The vast ruins fell into utter silence.
Looking at the sky, where it had been pierced through by a single punch, his pupils contracted and a cold shiver ran down his spine.
He instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva, glancing at Kai, who still maintained that dead fish-eyed, indifferent expression amidst the wreckage.
At this moment, only one thought filled their minds:
If that punch had landed on them, they would have cried for a long time!
No!
Perhaps they wouldn't even survive—that was still an unknown.
"Who... who are you?" Blackbeard struggled to crawl up from the ground, his face full of disbelief.
Looking at Kai not far away, his expression was equally incredulous.
Ace, who had fought alongside him, was no exception.
In their eyes, Blackbeard—who had been silent on Whitebeard's ship for decades—and Ace, a renowned figure in the New World, were both extremely powerful.
But together, they couldn't even defeat this unknown big head.
Not even leave a scratch.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe it was real.
"I told you, I'm just an interest-driven hero!" Kai's dead fish eyes suddenly shifted, focusing on Blackbeard and Ace.
"Just now, you said that true fighting involves flashy moves, adding some tricks, some cool special effects. Is that right?"
"Isn't it?"
"Bang!"
Kai took a step forward!
The ground where he stepped collapsed as if made of paper.
The entire port trembled violently, cracks spreading like a spider web.
The whole dock shattered apart!
Next, without any fancy moves, Kai appeared in front of Blackbeard like a ghost.
His five fingers suddenly clenched, muscles bulging like a mountain, and under Blackbeard's watchful gaze, he lunged forward with a thunderous impact.
This sudden surge shook Blackbeard's nerves.
His pupils contracted sharply, and without hesitation, he pushed his Devil Fruit abilities to the limit.
After witnessing Kai's earth-shattering punch earlier, he dared not gamble!
No!
Actually, Blackbeard couldn't afford to gamble anymore!
A massive wave of dark tide erupted from him, rapidly compressing into a black whirlpool as dark as ink, swirling in front of him.
He hadn't had much time to master the Dark Dark Fruit, but Blackbeard knew clearly: if he used the fruit's suction properly, most attacks could be nullified.
Especially these physical attacks.
But just as this thought appeared, the next moment, Blackbeard felt the surrounding air grow stagnant.
Kai's clenched fist, like a cannonball, slammed fiercely into the black hole.
"Boom!"
A thunderous explosion resounded loudly.
The violent surge of fists, like a raging tide, burst out with unstoppable force.
The dark whirlpool, like a mirror cracking apart, shattered instantly.
The fist, wearing a red glove, struck down again and again, with relentless power.
"Bang!"
The huge body was knocked flying like a sandbag.
The enormous impact shattered everything along the way.
It crashed onto the sea rocks thousands of meters away, with a deafening explosion.
A massive splash erupted as the rocks were obliterated.
The sea surface was torn apart, creating a huge wave like a tsunami.
Loud thunder roared ceaselessly.
Faced with this overwhelming scene, Ace's face turned pale instantly.
Unable to think further, the flames within him erupted wildly.
"Flame Seal: Fire Pillar!" he roared urgently.
In this critical moment, he couldn't afford to hesitate.
The only way was to convert his remaining strength into his Devil Fruit power to buy himself some time.
Blazing flames shot upward.
Forming a gigantic vortex of fire, it struck straight into the sky.
But before Ace's attack fully formed, a suffocating sense of pressure suddenly struck him.
At this moment, he felt space all around him was frantically crushing inward.
In the next instant, the swirling flames were suddenly extinguished by the force of Kai's fist.
Under the invisible shockwave, Ace's entire body first couldn't withstand the pressure and collapsed with a loud crash.
The pier along the way, as well as the dozens of-meter-long pirate ships moored in the distance, all shattered at the same time.
The sea surface, which had just returned to calm, was forcibly torn open, revealing a deep trench.
The rising giant waves, like a tsunami, rolled outward in all directions.
Any sea king lurking within, regardless of its size, was directly crushed into pieces, along with the seawater, pouring down like a heavy rain.
Far away in the ruins, Lafitte and others looked on with faces as pale as paper.
Their eyes, wide with shock, nearly bulged out of their sockets.
In their eyes, Ace—the top-tier powerhouse—whose fire fists were among the strongest, and Blackbeard, were supposed to be formidable.
But facing this unknown big head, he couldn't even match a plain, unadorned punch.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never believe any of this was real.
"We're done playing. Don't waste my time. Hurry up and follow me back!"
After throwing a punch, Kai looked calmly into the void in front of him.
The countless fireflies flickered wildly, quickly gathering in front of him.
Finally, under everyone's watchful eyes, the pale-faced Fire Fist Ace reappeared.
He hadn't used Armament Haki for that punch.
Compared to Blackbeard's Dark Dark Fruit abilities, Ace's Flare Flare Fruit could manipulate elements.
That punch and shockwave had shattered his body.
But at the critical moment, Ace was still able to elementalize his body, thus avoiding disaster.
However, facing this overwhelming punch, Ace clearly felt like he had walked through the gates of hell.
Looking at this big head with dead fish eyes, he was still trembling with lingering fear.
Overexerting his Flare Flare Fruit ability, draining his stamina and spirit, he hadn't even taken half a step before his eyes rolled back and he heavily collapsed into the ruins.
"Young man, you really can't take it anymore!" Kai lazily glanced at Ace.
He casually grabbed Ace's clothes and leapt toward Hiyori of the Moon.
Watching Kai suddenly appear like a ghost with several quick steps, everyone quickly regained their composure and took a deep breath.
This scene, which unfolded so suddenly, made Hiyori look utterly exhausted and pale.
But, seizing this opportunity, she realized even more clearly that this guy, who seemed to be doing nothing, appeared completely unmotivated.
This big head, giving off a careless vibe from start to finish, probably had strength far beyond what any pirate in the sea could compare to.
Thinking of this, a ridiculous idea flashed through Hiyori's mind.
If she couldn't find Skull Demon and Escanor to trade with, perhaps this big head with dead fish eyes was also a good candidate for restoring the country.
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