The legendary pirate, once deemed unstoppable, had been cut down.

He had never managed to fully fuse his Devil Fruit with his Haki.

But Yoriichi was no longer the outsider from years ago.

Three years of growth had forged him into a monster.

At full strength, Bullet had no chance.

"My Haki… surpasses yours."

Yoriichi landed gently on the ground.

The scattered rubble fell still.

The sea breeze blew softly.

His red blade gleamed.

He tilted his head, eyes fixed on the broken corpse.

And whispered.

✦✦---------------------------------------------------------------------✦✦

100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter

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