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Chapter 283: I've Got Absolutely No Tolerance for Neets, You Know
Chapter 283: I’ve Got Absolutely No Tolerance for Neets, You Know
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Inside the cave, the terrain was pockmarked and battered beyond recognition.
Two figures clashed fiercely, locked in combat.
Zeff shook off his mechanical arm and hurled Ehrnando aside. In a flash, he lunged forward with a Haki-infused punch. Ehrnando ducked just in time, the blow crashing into the rock wall and leaving a gaping crater.
Ehrnando retaliated with a flying kick, his foot striking Zeff’s abdomen. A wisp of Calm Step pierced through Zeff’s gut, slamming into the cave entrance and carving a wispy gash that sent shards of stone flying.
Zeff grunted in pain but swung his massive mechanical arm downward, crushing Ehrnando’s body against the ground.
With a thunderous boom, Ehrnando was driven into the earth, spitting out blood.
Using arms coated in Armament Haki, Ehrnando strained to pry the mechanical limb open. The moment he managed to budge it slightly, Zeff seized his head with the mechanical arm and struck his gut with the other. The fist sank deep into his abdomen with a sickening crunch.
The single punch sent Ehrnando flying backward, slamming into the rock wall and embedding himself deep within it.
“Haa… haa…”
Zeff clutched his wounded abdomen after the strike, blood seeping through his fingers from the Calm Step injury. The lingering pain was anything but pleasant.
Crack!
Ehrnando strained to extricate himself from the wall, his swollen eyes glaring at Zeff as he gasped for breath.
His condition was far worse—his entire body was battered, scarred, and bleeding.
“Unforgivable! This Seastone arm is annoying—forcing me, a Devil Fruit user, to deal with such a handicap. Zeff, is this really all you’ve got?!” Ehrnando snarled.
“You use any means necessary to catch pirates. Didn’t I teach you that, Ehrnando?” Zeff panted.
Ehrnando was no weakling. A master of Supreme Armament Haki, he ranked among the strongest men of the Grand Line. Had he remained in the Navy, he might’ve risen to the elite ranks of Vice Admirals like Dalmatian. In battle, he was the relentless type—never giving up.
“What means? Including murder? Even if I lose, you won’t kill me, Zeff!”
Ehrnando growled, “You can’t win unless you kill me. I’ve already razed over a dozen towns, including two Marine Bases. Everyone in them died by my hand.”
“As long as I draw breath, the pirates in my alliance will obey my orders, endlessly tearing this world apart. After West Blue comes North Blue, then South Sea, East Blue, the Grand Line, and finally the New World! This is my revenge on the world—and on you!”
Ehrnando roared, his golden hair bristling with fury. The venom in his eyes sent a chill down Zeff’s spine.
“Ehrnando…”
Tears streamed from Zeff’s eyes. “Has it truly come to this?”
“Exactly. Unless you kill me now, Zeff, this is your last chance. I can’t beat you, but I won’t let you win easily. The Reflection Devil Fruit’s power of Shu Di Ka has projected coordinates to other islands—you’ll never find me again!”
He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a yellowed, ancient Life Card.
Rip!
He tore it into shreds, scattering fragments across the ground.
“You found me because of my Life Card, didn’t you? You kept it—but now, you’ve lost your chance!”
Ehrnando grinned savagely. “Zeff, my most respected teacher… you’ve utterly failed. You’re a failed, useless Navy who only shows mercy to enemies!”
“Ehrnando!!”
Zeff roared, “Why—why must you do this?!”
“It’s irreversible, Zeff!”
Ehrnando bellowed, then whispered, “Nothing can be undone anymore.”
Zeff’s pupils contracted to pinpricks as he strode toward Ehrnando, each step heavier than the last, leaving deep footprints in the ground.
Each step seemed to cement an unshakable resolve.
“Ehrnando… Ehrnando…”
Zeff muttered, tears streaming down his face. A jet-black aura surged from his fist, racing halfway up his arm.
“For the safety of civilians, for the honor of the Navy, for Justice… Some things must never be tainted. Don’t blame me, Ehrnando.”
Zeff lifted his head, determination blazing in his eyes.
Ehrnando inhaled deeply, straightened his stance, and raised his fists, black Haki swirling around them.
“Come then, Zeff! This is my final Haki!”
“Ehrnando!!!”
Zeff roared, throwing a punch that unleashed a shockwave through the cave, sending tremors rippling outward.
“Zeff!!!”
Ehrnando bellowed, unleashing a dual-fist strike to clash head-on. But as their attacks neared, his Haki suddenly dissipated.
The sudden loss left Ehrnando stunned.
Zeff’s fist halted mere centimeters from his face.
A flicker of triumph sparked in Ehrnando’s eyes.
This is it, Teacher Zeff!
May your martial fortune shine!
“Unforgivable! Have I… truly run out of strength?!” He shut his eyes in bitter defeat.
Yet the pain and death he expected never came. Zeff’s punch had stopped—mid-impact.
“Zeff!!!”
Ehrnando snarled, “Are you still clinging to your cowardly mercy, you spineless good-for-nothing who lost his family—”
The final word died on his lips as he opened his eyes. Zeff was gone.
Only a massive boulder rocketed outward, Zeff’s familiar fist punching through it before being dragged away.
So close! Just one last strike!
He’d seized the moment, dissipating his Haki to let Zeff kill him. If Zeff chose not to, he’d die on his own, forcing his mentor to abandon that useless “non-killing” principle. Zeff would finally become the truly powerful Navy Ehrnando envisioned—a killer who inspires terror.
But someone had shattered that plan!
“Who?! Who destroyed this moment?!” Ehrnando bellowed, livid.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from the cave entrance.
A black gleam pierced the darkness—a blade. Blood dripped from the Black Blade with each step, staining the ground.
Kuro, a cigar between his teeth, stepped into the cave gripping Autumn Water.
“Lucius Kro!”
Ehrnando’s bloodshot eyes burned with fury. “It’s you again—you meddling fool!”
Kuro studied him silently, then exhaled a plume of smoke. The white mist curled upward, obscuring his expressionless face.
“Tell me, forcing an old man who only wants to spend his days fighting pirates and upholding his justice to abandon his beliefs—don’t you find that utterly pathetic?”
“Revenge for grievances, justice for wrongs—hope comes only from your own hands. Is it right to rely on an aged man whose strength has crumbled so utterly? Are you any better than those Neets who expect their elders to support them?”
The smoke cleared. Kuro tilted his head, swung Autumn Water forward, and flung blood from the blade in a smooth arc. A viscous crimson blob pooled on the ground.
“As for Neets like you—I’ve got absolutely no tolerance for you, you know!”
(End of Chapter)
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