Chapter 39: Eighteen Years Old
After two years of training, Luo Han had finally matched Cole in physical strength. He was pleasantly surprised.
Boom! Both Luo Han and Cole were knocked backward, each sliding several meters.
"Han-ge! I'm going to use my half-beast form now," Cole announced.
"Bring it on, Cole!"
Luo Han's expression turned serious.
Shave! Cole instantly appeared beside Luo Han with a powerful side kick.
Luo Han's eyes narrowed—so fast! No time to dodge!
Bang! Luo Han brought his hands together to block the kick head-on.
After the brief clash, a powerful force surged through Luo Han's body.
Pffft! He was sent flying, crashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Eh...?" Cole's eyes widened in disbelief at what had just happened.
It wasn't just Cole—Uncle Witt and Uncle Kate were also stunned.
Could it be that Luo Han hadn't infused his body with telekinesis? Otherwise, how could he have been sent flying with just one blow?
Previously, when Luo Han's physical strength was lacking, he could still go toe-to-toe with Cole's half-beast form by using telekinesis.
So why, now that his physical strength had caught up, did he seem weaker?
All three stared at Luo Han's fallen figure, puzzled.
Luo Han stood up, shook his hands—he wasn't hurt, thanks to his Armament Haki defense. But he hadn't expected Cole's strength to be this overwhelming now.
He noticed the puzzled expressions on their faces—awkward.
In truth, Luo Han had discovered something odd: whenever he tried to infuse his body with telekinesis while using Armament Haki, the haki wouldn't manifest—it was like telekinesis blocked it from reaching the surface.
So if he used Armament Haki, he couldn't blend in telekinesis. And if he tried, his haki would destabilize and collapse.
A bit embarrassing.
When Luo Han explained this to the others, they were equally surprised and awkward.
They were embarrassed for him.
Luo Han could only smile helplessly.
Fortunately, he could still wrap himself in telekinesis externally while using Armament Haki. That helped boost his defense significantly.
With the situation clarified, Cole returned to normal form, and the two resumed their sparring.
They kept up their training, while also keeping an eye on global events.
...
Two years passed. Luo Han and Cole were now eighteen—they'd just celebrated the Scaled Fruit Festival the day before.
That morning, at Qingya Cliff, overlooking the endless sea—
"Cole, are you coming to sea with me?" Luo Han asked.
The towering figure beside him was now ten meters tall.
Looking down, Cole replied, "Of course, Han-ge."
"My dad says there's no Sea Kings left around Ring Tree Island to eat. We'll have to go out for food."
…Fair enough. That was true.
As Luo Han and Cole reached adulthood, their bodies had grown rapidly.
Their energy needs had skyrocketed, and Rainbow Fish could no longer keep up.
And the Rainbow Fish couldn't be overharvested.
Worse still, Cole's Devil Fruit was brutally simple—eat meat, grow stronger.
So his appetite had only increased. Over two years, they'd nearly wiped out the local Sea Kings.
Not that it was all brute strength—Luo Han's ultra-long-range spiritual sense, combined with Kyōka Suigetsu, made hiding impossible for the Sea Kings.
One by one, they'd been caught… and eaten—mostly by Cole.
Looking at Cole now, he resembled Kaido in his later years—maybe even taller.
"Cole, there's plenty of meat out there, but it's dangerous," Luo Han warned.
"We're not pirates, but danger doesn't care what you are."
Luo Han's serious tone only made Cole more excited.
"Han-ge, are there people stronger than my dad and Uncle Kate out there?"
"Heh, other than meat, the only thing that interests you is fighting," Luo Han chuckled.
"And yes. Out there, there are people far stronger than Uncle Kate and your dad."
"Awesome! More meat and more fighting!" Cole grinned.
Luo Han laughed to himself. Such a simple guy—and probably the happiest one.
"If you're so eager to fight, let's go!"
"Let's battle in the sky, Cole!"
Luo Han soared 2,000 meters above the island.
Cole launched himself up too!
That's right—Cole didn't need to fully transform anymore. In human form, he could already fly.
Luo Han couldn't help but admire how powerful the Kun-Kun Fruit was.
While he flew wrapped in telekinesis, Cole's flight looked more like he was swimming through the air, as if the sky itself was propelling him.
Returning to the moment—
They now faced each other in the sky, 100 meters apart.
With a low roar, Cole half-transformed.
Boom! A shockwave erupted under his feet as he launched forward using Moonwalk and Shave.
His Armament Haki-infused fist flew at Luo Han.
Luo Han calmly summoned a telekinetic barrier.
Bang! A loud explosion echoed through the clouds, followed by crackling sounds.
Cole's fist halted in mid-air—Clang! Clang! Clang! It sounded like metal clashing.
After a moment, Cole jumped back to create distance, then launched a flurry of attacks from multiple angles.
But every strike was blocked by an invisible wall.
At this point, Luo Han's spiritual sense had reached near bullet-time levels.
Combined with the Spiritual Fruit's telekinetic powers, defending against Cole was effortless.
There were limits to body speed—but with bullet-time reaction, Luo Han could place barriers the moment Cole moved.
"This is so annoying, Han-ge! I feel like I'm punching air," Cole groaned.
"This is not fun!"
Luo Han grinned. Right now, his telekinesis alone was enough to go toe-to-toe with Cole.
"Alright then, Cole. Time for pure physical combat—just haki and flesh."
With that, Luo Han dropped his telekinesis.
A deep black Armament Haki cloaked his body, and his eyes turned sharp.
Seeing this, Cole fully covered himself in Armament Haki too.
Boom boom! The two clashed mid-air with unmatched speed.
Clang! Their fists—one large, one small—collided, sparking red and black lightning.
Luo Han's invisible Conqueror's Haki burst outward—but fortunately, they were 2,000 meters in the air.
Otherwise, the island would've plunged into chaos again.
From that point, it was pure brute force.
Their physical strength was nearly equal. Their Armament Haki was also well-matched. Luo Han's Observation Haki was slightly better,
but not overwhelmingly so—thus, it came down to raw strength and speed.
After two years of training, Luo Han had completely integrated the talent of a super-giant Sea King into his own body.
Even with Cole's Mythical Zoan Kun-Kun Fruit and his half-beast form, the only real edge he had was in defense.
In terms of power and speed, they were almost identical.
(END CHAPTER)
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