vncnus 35. Like an ant being stepped on and killed.
35. Like an ant being stepped on and killed.
"You dodged pretty fast!" Krick withdrew his battle-axe with a fluid movement that belied his heavy armor. "But how long can you keep hiding?!"
He suddenly released his right hand, swept the gun horizontally with his left hand, and then slammed his right hand against his left shoulder armor.
"Click!"
The shoulder armor popped open, revealing the honeycomb-shaped firing ports inside.
"Try this—the shoulder armor missile!"
Six fist-sized missiles shot out, their trajectories arcing, blocking Sanosuke's dodge space from different angles!
Sanosuke's eyes sharpened, and he formed hand seals.
"Is it coming? Ninjutsu!" Nami exclaimed excitedly from the sidelines.
The next second, Sanosuke pulled a smoke bomb out of his clothes and slammed it onto the deck!
"Ninja Art: Smoke Screen Technique!"
"Oh, it was just a smoke bomb!" Nami was stunned.
"Bang!"
Thick smoke exploded, obscuring their figures.
Missile fired into the smoke —
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom!"
Six explosions in a row! The smoke was torn apart by the shockwave, and wood chips, scrap metal, and dust flew everywhere.
Krick squinted, holding his large gun horizontally in front of him as a precaution.
The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.
There was no one on the deck.
"Up there!" a pirate exclaimed.
Krieg looked up—Sanosuke had somehow leaped to the middle of the mast and was using the momentum to pounce down, his ninja sword drawn, the blade flashing like a waterfall!
"A trivial skill!"
Klick neither dodged nor evaded, but instead raised his great spear and thrust it upwards!
In mid-air, Sanosuke suddenly twisted his body, causing the blade to deflect.
It wasn't aimed at Krieg, but at the shaft of the great war lance!
"clang!"
The sound of metal clashing against stone!
Using the momentum, Sanosuke flipped backward and landed, taking three steps back before regaining his balance. The tiger's mouth of his hand holding the sword was split open, and blood seeped out.
A shallow cut appeared on the shaft of Krick's great gun.
"Oh?" Krieg glanced at the gun barrel, then looked at Sanosuke. "You weren't knocked away? You've got some strength."
Before he could finish speaking, his left hand suddenly slapped the right side of his abdomen.
"Click!"
The abdominal armor popped open, and three round balls rolled to the ground.
"Explosive Shuriken Bullet—but it doesn't matter if I tell you, you can't dodge it anyway!"
The sphere exploded, scattering hundreds of tiny, spinning shuriken in a fan shape.
The coverage area is so large that it almost covers half of the foredeck!
Sanosuke retreated rapidly, simultaneously swinging his hands to precisely deflect the shuriken aimed at his vital points with his kunai.
But a few bullets still grazed his thigh and side! Clothes tore, and blood spurted out.
"It's not over yet!"
Klick pressed his advantage, thrusting his spear forward once more.
This time, flames actually shot out from the tip of the spear—a flamethrower was hidden inside the spearhead!
Sanosuke rolled to his side, flames brushing against his back, a searing pain shooting through him.
"Hahaha! Is it hot?! Is it hot?!" Krick laughed wildly as he chased after him.
The great spear thrust repeatedly, each strike aimed straight for vital points!
Sasuke weaved through the shadows of gunfire, parrying with his ninja sword from time to time, but each collision left his arm numb.
Krieg's strength was too great... or rather, his war gun was too heavy!
That weapon was invented to kill; it was so powerful that it could not be taken head-on, and a single mistake could lead to death.
"What's wrong?! All you can do is hide?!" Krik roared, suddenly slamming his battle spear into the ground and slapping his chest armor with both hands at the same time.
"Click! Click!"
The sides of the breastplate popped open, revealing a dense array of cannon muzzles.
"Breastplate shotgun—turn me into a sieve!"
"Bang bang bang bang bang!"
Dozens of iron balls were ejected in a fan shape!
This isn't a throwing weapon like a shuriken; it's a real gunpowder-propelled shotgun, moving at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see!
Sanosuke quickly dodged: "Ninja Art: Body Flicker Technique!"
The figure was blurry, and when it reappeared, it was five meters to the left of Klee.
However, the shotgun's coverage area was too large, and several bullets still grazed his right shoulder and left leg, causing blood to gush out.
Krieg laughed wildly, "Interesting! Very interesting! You're more durable than you look!"
He drew his great spear, but did not attack immediately. Instead, he calmly watched Sanosuke.
"Hey, ninja. What good are all those fancy ninjutsu techniques of yours besides dodging?"
Sanosuke slowly straightened up, his ninja sword held horizontally in front of him, blood dripping down the blade.
"Ninjutsu isn't purely for killing," Sanosuke said calmly. "More often than not, it's for completing missions."
