Seeing Luo Chen throw back the arrows from his body as if he were at his wit's end, the Straw Hats' Usopp, Carina, and the others were extremely nervous.
Nami's pretty face also turned pale. This was the first time she had ever seen Luo Chen injured.
The crowd, however, cheered.
During the fight, the sunglasses on Luo Chen's face had long since been removed, and everyone had recognized his identity.
Compared to a terrifying pirate with an 80-million-Berry bounty, the people of Loguetown undoubtedly hoped the Marines would be victorious. Otherwise, they, the residents of Loguetown, would be in for a miserable time.
On the Marine side, Smoker, being supported by Tashigi, showed a self-deprecating expression. He really was weak, and also too arrogant. If not for Marcus, no one in Loguetown would have been able to stop Luo Chen today. He would have had to once again watch helplessly as Luo Chen left.
Tashigi looked at the awe-inspiring Marcus, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, and said with admiration, "Rear Admiral Marcus is so strong."
Smoker nodded. "Of course, a Marine Rear Admiral is strong. Generally, even pirates with bounties of one or two hundred million are no match for them."
A look of surprise appeared in Tashigi's eyes.
One or two hundred million?
The highest bounty she had ever come across in the East Blue was Luo Chen's 80 million.
Smoker said in a low voice, "This guy Luo Chen's strength is even greater than his current bounty suggests. The Marines underestimated him. Of course, there's no need to adjust it. He will be defeated and killed soon."
...
On the battlefield, Marcus's expression was calm. The two arrows Luo Chen had thrown back slowed down in front of him, eventually stopping and falling to the ground.
"It's useless. No matter what kind of speed-based attack you use, you can't hope to harm me."
Marcus drew his large bow, nocked nine arrows between his fingers, and fired again.
Luo Chen, as if he had no other choice, continued to use the Six Powers' Shave.
"A desperate struggle," Marcus mocked.
Luo Chen's Shave couldn't be activated at all.
As soon as he entered a state of high-speed movement, he was forced to reveal himself by the power of Fetter-Haste.
To counter the power of Fetter-Haste, speed was not the answer.
Only slow movement would work.
The slower he moved, the less he would be affected.
But as soon as Luo Chen slowed down, he would be met with a bombardment of Marcus's arrows.
Things developed exactly as before.
Luo Chen, affected by the Fetter-Haste fruit, was unable to use Shave or Moonwalk to dodge.
As if not giving up, he summoned tree branches.
The faster the branches tried to move, the slower they became. They could only watch as the nine arrows passed by one after another, heading for Luo Chen.
At this moment, the timid members of the crowd even closed their eyes, unable to watch the bloody scene that was about to unfold.
The faces of Nami, Nojiko, Carina, Usopp, and the others were ashen, and despair appeared in their eyes.
The smile was completely gone from Luffy's face. He stared intently at Luo Chen.
Zoro's and Sanji's expressions were grave.
The next instant, the moment before the arrows hit.
Luo Chen's figure abruptly vanished.
Disappeared into thin air.
As if he had been erased from everyone's sight, he disappeared without any warning!
Looks of astonishment appeared on the faces of everyone who saw this.
"Where did he go?" Luffy murmured.
He had been staring at Luo Chen the whole time. A strange intuition told him that Luo Chen would not die. But he had vanished in an instant.
The next moment, his eyes flew open, wider than a beast's.
In front of the tall, thin Marine Rear Admiral, almost face to face, Luo Chen's figure flickered into existence!
Marcus was clearly terrified. His pupils shrank to the size of pinholes, a look of horror on his face.
His reaction was extremely fast. His body instinctively used Armament Haki to protect his vital points.
Luo Chen's punch slammed into his face.
The sound of bones breaking was exceptionally clear.
Several blood-stained teeth flew through the air.
Immediately after, Marcus's figure was sent flying backward, crashing through rows of houses and flying over a hundred meters away.
He was buried under rubble and dust, silent.
The area near the execution platform was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Luo Chen's ghost-like movement had stunned everyone.
In the blink of an eye, he had crossed a distance of twenty meters to appear right in front of Marcus.
It was simply unbelievable, like a miracle!
Someone in the crowd cried out in alarm, "Is that a Devil Fruit ability?!"
"It's not scientific! Isn't he a Logia-type Woods-Woods Fruit user? How could he possibly teleport!"
At that moment, Luo Chen had definitely teleported.
There was no trace of movement; it must have been a teleportation that crossed space.
But where did this ability come from?!
In the distant ruins, the sound of falling rubble was heard.
Vaguely, Marcus could be seen, his face covered in blood, staggering to his feet from amidst the ruins.
His "Justice" coat was torn and covered in dust.
His expression was ferocious as he roared like a madman, "You bastard! You were hiding other abilities!"
Luo Chen found it amusing.
"What, do I have to report all my abilities to you Marines?"
Marcus spat out a mouthful of blood, and several more broken teeth fell out.
He observed Luo Chen warily, his brow tightly furrowed. He raised his large bow and once again drew the string, nocking an arrow.
'What is the range of this bastard's teleportation?'
Marcus muttered to himself.
Now, at a distance of a hundred meters, his Fetter-Haste Domain could not cover that far. His arrows alone would have a hard time posing a threat to Luo Chen.
As he was thinking, a hundred meters away, Luo Chen's figure bizarrely vanished again.
Marcus's heart tightened. He immediately covered the vital points of his body with Armament Haki.
In his peripheral vision, Luo Chen's figure appeared beside him like a ghost.
Marcus was so scared his eyes looked like they were about to split.
'How is he here again?'
'Luo Chen can teleport a hundred meters?'
Since he had been prepared this time, Marcus let out a roar and threw a punch at Luo Chen.
BANG—
Their fists collided.
Marcus's face contorted in pain.
Luo Chen, however, was as calm as ever.
His body's defensive power was incomparable to Marcus's.
Marcus could not withstand the same recoil force from the collision, but Luo Chen felt nothing.
He wanted to attack again, but Marcus had already deployed his Fetter-Haste Domain.
Luo Chen once again felt the binding force, as if he were trapped in a swamp.
"This is really troublesome."
Helpless, Luo Chen had no choice but to activate the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting back to a hundred meters away.
A hundred meters. This was the current limit of his Flying Thunder God.
As for the marks, he had initially left them on the two arrows he had thrown at Marcus. Then, when he had punched Marcus, he had secretly left a mark on his clothes. That was how he was able to teleport to Marcus's side a second time.
'Once I get close, if he uses his Fetter-Haste power, I'll become a sitting duck.'
'I can slow down my attack speed, then his Fetter-Haste power will be useless.'
'If my speed is slow, the enemy can react. Then I'll increase the unpredictability and frequency of my attacks. There will always be a chance of success.'
Luo Chen made up his mind. He reached out a hand and pointed from a distance.
The ground under Marcus's feet trembled violently.
The earth in a radius of several tens of meters was overturned, and trees grew into a forest.
Thousands of branches, moving neither fast nor slow, attacked Marcus at a relatively slow pace.
Marcus's face turned green.
Faced with such a large-scale attack, even if the branches were slow, they were enough to pose a fatal threat. What's more, there was Luo Chen, who could teleport at any moment, watching him like a tiger.
Despair appeared in his eyes.
From the moment Luo Chen had displayed his teleportation ability, Marcus knew he was doomed. But at this moment, he could not escape. All he could do was put up a desperate struggle.
Marcus gave a self-deprecating smile. 'A desperate struggle. So it was talking about me.'
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]