"An illusion? Your disguise isn't bad, but I've seen this kind of trick plenty of times."
Bullet's perception quickly locked onto a distant invisible presence. He raised his foot and kicked a piece of rubble; the moment the stone flew out, it was coated with a layer of Armament Haki.
The ordinary stone shot off into the distance at a speed surpassing that of a cannonball. Midair, an invisible barrier blocked the stone, exposing Elizabeth's cloaked figure and knocking her back a great distance before she managed to steady herself.
On past battlefields, Bullet had endured countless sneak attacks. He was long accustomed to this kind of sniping.
"How did you end up here?"
"Uta and the others have already been sent to Mandrell. Of course I came over. This lunatic's indiscriminate attacks have affected quite a few of our people."
Olga dispelled the illusion and revealed her true body. Among the Beasts Pirates' officers, most are steady and bold; few are cowards. The only reason it wasn't "all of them" was because a certain Queen dragged down the average.
As a "child" who had once dared to kidnap Kaido, Olga wouldn't be intimidated by Bullet's presence. Even Shanks hadn't expected that.
He had known she was using illusions to transfer allies, and in that moment he truly understood how convenient it was to have someone like her on his side. But Olga and Elizabeth's sudden assault had been beyond his expectations.
"Your ability won't do much against this guy. Leave while you can."
Bullet's attack on Uta had already crossed Shanks' bottom line. Though he didn't say the words to activate that power, facing Bullet who didn't show him face, Shanks had no intention of holding back. Still, he urged Olga to retreat.
But before Olga could respond, Bullet moved.
"Not bad. I don't care whether you've got backup or not. With an opponent like this, the battle can finally escalate!"
His neat white teeth were fully bared as the corners of his mouth curled upward. He reached down to the ground he had just cracked open and pulled outward with both hands. As the earth split apart, something beneath the water continued to rise.
When the remaining rock was forced apart, a metal submarine surfaced.
It was his vessel—the Catapult. As a lone wanderer, Bullet usually sailed the seas aboard this submarine, collecting all sorts of unusual items.
Standing at the submarine's entrance, Bullet had no intention of retreating. Gripping the handrails atop the vessel, he activated his Devil Fruit power.
Purple square patterns spread from his arms, expanding outward. Soon both the submarine and Bullet himself were enveloped within them.
"Small Bullet!"
On a battlefield years ago, Bullet had stumbled upon this Devil Fruit—the Paramecia-type Clank-Clank Fruit.
After eating it, he gained the ability to freely fuse with and reshape inorganic matter. Back then, the weapons scattered across the battlefield had become his natural arsenal.
His survival on that battlefield owed much to this fruit.
As long as his stamina didn't run dry, Bullet possessed an inexhaustible armory.
"Shanks, you haven't forgotten, have you? I'm the Assimilation Human who ate the Clank-Clank Fruit. And now, I'm stronger than ever!"
After completing its task, the layer of purple squares gradually faded. The Catapult had disappeared, replaced by a mecha enveloping Bullet's body.
"That's ugly. Your taste is pretty terrible."
Looking at the crude robot, Olga mocked him without mercy, cutting off whatever he had been about to say.
It was true. The thing Bullet had cobbled together looked entirely handmade. Forget refined models, even Germa's combined mecha looked far cooler than this.
"It's not over yet. This is just the beginning! Large Bullet!"
Countless purple squares appeared across the mech's surface. As if possessing consciousness, they dropped down and spread across the island. Swords, guns, cannons, pirate ships—everything touched by Bullet's ability was instantly devoured.
"Whoa!! That thing's coming this way! Franky, hurry up and launch!"
"The cola just finished charging! It'll be ready in a second. Hang on! SUPER Coup de Burst!"
At the very last moment before being caught, the Sunny successfully launched into the air, narrowly avoiding being consumed by Bullet's power. The other pirate ships, however, weren't so fortunate.
The purple squares mercilessly devoured the various inorganic matter, much like a crusher. Whether it was ruins or anything else, everything merged with Bullet through the power of the Clank-Clank Fruit.
"This range… Has his Devil Fruit awakened?"
One of the most notable traits of a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit awakening is its effect on the surrounding area. To gather this many pirates, the island couldn't possibly be small. This wasn't something an ordinary ability could influence.
"That's right. I awakened this fruit long ago. Everything on this island is now a part of my power!"
Ships, rubble—more and more objects were absorbed by Bullet. Under the influence of his ability, the entire island seemed to come alive, converging toward him.
Soil and stone formed the skeleton, while the purple squares filled in the remaining parts. As the light of fusion burst forth, Bullet transformed into a grotesque, terrifying humanoid behemoth.
