The three other immensely influential pirates nearby—Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Golden Lion—simultaneously fixed their intimidating gazes on Lin Xuan.
Instantly, the atmosphere in the area grew heavy and tense.
At that moment, Lin Xuan suddenly patted his forehead, shaking his head with a laugh. "Look at my memory, I almost forgot about you all. Getting older makes it easy to forget unimportant things!"
"Gurararara! Chairman Lin, you do know how to joke. You're only in your twenties. If you call yourself old, what does that make us fossils?" Whitebeard couldn't help but roar with laughter.
The others also found themselves chuckling.
Rocks, however, furrowed his brow and asked again in a low, serious voice, "Chairman Lin, I am asking how you intend to deal with us. Might you inform us?"
Lin Xuan couldn't help but smile, looking at him with amusement. "As the defeated party, what do you think would be a suitable way for me to deal with you?"
"Heh. Don't tell me you plan to subdue us like those useless World Government fools and make us work for you?" Rocks sneered.
"Mamama! I don't want to be under anyone's command, and I certainly don't want to die. I just want to eat delicious things. I want to return to Whole Cake Island right now and keep eating my sweet treats!" Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, chimed in.
"I've grown accustomed to my freedom and have no desire for any constraints!" declared Golden Lion Shiki.
Finally, Kaido spoke up. "Or are you planning to just kill us outright? Of course, if you can kill me, I might even thank you!"
Whether it was Rocks or the trio of Kaido, all of them, despite being the defeated party and effectively prisoners now, maintained an extremely defiant attitude.
Hearing their words, Lin Xuan couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
His gaze swept over each of them before finally settling on Kaido. His voice dropped low as he asked, "You want to die?"
Kaido's pupils constricted sharply. He felt a lethal sense of danger, his heartbeat involuntarily accelerating, a chill running down his spine.
Being stared at by Lin Xuan gave him a sudden, clear feeling: if he said the wrong thing, he might genuinely die here and now!
His past suicide attempts were because he knew he couldn't die.
But now, he was sensing the aura of true death.
"I... that was... just a joke!"
Kaido forced the words out with difficulty, his expression turning uglier than if he were crying.
Big Mom and Golden Lion wanted to keep up their bravado, but a single glance from Lin Xuan made their courage falter and their hearts grow timid.
Originally, they had thought to pressure Lin Xuan into releasing them. If he refused, they could simply fight him; perhaps there was hope of escaping... perhaps.
But now, a single look from Lin Xuan had frightened them, making them feel weak at heart, even afraid to meet his gaze directly.
Compared to them, Rocks appeared much calmer. He met Lin Xuan's gaze steadily and spoke, "Truthfully, I very much wish to cross blades with you. How about this: I'll take one attack from you. If I survive, you let us, and all the others you've captured, leave. What do you say?"
Rocks's words immediately caused the expressions of many present to change.
"Holy crap, is Rocks insane? He actually wants to fight the Chairman?"
"What's going on? Does he not know how terrifying Chairman Lin is?"
"What scheme is Rocks plotting, daring to say something like that?"
Others immediately began whispering in shock, utterly astonished by Rocks's proposal.
Lin Xuan looked at him with keen interest, then let out a cold laugh. "It seems you're very confident you can withstand one of my attacks. Who gave you the courage to say such a thing?"
"What does Chairman Lin think of the proposal?" Rocks asked with a smile.
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, leaning in to warn Lin Xuan in a low voice, "Chairman, be careful of a trick. This fellow, I suspect he's brewing some foul scheme!"
Lin Xuan, however, waved a hand dismissively, completely unconcerned. He looked at Rocks and smiled. "Heh. You think mastering the core of the Ancient Weapon Pluton is enough to block my strike?"
Hearing this, Rocks's pupils contracted violently, and unease instantly welled up in his heart.
At that moment, Lin Xuan continued, "Very well then. I accept your condition!"
As his words fell, he swiftly gathered energy into a sphere in his hand. It erupted with a dazzling radiance, simultaneously emitting an extremely dangerous aura.
"If you withstand this attack, what harm is there in letting you leave?" Lin Xuan snorted coldly.
As he spoke, the energy sphere in his hand grew larger, quickly reaching over ten meters in height. Then, just as rapidly, it condensed down, finally transforming into an incredibly dense, compact sphere spinning in his palm.
At this moment, Rocks didn't sense any massive energy fluctuations or the slightest hint of danger from the energy sphere in Lin Xuan's hand. Yet, the feeling of unease in his heart only grew stronger.
Just as Rocks was about to say something more, the energy sphere shot forth from Lin Xuan's hand towards him.
Flying Thunder God Technique, activate!
In the blink of an eye, both the energy sphere and Rocks's figure vanished.
"BOOM!"
A flash passed by.
The next second, an ear-splitting roar echoed from the void above. Many people nearby saw a blinding flash of light high in the sky.
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T/N:
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