"Damn brat of the Marines!"
Saul let out a furious roar as he tightened his grip on his massive battle axe.
"I’ll see for myself just how capable this newly appointed Marine Admiral really is if he dares look down on one of the Beasts Pirates’ Tobi Roppo!"
He stomped heavily on the ground, instantly accelerating to top speed.
At the same time, a shadow shot out from among the several hundred pirates.
"Lord Saul, I’ll provide covering fire!"
Twang! Twang!
The sharp snap of a bowstring echoed through the air as two black arrows screamed forward, reaching Lucas before Saul himself.
Lucas raised an eyebrow as he looked toward the archer in the distance.
He couldn’t help feeling a little surprised.
If I remember correctly... isn’t that Batman? The Smile user who once blasted Luffy away with a punch?
Looking at the incoming arrows, Lucas let out a helpless sigh.
"You’re really forcing me to work overtime."
"My overtime rate is worth millions every minute."
"I was saving this move for someone with a much higher bounty..."
"But if it means getting off work earlier..."
"I guess it’ll do."
Brilliant golden light burst from Lucas’s body.
Bang!
The two arrows came to an abrupt stop less than a meter in front of him, blocked by an invisible force.
As the phantom image of a Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva rapidly materialized, Saul’s expression changed slightly.
Even so, he didn’t hesitate.
Without any fancy tricks, he swung his gigantic axe straight down.
BOOM!
The strike perfectly demonstrated the terrifying power expected of a pirate with a 270 million-Berry bounty.
The resulting shockwave exploded outward like a hurricane.
Even the heavily injured Luffy and the others were blown backward.
Seeing this, Bogard immediately flashed over beside them.
"This is your chance," he said gravely.
"Leave now."
"Once this farce is over, it’ll be too late for you to escape."
"Leave?"
Nami and the others were stunned.
Ever since Lucas had appeared, escaping alive had seemed like nothing more than a fantasy.
They had never imagined a Marine would deliberately let them go.
"No."
Zoro gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.
"This is one of the Four Emperors’ crews."
"That pirate has a bounty of 270 million Berries."
"I want to watch."
"I want to know just how big the gap between us really is."
Sanji silently lit a cigarette.
"I don’t want to face an Admiral again someday and still be unable to protect Nami-san and Robin-chan."
"We want to see the difference."
"You people..."
Bogard was momentarily speechless.
Finally, he turned to look at Lucas and sighed.
"It’s too late anyway."
"He only gets serious when he’s working overtime."
"That’s when he actually uses his true strength."
"Even if you wanted to run now... you no longer have the time."
Zoro and the others froze.
He only gets serious... when he’s working overtime?
If that was true...
Then what had happened earlier?
Had they been defeated by someone who hadn’t even been trying?
The realization hit them like a hammer.
Ignoring everything else, they hurriedly looked back toward the battlefield.
Saul had already retreated dozens of meters after his first attack was blocked.
His massive muscles bulged like solid granite.
In the next instant, his body transformed into a gigantic prehistoric lizard over five meters long.
He crashed onto the ground with the weight of a falling mountain, kicking up enormous clouds of dust.
His thick tail coiled around the shaft of his axe.
His blood-red eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he looked toward Lucas.
But...
The moment he looked—
The bloodlust vanished from his eyes.
His pupils contracted violently.
It felt as though his eyeballs were about to burst.
The hundreds of pirates behind him wore the exact same expression.
Within the dust-filled ruins...
Lucas stood calmly on one leg.
His other leg was folded upward.
In full view of everyone, he slowly brought his palms together in front of his chest, assuming the posture of a devout prayer.
At that moment...
The surrounding air seemed to freeze.
Everyone on the abandoned dock suddenly felt as though they had sunk into a bottomless swamp.
Behind Lucas...
A colossal golden Bodhisattva over a dozen meters tall slowly emerged.
Seeing this scene, both Sengoku and Garp’s expressions changed.
When Lucas had used Thousand-Armed Welcome earlier, the Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva had merely been an illusion.
But now...
The weeping Bodhisattva behind him looked almost tangible.
Its countless golden arms overlapped one another.
The overwhelming pressure it radiated was like an entire mountain crashing down upon them.
Combined with Lucas’s strange one-legged stance...
The oppressive aura became almost unbearable.
Looking up at the enormous figure overlooking the battlefield with eyes full of sorrowful compassion...
Saul suddenly felt an indescribable sense of danger rise from the depths of his heart.
Before he could react—
Lucas slowly opened his eyes.
He touched his thumb and index finger together, forming an "OK" gesture.
Then...
He exhaled through the circle between his fingers.
"Hundred-Type Guanyin..."
"Zero Hand."
Bzzzz!
The enormous Bodhisattva opened its mouth.
The air compressed within it to an unbelievable degree.
In that instant—
Lucas’s single breath ignited it.
BOOM!!
A blinding white torrent erupted forward like a river bursting through a collapsed dam.
The hundred-meter distance disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Brilliant light swallowed everyone’s vision.
The resulting explosion swept across the battlefield like a Category 12 hurricane.
Dust, shattered earth, and debris were hurled into the sky.
It looked like the end of the world.
Even Zoro and the others, who had stubbornly insisted on staying to watch, had no time to react before the tremendous shockwave sent them flying.
They crashed into the ground hundreds of meters away.
No one knew how much time had passed.
When the dust finally settled...
Zoro and the others struggled to their feet despite the pain wracking their bodies and hurriedly looked toward the dock.
The sight before them nearly made their eyes pop out of their sockets.
The dock...
Had completely disappeared.
The pirate ship anchored at the harbor entrance...
Was gone as well.
Stretching as far as the eye could see...
The sea itself had been split apart by an invisible blade.
A gigantic trench carved through the ocean remained, exposing the torn seabed beneath.
Molten rock still bubbled within the fissure, a silent testament to the unimaginable heat that had scorched it moments earlier.
Thinking back to what had just happened...
They vaguely remembered only one thing.
Lucas had simply assumed a strange stance...
Then breathed.
Just one breath.
And the dock was gone.
The pirate ship was gone.
Even Saul—the great pirate with a 270 million-Berry bounty—
Had vanished with a single breath.
A single exhalation...
Possessed such terrifying power.
Had they not witnessed it with their own eyes...
None of them would ever have believed it.
A notorious pirate worth 270 million Berries...
Couldn’t even withstand one breath.
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