The island, once split into three sections, fused back together as if stitched. Perhaps long ago it had been whole, only to be torn apart into three sections by some battle.
Now, it was one again.
"ROOOAR!!"
The giant under Bullet's control let out a deafening roar. Even ten thousand meters away, the shock made ears ring with pain.
"Alright… my ability really isn't suited for something like this."
Olga was least adept at dealing with opponents who preferred fighting alone and possessed wide-area destructive power, and Bullet now had both.
Judging from his behavior, he wouldn't hold back in the slightest. Even if her illusions could deceive him, they would be exposed instantly under such indiscriminate attacks.
But Bullet's fusion wasn't finished. This time, instead of drawing from the outside, he released Armament Haki from within. A special blue Haki spread along the giant's arms like meridians, gradually covering its entire body.
"Is this guy's stamina… ridiculously excessive?"
Both stamina and Haki reserves have limits. Once depleted, they require time to recover.
That's why in battle, few people coat their entire body in Armament Haki. Instead, they combine it with Observation Haki for focused defense, saving stamina while strengthening defense.
Olga had never seen someone use it as extravagantly as Bullet.
"Fighting something this big isn't your specialty, is it? Go take care of Uta. I can handle this kind of thing myself. Come to think of it… it seems I'm being underestimated too."
Size wasn't everything. While Bullet's ability was excellent for clearing the field and utterly crushing opponents weaker than himself, against someone of equal caliber, it simply turned him into a gigantic target.
Boom—
The giant began to move. Just taking a step and drawing back its fist caused a landslide-like tremor. As its foot came down, countless pirates were flung away by the shockwave.
"Fire! Shoot! Bring it down!"
Seeing Bullet's massive form, the pirates who hadn't fled realized they couldn't outrun it. Grabbing whatever weapons they had, they launched a counterattack.
But against an awakened Bullet, such efforts were meaningless; nothing more than futile gestures.
"The weak can only pray for mercy!"
Bullet commanded the giant to deliver a heavy stomp, triggering a massive earthquake across the entire island. The resulting shockwaves swept across the island, and countless pirates were blown away by the wind pressure Bullet unleashed.
"AHHH!!! Help! Somebody save me!!"
Before Shanks could act, an unidentified flying object came hurtling toward him amidst the wind pressure. He lifted his foot to block it and found a pair of split-apart legs.
"These look familiar…"
"AAAH!!!"
With another scream, the remaining body parts came flying in, slamming squarely into Shanks' chest.
"Buggy?"
Seeing the scattered pieces of Buggy, Shanks froze for a moment.
"I don't have time to mess around with you. You're on your own for now."
"Wait!"
Before Buggy could finish speaking, Shanks vanished in a flash, dodging him and letting Buggy continue flying off into the distance.
"Shanks, I hate you!!!"
Trailing behind Buggy were his underlings, all unlucky souls who had been sent flying by the shockwaves, or perhaps lucky ones, since at least they hadn't been killed outright by the shockwaves from Bullet.
They flew farther and farther. Seeing the sea approaching below, Buggy's eyes filled with panic.
"Anyone, I don't care who, somebody save me!"
"Sables!"
At the final moment, a sand tornado rose out of nowhere, sweeping Buggy and the others up before they could fall into the sea.
"Crocodile! Thank goodness, I knew I hadn't misjudged you…"
"Shut up, you useless trash. I'm only doing this to keep the Guild from losing face. If I'd known you were this worthless, I would've killed you myself!"
Crocodile had no desire to save them, but he feared the aftermath. If word got out that the Cross Guild had been wiped out in one blow, including one of its four leaders, the "Clown."
At this point, his sunk cost was too high. Whether he liked it or not, he had to step in. To keep his dream of building an utopia from collapsing, he had no choice but to invest some effort in keeping Buggy alive.
Meanwhile, Shanks launched his attack against Bullet.
"Kamusari!"
A slash of sword energy shot forth. The arm Bullet had swung was carved apart, a huge chunk severed, and even his shoulder was blasted open with a hole by Kamusari.
"Don't you think you're underestimating me a little using something like this?"
"Hahaha! True, it's not quite enough for you, but it's perfect for cleaning up fodder!"
Bullet seemed immersed in his own game. Rather than dispelling his ability, he continued manipulating the giant to recombine. But before he could proceed further, his body suddenly stiffened.
"Ground Death!"
At the giant's waist, Crocodile had taken advantage of Bullet's focus on Shanks to close in and unleash his power.
At the same time, a booming laugh echoed across the sky.
"Worororo! Quite lively, isn't it? For something this big, how come nobody invited me?!"
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