Watching the blue beam lance home, swallow and continually hammer Carlo, John's dust-streaked face finally showed a vengeful grin.
But the smile blooming across his face didn't last.
Because he heard a wild laugh.
Coming from the rail-gun pillar that had pierced the sky!
"Hahaha—hahahaha!"
"Eight-star! My Armament Haki's finally broken through to eight-star!"
"A rail-gun? Not bad for tempering!"
At the heart of the relentless beam, Carlo—his body jet-black—spread arms and legs wide, letting the electromagnetic cannonade pound him without pause.
The torrent of energy shook the Haki coating his skin like a waterfall and, beneath that, the flesh it guarded.
Thousands of vibrations every second forced him to draw out every last scrap of Haki and muscle-power to fight back.
It was this near-insane gamble that pushed his Armament Haki up another notch—into eight-star territory!
More than that, his body was forged anew, gaining almost two full stat points in minutes.
Right now, Carlo's overall evaluation officially stepped into eight-star!
The weakest eight-star, maybe, yet enough to make him exult.
[Physique: Seven-star – Ogre Power – 77.2]
[Haki]
[Observation: Eight-star – Total Clarity – 82.404]
[Armament: Eight-star – Internal Destruction – 81.205]
[Haoshoku: Seven-star – External Release – 78.100]
[Devil Fruit Power: Five-star – 55.777]
[Overall: Eight-star]
[Comment: Wow, a vice-Captain level? How terrifying~]
"Kizaru's nowhere in sight, so quit stealing his lines!"
Carlo's face darkened.
Feeling the stronger Haki inside him, he clenched both fists and suddenly flung them outward.
"Bzzzz!"
A mass of glossy black Haki, like black flowing fire, burst from every inch of his skin.
As he used Garp's method to compress those black flames of Armament Haki—
"Zzzt—"
"Crackle!"
The black fire gathered, shrinking until, to his delight, it became thin black lightning!
Guided by his will, those black sparks raced to his clenched right fist.
It looked as though he now held a bolt of black lightning in his hand.
"That's the feeling!"
Inspiration struck; gripping the tiny black bolts, he raised his arm high, muscles bulging, and smashed the beam that still engulfed him.
"Fist Bone – Galaxy Impact!!"
"Boom!!"
A blossom of black lightning detonated at his knuckles, releasing a savage spherical shock-wave.
The orb sliced the electromagnetic column in half and, to John's disbelief, rode the beam straight downward.
Wherever the black sphere passed it crushed everything, grinding the light and the giant cannon beneath it to dust.
Like a meteor it plunged toward John, still lying in the pit.
"Garp's Iron Fist??"
Watching the sphere swell until it filled his vision and flung aside thousands of tons of soil, John's face twitched; terror gripped him as death loomed.
"I'm going to die? Don't be ridiculous!"
"I, Captain John, dying on Hachinosu at the hands of some no-name pirate?"
"I won't accept it—won't!"
In that hysterical scream, hair flying like a madman, he punched at the black mass.
But someone was faster.
A figure no taller than himself suddenly appeared in front of him.
To John's stunned eyes the man spread his arms as if to embrace the falling devastation.
"You—"
He managed only that single word.
The blast erupted before him.
One of Garp's ultimate moves—Fist Bone – Galaxy Impact—unleashed its full fury.
A sphere a dozen metres across ballooned underground, shredding a hundred metres of earth as if high-grade explosive ore had detonated.
Buildings along Hachinosu's port were reduced to powder.
When the smoke finally cleared
a crater a hundred metres wide, like a meteor's scar, lay before Carlo.
He'd thought Garp's punch would finish John in one shot.
Yet to his mild surprise
at the bottom of that pit
not only was John still alive
but another man stood beside him.
A man with a buzz-cut, steel-hard features, and a huge axe strapped to his back.
The huge tattooed kanji for "Ferocity" on his bare skin and the man's look
made the name click in Carlo's mind.
"Silver Axe, the West Blue's king of killers—Ferocity."
Named, Silver Axe gave no reply.
He simply tore off his shredded clothes and dropped them.
Right now he looked anything but dignified.
The Galaxy Impact had caught him head-on.
It had shredded clothes and sunglasses alike
and left his whole body bleeding.
Carlo could see at least seven or eight bones broken.
Worst was the left arm,
twisted back at a sickening angle.
A sight unpleasant enough to make anyone wince.
Yet the man himself seemed oblivious.
Instead, a sick, blissful smile crept across his upturned face.
He let out a dreamy moan and exhaled black smoke.
"Hrr—"
"That packed a punch; no wonder it's one of Garp's. A meal like that'll keep me full for three days."
"Absolutely—delicious!"
He licked his lips, eyes gleaming as he looked at Carlo.
At the same time his body, barely two metres tall, began to inflate like a balloon.
In an instant the man who had stood no taller than John behind him swelled to five or six metres.
Muscle piled on muscle, gnarled like old tree roots.
Not only did his size multiply
but every wound vanished, leaving him perfect.
Silver Axe unslung the great axe from his back, ran his tongue along the blade, and stared at Carlo with hunger.
"I came for Shiki, for Rocks."
"But Hachinosu has more strong meat than I thought."
"Sorus Karlo, the 1.8-billion-belly man—let me taste you next."
"Power of Cause and Effect!!"