Jack stared incredulously at his completely uninjured abdomen, then slowly raised his head to look at Jozu's gleaming fist, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.
"This is... internal destruction..." Jack's voice was so hoarse it barely sounded human, each word accompanied by a violent cough.
"How could you... possibly master this level of Haki!"
Jozu slowly retracted his fist, the flowing Haki obediently and swiftly coiling back around his arm like a nest of returning venomous snakes.
He slightly lifted his head, a trace of disdain in his gaze as he looked down upon the kneeling Jack, coldly stating.
"Did you think you were the only one making progress these days?"
He paused briefly, his eyes becoming profound and distant, "Pops said that true masters must wield Haki as naturally as breathing."
Jack's burly frame trembled violently, the blood spraying from his mouth drawing a glaring arc in the air.
He staggered back several steps, his thick arms desperately clutching his abdomen, trying to forcibly suppress the raging pain.
Crimson blood foam continuously seeped from his mouth, slowly trickling down the corners of his lips, dyeing his beard bright red.
His originally ferocious face was now etched with disbelief, his eyes revealing fear toward this unknown power.
Jozu slowly retracted his steel-hard fist, the diamond transformation effect not yet completely faded.
Wisps of black-purple Haki ghost-like coiled around his fingertips, emitting an intimidating aura.
He tilted his head slightly, revealing his signature simple and harmless smile, though to Jack's eyes this smile now appeared like a demon's mockery.
"What's wrong? Weren't you just saying that's all I've got?" Jozu's voice carried a faint note of teasing.
As he spoke, he flexed his wrist, the diamond joints producing crisp clicking sounds as they moved.
"So I had to 'show' you a few more tricks."
Before his words fully faded, Jozu's figure instantly transformed into a dazzling, brilliant stream of light.
The radiance was so intense it seemed to swallow everything around it.
This wasn't ordinary speed—it was lightspeed movement achieved by Jozu developing his Glint-Glint Fruit ability to its extreme!
Countless streams of light particles flashed by as beams!
Faced with this astonishing speed, Jack's eyes widened to their limits, his pupils contracting sharply.
He wanted to react but found his body seemingly frozen, completely unable to execute any effective defensive moves.
Jozu's Ryuo-wrapped fists came roaring like a storm, each punch containing world-shattering power.
"Bam! Bam! Bam!"
A series of dull yet earth-shattering impacts erupted within Jack's body.
With each punch landing, he couldn't help but spew mouthfuls of blood, splattering across the surrounding ground to form a horrifying pool of crimson.
Yet, his skin surface remained completely intact—all damage cleverly concealed beneath this deceptively calm exterior.
In reality, his internal organs had long been shattered to pieces under this relentless assault, each breath feeling like an endless torment.
Even more terrifying was how Jozu's attacks, enhanced by light-speed movement, came so fast they blurred into a dizzying flurry, leaving Jack no chance to catch his breath.
Jack felt as though he were trapped in an inescapable nightmare, forced to endure everything passively.
"Gwah—!" Another powerful, heavy punch slammed squarely into Jack's chest.
Jack's towering, burly frame was sent flying backward like a ragged doll, utterly defenseless.
His body traced an arc through the air, crashing through several sturdy rock walls before finally grinding to a halt.
Dust billowed into the air, obscuring his vision, yet it couldn't mask the thick, metallic scent of blood.
"No... impossible... This has to be fake."
"How could I be this weak?! My bounty is one billion Belly!!"
"Damn it!!"
Jack struggled to rise, his hands pressing hard against the ground as he tried to muster what little strength he had left.
However, he was horrified to discover that his legs no longer obeyed him, as if they no longer belonged to his own body.
His spinal nerves had been completely severed by Jozu's violent assault—all that remained was a hollow shell of a body.
Jozu's figure flickered unpredictably in the sunlight, even appearing as overlapping shadows in Jack's vision—now on his left, now phasing like a ghost to his right.
Jack's consciousness began to blur, fragmented memories flashing before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
He returned to the past: he saw his ecstasy upon obtaining the Mammoth Fruit, believing he would become invincible, he saw his pride when Kaido recognized his talent, feeling he had finally found his place, he saw his exhilaration while destroying village after village, back when he freely indulged his wickedness and violence.
Yet now, it all felt so distant, so illusory.
"It's over." Jozu's icy voice echoed by Jack's ear, like a verdict from hell.
Summoning the last of his strength, Jack laboriously lifted his head to see Jozu's fist, gleaming with a diamond sheen and wreathed in tangible, dark-purple Haki.
That Haki seemed to exert an invisible pressure, making Jack's very soul tremble.
"Boom—!"
The final punch struck Jack squarely in the face, carrying the full force of Jozu's power and fury.
Jack's head snapped backward, his entire body collapsing heavily into the blood pool, splashing up a spray of crimson.
He maintained that expression of utter disbelief, eyes filled with resentment.
Until his final moment, he could not accept the reality of his defeat.
Jozu stood quietly beside his corpse, his diamond body shimmering with dazzling brilliance under the sunlight, not a single stain of blood marring its surface.
His gaze was firm and composed, devoid of any arrogance or frivolity that might follow victory.
"It seems..." Jozu looked toward the distant direction where Kaido and Whitebeard were locked in fierce combat.
The battle there still raged intensely, with roars and shouts continuously echoing.
"It's time to help Pops."
With that, his figure transformed into a streak of light once more, vanishing from the brutal battlefield, leaving behind only silence and the lingering smoke of gunpowder.
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