"A mission?" Krieg scoffed. "Your mission is to be killed by me!"
He suddenly moved, but not towards Sanosuke, but towards the cabin!
"Kill that little girl in charge first!"
The great spear was aimed straight at Nami, who was watching the battle!
Sanosuke's pupils contracted as he chased after Krieg at such a speed that he left afterimages, while simultaneously throwing a kunai.
We must not allow the woman who serves our master to be harmed!
Krik laughed, his great spear sweeping across, shattering the kunai.
But that brief moment of obstruction was enough—Sasuke's ninja sword was already aimed at Krieg's nape!
"Waiting for you!" Krieg seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and his great gun swept back sharply, the shaft of the gun slamming solidly into Sanosuke's side!
"cough--!"
Sanosuke spat out a mouthful of blood, flew sideways, crashed into the ship's side, and landed heavily on the ground.
"Sanosuke!" Nami exclaimed.
Krieg turned around, shouldered his battle lance, and walked step by step toward Sanosuke, who was lying on the ground.
"A ninja? That's all?" Krieg raised his foot and stomped heavily on Sasuke's back.
Sanosuke did not answer, lying on the ground, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth, staining the deck red.
"Not going to talk?" Krieg stomped down, his armored boots grinding against Sanosuke's back. "Then die—"
His words came to an abrupt end.
Because Sasuke moved his hand.
It wasn't the hand holding the knife—it was the left hand, fingers spread, pressed against the deck.
"Ninja Technique..." Sanosuke's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, "...Earth Spider."
The deck beneath Klick's feet suddenly cracked!
It wasn't cracked by his foot, but pierced from below by something—dozens of thin but incredibly strong steel wires burst through the wood and instantly wrapped around his legs!
"What?!" Krick was shocked and tried to break free, but the wire was already tightly wrapped around him and cut deep into the gaps in his armor.
Sanosuke flipped over and thrust his ninja sword at the deck beside him.
"Ninja Art: Steel Wire Manipulation"
The wire that was wrapped around Klick suddenly tightened and pulled!
Klick's massive body lost its balance and crashed to the ground!
The pirates of the Krieg Pirates screamed in alarm.
"What?!"
"Leader Krieg has been defeated!"
"How could this happen!"
"That ninja actually defeated the Admiral! The Admiral should be invincible, someone no one could even touch! He's practically unkillable!"
"Who exactly is that ninja?!"
...
"When...when..." Krick struggled to stand up, but the wire had already wrapped around his arms and neck, tightening the more he struggled.
"From the start of the battle." Sanosuke slowly stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "With every dodge, every parry, every landing, I'm setting up a steel wire."
He walked up to Klee and looked down at him.
"You have a lot of weapons," Sanosuke said, "so many that you think you can win just by using them."
Krick roared and struggled desperately.
However, the steel wire was already deeply embedded in the gaps of the armor. The more force was applied, the more the armor deformed, and the tighter it became!
"A ninja doesn't have many weapons." Sanosuke raised his ninja sword, the tip pointing at Krieg's throat, "but every single one will be used where it's needed."
"Enough... enough nonsense!" Krieg roared. "Let me go! Let's fight!"
"A head-on confrontation?" Sanosuke looked at Krieg with a sneer. "I'm a ninja, you know! Like you said, defeating the enemy is enough, isn't it?"
Klee's words are a chore.
"There are no rules in battle." Sasuke's blade neither advanced nor retreated. "You want to win, and I want to win too."
"You treat everything as a weapon. Armor, guns, bombs, poison gas, lies."
"And I only see myself as a weapon!"
Klee's eyes widened.
Sanosuke sheathed his sword.
It's not about killing, but about returning it to its sheath.
"King will be angry that the White Pearl has been damaged to this extent..." Sanosuke sighed, looking at the damaged deck around him.
"Well done, Sanosuke!" someone suddenly said from above.
Following the voice, everyone's gaze moved upwards!
On the highest watchtower of the White Pearl, Norton sat imposingly, standing on a treasure chest.
"And who is that?" the members of the Krieg Pirates asked in surprise.
"Oh! King is back!" Fu Ning's tense expression instantly relaxed.
Although there are still thirty pirate ships surrounding them, as long as King is there, the White Pearl is safe!
On the Baratie, a sea restaurant, Zeff breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Norton return.
"Alright! Looks like we're done here. Let's get cooking!" He beckoned to Sanji, Paddy, and the other chefs.
Zeff's trust in Norton's abilities completely put his worries at ease. Just how strong was this man? No one knew the answer.
On the Black Cat Pirates' ship, Zango and the others shed tears of excitement.
Looking down from his vantage point, Norton saw a deck riddled with holes and damage.
