Observing the fortress on the beach, Ortoren showed no urgency to attack.
Instead, he hovered mid-air, pondering his experiments.
"Long-range strikes fall into two types. The first is pure energy attacks, with the upper limit set at 'Bull of Heaven'..."
The Bull of Heaven was a devastating technique. In less than ten breaths, Ortoren could unleash a celestial-level ability that transformed the entire island's atmosphere into a thunderstorm. From there, he gathered immense thunderous power into a god-like bull that descended from the sky in a blanket strike.
A single blow strong enough to sink an island!
This was the natural advantage of Logia users. As long as their energy and stamina held, destruction on such a scale was entirely possible.
Back in Marineford, when he unleashed this attack against Shiki, it left both Admiral Sengoku and Garp shaken. The two had to combine forces with a joint technique just to block its power, a testament to its terrifying might.
As for the lower limit, even a casual long-range thunder strike from Ortoren was devastating against ordinary soldiers. But for anyone with real ability, it posed little threat.
"From there, the energy weakens step by step, with voltage as the core. The higher the voltage, the stronger the attack," Ortoren reasoned.
It could be broken into millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of volts, but in practice, that distinction didn't matter much, so he didn't dwell on it.
Beyond energy attacks, there was also his super electromagnetic cannon. Right now, it was proving extremely effective. Its strengths lay in precision—able to lock onto a single target—and its destructive power scaled with his mastery of electromagnetism, reaching frightening levels.
Ortoren was convinced that if he pushed the super electromagnetic cannon to its limit, it could even seriously injure his own mother, Charlotte Linlin, famed for her steel-hard body.
Fast, nearly impossible to dodge, and incredibly destructive—that was the cannon's advantage. Its drawback, though not truly a flaw, was its small area of effect. It lacked the overwhelming presence of an island-level strike, but for a Marine like him, its precision was perfect.
"For long-range combat, these two methods are more than enough for most situations. No need to overthink it." After some thought, Ortoren came to his conclusion.
Just then, the fortress split open down the middle. Bullet shot out like a cannonball, launching straight at Ortoren in the sky.
"Perfect. Time to test my close-combat development..."
A grin tugged at Ortoren's lips. He didn't dodge, instead lifting his arm into a guard.
Bullet had expected him to evade at lightning speed. But to his surprise, Ortoren braced himself in a defensive stance mid-air.
A savage glint flared in Bullet's eyes as he threw himself in with even greater force.
His massive frame closed in instantly, swinging down with a war-axe-style strike. His leg hooked hard against Ortoren's arm.
The explosive strength burst from Bullet's body, surging into Ortoren's arm and blasting him out of the sky, slamming him into the sand below.
But it was no clumsy landing. Ortoren planted both feet firmly on the beach, kicking up a storm of dust. He flexed the arm that had taken the blow—his defenses had held, but the sheer force left it sore.
He had to admit, Bullet's physical power was impressive.
Before Ortoren could think further, Bullet came crashing down from above. His massive fist, shrouded in dense Armament Haki, drove straight at Ortoren.
Once again, Ortoren didn't dodge. He drew a deep breath and roared,
"Lightning Armour!!!"
With a thunderous crack, dazzling lightning burst from his body. In an instant, indigo lightning wrapped around him, thick as molten metal, flowing over his skin like a true suit of armor.
Bullet's fist smashed into Ortoren's shoulder!
The impact shook the ground violently, splitting the beach apart as gravel poured down the cracks. A flicker of shock crossed Bullet's eyes.
His punch carried tremendous force, yet it still couldn't break Ortoren's Lightning Release Armour! He even felt a constant repulsive force pushing back from his own fist, as if rejecting the strike itself.
Indeed, Ortoren had systematically upgraded the Lightning Release Armour during development. When he fought Kaidou, he'd used this technique as well. Back then, the Lightning Release Armour flooded his body with powerful currents, constantly stimulating his cells to further amplify his physical prowess.
This time, the Lightning Release Armour focused on boosting Ortoren's defense. He layered immense lightning energy over his skin while controlling the armor's electromagnetic field to generate a repulsive force, weakening the impact of incoming blows.
