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Deep underground, in another cavernous chamber.
"ROOOOOAAAR!"
With a thunderous roar, Hanafuda's massive T. rex form clawed its way relentlessly upward. Like an unstoppable battering ram, its claws effortlessly pierced the rock, allowing its head to forcefully smash through the layers of barriers Zishu had created above.
Not even the sharpest rocks could scratch his skin. The grotesque stitches crisscrossing his body made him look like a true monster.
Just as Zishu had predicted, it was clear.
The pitch-black depths of the underground could trap and kill most creatures, but they posed no mortal threat to the sea's strongest warriors.
Especially not to a beast driven by a primal hunger for hunting and vengeance.
But then, in the next moment...
"Roar!"
Hanafuda, who had been climbing relentlessly upward, suddenly froze mid-motion.
Bang!
With a powerful leap, he landed on a nearby stone platform and shifted into his half-human, half-beast "beast-man form."
At the far end of the platform, he saw a figure emerging from the rock.
No, upon closer inspection, the stone had clearly been cut open and reshaped into a passageway.
Drip... drip...
In this silent underground chamber, even the sound of blood dripping was deafening. Zishu flicked the blood from his hand and glanced at Hanafuda in the distance.
Hanafuda, meanwhile, seemed somewhat curious.
"Whose blood is this?" he hissed through his fangs.
"Cracker's," Zishu replied, showing no reluctance to answer.
"No wonder. The blood of the weak always stinks so foully," Hanafuda sneered. "The so-called Three Sweet Commanders are nothing but brats like this."
"But, boy, you shouldn't have shown your face to me."
As the words fell from his lips, the stone platform beneath his feet instantly buckled. With a thunderous roar that tore through the air, Hanafuda vanished from his spot and reappeared on the rocky ceiling above Zishu in an instant.
His speed was terrifying, even faster than when he fought Roy earlier!
ROAR!
His low growl, combined with the sutures crisscrossing his body, made him appear utterly terrifying in the dim underground cavern.
"I'm nothing like that weak little brat!"
Without further warning, his massive tail slammed down with a thunderous bang.
But...
Buzz!
In the next instant, an invisible space gate suddenly materialized and swallowed his tail's attack whole.
Roar!
The sensation of striking empty air fueled Hanafuda's rage, yet his body didn't falter. With a thunderous stomp, he prepared to strike again. Before he could, however, the rocky ground beneath his feet began to crumble.
Looking down, he saw that several blade-like arms had already cut through the ground, slicing it open once more.
"Slice: Stone-Rending!"
As Zishu's words echoed, Hanafuda, now without a foothold, began to fall again.
"That trick again," The plummeting Hanafuda growled.
But he had no time to regain his footing.
In the next instant...
"Sever: Thousand-Blade Body!"
Zishu unleashed another attack, and countless slashes erupted simultaneously from the rocky walls and Hanafuda's own body.
As expected, the plummeting Hanafuda had no chance to evade.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Nearly every strike hit its mark, and violent slashes erupted from within Hanafuda's body.
Roar!
Blood gushed from Hanafuda's mouth and burst from wounds across his body.
But...
Click! Click! Click!
Despite the countless slashes that would have cut a real Tyrannosaurus rex into pieces, the blood-soaked Hanafuda remained remarkably intact, though his breath faltered.
Yet, a series of distinct sounds began to emanate from within his body.
There was no mistaking them, the crisp, metallic clicks carried an icy, mechanical timbre utterly foreign to any natural creature.
And indeed, that proved to be the case.
The next instant, Hanafuda's claws suddenly extended.
They pierced the surrounding mountain walls, halting his plummet.
Then...
"It's so painful! A slashing attack erupting from within? How is such a thing even possible?" As he muttered this, the suture-like wounds across his body split open from the force of the slash, revealing his skeletal structure beneath.
Within the skeletal structure of a Tyrannosaurus rex, amidst the interwoven blood vessels and muscles, there was a distinct metallic gleam.
Yet his vertical pupils remained sharp and ferocious.
"But it's useless! Pain doesn't matter to beasts if it grants them power and victory!"
With a roar, Hanafuda's thickly muscled legs suddenly began to glow with intense heat and erupted into flames.
Bang!
A sound like an engine firing erupted from his legs.
By now, the truth was undeniable. The creature, with its metallic sheen and engine-powered legs, was no longer merely a "biological" being.
Hanafuda had become a true cyborg!
And in the next moment...
Bang!