Zoro is fighting a man encased in a shield, while Kuro is entangled with another man with a sinister aura, and the fighting is getting louder and louder.
Sanosuke, who had defeated Krieg, was also seriously injured.
Norton frowned slightly.
"Zoro! Kuro! What are you two dawdling for?"
If the fighting continues, Fu Ning will have to repair her ship for a very long time!
"Yeah, right!" Nami also noticed that Zoro was being too single-minded, aiming every strike at Palu's shield. "He should have just cut his neck!"
"Don't try to teach me anything!" Zoro grinned, "I'm going to cut him down by striking where he's strongest! It's just steel! I refuse to believe I can't cut it!"
"What a stubborn person..." Fu Ning sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Given Zoro's strength, if he had targeted Palu's weakness, the battle would have been over long ago.
On the other side, the battle between Akin and Kro intensified. The two were evenly matched in strength, both being the same type of combat talent with extremely rich combat experience.
If there is any difference, it is that Kro is better at speed, while Akin is stronger.
"King! This guy is stronger than I expected! Give me some time!" Kro spat out a mouthful of blood.
"That's enough, we can fight again when we have time!" Norton's figure suddenly disappeared from the high observation platform.
"Where did you go?!"
Everyone quickly looked around.
The next second, Ajin and Palu seemed to have suffered some kind of serious injury, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed heavily on the deck!
"What's going on!"
"Captain Palu and Captain Akin have both fallen!"
The Krieg Pirates were shocked and didn't understand what had happened.
At that moment, Norton reappeared in everyone's sight, already stepping on Krieg's head.
"You've actually damaged my ship like this, you're pretty arrogant!" Norton said coldly.
"You bastard! Let me go if you dare!"
With Norton stepping on his head, Krieg was unable to lift his head or see Norton's face.
"You should think about how to compensate me for my losses!" Norton casually kicked Krieg aside.
"Damn it! How dare you disobey my orders!" As the wire snapped, it tore through flesh, and Klee groaned in pain, filled with hatred.
Damn it! He shouldn't have held back! He didn't use the true power of the war lance at all, in order not to damage the ship!
That gun was created for destruction; every swing of it can cause an explosion!
In fact, the stronger the force applied, the stronger the explosion!
Norton, hands in his pockets, strolled forward and stepped on Krieg's face: "Hey, watch your language. I don't like people talking to me like that."
"You bastard! That's Chief Krieg!"
"Release the Admiral right now!"
On the surrounding pirate ships, the crowd was filled with righteous indignation.
However, as Norton's gaze slowly swept across the surroundings, the pirates gradually quieted down and dared not utter a sound.
That superior look in his eyes... left no room for doubt!
"This guy... I feel like I've seen him somewhere before!"
Gradually, some of the pirates seemed to remember something, and their expressions changed drastically.
"It's...it's that 'silver-haired' one! 'Silver-haired' Norton! The king-slayer!"
"A monster whose head is worth two hundred million Berries!"
"Run!"
Pirate ships immediately began to turn and try to escape. In the East Blue, the deterrent power of 200 million Berries is unparalleled!
Keep in mind that even Admiral Krieg, whom they considered the strongest, had a bounty of less than twenty million! Norton's bounty was more than ten times that of Krieg!
Norton casually kicked up the great gun that Krieg had dropped and swung it at the turning pirate ship. The heavy weapon felt like nothing in Norton's hands.
"Boom!"
Amidst the intense flames and explosions, the pirate ship that had veered off course sank to the bottom of the sea! It became charred black in the flames!
"How is this possible! Even Admiral Krieg couldn't have caused such terrifying power!"
"A single swing and it capsized a ship!"
The remaining 29 pirate ships dared not move, and the pirate captains were all sweating profusely.
Norton only looked at Krieg after the surrounding pirates had calmed down.
"Surrender or die! Choose!"
Klee was trembling all over despite the lingering traces of Norton's shoe print on his face. But once he saw Norton's face clearly, Klee's anger vanished in an instant!
"Can I refuse?" Krick swallowed hard. If he could, he really wouldn't be willing to be subordinate to someone else.
He's going to lead the Krieg Fleet to conquer the Grand Line and seize the One Piece!
"Of course." Norton grinned and stepped down.
He stomped on Krieg's head!
Even on his deathbed, Klee couldn't understand why Norton hadn't bothered to ask a second time.
He's Admiral Krik! Who wouldn't want such a powerful subordinate?
Norton didn't want to; Krieg was too weak and morally corrupt, a complete scoundrel. His primary motivation for seeking out the Krieg Pirates was their massive pirate fleet.
After crushing Admiral Klick, worth 1700 million, as easily as stepping on an ant, Norton turned around, opened his arms, and shouted at the top of his lungs—
"Surrender or die? Tell me your choice!"