In their recent exchange, Black had already realized that Garin's attack power was enough to penetrate the triple defense he had constructed with Armament Haki emission, Armament Haki tempering, and Iron Balloon.
Furthermore, Garin's swordsmanship system had a deeper understanding of defense than Hawkeye's, making it impossible to breach in a short amount of time.
Dragging this out would undoubtedly lead to a certain loss.
Want to win?
Then push yourself to the brink of death to find a way to survive!
He would use his superior physical defense to trade injuries for a kill.
With blood at the corner of his mouth, Black gripped the blade in his abdomen, his muscles contracting to firmly lodge divine judgment within his body.
His right hand flashed out, seizing Garin's throat, and with immense force, he slammed him to the ground.
Garin twisted his body at the last moment, but the shockwave still caused the surrounding ground to ripple like water, and shattered stones shot out like a rainstorm.
The moment he was smashed to the ground, he displayed astonishing flexibility, his waist twisting as if boneless.
divine judgment was swiftly pulled out, drawing a deadly arc as it spun back towards Black's neck.
Black actually opened his mouth and bit the sword, his teeth shattering:
"Didn't expect that, did you? This is a secret technique from Zephyr's martial arts!"
Black lowered himself, and his right elbow, imbued with Armament Haki, struck Garin's chest with full force.
His left hand, which was already lodged between Garin's ribs, suddenly exerted force, instantly piercing the opponent's heart.
That wasn't all; Black swung his fist again.
Bang!
The fist landed squarely on Garin's temple, and Garin's figure finally dissipated into blue light… Back in the System Space, Black's injuries had all recovered, and the pain had vanished.
"Phew…"
Black let out a long breath:
"Conquerors Haki Infusion is simply too overpowered."
Young Garin's swordsmanship level wasn't much higher than young Hawkeye's.
At most, Garin's swordsmanship was more well-rounded, while Hawkeye's was sharper.
Both had their unique characteristics, making it hard to say who was better.
However, with the technique of Conquerors Haki Infusion, Garin's overall attack power was several levels higher than Hawkeye's.
One must know that Black's body, tempered by Armament Haki, had completely surpassed the original Charlotte Linlin.
Even so, Garin's slashes still shattered the bones in his arm.
Ultimately, he only won by resorting to a fighting style that was almost a mutual kill.
But thinking about it, it made sense; Charlotte Linlin didn't get her defenses broken because she faced opponents far weaker than her.
Moreover, these people mostly dealt blunt force damage, which inherently made it difficult to cause external injuries.
That's why Charlotte Linlin adopted a stance of "attack me all you want."
However, when facing the laser fired by a Pacifista, Charlotte Linlin chose to dodge for the first time.
The Pacifista's laser originated from Kizaru and was purely piercing damage.
If the Iron Balloon's skin truly couldn't be damaged, she wouldn't need to dodge at all.
It would be too ridiculous if she could ignore all experts who wielded sharp weapons.
Since his transmigration, this was the first time Black had been in such a dire state.
Even as a minor pirate when he was younger, Black would immediately choose to exit the card space if he determined he couldn't win, never fighting to the bitter end.
He was surprised to discover that deep down, he also harbored ferocity and a desire for battle.
"No, I still need to stay calm, not get carried away; this isn't my style."
Black shook his head, dispelling the faint ambition that had just arisen within him.
Wasn't all his hard work in leveling up precisely to crush those weaker than him with a numerical advantage?
He had never intended to engage in a desperate struggle with equally matched opponents in reality.
Composing himself, Black looked at the Ability Card in his hand.
This time, he didn't get the swordsmanship he desired most.
"Conqueror's Haki provides a greater boost to combat power, but I still want a swordsmanship style suitable for a Celestial Dragon."
Black sighed with insatiable greed, crushing the Ability Card in his hand.
Instantly, an incomparably powerful aura erupted from Black, as if the entire System Space began to tremble at that moment.
Dark red lightning crackled around Black's clenched fists.
Black raised his hand, seeing the lightning between his fingers, and his regret dissipated.
"Finally, I've comprehended it!"
Having suffered from Conquerors Haki Infusion many times, Black's desire for this high-level technique had reached its peak.
From now on, he would no longer have to be hesitant when facing top-tier powerhouses.
At this moment, Black's strength once again leaped a step, truly reaching the pinnacle of the sea.
To make a rough comparison, Black's current strength was no less than Luffy's after his training on Onigashima.
Although Luffy had the Nika Fruit developed to the awakening stage, Black's quality of all three types of Haki, as well as his physical strength, were far superior to Luffy's.
The current Black now possessed the qualifications to contend for supremacy over the sea.
"Luffy became a Four Emperors at 19, and I also reached this level of strength at 19."
"No, is this right?"
"You're the one with the cheat, aren't you?"
Initially, Black thought his cheat was quite significant.
Thinking about it this way, it seemed less impressive.
Shaking his head, Black cast the jumbled thoughts from his mind and began to experience this new power.
There were many Conqueror's Haki users in the original story, and their intensity and application varied.
Among them, Red Hair used long-range Conqueror's Haki when intimidating Aramaki on Onigashima.
However, it's hard to say whether Red Hair's Conqueror's Haki nullified Aramaki's Devil Fruit ability, or if Aramaki, upon sensing Red Hair's arrival, decided it wasn't the time to fight Red Hair and thus chose to abandon the mission.
But the Conqueror's Haki Imu used when possessing Junko almost completely knocked out the Elbaf warriors, who were reputed to be the strongest kingdom in the world.
Even if some managed to stand in the end, Elbaf, as an island inhabited by giants, was not small.
When Saint Shepherd Somaz was counting down, a group of people ran for a long time but couldn't reach the scene.
This shows how incredibly strong Imu's Conqueror's Haki was.
Besides that, there was also the Conqueror's Haki Joy Boy stored within the ancient giant Emitt.
This time, it truly shocked the Gorosei out of their beast forms.
Among Conqueror's Haki users, the intensity of Haki can vary wildly.
Black's own Conqueror's Haki was already strong, and he had also stacked the Conqueror's Haki of young Ace and young Garin.
In terms of Conqueror's Haki intensity, Black vaguely felt that he should also be able to reach Imu's level.
Whether he could affect Devil Fruits was still uncertain and would require testing when the opportunity arose.
After all, Black was currently unsure whether influencing Devil Fruit abilities through Conqueror's Haki was due to the intensity of Conqueror's Haki or some unknown technique… Black, having left the System Space, did not continue to play dead in the lounge chair, nor did he run off to continue playing wildly with Perona.
He stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the calm horizon, still contemplating his strength.
"My strength has now completely entered a bottleneck period; it will be very difficult to significantly improve it further in a short time."
"Imu's Devil Fruit must be able to contend with Nika's."
"And neither the Devil Fruits I possess nor the information I have on Devil Fruits seem to have any on the same level as Nika's."
"It seems this path is temporarily blocked."
Black was never stubborn; since this path was blocked, he would find another one.
He raised his hand, and Black mist permeated between his fingers…