Facing John's mockery, Charlotte Linlin's face showed no emotional fluctuation. The fact that John could barely wrestle with her at this moment wasn't because his own strength was sufficient to compete; it was entirely the result of using the Magnet-Magnet Fruit to disperse and conduct his power throughout the giant colossus.
"You're just relying on the power of a Devil Fruit," Charlotte Linlin sneered. "Did you think... you're the only one who has one?"
As she spoke, her aura surged violently, and white dragon scales covered her body.
The savage grin on John's face suddenly froze, replaced by an expression of unbelievable horror.
He felt as if the magnetic colossus he was controlling had slammed into an awakening volcano!
The stalemate he had barely maintained was instantly shattered. The colossus's massive metal feet sank deep into the ground, and the hard rock and soil crumbled and splashed like tofu!
Under Charlotte Linlin's pure and terrifying brute force, the colossus emitted a groan of overburdened metal. It was pushed back step by step, plowing two deep furrows into the ground!
"Is this all your trump card amounts to?" A sharp light flashed in Charlotte Linlin's dragon pupils as she let out a low shout: "Crush—Burst!"
In the reflection of John's rapidly shrinking pupils, Charlotte Linlin used only one hand to hold her unsheathed nodachi and forcibly swept aside the colossus's massive metal arms that were crossed in a block!
"Creeeeak—Boom!!"
The colossus's tight defensive posture was forcibly torn open. The chest area was instantly left wide open, leaving John inside with a deathly pale face!
Without the slightest hesitation, Charlotte Linlin's jade-white right fist drew back to her waist. It was gradually covered by Armament Haki and Haoshoku that crackled with dark red lightning. Her wrist rotated, creating a peculiar sound and a piercing white cyclone! Like a cannonball launched from a barrel, she slammed it ruthlessly toward John!
"Bang—!!!!"
An earth-shattering roar swept in all directions! Under Charlotte Linlin's punch, which contained the secret of internal destruction, the massive magnetic colossus began to disintegrate inch by inch from its core!
The countless pieces of metal forming its body were instantly torn by an indescribable force, then sprayed wildly in all directions like a rainstorm!
Some nearby pirates who couldn't dodge in time were instantly turned into sieves by this metal storm, suffering heavy casualties!
As for John, who was at the heart of the storm, although he pushed his Armament Haki to the limit to protect himself at the last moment, he was still sent flying like a broken kite!
His body smashed through two visible milky-white sonic boom clouds in the air, finally turning into a shooting star that slammed hard into another area of Hachinosu Island, blasting out a huge crater dozens of meters in diameter, with dust and smoke billowing into the sky!
At the center of the crater's bottom, John's eyes rolled back, and he almost lost consciousness. But relying on his powerful physique and will to survive, he suddenly snapped awake amidst the intense pain.
"Damn it... cough, cough... Blegh!"
He struggled to get up, spitting out a large mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. He didn't know how many bones in his body were broken, and his internal organs felt as if they had all shifted out of place.
"This woman... just what kind of monster is she?!!"
At this moment, his heart was filled with regret and fear. He never expected that just for a single sword, this crazy woman would actually dare to use such lethal force against him on Hachinosu Island. Did she completely disregard Rocks' face and the rules on the ship?!
"Oh? You can actually still crawl back up? It seems your Haki cultivation isn't entirely for show." A cold and oppressive voice came from above.
John looked up with difficulty and saw Charlotte Linlin flapping her massive blue Dragon Wings. Like a dragon queen descending to the mortal world, she slowly landed on the edge of the crater.
She looked down at him with an indifferent gaze and casually swung her nodachi—
"Slash!"
A giant sword qi whistled toward the immobile John at the bottom of the pit!
"Magnetic·String!!" His survival instinct allowed John to burst forth with his final strength.
Amidst a humming sound, the surrounding metal was summoned, instantly forming a metal palm above his head. It swatted out horizontally just in time, forcibly knocking the sword qi off course!
"Pfft—!" The backlash from forcibly activating his ability caused him to spray blood again, his aura withering to the extreme.
The pink sword qi that had been redirected acted like a reaper's scythe, sweeping through a residential area. It instantly sliced dozens of pirate houses neatly in half, causing a wave of terrified screams.
Pirate Lackeys: "!!!!" (You guys are fighting, so why are we the ones dying!!!)
"Tsk, quite tenacious, aren't you?"
Charlotte Linlin looked at the wretched John below and gave a sneer.
She evaluated the opponent's strength in her heart—he was quite a bit stronger than the so-called 'First Mate' level of the future, and his methods were strange and difficult to deal with, but there was still a clear gap between him and a Marine Admiral.
With his strength combined with the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, he indeed had the ability to quietly kidnap Shakky from Hachinosu Island.
Her dragon pupils narrowed slightly as she said directly: "Speak, John. Was it you... who took Shakky away?"
At the bottom of the pit, John coughed violently, blood constantly overflowing from the corners of his mouth. He looked up weakly, a strained and ugly smile appearing on his face:
"Hehe... cough, cough... I'm afraid... you've got it wrong. It wasn't me... who took Shakky away."
"Is that so?" Charlotte Linlin's voice didn't reveal any emotion, but the killing intent in her eyes suddenly coalesced. "In that case, there's no longer any need for me to keep you around."
John's expression suddenly changed drastically as a sense of crisis that made his soul tremble came from above!
He looked up sharply to see a bucket-thick bolt of pitch-black lightning striking down ruthlessly from high above toward the crater where he was! It was so fast that it was impossible to dodge!
"Magnetic Grant·Polarity Swap!"
In the critical moment between life and death, John slammed a palm against his own chest. A clear 'N' pole magnetic symbol instantly appeared on him.
At the same time, a corresponding'S' pole symbol lit up on a withered tree that he had crashed into earlier!
Hum—!
Just as the pitch-black lightning was about to consume him, John's figure was pulled by an invisible force and instantly vanished from the spot!
"Boom—!!!"
The pitch-black lightning struck the empty pit. There was no deafening explosion, only a heart-palpitating sense of annihilation. A bottomless, charred pit with edges as smooth as a mirror was left behind, as if matter itself had been completely erased.
A second later, John's figure appeared wretchedly beside that withered tree marked with the'S' pole a hundred meters away. He supported himself against the charred trunk with one hand, panting heavily. His face was as pale as paper, and his eyes were full of lingering fear and shock. In that moment just now, he had truly felt the kiss of death!
Just then, Charlotte Linlin sensed something and turned slightly toward a certain direction, a flash of realization crossing her vertical pupils.
"Hmm? Someone is coming."
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