"Sure enough, only battle lets you break through. Blind practice makes it hard to improve."
Vane looked at Calder, who had already stopped breathing. This was the first Devil Fruit user he had ever encountered, and that encounter had allowed him to freely activate the Transparent World.
And it seemed Calder had provided something else as well.
Above Calder's head, the Electabuzz symbol condensed into a solid stone.
There were many kinds of stones in the Pokémon world—Moon Stones, Fire Stones, Leaf Stones, and so on… This one should be a Thunder Stone. It even had the Electabuzz emblem on it, clearly meant for Electabuzz specifically.
Could it be a Mega Stone? No, Mega Stones looked more like glass marbles. This thing was pure stone… Whatever. No need to overthink it—once it's in Electabuzz's hands, he'll know how to use it.
"Ah!"
"You—who are you… you're not the one who joined midway… ah!"
Suddenly, chaos broke out on the pirates' side. Calder's subordinates seemed to have turned on each other, blood splattering everywhere.
"You—you actually cut the ship's helm!"
The Black Panther did indeed descend into turmoil. Seeing their boss knocked to the ground, his life or death unknown, the pirates immediately thought of running away.
But at that moment, someone rushed out. He didn't even seem to be holding a weapon, yet he used his bare hands to slash others apart.
They initially thought he was eager to seize the boss's position—but then he turned around and chopped the ship's helm apart. That thing couldn't be fixed anytime soon once destroyed.
Without a helm, the ship would just spin in place. There was no way to escape far—so what was the point of running?
"Stay where you are."
The one who made the move leapt lightly and landed steadily on the shore, carrying a powerful presence as he walked toward Vane.
Vane also noticed this sudden arrival. There was a symbol resembling a question mark above the man's head. Though Vane didn't yet know what that symbol meant, the other party was likely a Devil Fruit user as well.
Dark skin, hair cropped so short it looked like stubble. Vane felt the man looked extremely familiar—someone he had definitely seen before.
"I wasn't completely sure before, but now I am. You're my target."
The man assumed a starting stance. His arms actually gleamed with a metallic sheen.
That ability is… the Dice-Dice Fruit?
This guy was the future Mr. 1? Daz Bonez?
Crocodile's Baroque Works' top combatant, the Dice-Dice Fruit user—Daz Bonez.
The Paramecia Dice-Dice Fruit essentially turned the user's body into blades. Any part of the body could be used to cut others, while the body itself became as hard as steel.
It was a Devil Fruit that combined both offense and defense. Although Baby 5's Weapon Fruit later appeared as a superior cutting-type fruit, the pressure Daz Bonez's slicing ability gave off far exceeded that of the Weapon Fruit.
Right now, Bonez should be about the same age as Vane—at most fifteen or sixteen. But he really looked old. His growth had been way too rushed.
Vane said, "You don't look like a pirate."
Bonez glanced at Calder lying on the ground and replied, "I'm an assassin. I'm searching for valuable opponents. The fact that you killed him means you're worth me making a move."
Was Bonez this arrogant early on too? The West Blue wasn't like the East Blue, the weakest sea—there was no way there were no strong fighters. Maybe all the strong ones were in Kano Country, and he had simply never encountered them.
"I'm very interested in you too."
As Vane spoke, he finally drew the sword he hadn't unsheathed until now.
Seeing Vane draw his blade, Bonez's eyes filled with disdain. "So it's not just decoration. Unfortunately for you, swords are useless against me."
"I ate the Dice-Dice Fruit. I'm a slicing human—my entire body is as hard as steel."
"Ever since I ate this fruit, no swordsman has ever been able to cut my body."
Tsk, tsk. What a familiar line. About sixteen years from now, not long after saying something similar, you'll be cut open by Zoro in a single strike and help him step into the realm of a great swordsman.
"You seem very confident in your body. How about we make a deal? If I cut you open and let you see how vast the sea really is, then you'll work for me afterward. How about that?"
Cut open his body? Bonez found that impossible. This confidence would persist for another sixteen years—naturally, he still held it now.
"Talk after you manage to cut me."
Bonez spread his ten fingers. The inner sides of his fingers all transformed into sharp blades.
The soles of his feet also turned into blades, instantly equipping him with a pair of ice skates. Sliding across the ground with blade-edges greatly increased his speed.
The sound, however, was rather grating.
"Petal Blade Slash."
His palms chopped down rapidly, as if slicing the air itself apart.
Vane raised his sword to block, colliding with Bonez's palm in a shower of sparks.
Bonez swung his arms wildly. As long as he landed even a single hit, blood would spray five paces away.
Clang! Clang—clang! Clang…
Vane kept blocking and dodging. Bonez attacked with both hands, occasionally sweeping with his legs as well. Those sweeping kicks were like giant cleavers—one hit would mean serious injury.
"Damn, why does this guy's body feel as hard as iron?"
"His body's like iron—how are you supposed to fight that?"
"Boss Vane has been defending this whole time."
"He was defending before too, and he still won in the end. I believe Boss Vane will definitely defeat him."
Bonez's understanding and mastery of the Dice-Dice Fruit was far inferior to what it would be sixteen years later—though even then, his development of the fruit wasn't all that impressive.
His development was simply too low. His environment had been far too "comfortable." From his conversation with Zoro, it was clear that before Zoro, he had never encountered anyone capable of cutting his body.
After joining Baroque Works, with Crocodile's status as a Shichibukai, he certainly wouldn't have been hunted by the Marines either. Staying in the first half of the Grand Line, he never met a true rival.
And so, a pretty good Devil Fruit stopped progressing.
"Your skill doesn't seem as impressive as you claim."
Vane was still completely at ease dealing with Bonez. Under the vision of the Transparent World, Bonez's outer body was as hard as steel, but inside, the flow was still that of normal human organs.
It was still a body that could be read in advance. The only question was whether advance reading would work against a Logia—after all, once they turned elemental, their entire bodies might transform into natural elements.
"Cut open my body first, then talk."
It wasn't like he hadn't faced agile opponents before. As long as the other side made a single mistake, victory would be his. At worst, it would end in a stalemate—and more often than not, the opponent would flee, leaving his reputation intact.
"You rely too much on your Devil Fruit. Let me show you how vast the sea really is."
Vane fully activated the Transparent World. A layer of white mist wrapped around his blade, crystalline frost condensing along its edge.
Frost Breathing—White Frostfall.
Vane's figure blurred. Only a wisp of white mist remained where he stood, while he himself appeared behind Bonez.
The speed looked just like the Marines' Rokushiki technique—Soru—almost like teleportation.
Come to think of it, Bonez's confidence was just like those who trained Rokushiki's Tekkai—trusting in its defense, standing still to tank attacks head-on, and getting knocked flat as a result.
Tekkai really did people dirty.
Bonez saw a red line stretch from his chest down to his abdomen. In the next instant, blood burst out—only to rapidly freeze and solidify into blood crystals.
He had been… cut open.