Chapter 131: Zephyr's Arrival and Cole's Growth
…
"What is that?"
Sengoku, just recovering from the last attack, noticed the two golden vortexes forming behind Luo Han and felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
"This isn't good! Sengoku, get out of the way!" Garp quickly warned.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…! The golden spear beams reappeared, shooting rapidly toward Garp and Sengoku.
Step! Thanks to Garp's warning, Sengoku managed to dodge just in time using Moonwalk, narrowly avoiding the spears, which shot past and plunged deep into the sea.
"That was close!"
Feeling the pressure from the giant beam formed by the countless golden spears, Sengoku silently gave thanks. If he'd been hit repeatedly, even his Mythical Zoan body wouldn't have lasted long—he would've been blasted into the sea.
"Hmm! They dodged it."
"Garp, you bastard…"
Seeing their position, Luo Han frowned slightly. He had hoped to trap them with an endless barrage. If they dodged, it lost its purpose.
"Time for the golden explosive spears!"
With a thought, countless psychic vortexes appeared around Garp and Sengoku. These spears now bore red markings.
"Watch out, Sengoku. These ones explode like bombs," Garp warned, frowning slightly.
"This is trouble. Sengoku's shockwaves can't stop these fast spears. Now we're both forced into close combat. Unlike Roger, we don't have any ranged pressure. That means Luo Han can focus entirely on controlling this weird power—it's going to be tough," Garp thought grimly.
Luo Han swung his right hand, and a wave of golden explosive spears fired at them.
Just as Garp had feared, they were instantly overwhelmed by the onslaught. They could only dodge, completely on the defensive.
Sengoku tried to escape the barrage radius, but he didn't realize Luo Han's attacks could be launched across the entire area of his spiritual perception. Each time, he was forced back.
"Haha! This is awesome!"
Only Garp remained enthusiastic, a tireless monster dodging and punching back the golden spears, never letting too many explode at once.
And so the battle continued.
…
Elsewhere, Roger smiled knowingly as he listened to the distant explosions. "Just as I thought."
He quickly regrouped with Rayleigh and the others, explained the situation, and they set sail away from Battleship Island.
Around the same time Roger left, Zephyr at Marine HQ finally received word that Garp and Roger were battling Luo Han on Battleship Island.
He immediately abandoned his mission tracking John and set out. Perhaps he feared Garp couldn't handle both Roger and Luo Han alone. At this point, Zephyr didn't yet know that Sengoku had already joined the fight.
After five days at sea—on the ninth day of Luo Han's battle with Garp—Zephyr approached Battleship Island from the direction Roger had left.
A lookout on Zephyr's ship lowered his telescope and reported, "Vice Admiral Zephyr, Battleship Island is just ahead!"
"Got it. Keep going."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Zephyr!"
Zephyr looked toward the island's ominous weather—black clouds hanging heavy, lightning flashing, thunder booming, winds howling, and explosive rumbling in the distance.
"Seems like a fierce battle," Zephyr muttered.
"Vice Admiral Zephyr, we have an airborne target incoming!" the lookout suddenly shouted.
"Who is it?" Zephyr asked.
"It's… the Beastman Cole! Recently raised to a bounty of 430 million berries!"
"Cole… the Mythical Zoan Kun-Kun Fruit user."
Zephyr remembered Cole well. Back then, Cole's strength and resilience had left him at a loss.
As Cole approached, he was speaking with Luo Han via the Mirror World.
"Cole, are you ready?"
"Don't worry, Han-ge! I've been working on a powerful move recently. It's awesome!" Cole replied, brimming with confidence.
"Alright, I believe in you."
Cole nodded, then turned his gaze to the warship ahead. His attention focused on a single man—Zephyr. He and Luo Han had met Zephyr during their first encounter with the navy, and it had also been the worst beating Cole had taken.
"Cole, you came alone?" Zephyr asked.
"Yeah."
Cole looked around. He was clearly alone—wasn't that obvious?
"Step aside. You're not my target," Zephyr continued.
Cole shook his head. "Han-ge is fighting Garp and Sengoku right now. I can't let you interfere."
"You're saying Garp and Sengoku are fighting that Luo Han brat? Where's Roger?"
Zephyr frowned—this didn't match the intelligence. He turned and asked the comms officer, "Why wasn't I informed?"
"Uh… Vice Admiral, you sealed your Den Den Mushi so you wouldn't receive orders from HQ…" the officer replied helplessly.
Zephyr's mouth twitched as he slapped his forehead. Right—he had forgotten about that.
"Hm? What's this?"
Suddenly, Zephyr noticed something odd in Cole's aura. He turned to look.
Cole had completed a semi-beast transformation into his demon form. This time, though, there was an additional layer—something resembling Luo Han's psychic armor. But it looked strange, as if the very space around Cole was distorting.
"Han-ge's battle isn't something you're allowed to interrupt, Zephyr!" Cole said, then charged.
"Then let's see how much you've grown, kid."
Zephyr smiled. Although uneasy about the strange aura surrounding Cole, he wasn't intimidated. He leapt into the air with Moonwalk, clearly intending to keep the fight away from the ship and its crew.
Cole's massive fist came crashing toward him—bigger than Zephyr's own.
Boom! The two mismatched fists collided. There was no blast, just a dull thud and a grinding hum from the clash.
"What's going on?"
Zephyr frowned. He could feel his full power channeled into his fist, yet it had no effect on Cole. The distortion around Cole's body rippled like receding waves spreading from his fist, then surged back in, concentrating once more in his hand. The whole process lasted a second.
As Zephyr puzzled over it, Cole's eyes focused. All the waves condensed into his fist.
"Hah!" Cole let out a deep shout.
Zephyr instantly felt a massive force erupt from Cole's huge fist, a shockwave crashing into his entire body.
BOOM! A sonic boom echoed as Zephyr was blasted into the sea, creating a massive splash.
"Vice Admiral Zephyr!"
Everyone on the warship cried out. Their eyes locked on Cole, stunned. They couldn't believe it—Vice Admiral Zephyr, one of their strongest, had just been punched into the ocean by someone head-on.
"Heh… Han-ge, I can finally help you."
Cole smiled gently. Ever since their fight against Roger's crew at Edd War, he had realized something—Han-ge, once an equal, had skyrocketed in power. At some point, Cole could no longer keep up, and Han-ge instinctively began shielding him.
That wasn't what Cole wanted. So during this time, he had focused on evolving his Devil Fruit abilities.
(END CHAPTER)
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