Chapter 842: Drought Island
Chapter 842: Drought Island
Huu.
The howling wind whirled up a cloud of smoke and dust, tugging at the tips of both men’s hair.
Bartholomew tore off his shattered earpiece, flicking it aside carelessly. Raising both hands, he clenched his fists until they cracked like snapping twigs.
As the breeze swept past, it seemed to signal their rest was over. Smirking, Bartholomew called out to Kuro, “Ready to keep going?”
Kuro answered by springing forward, gripping his blade with both hands. The golden lightning surging along its edge erupted violently as he charged, slicing through the air in a blur.
Bartholomew’s lips curled into a malevolent grin. Raising his fist, he summoned a spiraling aura of blue-black Unified Haki, hurling it straight toward his opponent.
Boom!!!
Blade met fist in a thunderous clash, sending a shockwave rippling through the island.
The impact sent Kuro skidding backward, but he twisted midair, Autumn Water carving a wispy spark across Bartholomew’s arm as it slashed downward.
Bartholomew’s free hand shot up, palm outstretched to seize the blade.
Vroom!
“Slash Wave.”
The blade blazed with light, unleashing a silvery arc that lashed across Bartholomew’s arm. The force drove him back two steps before he wrenched the slash away, his pupils narrowing. In one fluid motion, his foot snapped sideways like a blade, aiming at Kuro’s flank as the latter erupted from the shadows.
The kick targeted Kuro’s lower body—should it connect, his entire strike would be thrown off.
Kuro pivoted, slashing downward to block the attack. The collision erupted in a shockwave.
Bartholomew lunged with his fist, but it struck only empty air. Kuro’s figure flickered, vanishing into the void before reappearing above, his blade shrouded in golden light, cleaving downward.
The heavens and earth seemed to split in two.
“Ultimate Mystic Art!”
“Final Cannon: Ultimate!”
Bartholomew roared, meeting the strike with a thunderous punch.
Boom!!!
The ground quaked, the tremor unrelenting.
Watching the battle escalate into a full-blown, deadly exchange, the Navy’s faces darkened as the island quaked with even fiercer shockwaves.
“Incredible power…”
Boa Hancock bit her thumb, her gaze shadowed with unease.
Though pride resisted admitting it, she was glad she’d come.
She herself feared no one here—but Kusnake Island did. Facing this level of strength, she could choose to walk away, but Kusnake Island couldn’t afford such a luxury.
“Is this his true strength?”
Crocodile’s voice was grim. “Looks like he held back far more than we realized during the Summit War.”
Two years could refine a man only so much—Crocodile believed Kuro had held back far more than a mere fraction of his power.
Yet in truth, such assumptions overlooked the vast gap between individuals.
Dracule Mihawk glanced at Crocodile, a faint smirk tugging his lips before his gaze returned to the battlefield. His grip tightened around the black blade at his side.
Such power sent his blood boiling.
Compared to their first encounter in the East Blue, this man had grown into someone fully capable of challenging his claim as the World’s Greatest Swordsman.
He longed for a duel with Kuro.
“Unforgivable! Not even a chance to interfere!”
Doflamingo grumbled bitterly, his temper flaring.
Aokiji remained silent, chewing on his cigar as he eyed the Navy elites felled by Conqueror’s Haki, his brow furrowed.
These so-called elites were too weak to grasp such a battlefield.
But in the Grand Line, men like Bartholomew were inevitable.
Elsewhere, Minorin staggered forward, nearly stumbling before Togeko steadied him.
“Vice Admiral Togeko… sorry,” Minorin muttered, shaking his head as he turned toward the battlefield. “Who’ll win?”
“No way to tell.”
Togeko’s gaze remained fixed ahead, his tone grave. “It’s not decided yet. Or perhaps… they’re still warming up.”
“What?!” Minorin blurted. “This level of combat is just a Warm-UP?!”
Togeko nodded once, falling silent.
