As long as you defeat even one of them, it's already an earth-shattering achievement… but now, all of these brilliant, glorious feats are the work of you alone. If the Navy still doesn't do something about it, wouldn't that word "Justice" on their backs be nothing but a joke?"
Every single name Kizaru mentioned was a big-shot famous throughout the New World. If any New World pirates had heard this list, they would've been scared out of their wits.
Nami wasn't a New World pirate, and she'd never heard of people like Doflamingo, Tesoro, or Jack the Drought… but there was one thing she did understand: for a Marine Admiral to praise something as "a brilliant, glorious record," just how terrifyingly strong did Whiteflame have to be?!
Now even a Marine Admiral had been dispatched, and he'd personally come to cause trouble for him… Just what kind of monster was this man?!
PS: Recommended good book: "Honghuang: Opening Up a Xuanhuan World." Worth a read!
"Is it really a joke?"
"The ones I killed… were all great pirates who terrorized their territories."
Whiteflame said faintly.
"But you yourself are also a pirate."
"Pirates slaughtering each other—this sort of thing is nothing new at all."
A cold glint flashed across the lenses of Kizaru's toad-like sunglasses under the sun. "No matter how many pirates you kill, it doesn't change the pale and simple fact… that you are a pirate."
The moment these words fell, the atmosphere plummeted to freezing point.
Even though the blazing sunlight beat down and the ground grew scorching hot, Nami didn't feel a trace of warmth. Instead, she felt a chill.
"Just you alone… you think you can do it?"
Whiteflame took out a cigarette and said calmly.
"I'm quite curious about that answer myself."
"And that's exactly why I came here in person—to find out."
A smile tugged at the corner of Kizaru's lips, and then—
Swish!
In an instant—faster than a blink—Kizaru's figure vanished from where he stood.
At the same time, his figure appeared beside Whiteflame. Time seemed to slow down countless times over. There was no change in Whiteflame's or Nami's eyes, yet Kizaru's leg was already lifted, wrapped in a faint golden light at the speed of light, kicking straight at the cigarette between Whiteflame's lips!
Puff!
The cigarette Whiteflame had just lit was cleanly snapped in two by Kizaru's kick before he could even take a drag. Only the filter end remained between Whiteflame's lips.
Time resumed.
Kizaru's figure reappeared in his original spot.
"Not bad speed."
Whiteflame flicked his finger, sending the half-burned cigarette stub flying away. A sharp, cold light surged in his eyes as he looked at Kizaru.
"Speed is weight."
"If what I kicked just now wasn't your cigarette, but your head… you can imagine what would've happened to it."
"Now, the answer has been revealed perfectly."
A mocking curve lifted Kizaru's mouth. His show-off nature was on full display.
When Kizaru fought, he never started off going all-out.
He preferred to hold back at first, let the enemy strut and boast, then wait until they were drunk on their own arrogance before casually kicking them all into the ground… Kizaru had been playing this game since he first joined the Navy. Decades later, the habit had become part of his personality.
If you ask which of the three Admirals loves to show off the most, it was without a doubt Kizaru.
Unless he was facing someone he deemed worthy of caution—like a Yonko of the New World—Kizaru couldn't even be bothered to take his hands out of his pockets.
Right now, facing Whiteflame, that was exactly his attitude.
No matter that Whiteflame had killed Doflamingo, Jack the Drought, or the Golden Lion… in Kizaru's eyes, he was still a trivial existence—someone to toy with first, then execute.
"Is that so?"
"Then try kicking me again."
Whiteflame's tone was light as a breeze.
"Kid, you've only just made your name in this sea. Seems you still don't quite understand what a Marine Headquarters Admiral is."
"Especially me."
Seeing Whiteflame unmoved, Kizaru narrowed his eyes.
But he still didn't give up on showing off.
"You know, before I came here, Fleet Admiral Sengoku was yelling for me to abandon this mission to capture you. The reason was… you're too dangerous."
"But I turned him down."
"If even a brat can scare the Navy, to the point where even an Admiral doesn't dare to act… then in the future, won't anyone be able to stamp the Navy's dignity into the dirt?"
"I came here full of expectations, wanting to see what kind of threat someone deemed dangerous even by Sengoku could pose to me… but you're such a disappointment. I really don't know how a legendary figure like the Golden Lion could have lost his life to you."
