https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-847-Cracking-Earth-Here-Collapsing-Mountains-There/13539373/
Chapter 848: You Drain Me, I Drain You, Grand Line Showdown
Chapter 848: You Drain Me, I Drain You, Grand Line Showdown
Two days later.
The sun rose and the moon fell, the moon rose and the sun fell—this cycle repeating twice. The sky remained the same sky, though now streaked with crimson blood and black lightning. The Grand Line was still the Grand Line, but its fury had intensified tenfold, its waves surging like vengeful spirits.
On a tiny nearby island, several figures clustered around a central campfire. A colossal Grand Line beast, unlucky enough to wander here, now lay gutted on the shoreline. The choicest cuts sizzled over the flames, dripping rich fat into the fire.
“Still not awake?”
Aokiji speared a skewer of meat, his gaze sharp as he glanced at Navy’s slumped form nearby.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” Crocodile cackled, his voice rasping. “Of course not. That mix of Killing Intent and Conqueror’s Haki would break anyone weaker. Their wills just weren’t enough.”
“Crocodile…” Togeko frowned, his voice edged with disapproval.
Once a Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile was now just another pirate. Technically, they could capture him—but not now. Not after he’d helped stabilize this fragile alliance. It was his ability that had forcibly reassembled the fractured island days ago. Turning against him now might push him straight into Bartholomew’s arms.
“Hey, Lida. Eat something.”
Klah, still in werewolf form, approached Lida, who stood at the island’s edge. Her eyes never left the distant battlefield, where shattered islands and sandbars drifted further apart with each wave.
“I’m not hungry,” she muttered, shaking her head. She glanced at Klah. “Why’re you staying in that form?”
“Without it, I’d collapse,” Klah replied bitterly.
Lida said nothing, her stare fixed ahead.
Distance blurred the fight, but flashes of crimson bloodlight and shockwaves ruptured the horizon. Even the sea beasts now roasting over their fire had been hurled here by the collateral force of Kuro and Bartholomew’s battle.
Boom!
Boom!!
Two days of relentless thunder. To Lida, it was all she’d heard—explosions of rubble, tsunamis, and the cataclysmic clash of two titans. The original battlefield had shattered within an hour, each strike unleashed at full power. No pause, no mercy. Kuro’s strength was monstrous, but how was Bartholomew the same?
“Still no sign of victory!” Lida hissed, watching debris spiral into a shockwave-torn sea. She ached to intervene, but two days had yielded no opening.
Boom!
Another explosion split the air, trailing bloodlight and blue flame. Lida’s ears twitched. Her eyes widened.
“It’s quieter! The intensity’s changed!” she shouted. “They’re weakening!”
At her words, the elite Vice Admirals abandoned their roasting meat, sprinting toward her.
*
Clang!
Before the tiny island, the sea churned with rubble. Amidst the rising dust and surging waves, crimson bloodlight met blue flame. As the seawater fell, two figures emerged.
Kuro hovered above, his Yokai Blade cleaving downward. Bartholomew stood atop a boulder, blocking the strike with his fist.
Both men now panted, their breaths ragged.
“You’re done,” Kuro snarled, teeth bared.
“Try me,” Bartholomew grinned, eyes blazing. His fist erupted with force, hurling Kuro backward. Stomping the boulder beneath him, purple-hued particles erupted from his legs, spreading across nearby debris. The fragments fused into a new islet—a testament to his Conjoin Devil Fruit’s power.
True, he couldn’t fly. But his mastery of airborne shockwaves rendered flight almost irrelevant. With a foothold, he could rebuild his battlefield endlessly, merging shattered islands into fresh ground.
Blade slashes and Haki clashes danced between them—a symphony of ability, strength, speed, and technique.
Kuro had coined a term for this: Combat Intelligence. Even the densest minds could become tactical geniuses in battle.
Bartholomew’s punch sent Kuro soaring into the sky. Seizing momentum, Kuro slashed downward, unleashing a barrage of black-and-crimson slashes edged with gold. The onslaught rained like meteors.
Bartholomew’s fists ignited with blue flame. He struck upward, shattering each slash with explosive afterimages.
“Here we go again?”
Both fighters stared, stunned.
Physical strength was contracting again.
Not the first time. Earlier that day, Kuro had detected Bartholomew’s Atomic Collapse—each punch detonating like a bomb. Then, in Bartholomew’s eyes, Kuro’s Ultimate Mystic Art had faltered.
Contraction. No! Force it out!
“Ultimate Mystic Art!!”
Kuro roared, his blade igniting in golden light. The downward strike became a golden pillar, crashing toward Bartholomew.
“Atomic Collapse!!”
Bartholomew’s punch erupted. Blue-black flames thickened like tar, twisting into a cylindrical shockwave. It met the golden beam in a cataclysm.
Boooom!!!
The sky darkened. The sea erupted in tsunamis. Rain fell, but Haki repelled it before it could touch them.
Man and monster locked eyes—one above, one below. Then, they charged again.
Watch? More time meant recovery.
Kuro’s crimson gaze burned, his pupils blazing. Bartholomew’s face twisted into a demonic snarl, blue fire in his eyes.
No hesitation. No pause.
But their strikes slowed. The intervals stretched.
His stamina’s breaking…
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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