As elite Vice Admirals, they recognized the truth: though Unified Haki had been unleashed and the battle intensified, this was only the beginning.
Crack!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hiss!!!
The clash grew steadily fiercer, each movement sending shockwaves rippling through the island. Buggy trembled, his heart pounding as each tremor shook the ground beneath him.
He wanted to flee, but the island’s edges had crumbled into sheer cliffs, and no ships lay nearby—not a single one in the Grand Line’s waters.
“Maybe…”
He glanced back at his unconscious crewmates, his eye twitching as he stared at the chaos ahead. Swallowing hard, he muttered, “I’ll wait a little longer?”
The sun sank, the moon rising in its wake, scattering the sky with stars. Yet beneath the heavens, a flat island shimmered with golden lightning and spirals of blue-black Haki, their collisions blazing skyward, casting shadows over the moonlight until only a hazy glow remained.
As the dawn’s first light crept down, the sky flushed gold.
Daybreak.
Buggy had watched day turn to night, then night to the edge of dawn, yet no escape came, no ships appeared, and no victor emerged.
Clang!
Smash!
A sharp, explosive sound shattered the dull hum of Buggy’s snoring, bursting the snot-bubble forming at his nose.
“What’s happening?! What’s happening?!”
He jerked his head up, neck snapping from its drowsy nods, shouting in panic.
Kuro’s blade had slashed Bartholomew’s arm. In response, Bartholomew swung his free fist, but Kuro vanished in a blur, reappearing at his flank. Blade raised high in both hands, he roared,
“Ultimate Mystic Art!!”
The blade cleaved downward, carving a golden arc through the air.
“Final Cannon: Ultimate!!”
Bartholomew spun, his Haki-charged punch colliding with the golden arc.
Boom!!!
The shockwave rippled outward. Bartholomew staggered backward, a thin slash bleeding on his knuckles. Kuro, meanwhile, was flung backward by the force, his arm numb.
Gritting his teeth, he twisted midair, sheathing Autumn Water in one fluid motion, halting his flight.
Floating in the sky, Kuro crouched like a tiger, his hand hovering over the hilt. His voice was icy.
“One Cut to Sever All.”
Bartholomew’s pupils contracted. With a thunderous crack, his feet dug into the ground, his right arm drawing back as his Haki surged outward. His fist shimmered with purple, pixelated energy, absorbing the surrounding air as it fused with his strike, blazing into a blue flame.
“Final Thought: White Tiger Slaughter!!!”
A howling wind erupted, swallowing Kuro’s figure whole—no trace remained, not even an afterimage.
“Ultimate Annihilation!!!”
Bartholomew’s roar tore through the air, sending ash swirling skyward. His blazing fist crashed forward.
The punch struck true, erupting in a vertical spiral shockwave that rippled like an air shield. Ahead, a flicker of black-gold light slashed through the space before it.
Boom!!!
The island shuddered violently, cracks racing outward from Bartholomew’s fist. The land shattered into massive boulders, and waves surged from the fissures, spreading across the island.
“The island’s breaking!!”
Buggy screamed, flailing his arms in panic.
“Silence.”
Dracule Mihawk’s single glance carried such weight that Buggy clamped his mouth shut instantly.
“Tch.”
Crocodile, his cigar clenched between his teeth, exhaled sharply. His hand slammed onto the ground.
“Erosion Wheel Return!”
The island’s shattered fragments dissolved into sand, the surging waves withering into nothingness. Sand filled the cracks, merging with the broken terrain, stitching the island back together—its area even expanded.
What had been a barren rock-strewn isle was now a sprawling Drought Island, a fusion of sand and parched stone shaped by Bartholomew’s power.
“Crocodile, you—” Togeko’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t flatter yourselves,” Crocodile scoffed, rising to his feet, his smirk arrogant. “I just want to see who wins… HA HA HA HA!”
(End of Chapter)
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