Norton rubbed his forehead.
She ran away way too decisively, didn't she?
"Mongola! Don't let them escape!"
Seeing Nami flee, the Celestial Dragon Saint Ari hurriedly shouted orders to the CP0 agent wearing the black chrysanthemum mask.
"Understood."
The moment the words left his mouth, Mongola's figure vanished instantly.
Rokushiki: Soru!
Every CP0 agent had mastered the combat techniques known as the Six Powers (Rokushiki).
In a moment too fast for ordinary eyes to follow—0.36 seconds or even less, Mongola stomped the ground dozens of times. The tremendous recoil force launched him forward like a rocket.
The scenery on both sides blurred into streaks.
While moving at extreme speed, Mongola locked his gaze onto the duke, the distance between them shrinking to nearly nothing under the acceleration of Soru.
How should I kill him?
Should he pierce the duke's heart from behind?
Slash his throat?
Or cut him clean in half at the waist?
Mongola hesitated slightly.
Prey of such high status was rare. He wanted to choose the most fitting way to kill the duke.
"Who said you could go past me?"
A man's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
The next instant—
A massive force descended on Mongola's head.
It was like being struck by a gigantic battering ram used to break castle gates.
Mongola's high-speed charge was abruptly halted as his body was smashed straight into the ground!
BOOM!
A thunderous crack echoed as the luxurious marble floor of the palace hall shattered apart!
When the dust cleared, Mongola climbed out of a humanoid crater.
His white suit was now covered in dust, and half of the black chrysanthemum mask had been shattered, revealing a cold and sinister face beneath.
"You're tough!" Norton grinned, his eyes shining with excitement.
Setting out to sea had been the right decision after all!
For the first time in years, he had encountered someone who could withstand one of his punches.
Mongola wiped his dusty forehead. A streak of red stained his fingers.
Blood slowly flowed from the cracked wound.
"Just who the hell are you?" Mongola asked, licking the blood from his fingers.
He had never imagined that this silver-haired young man—who seemed completely ordinary aside from his strikingly handsome appearance—would possess such terrifying strength.
The moment he was struck earlier, Mongola had immediately activated Tekkai and reinforced his body with Armament Haki.
And yet—
Even under those defenses, Norton's punch had still injured him.
If his senses hadn't betrayed him…
This silver-haired youth had shattered his Armament Haki using nothing but raw strength, without even using Haki himself.
Of course, Mongola could never guess the truth.
Norton simply didn't know how to use Haki at all.
In Mongola's mind, a fighter of this level not knowing Haki was simply impossible.
"Me?" Norton pointed his thumb at himself and laughed.
"I'm the man who will rule this sea!"
"So you're another restless fool who set sail in pursuit of the One Piece?" Mongola wiped the blood from his forehead.
"One Piece?"
Norton clenched his fist.
"If I find it, great. If not, it doesn't matter."
"What I'm going to do is build my own nation."
"And from that foundation—"
"I'll become the ultimate King of the World!"
"Ridiculous!" Mongola snarled.
"A lapdog raised by the World Government like you wouldn't understand," Norton said calmly. "You're not weak… but that's all you are."
Mongola's expression twisted into something savage.
"No matter where you came from, you're dying here today!"
"Finger Pistol: Crimson Lotus!"
The moment the words fell, Mongola disappeared again, instantly closing the distance between them.
His index finger, coated in Armament Haki, shot forward like a bullet. Friction between his finger and the air ignited flames that blossomed like a red lotus!
Norton tilted his head slightly.
The deadly strike passed harmlessly by him.
The compressed air blast from Mongola's finger pierced through the palace and struck a massive stone pillar behind him.
The pillar, so thick that ten men linking arms could barely encircle it—collapsed instantly.
Shattered stones crashed to the ground like thunder as dust surged through the hall like rolling fog.
One could only imagine what would happen if such a strike landed on a human body.
Seeing that Finger Pistol: Crimson Lotus had missed, Mongola immediately changed tactics.
He straightened his hand, fingers together, palm extended.
Then unleashed an even stronger attack.
"Palm Pistol!"
An invisible force shot forward like a spear, piercing the air with a shrill whistle.
The destructive power of this strike was even greater.
Several massive palace pillars, each thick enough for ten men to encircle—were pierced through and collapsed at once. With a deafening roar, the entire royal audience hall shook violently.
But when the dust gradually cleared…
And Norton's figure slowly emerged from the fog-like smoke—
Mongola's pupils shrank.
"How is that possible…? He dodged again?!"
Even under the devastating power of advanced Rokushiki techniques, Norton remained completely calm—not a single scratch on him.
"If attacks this slow could hit me, that would be the real surprise," Norton said casually with a smile.
"Don't disappoint me."
"Show me your real strength."
Mongola's face darkened. Beneath the shattered mask, his brows furrowed tightly.
"Mongola! What are you doing?! Kill him already!" Saint Ari shouted from behind the throne, where he had retreated in fear.
"I will, Saint Ari," Mongola said hoarsely.
He removed the remaining half of his broken mask.
Then rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers.
His bones cracked loudly throughout his body.
The next moment—
His body began to change dramatically.
Black fur burst through the fabric of his white suit, growing rapidly from beneath his skin. Dark hair spread across his cold face as well.
His body twisted and expanded.
Within just a few breaths, Mongola transformed from a tall human man into a terrifying wolf-headed monster nearly ten meters tall.
The towering wolf-man cast a massive shadow that completely swallowed Norton.
His black fur swayed like dark reeds, emanating a chilling aura of death.
For a moment, the entire palace hall seemed to become eerie and sinister.
"A Devil Fruit?" Norton looked up with interest at the wolf-headed monster.
"That's right!" Mongola growled, revealing rows of sharp fangs and breathing out foul-smelling blood-scented air.
"I'm the user of the Dog Dog Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Werewolf Model!"
"Punk," Mongola continued with a cruel grin, "you are probably not aware of what a Mythical Zoan is capable of."
"Devil Fruits themselves are already rare treasures of the sea—any one of them can be worth hundreds of millions of Berries."
"They are divided into Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia types."
"Normally, Logia are considered the rarest among them."
"But there exists a type even rarer than Logia…"
"That would be the Mythical Zoan that I possess!"
The massive wolf monster raised its enormous claw and thrust it toward Norton within the shadows.
"Palm Pistol: Wolf Soul!"
The gigantic black claw tore through the air with a violent gust. The wind pressure blasted scattered stones across the ground, clearing a wide open space.
Then—
From the center of that storm—
The black claw slammed downward.
The air itself exploded with a deafening boom.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
If you liked the story, adding to library and dropping stones are enough. I will add extra chap for stone milestones:)
400 P.S - Bonus chap
800 P.S - Bonus chap