[send power stones please]
Blinding.
Dazzling.
Terrifying.
Those were the only words Lucci had left as that world-shaking slash bore down on him.
The strike hadn't even reached him yet, and he could already feel it—
the thick stench of death swallowing his body whole.
If he didn't evade—
he would die.
"In front of this slash… my strength is laughably small."
"East Blue… the so-called weakest sea…"
"What a joke."
"In the weakest sea, I run into a monster."
"A monster who, at fourteen or fifteen, already wields all three types of Haki like he was born with them…"
"My luck really couldn't be worse."
Lucci laughed bitterly.
If there was an "after"—
then anyone who dared call East Blue "the weakest" in front of him again…
he'd tear their mouth apart.
A teenager with all three colors of Haki.
Swordsmanship this horrifying.
And that monster was born in East Blue.
Who would still dare say East Blue was weak?
"I'm too weak."
"In front of this slash, I'm fragile."
"No…"
"I don't want to die!"
The desperate instinct to survive snapped Lucci's thoughts into razor clarity.
He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles whitened, eyes bloodshot, expression hardening into stubborn resolve. Fear was there—deep, ugly fear—but he forced it down, refusing to let it swell.
Fear was fear.
But he would not drown in it.
"I can't dodge this."
"It's too fast."
"And the power inside it is too insane."
Lucci stared at the approaching slash.
He could smell death.
Yet his mind didn't go blank.
The closer the threat got, the clearer his thinking became.
"If I can't dodge…"
"Then I block it!"
"No."
"I can't block it."
"…I can."
"I have to."
His teeth bared as he faced the incoming strike head-on.
The slash drew closer.
Rumble—!
Where it passed, the floor tiles trembled and bounced, cracks spreading from the pressure alone.
In Lucci's eyes, it was like a second sun descending to smash into him.
Even from a distance, the violent force pressed against his face like a storm.
"I… will die."
His lips trembled.
The thought rose with brutal certainty.
This wasn't exaggeration.
If he took that slash head-on, he would be erased.
Dodging?
Too late.
No—more than that.
From the moment the slash locked onto him…
he'd already had nowhere to run.
"I can't dodge."
"Then I'll gamble everything I have."
Lucci's eyes went wild.
If he couldn't evade—
then he'd stake everything on one block.
That was the only thought left.
He raised his arms, fists stacked—one high, one low—directly facing the oncoming strike.
"Rokushiki Secret Art…"
His voice scraped out like gravel.
"Maximum Wheel—Six King Gun!"
"Full power!"
"Stop it—!!"
Lucci's face twisted, eyes bloodshot, expression savage.
He threw out everything.
This was the apex of the Marines' Six Powers—Rokushiki brought to its extreme.
Lucci, the so-called strongest CP9 agent in eight hundred years, had trained the Six Powers to near-perfection.
And from that perfection, he'd pushed beyond.
Six King Gun—
an attack unique to him.
A technique born from years of ruthless refinement, a personal extension of Rokushiki.
It was his strongest move.
And now he used it to stop Ryukawa's slash.
Because Lucci understood—
if he didn't go all-in, he would die.
"Stop it!"
His expression was feral.
Power surged through his arms, then poured into his fists.
Air pressure gathered—
forming a violent current.
That current snapped into a shockwave, invisible but heavy, bursting from his fists straight into the incoming slash.
Under Lucci's eyes—
the shockwave collided with the crimson-edged strike.
For one heartbeat—
everything froze.
Then—
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion ripped through the building like thunder.
The entire structure shuddered.
The sound echoed in every direction, shaking the ears until they rang.
The aftermath swept the hall like a hurricane.
Crack—crack—crack!
Tiles shattered. Spiderweb fractures tore across the floor, spreading through the entire area.
Even the walls weren't spared.
The pressure wave carved fresh cracks across them, lines spreading like wounds.
The ground shook like an earthquake.
Chunks of broken tile were lifted into the air by the blast, whipping around like shrapnel and slamming into the walls with terrifying penetration.
The walls were already cracked.
Under the barrage—
they finally gave out.
Rumble!
Stone and debris collapsed in heaps, pouring down onto the pitted floor like sand.
Dust roared upward in thick clouds, rolling and spreading.
And then—
something happened that drove Lucci into despair.
Through the dust and chaos…
he could still see it.
That crimson slash—
was still coming.
Straight at him.
"I can't stop it."
"I used my strongest move…"
"And it still won't stop!"
"My power hitting that slash is like a drop of water falling into the ocean."
"And I actually thought I could block it…?"
Lucci's despair turned absolute.
The slash closed in.
His all-out attack hadn't even slowed it properly.
Not even for a moment.
The gap was too vast.
At that instant, Lucci finally understood—
how pitifully weak his strength was in front of that slash.
He'd used his strongest technique.
And it meant nothing.
"CP9's strongest in eight hundred years…"
Lucci tasted the phrase like poison.
It was becoming a joke.
A title that fed his arrogance and buried his true progress.
A sHackle.
A stumbling stone.
"It's here…"
His lips shook as he lifted his head.
The slash was less than half a meter away.
Close enough to feel the heat of its force.
The red glow engulfed his body.
The pressure crushed him like a mountain.
He couldn't move.
"...Iron Body."
Lucci forced out the words through clenched teeth.
His final defensive measure.
Every ounce of strength in his body spread across his skin and bones, hardening, reinforcing—
trying to squeeze out even the slightest chance of survival.
If he didn't use it—
he knew he'd die for certain.
Even using it?
He didn't believe his survival odds rose above two in ten.
Maybe not even one.
That was the truth.
That slash had shattered everything inside him—
confidence, pride, arrogance—
all crushed into dust.
"Life or death…"
"Up to fate…"
Lucci closed his eyes.
Not because he wanted to.
Because he had no other choice.
His strongest attack had failed.
He had no more cards.
So he could only gamble his body.
The slash arrived.
Red light swallowed him.
Then—
BOOM!!
A thunderous roar erupted inside the hall.
Violent power struck Lucci head-on, invading his body like an avalanche, tearing through muscles and into his organs.
In an instant—
his body was launched backward, completely uncontrollable, smashing into the wall behind him.
RUMBLE!!
The wall exploded.
Stone shattered into fragments, debris blasting outward with the force of the shockwave, drilling into surrounding objects like bullets.
Inside—
the wall collapsed.
The floor fractured.
The building looked like it was trembling on the edge of collapse.
Dust billowed, thick and choking.
Silence.
No sound.
No movement.
In the ruined lobby, only one person still stood.
Ryukawa.
He was spotless.
Not a speck of dust clung to him.
Not a tear on his clothes.
Against the shattered surroundings, the contrast was almost absurd.
Ryukawa lowered the wooden sword in his hand. The black Armament coating withdrew, fading back into the blade until the weapon looked ordinary again.
He looked toward the heap of rubble where Lucci had been buried, eyes bright with interest, expression almost playful.
"Strongest CP9 agent in eight hundred years…?"
He tilted his head.
"That's it?"
"…What a disappointment."
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