https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-398-I-Don-t-Care-He-s-Just-an-Ordinary-Pirate/13537066/
Chapter 397: One Slash, Severing All Resolve – White Tiger Slaughter
Chapter 397: One Slash, Severing All Resolve – White Tiger Slaughter
"Stinking piece of One Piece."
Lucius forced himself upright, glaring at Kuro with uncharacteristic fury. "That’s no stinking One Piece! It’s the throne Roger himself stood upon—the ultimate dream every pirate yearns for! It’s no different from your Navy’s Admirals and Fleet Admirals chasing their own damned dreams!"
Kuro met his gaze calmly. "So what makes it different?"
The question struck Lucius like a blow.
Exactly…
What makes it different?
Why had he said that? Wasn’t he just admitting pirates’ and Navy’s dreams were fundamentally the same? If so, weren’t these people—weren’t they all the same?
Lucius froze, then suddenly chuckled. "Hmph. A new generation brat like you, spouting such sharp words?"
The smile eased his tense features.
He straightened his posture, glancing at the swirling water reflecting his body in the sky. The grotesque distortions had faded—though still muddied and bloodied, he looked… almost gentlemanly.
He retrieved his Bat Umbrella, staring at it blankly. "The Old Era, huh?"
His eyes shifted to Kuro. The young Navy officer stood firm, Black Blade in hand, radiating vigor. Beyond him, the Navy soldiers behind the White Giant Shield—resolute, but alarmingly young. None looked past forty. To Lucius, they were children.
"Has the Old Era truly passed?" Lucius mused aloud, shaking his head with a faint smile. He tightened his grip on the Bat Umbrella, meeting Kuro’s gaze. "Don’t underestimate the Old Era, brat. We’re not as pathetic as you think!"
He planted the Bat Umbrella before him, Haki flaring anew across its surface. "After all, you learned something from this old man, didn’t you?"
Kuro’s lips quirked. "Admitting you’re old now, huh?"
With a burst of speed, he lunged, Autumn Water gleaming. "Then show me what you’ve got! Pass on whatever you can to the next generation!"
The two figures flickered across the battlefield, mirroring each other’s pace and steps. To onlookers, they seemed to teleport—clashing in one instant, vanishing into afterimages the next, only to reappear elsewhere in a storm of slashes.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
This time, Kuro withheld his rainstorm, and Lucius abandoned any thought of breaking away. They clashed head-on, unrelenting.
Black-gold electric current Haki and purple vortex Haki collided violently, tearing the ground asunder. The battlefield, already scarred by prolonged gunfire that barely altered its terrain, now fractured into jagged pieces. Seawater surged through the cracks, churning wildly.
The duel raged until the night sky paled, dim yellow bleeding into the horizon. A crimson sun peeked over the eastern edge.
Boom!!!
With a final thunderous impact, Lucius staggered backward, chest heaving in ragged, uneven breaths. The Haki swirling around his Bat Umbrella flickered and died.
Kuro, phantom-like, reappeared opposite him, Autumn Water’s blade dimming from golden sparks to stillness.
"Think you can take it easy on this old man!" Lucius roared, veins bulging. "I’m not done yet!"
"Don’t flatter yourself", Kuro replied, raising Autumn Water horizontally. He brushed two fingers along the blade. "I never underestimated someone of your caliber. I just wanted to test a new technique I’ve been developing."
His fingers traced the edge, igniting a golden glow. The rising sun bathed the blade in blood-red light, blinding and fierce.
"This move was nearly complete. Your speed… helped perfect it."
He swung Autumn Water, gripping it with both hands, lowering into a ‘Reverse Nikugasa Slash’ stance.
"Oh? A technique born from my speed? Let’s see it, then!"
Lucius planted his Bat Umbrella, inhaled deeply, and bellowed, "Come! Let this relic of the Old Era witness the might of the new age!!"
Whoosh.
The rising sun stirred the wind, sweeping from Kuro’s back to tug at Lucius’s braid. He squinted instinctively.
Flash!
In that fleeting moment, Kuro materialized behind him. Not a blink—not even a breath—had passed. The slash came, a phantom’s strike. Autumn Water carved its arc, then Kuro sheathed it with a flourish.
"This… the new age’s might?" Lucius asked, back still turned.
The blade slid home.
Kuro answered, "Yes. Listen closely. Hear the rhythm of the wind you’ve long ignored."
Snap.
The blade settled in its sheath.
"Mystic Art: One Cut."
Kuro’s voice was serene. "Hear the divine wind’s final echo."
Schlick!!!
Lucius’s body split open—a gaping, diagonal gash from shoulder to hip. Blood erupted like a crimson fountain, scattering blossoms of gore beneath the scarlet dawn.
"Ahh—"
He reached out, fingers splayed toward the rising sun, as if to seize it.
A symbol of rebirth. A testament to his Restoration Youth ambition.
"Take it. All of it. I may not be like Shanks, but even my Devil Fruit is yours now. See the new age for me. See what this old man can’t."
His hand loosened, fingers unfurling. A serene smile tugged his lips as he gazed at the ascending sun. "Not bad… this new age."
Thud.
He fell.
Blood pooled beneath him, glistening unnaturally under the sunlight—a neon sheen that bathed his battered form in eerie brilliance.
"You’ve seen it all along", Kuro murmured, turning away. "You just looked the wrong way. Ideals… ambitions… everyone’s different. I’ve no right to judge yours. They’re all the same in the end."
So…
Why shouldn’t I live safe as a carefree Xian Yu, eating, drinking, and playing?
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a Xian Yu Author with monthly ticket donations and chapter comments!
Ideals have no hierarchy!!!
(End of Chapter)
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