"My strength still has room to grow.
Let this battle push me forward… Don't disappoint me, little lizard."
Sharn stood tall, staring directly into the Chameleon's eyes.
To elevate Armament Haki beyond full-body hardening, one needed countless brushes with death—each clash forcing out deeper layers of power. Luffy walked that path: pushing Gear Fourth with Armament, fighting Cracker and Katakuri, taking Kaido's brutal blows, refining technique until he forged true mastery in Emperor-level combat.
For Sharn, this battle would serve the same purpose—forcing Haki deeper into his bones and blood, unlocking its maximum potential.
To climb higher—
there was only one path: battle.
Few had the luxury of fighting Commander- or Yonko-level monsters and then having a teacher afterwards.
Sharn had no mentor.
On the path of Haki, he relied only on himself.
So he had to push harder.
Lightning and flames wrapped around his arms, Armament Haki coating them in black.
His eyes glowed red—Observation Haki at full force.
All for this fight.
"I'll make you hear every bone in your body break into powder—then die in helpless despair!"
The Chameleon, borrowing the lion-tiger hybrid form, clenched golden-lit fists. Smoke coiled around his shoulders like pale serpents. The air trembled—Air Doors ready to appear at any moment. He wasn't using just one ability. He was overloading himself, pushing all his power to the brink.
"Then fist against flesh—
let's see who dies first!"
Sharn moved. His already terrifying speed surged with thunder-step movement and Paw-Paw recoil. Ionized sparks filled the air, feeding his Observation Haki like a falling net. No matter where the Chameleon appeared, he couldn't escape.
"Die!"
The Chameleon shattered stone underfoot, breaking an Air Door and flashing to Sharn's front.
Bang!
A kick cloaked in Haki slammed toward Sharn. He blocked with one arm—then vanished.
When he reappeared, lightning webbed across the battlefield.
To onlookers, the two were teleporting.
But to them, the world had slowed.
Lightning tangled with smoke.
Compressed air cannons clashed against golden light.
Other powers flickered between.
One fighter was the immortal Azure Dragon.
The other, a lion-tiger beast born of countless animals' instincts.
When their fists met, the Paw-Paw Fruit clashed with the Door-Door Fruit.
"I'll rip out your heart!"
The Chameleon thrust out a hand—opening an Air Door directly onto Sharn's heart.
"Dream on."
Sharn's dragon scales couldn't block Paramecia abilities, but his internal organs had long become living lightning. When the Chameleon's fingers reached in, his "heart" morphed into a dragon's head and bit down.
If not for advanced Armament, the Chameleon would've lost his hand.
"What the hell are you?!"
He staggered back.
Nothing about Sharn made sense—
unbreakable scales, bizarre lightning, a swallowing force that disrupted his Door-Door Fruit.
"You animal-type or Logia-type?" he snapped.
"Mythical Zoan," Sharn shrugged. "Having a few extra abilities is normal."
The answer only enraged him.
He knew now—his own Devil Fruit mastery lagged behind. He had no cheat.
Only death match.
"Enough nonsense! I'll make you pay for every word!"
He roared. CP0's supreme operative would use pure martial arts and Haki to beat Sharn down—even if the Five Elders had abandoned their order to capture Sharn alive.
"I know you want to kill me," Sharn said.
"But compared to Rob Lucci, your martial arts and Haki are average at best."
Lucci was CP0's prodigy—800 years of perfect mastery, strength worthy of clashing with Yonko second-in-command level.
The Chameleon? At best, a Calamity- or Commander-tier fighter.
"Tch!"
The Chameleon vanished into a storm of Air Doors.
Two shadows clashed faster than sight—
explosions cracking across the harbor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of punches collided head-on—Haki blasting the ground apart. Buildings disintegrated. The harbor became a war crater.
Both realized—
Abilities alone wouldn't decide this fight.
Only fists.
Sharn's obsidian fists held firm.
The Chameleon's advanced Armament resisted in turn.
The Azure Dragon's physique was too strong; neither could overpower the other yet.
Only a head-on breakthrough remained.
"Your Haki is too weak," the Chameleon smirked.
Blood splashed across lightning-lit rubble.
And in that storm—
Sharn reached for a higher realm of Haki.
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