Chapter 39: ┗|｀O′|┛ Ao~~! (Roar of Pain!)
In the next second, the tip of Oto passed through Buggy's body without any obstruction. But this time, not even a speck of blood bloomed. Shiki's eyes went wide at this sight.
He had considered many possibilities and believed that this troublesome brat before him definitely still had trump cards unused. But no matter how Shiki thought, he never imagined Buggy's trump card would be to pulverize his own body to create an opening.
The heart area targeted by the sword tip was now empty. Clearly, this was the result of a deeper use of his ability.
But Shiki realized it too late because Buggy's fist was already rushing towards him.
Unable to dodge and with no time to block, all Shiki could do was concentrate all the Haki in his body on the part being attacked to reduce the damage from this blow.
Stomping his foot forward forcefully, a Sunbu Bengquan (Inch Step Crushing Fist) was blasted towards Shiki with Buggy's maximum strength.
Eight Extremities Fist Kai: Haō Sunbu Beng (Conqueror's Inch Step Crush)!
In the next instant, the blackened fist fiercely slammed into Shiki's body.
┗|｀O′|┛ Ao~~!
In just a moment, a savage contortion appeared on the Golden Lion's face.
Pain! The heart-piercing pain, experienced for the first time in his life, shot straight to his head. The pain was so intense that the Golden Lion could barely breathe.
Clutching his groin with both hands, before he fainted from the pain, the Golden Lion actually used the force of the impact to fly straight out.
As expected of a legendary expert. Buggy knew very well that if his own "little brother" had endured such a punch, he himself would probably have fainted from pain even if he didn't die, and definitely wouldn't have been able to use the force of the blow to escape his attack range like the Golden Lion.
But admiration was one thing; Buggy wouldn't go easy on him. Stomping his feet hard on the ground, Buggy then madly dashed in the direction Shiki had flown. Having fought so hard to finally severely injure the Golden Lion, he absolutely could not let this opportunity slip away, no matter what.
Cold sweat continuously beaded on his forehead. Shiki, pushing his ability to its limit, was now gliding close to the ground, his palms constantly slapping the earth, all to create earth walls to slow Buggy's speed.
Having suffered such a huge loss, Golden Lion Shiki wasn't even thinking about retaliation anymore. He had only one thought: to fly off the island as quickly as possible. As long as he flew off the island, Shiki was sure he could escape Buggy's pursuit.
Although he was extremely unwilling and incredibly furious, Shiki had to admit one thing: he had been defeated very unjustly. So, revenge could wait. The primary task now was to escape.
With a loud crack, a bolt of lightning flashed from the thick cloud layer, striking directly down towards the island.
With a boom, the lightning struck a rock not far in front of the Golden Lion in the next instant, directly blasting the rock into smithereens.
Aided by his Observation Haki, Shiki naturally knew the lightning wouldn't hit him, so he didn't even change direction and continued to fly straight ahead.
But then, something Shiki had never expected happened. A flash of lightning shot out from behind the rock, reaching him in the blink of an eye.
Without any surprise, Shiki, unable to change course in time, crashed directly into the flashing lightning.
An intense paralyzing sensation instantly spread throughout Shiki's entire body, and the smell of burnt flesh emanated.
Before his vision went dark, Shiki only saw a dazzlingly bright bald head in an emotionless gaze gripping him, as crackling electric currents were continuously channeled into his body without an ounce of respite.
Miscalculated again! So this damned Logia-type ability user was his real trump card!
"Bonez, stop! He's already dead! Don't burn his corpse!" Buggy, who had been madly chasing, sensed the ground beneath his feet suddenly sink and knew the island was falling. He hurriedly shouted.
Retracting his ability, Daz Bonez didn't say much but slung the Golden Lion's corpse onto his shoulder and followed Buggy, rushing towards the sea in the distance.
Returning to the boat Franky had built, Bonez directly outputted maximum power to start the screw propeller at the stern. After narrowly dodging the tsunamis caused by several large islands sinking into the sea, Buggy finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Captain, this battle was really dangerous! Thankfully, it wasn't too different from your deductions; otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do," Daz Bonez said while bandaging Buggy's wounds.
"An expert from the same era as the Captain and Whitebeard, how could he be so easy to deal with? If this guy hadn't taken half a ship's helm to the head during the Edd War with the Captain, and then later severed his own two legs in the Great Underwater Prison, causing his strength to be greatly diminished, I wouldn't have even considered coming after him. None who become legends are simple. This victory was due to many contributing factors." With a slightly pale face, Buggy was very clear that this victory had been hard-won.
If it weren't for a certain degree of ability countering and having completed the mid-stage of his first phase ability development, Buggy wanting to find trouble with the Golden Lion would have been better off just washing up and going to bed.
But regardless, the goal was finally achieved.
"Let's go to the nearest island. We'll deal with Shiki's corpse first, then talk about other things." After the explosion, Buggy immediately issued a captain's order.
Not understanding what Buggy meant by "deal with," Daz Bonez roughly guessed that his captain was about to use some means to extract the ability from the Golden Lion's body.
Three days later, Buggy, successfully holding a small box, and Daz Bonez left Boqi Island by boat under the cover of night.
A month later, on an island in the South Blue, following a bolt from the blue, a charred figure fell beneath a certain windowsill.
Another month later, Buggy, with Daz Bonez, returned to the Grand Line.
"Captain, we've got both Devil Fruits. Shouldn't we be heading to the Calm Belt? Why are we back in the Grand Line? Is there something else?"
"Of course. Before going to Amazon Lily, there are three more things that must be done. After finishing them, we'll head to the Calm Belt! Hmm, let's do the first thing: find an absolutely surprising birthday gift!" Standing at the bow, Buggy replied after some consideration.
Grand Line, Cursedplace. This island was originally called Lunke Island, just an ordinary summer island in the Grand Line. But starting a few years ago, after a certain person arrived on the island, it was slowly started to be called Cursedplace by people. The meaning was simple: a cursed place.
Early morning, as the first ray of sunlight rose from the sea level, the shadow of a ship slowly emerged from the thin mist.
"Captain, why have we come to this place? You've heard the rumors about Cursedplace, right?" Looking at the island not far away, Daz Bonez's expression was somewhat serious.
(End of this chapter)