"Looks like legends get so old that… they can't even walk anymore."
Every word out of Kizaru's mouth was dripping with provocation.
"Do all Marine Headquarters Admirals like to talk this much?"
"I have to say, Sengoku the Buddha thinking so highly of me is a bit of a surprise. He truly lives up to the name of 'strategic genius.'"
"It's just a shame that there will always be one or two idiots under his command. No matter how sharp Sengoku's mind is, it becomes meaningless with idiots like that under him."
The moment Whiteflame's words fell, Kizaru suddenly felt an indescribable sense of danger surge up from behind him!
Splurt!
A long, razor-sharp hand burst through the spot where Kizaru's heart should've been.
"My, my… what's this? It looks pretty scary."
Yet not a single drop of blood flowed from Kizaru's body. When he turned his head, he saw a tall, humanoid, bandage-wrapped monster and couldn't help speaking with mild surprise.
"Xiao Hei, take her down below."
The moment the battle began, Whiteflame issued the order. Nami hadn't even processed what had just happened in the blink of an eye before she suddenly felt something scoop her up in a princess carry and leap away, dropping down toward the ground!
"Logias really are troublesome."
Whiteflame raised his hand, his fingers moving in a strange, chaotic pattern. In an instant, the ground around them transformed into countless white threads.
The white threads tangled together into surging waves, wrapped in an ultra-dense coating of Armament Haki, rising from all directions to stab fiercely at Kizaru in the center!
"The String-String Fruit—Doflamingo's ability?"
"Incredible… kill someone and you can take their power for yourself?"
"But at this speed, if you think you can catch me… you'd better go train for a few more years first!"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a blinding white radiance flared from Kizaru's body, brighter than the sun, forcing even Whiteflame to narrow his eyes.
At the same time, Kizaru's body shattered apart, scattering into countless particles of light that shot off into the distance, swiftly regrouping into his human form.
All the surging waves of white threads stabbed into empty air.
"I've finally figured out the doubt in my heart."
"The moment I saw you, I wondered why the Golden Lion's Floating Pirate Ship was here… so that's it—you took the Golden Lion's ability, and that's how you control this ship."
"So that means, for everyone you kill… you can steal their powers too?"
"Tsk, tsk… incredible. Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle."
Kizaru no longer looked as relaxed as before. His eyes now held both wariness and fighting spirit.
PS: Recommended new book by a friend: "Urban: Super Gourmet Factory." Absolutely fantastic!
To steal someone else's ability and claim it as your own… if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Kizaru would never have believed something so bizarre could actually happen.
Doflamingo's String-String Fruit.
The Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit.
Kizaru had crossed paths with both of them before and knew full well how terrifying their abilities were… If Whiteflame still had other Devil Fruit powers up his sleeve, then his combat strength was no joke.
If he slipped up even once, there was a real chance he himself might fall here!
"Worthy of the title of Marine Headquarters Admiral—your experience really is broad."
A cold light flashed in Whiteflame's eyes as he raised his hand, forming it into the shape of a pistol.
[Golden Bullet Thread]!
Bang!
A bullet wrapped in white thread, encased in gold, shot out at extreme speed. Its surface was coated in ultra-dense Armament Haki as it tore through the air straight toward Kizaru!
"So fast!"
Kizaru's heart lurched. His figure vanished from where he stood. The Golden Bullet Thread grazed past him, the two almost brushing shoulders. If he'd been half a second slower, he likely would've been hit!
"My, my… how frightening."
"To be able to develop Doflamingo's Devil Fruit to this extent… you've completely surpassed his limits, haven't you?"
"Looks like dealing with you is going to take some real effort."
Even though Kizaru still mouthed off in his usual laid-back tone, his heart was already sounding the alarm. He no longer dared look down on Whiteflame in the slightest.
"If you want to stop me, then by all means—come and try."
Whiteflame didn't stop. He simply raised his "gun" again, aiming at Kizaru and unleashing a barrage of [Golden Bullet Threads].
Whiteflame had devoured so many New World experts, and among them, those who specialized in marksmanship were not few. As a result, his current gun skills were a fusion of "a hundred schools into one"—every shot carried terrifying precision and accuracy.
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