The engines within his legs roared to life. His massive figure lunged toward Zishu with terrifying speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The colossal cyborg tore through the underground rock walls; his movements were so swift that they were nearly impossible to track with the naked eye. Only the constantly fracturing and collapsing rock indicated his high-speed advance toward Zishu.
At that very moment, countless arms erupted from the mountain walls once more, unleashing a relentless barrage of slashing strikes to block Hanafuda's path upward.
But...
"Useless! Useless! Useless!"
Hanafuda roared, enduring the relentless onslaught and continuing his ascent.
"Queen's modification technology is top-tier. To ensure maximum durability after the upgrade, I had him use the special alloy he recently developed, 'QUEEN Alloy,' based on the metal from your Twelve Zodiac."
As he spoke, the memory of the agonizing procedure flooded his mind.
In order to undergo this transformation, he had allowed "Fire Fist" Ace to attack his subordinates without intervening. According to Queen, a transformation of this magnitude could only be endured with the life force of an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit user at peak condition.
Moreover, to ensure the effective transformation of his muscles, he couldn't be anesthetized.
Thus, Hanafuda nearly died during the procedure.
But he survived and gained unprecedented power!
"My raw strength, explosive speed, and internal and external defenses are immeasurably greater than before!"
"Your feeble slashes can do nothing but bring me pain and excitement!"
"This power was prepared to avenge myself against 'Black Kirin.'"
He grinned savagely.
"But using the blood of a Great Officer of the Twelve Zodiacs as the first battle's sacrifice is quite satisfactory!"
After I defeat you and hand you over to Big Brother Kaido to obtain the Queen Alloy formula, I can finally hunt down the loved ones of Black Kirin's crew with impunity!"
He had already meticulously planned his revenge against Roy.
As per their earlier agreement, he couldn't attack Roy and his crew directly. However, he had devised a plan. He could kill the families and friends of Roy's crew, forcing Roy to seek him out for a duel.
Naturally, since Roy was now an Admiral Candidate, such an action would cost him his Warlord position and disrupt Kaido's dealings with the World Government.
That's why he had refrained from doing so until now.
But now, everything was different. If he helped Kaido obtain the alloy formula of the Twelve Zodiacs, the World Government would no longer be a key buyer.
Every major and minor power across the globe would clamor to trade with the Hundred Beasts Pirates.
Even if he relinquished his position as Warlord, Kaido could still realize his ambitions.
Crack!
As the words fell, his tail split open.
From within the fissure, a razor-sharp sword emerged, its shape suggesting that it had been crafted from his tailbone and metal.
"King Dragon: Tail Sword!"
The next instant, Hanafuda's tail lashed out with terrifying speed, its sword-like tip piercing the air. Beside Zishu, a Space Gate reopened, attempting to absorb Hanafuda's Tail Sword.
"That trick again..."
Seeing this, a faint smile curved Hanafuda's lips.
In that very instant...
Crack! Crack!
Several miniature rocket thrusters sprouted along the Tail Sword.
As Hanafuda's tail shifted direction constantly, its speed surged once more.
"I've seen through your tricks. A formidable defense, but you still need to anticipate attacks to activate the 'gates' for teleportation," Hanafuda growled.
"And my Tail Sword moves too fast for you to perceive!"
As the words left his lips, the razor-sharp Tail Sword accelerated to its absolute limit. The underground chamber was filled with nothing but the deafening sound of air rupturing from the blade's passage.
In Hanafuda's eyes, everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl.
He was the ultimate predator.
Though his words were savage and arrogant, he was extraordinarily patient when hunting.
Then, at a critical moment, Hanafuda noticed Zishu stir slightly.
"Here it comes!"
He knew this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
"Having witnessed my speed and power, he'll undoubtedly try to use his ability to evade or escape temporarily."
As the rumors from the Sea had suggested, Zishu's elusive, almost supernatural abilities were well-known.
This was the moment Hanafuda had been waiting for.
Prey is often at its weakest and most vulnerable when it tries to escape.
"You can't escape!"
"King Dragon Chariot... Hypervelocity Tail Sword!"
The razor-sharp Tail Sword finally pierced down.
In that instant, Hanafuda was almost certain the strike would hit—his tail sensors could practically feel the target's body heat.
But then, in the very next moment...
Hanafuda was stunned to realize there was no sensation of piercing flesh or sound of blood spilling.
Bang!
Where his sword had struck, the mountain wall shattered instantly, leaving a massive, gaping hole.
But there was nothing there.
Yet, in the next moment...
"You've made two mistakes," Hanafuda heard a voice say.
