Chapter 985: Navy vs. Pirate
Chapter 985: Navy vs. Pirate
As Ethan Kadi issued his challenge, Kuro didn’t budge an inch. Instead, Klah leapt onto the ship’s railing and jumped down, landing on the island to face Ethan Kadi directly.
“There’s no need for Kuromr. to get his hands dirty. I’ll be more than enough to deal with you, you despicable sneak-attack villain!” Klah spat coldly.
Ethan Kadi smirked malevolently, his eyes flashing as a terrifying aura erupted from him like a howling wind. It surged forward, striking Golden Lion’s two thousand Navy troops. Most of them collapsed instantly, their eyes rolling back.
Conqueror’s Haki!
“Oh?” Kuro glanced behind him at the fallen soldiers. “So he actually has Conqueror’s Haki. That intelligence report about Robert Henry wasn’t fake after all.”
The intelligence Ethan Kadi provided—claiming Robert Henry possessed Conqueror’s Haki, which was actually Ethan himself—had turned out true. This man truly had the aptitude of a king.
“Conqueror’s Haki, huh?”
Klah stiffened momentarily but then grew larger. His upper face transformed into a wolf’s snarling muzzle, black fur and razor-sharp claws erupting from his limbs as he completed his beast-form shift.
“But this level? It won’t work on me! I’ve been by Kuromr.’s side for years. His Killing Intent and Bartholomew’s Conqueror’s Haki are far stronger than yours. Your feeble aura’s nothing!”
Kuro’s Killing Intent and Bartholomew’s Conqueror’s Haki had battered him countless times. Klah had even survived Kuro’s war against Bartholomew. He’d withstood the fusion of those terrifying forces before—this weak Conqueror’s Haki was barely a breeze.
“Is that so?” Ethan Kadi gripped his Longsword, raising it high. “My Awakening might be incomplete, but I still carry the destiny of a ruler. Whether it’s you or anyone else—Navy or otherwise—face me in battle! I won’t hold back. If you die, don’t blame me!”
“Superspeed Shave!”
Klah narrowed his eyes. His form blurred into a wisp of black shadow, vanishing forward.
Clang!
Ethan Kadi swung his Longsword, blocking with Blade Body. Sparks flew across the blade’s surface as Klah’s Wolf Claw slammed into it.
“Stop spouting nonsense! Who dies is anyone’s guess!” Klah snarled.
Ethan Kadi’s lips curled into a cold smile. He thrust his Longsword forward, knocking Klah’s claw aside, then swept it inward, unleashing a shockwave.
“Sword Gust!”
The blade arced, sending chaotic slashes roaring outward.
“Iron Body!”
Klah barely parried before the slashes closed in. His body tensed, bracing.
Ping! Clang!
The slashes tore through his clothes, their crisp, ringing impacts echoing across his body.
“Calm Step!”
Klah pivoted, his legs flashing as he kicked out a flurry of afterimages. Each left behind a faint blue slash streaking toward Ethan Kadi.
Ethan Kadi’s feet slammed down, leaping upward to evade the slashes. But as he ascended, Klah vanished. Reappearing behind him in a flash, Klah’s heel smashed into Ethan Kadi’s spine.
Crack!
The blow sent Ethan Kadi crashing down. He spun, slashing his Longsword upward, releasing a wispy slash at the airborne Klah.
“Iron Body Fist Technique—Collapse!”
Klah’s fist exploded forward, shattering the slash with a thunderous boom. He then propelled himself mid-air, his arm snapping like a whip, claws gleaming coldly as they slashed toward Ethan Kadi’s back.
Hiss!
Ethan Kadi stiffened, four claw marks ripping into his back. He staggered forward, surging with energy as he slashed his sword backward, cleaving through Klah’s lingering afterimage.
Bang!
Klah reappeared beside him, slamming a kick into Ethan Kadi’s side. The pirate skidded backward across the ground for over ten meters before halting. Blood trickled from his mouth as he tightened his grip on his Longsword, eyes narrowing. “Your speed’s not bad.”
Under the moonlight, Klah’s eyes glowed green as he grinned wolfishly. “You’re no match for me!”
“Huh? Did Klah’s speed get faster?” Lida murmured from the deck.
“Moon Wolf,” Kuro mused, glancing at the half-clouded moon. “Under the night sky with a full moon, his combat power’s nearly rivaling the Pelt Clan.”
The Pelt Clan’s strength multiplied several times over during a full moon—and Klah exceeded even that.
“Whether I’m your match or not doesn’t matter. I’m a pirate, you’re Navy—that’s all there is to it.”
Ethan Kadi said flatly, “It’s either you kill me, or I kill you. That’s the only relationship we’ll ever have.”
“Foolish,” Klah spat. “You had a bright future. Why throw it away? With your experience, you could’ve simply returned to the Navy unscathed.”
Ethan Kadi’s eyes darkened at the words…
“Vice Admiral Stra! Vice Admiral Stra!”
Ethan Kadi clutched the blood-soaked form of Vice Admiral Stra. The elder’s white hair was matted with crimson, surrounded by the corpses of fallen pirates.
“Hold on, Stra! The medical team’s coming!” Ethan cried, his Navy hooded cloak billowing.
The aged Stra weakly shook his head, smiling faintly. “An old man like me… I’m glad to die in battle against pirates, not in a hospital bed.”
It was in the South Blue. Then-Navy Commander Ethan had accompanied his superior, Vice Admiral Stra, on a vacation to his hometown. There, they’d witnessed a town reduced to ashes by a pirate gang. During the arrest, Stra fell into the pirates’ trap and perished after exhausting his strength.
That crew—the infamous Longsword Pirate Crew of the South Blue Daimyo.
It happened ten years ago. Fleet Admiral Sengoku buried the truth, assigning Ethan to the ‘Sword’ unit under false pretenses of betraying his commander.
Drifting the Grand Line for days, Ethan used Stra’s death as his initiation to join the mysterious Longsword Pirate Crew.
Back then, vengeance and Navy duty consumed him.
But the Great Pirate Era raged on. The Navy was overwhelmed by endless pirate threats. No matter how Ethan reported their locations, the higher-ups ignored the Longsword Pirate Crew—viewing their destruction as minor compared to other threats—and merely monitored their movements.
As a rookie pirate, Ethan felt he knew too little to act. He waited.
Within his first year, his reputation for killing a Navy Vice Admiral and defecting as a Navy Commander earned him swift status within the Longsword Pirate Crew. Soon, he stood beside the captain—the then-‘Saber’s Hilt’ of the Longsword Pirate Crew.
At that time, his heart still burned with rage. And it was then, meeting that man, that his fury gradually cooled.
“You’re the defecting Navy Commander? What a shame. Being Navy wasn’t so bad, you know? Why become a pirate?”
That man was a cheerful uncle—Robert Franz.
“Huh? You’re angry about Navy corruption? Hah! Corruption exists everywhere. Well, welcome to the Longsword Pirate Crew anyway! Don’t expect any thrills here—we’ve been around for a century but kept a low profile. Consider this your new home!”
Franz slapped Ethan’s shoulder, laughing heartily.
(End of Chapter)
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