Chapter 684: A Ten Billion Bounty, A Nine Billion...
Chapter 684: A Ten Billion Bounty, A Nine Billion...
The Elephant-Headed Ship surged forward, and the eight-meter-tall figure aboard it drew closer.
Amidst the turbulent storm, the smaller vessel—compared to the Golden Lion—charged headlong into battle like a child fearlessly rushing at an officer.
Boom!!
The ship’s elephant-headed prow crashed violently into the Golden Lion’s hull, shattering the carved beast’s face into splinters and debris. The collision signaled the two ships’ deadly embrace.
“Board them!!”
Jack the Disaster drew two scythe-like Shotel blades from behind his shoulders, then leapt high into the air with a roar, descending toward the Golden Lion’s deck.
“Heh~ Such a massive build, yet so agile?” Kuro smirked upward. “How terrifying.”
Yi Xiao unsheathed his Staff Sword, reversed his grip, and swung it upward. A wave of crushing gravity materialized like a rectangular frame in the storm, slamming toward the airborne Jack.
“Hn!!”
Jack glared, both hands tightening on his blades as he cleaved downward. A layer of Haki surged around the scythes, deflecting the gravity’s force. Though his body lurched backward, he wasn’t blown away.
“Oh? Can he resist Brother’s ability?” Kuro asked, surprised.
“He is one of the Beast King’s Three Top Commanders with a ten billion bounty,” He said, shaking her head.
(Note: Corrected "He" to "She" for consistency with the character's gender.)
“He is one of the Beast King’s Three Top Commanders with a ten billion bounty,” she said, shaking her head.
Kuro glanced at the ivory decorations. “I’ve got thoughts about our bounty system, but saving the World Government money isn’t exactly a priority.”
Jack the Disaster, a Zoan Devil Fruit user with the Ancient Mammoth Form, earned his epithet Drought’s Devastation—wherever he treads, not a blade of grass survives. At twenty-nine, his youthful appearance belied his brutal reputation. A single-minded, savage force, he once reduced an entire nation to ash.
Modern pirates’ bounties differ from decades past. The Great Pirate Era birthed dangerous men—less about raw strength, more about sheer destruction.
Decades ago, pirates were like high-tech rifles. Today? Most are mere pistols, even flintlocks. But to civilians, any gun kills just as dead. Flintlocks and pistols rack up body counts and chaos—making them dangerous. Now, bounties measure threat, not power. That’s why Luffy’s Long Nose weakling carries two billion.
Two billion? That’s a Sixth Level veteran’s bounty. If one of those old-timers had two billion, Kuro would tread carefully. A five billion threat? Time to plan an escape. Ten billion? Call HQ immediately.
Jack the Disaster—ten billion.
“Gaaaahhhhh!!”
Veins bulging in his arms, Jack smashed through Yi Xiao’s gravity with sheer force, his body descending like a wrecking ball.
“Oh? Breaking through a bit? Not bad for a Beasts’ commander.” Yi Xiao tightened his grip on the Staff Sword, readying another strike. Kuro, however, raised a hand.
The storm’s winds shifted violently, turning into razor-sharp gusts that slashed Jack’s body, carving a web of wounds across his flesh.
But the wounds sealed instantly.
“Zoan regeneration’s terrifying,” Kuro shrugged.
“HA! Come!! Fight me!!” Jack roared midair, challenging the four below like they were beginners.
To his eyes—
Sengoku, former Fleet Admiral and current Navy overseer.
Crane, Navy Vice Admiral and Chief of Staff.
Yi Xiao, Marine Headquarters Admiral and Vegapunk’s protégé.
Lucius Kro, Vice Admiral and Admiral candidate, G-3 Base Commander, and Kro Faction’s second-in-command.
Their titles meant nothing to him.
“Brave? Or just stupid?” Kuro mused, biting a cigar. He’d thought Frank the bravest—a nutcase Kuro once believed needed his head dunked in the Grand Line to survive. But no. Jack was the real madman. Frank fled in terror. Jack charged headfirst.
A ten billion bounty doing a forty billion criminal’s job? Madness.
“But if I let you board Old Man’s ship without a fight, where’s his pride?” Kuro dropped his hand to his hilt.
Whoosh!!
Black Radiance slashed through the storm. Autumn Water burst forth—a crimson-edged black blade that tore through the sea below Jack’s ship.
The strike missed Jack—
Boom!!
But a deafening explosion followed. Jack turned as his ship split in half, pirates screaming as they plunged into the waves.
“You bastard!!”
Before the roar faded, Kuro materialized behind Jack’s head, blade slicing sideways at his neck.
Chiiii!!
Blood erupted—but repelled like an electric charge, splitting around Kuro as Jack’s body plummeted toward the sea.
“Dodged?” Kuro hovered, watching. The strike aimed for the neck grazed the chest instead. Even New World titans weren’t that fragile.
Jack spun midair, hurling his twin scythes upward. Kuro twitched a finger—
The blades shot skyward, vanishing into the clouds.
“No need to gift me. I won’t hand Doflamingo over even if you did.”
With another flick, the severed ship’s halves rocketed upward, slamming into Jack’s back, pinning him to the wreckage. Kuro’s black blade arced sideways, its glow undimmed even in the raging storm.
“Lion.”
A Haki-infused black-gold slash erupted like a solar flare, illuminating the night. Dozens of golden beams lanced toward Jack and the shattered vessel.
The ship disintegrated. Jack’s monstrous body—arms severed, legs shattered, torso split—became a rain of meat and splinters.
But from the debris, a familiar object rocketed toward Kuro’s head with ghostly force.
“Get lost!!”
Kuro cleaved it with a larger slash, reducing the ship’s rudder to dust. His expression darkened.
Why did the storm and rain obey his ability, yet a damned rudder hunt him like a poltergeist?!
“There are still survivors,” Kuro muttered, scanning the Grand Line before diving downward.
His foot barely touched the water’s surface.
The storm’s raging seas halted, calming into eerie stillness—a dead lake.
Between clenched teeth, Kuro exhaled smoke:
“Lion’s Might·Sea Whirl Hell!!”
From his foot, the sea erupted into a fan-shaped vortex—a storm beneath the storm, churning like an underwater tornado.
Pirates screamed beneath the waves.
He blew out a final puff of smoke. “No survivors this time.”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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