His body froze instantly.
The voice was far too close.
He lowered his head to look.
Then he saw it, the rat-headed mask right in front of him.
"First, you assumed I didn't know you were a cyborg, which is why I appeared before you."
As he spoke, Hanafuda transformed into a Tyrannosaurus rex and lunged at Zishu with a massive bite, reacting instinctively.
But he bit only air.
"But the truth is the opposite, I know you very well."
At that moment, the voice came from behind him, still terrifyingly close.
"Where..."
Hanafuda whirled around instinctively, trying to pinpoint the speaker's location. But in the next instant, footsteps sounded directly in front of him.
The lingering rush of air made Hanafuda realize the unbelievable truth.
His opponent hadn't used the strange "Space Gate" to evade him.
He was using pure, raw physical speed.
"How could anyone be this fast?" he thought, the words barely a whisper in his mind.
In his peripheral vision, Hanafuda saw Zishu raise his hand.
A primal sense of impending doom surged through him.
At that precise moment...
"..."
Beneath the rat-headed mask, Zishu's eyes burned with icy coldness and intent to kill.
Yes.
After "Inu" copied Hanafuda's body, Zishu discovered the modifications to his opponent's physique.
Having already fought Hanafuda before this confrontation, Zishu had a confident understanding of his opponent's strength. He could have retreated into a pocket dimension to evade the battle long ago.
Yet he chose not to.
The reason was simple:
"A modified Ancient Devil Fruit user is the perfect material for testing the power of my slashes."
As he spoke, jet-black Haki gathered on Zishu's raised hand.
It was Ryuo (Flowing Sakura).
Munch-Munch Fruit: It allows for the fusion of living and non-living things, granting the user the properties of the fused material. However, only one set of properties can be maintained at a time.
The Munch-Munch Fruit allows living beings to fuse with non-living materials and acquire their properties.
Enma Iron was naturally among them.
Truthfully, ever since the Three-Forces Military Exercise, all of Roy's clones had been able to use Haki.
But that wasn't the crux of the matter.
The most critical factor was the Devil Fruit Zishu was carrying at that moment:
[Multiplication Devil Fruit LV3]
It multiplies the speed and volume of objects. It is ineffective on living beings other than the user's original body.
[Current Multiplication limit: 50x]
Zishu had wanted to test the power of this Devil Fruit.
However, he no longer intended to test it.
"Secondly, you spoke falsehoods."
Hanafuda's earlier revelation of his revenge plan had eroded Zishu's patience.
"Tell me, Hanafuda."
Zishu lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Hanafuda. "You claimed to have grown stronger than ever before, didn't you?"
"How many times?"
The words hung in the air as his hand flashed out, drawing his blade.
[Multiplication Devil Fruit - 50x Enhancement]
[Ryuo (Flowing Sakura) Infusion]
[Severance Devil Fruit - Sever]
["Air Cut - Sever - Fifty Black Cuts!"]
Due to the enhanced speed of the Multiplication Devil Fruit, Hanafuda had no chance to evade the strike.
The next instant...
Bang!
Empowered by amplified speed and mass, this strike far surpassed its predecessors.
Hanafuda heard his bones snap and felt his muscles shatter.
It was a force that not even his "Cyborg" frame could withstand!
The next instant, his head was sent flying.
Even as his head left his body, bewilderment still flickered in the Warlord's eyes.
But by then, it was too late.
His fading consciousness allowed him to witness his massive, Tyrannosaurus rex–transformed body erupt in a violent explosion.
Oil, metal, and blood mingled as they burst outward, showering the battlefield.
Zishu stood bathed in the crimson rain, yet not a drop of blood stained him, thanks to the slowly opening Space Gate above.
His icy gaze was fixed on Hanafuda. In that moment, however, Hanafuda felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
His primal instincts sparked a realization—a possibility he had never considered, one he couldn't even begin to imagine.
"You!!!"
His expression flashed with incredulous revelation.
But in the next instant, his consciousness began to fade.
"Kaido, Big Brother..."
He didn't think of his treasure or his children, only of Kaido.
"That guy... The Twelve Zodiac... is..."
Only then did he realize just how dangerous the organization known as the "Twelve Zodiac" truly were.
He instinctively sensed the immense threat this organization would pose to the Hundred Beasts, the very figure he revered, in the future.
But it was clear now that...
Whether driven by ambition, hatred, or resentment, everything that had once belonged to him had become meaningless.
Thud!
His severed head hit the ground.
The Lizard King's hunt had ended here.
(End of Chapter)