His punch carried tremendous force, yet it still couldn't break Ortoren's Lightning Release Armour! He even felt a constant repulsive force pushing back from his own fist, as if rejecting the strike itself.
Indeed, Ortoren had systematically upgraded the Lightning Release Armour during development. When he fought Kaidou, he'd used this technique as well. Back then, the Lightning Release Armour flooded his body with powerful currents, constantly stimulating his cells to further amplify his physical prowess.
This time, the Lightning Release Armour focused on boosting Ortoren's defense. He layered immense thunder energy over his skin while controlling the armor's electromagnetic field to generate a repulsive force, weakening the impact of incoming blows.
Ortoren already possessed exceptional physical strength. With this superbly defensive armor on top of it, he had effectively achieved something close to "absolute defense." Bullet had gone all out with that strike, but aside from raw brute force, Ortoren felt no other pressure—everything else had been repelled by the Lightning Release Armour.
He countered with a heavy backfist, slamming his punch into Bullet's abdomen and sending him flying. Ortoren didn't give chase. Instead, he drew a deep breath. Visibly, the dense Lightning Release Armour seemed to thin; lightning that had been viscous as slurry grew clear as vast thunder elements were drawn back into his body.
This signaled a mode switch. The previous state had emphasized overwhelming defense; now he returned to an enhanced version of the first-generation Lightning Release Armour. The absorbed thunder power violently stimulated Ortoren's neurons and body cells, forcing his physical capabilities into a frenzied, overclocked state.
In that moment, Ortoren's eyes brimmed with thunder, his pupils turning into lightning. His gaze locked onto Bullet, who had been blasted dozens of meters away and had just landed, resetting his stance.
Power gathered underfoot. Before his body even launched, Ortoren's soles erupted like jet engines, spewing torrents of air laced with lightning and grit, raging wildly. It was like a one-second pause—or perhaps the sheer speed created the illusion that time had stopped.
In the blink of an eye, Ortoren shot out like a heavy artillery shell. A sonic boom tore the air in his wake, gouging a deep trench across the ground.
Bullet's reactions were just as sharp. Sensing Ortoren's shift, the ground beneath his feet surged up like flowing water as liquid metal climbed over him. In an instant, it covered his body, turning him into something like a metal robot.
He crossed his arms in front of him, Haki coating the special alloy to form a guard that, for Bullet, absolutely counted as a last-resort defensive stance. Back in the day, it was this very move that let him withstand Rayleigh's slash aboard Roger's ship. So Bullet had absolute confidence in it.
The liquid superalloy wasn't only on the surface. As a Paramecia-type Fusion Gasha Gasha no Mi user, the special liquid alloy had fully permeated Bullet's body; his bones and muscles fused with it—a defense worthy of pride.
Ortoren didn't care. The instant Bullet brought up his guard, Ortoren had already closed in. He drove an elbow straight into Bullet's crossed arms.
"Elbow Bolt!!!" Ortoren roared.
Blinding lightning swallowed the area. Ortoren felt his elbow crash into something unbreakable—so much so that the Lightning Release Armour around his elbow shattered. He could feel the opponent's solidity through flesh and bone; even with his steel body, pain flared up his elbow.
But it lasted only a heartbeat. A crisp crack rang out through the hiss of static. Bullet's metal-robot frame was hurled away like a fired shell. Too heavy to take to the air, he skidded along the ground, tumbling dozens of times before sliding hundreds of meters. He finally stopped only when he smashed into the cliff and reefs at the far end of the beach.
As the dust billowed and faded, Ortoren exhaled. With that breath, the Lightning Release Armour over his body thickened once more. This seamless shift between absolute offense and absolute defense hinged on Ortoren's breathing. With a deep inhale, he could lock lightning elements inside to stimulate his body; with an exhale, the immense pressure of that thunder flowed back into the armor on his skin.
In a sense, you could call it Thunder Breathing.
Rubbing his swollen elbow, Ortoren looked toward the shattered reef with an appreciative gaze.
"That defensive stance just now was truly formidable. Even I have to admit—you've got something, Bullet!"
Within the rubble, Bullet clutched his chest. The alloy defense he prided himself on had shattered across his skin like glass. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, showing how badly he'd been hurt. He stared at Ortoren with a dark look and said nothing.
...
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