Kaku desperately gripped both swords, attempting to parry Cavendish's relentless assault. In desperation, he activated Iron Body, the strongest defensive technique of the Six Styles, but even that couldn't withstand the elegant swordsman's ferocious attack.
Cavendish's blade pierced straight through Kaku's abdomen, and bright red blood spilled from the CP9 agent's mouth. With a metallic clang, both swords slipped from Kaku's nerveless fingers and clattered to the ground.
Cavendish withdrew his sword with a graceful flourish, his slightly torn clothes doing nothing to diminish his aristocratic bearing. Despite the intensity of the battle, he maintained his refined composure.
"Hmph! It appears I'll be the first to finish my opponent," Cavendish declared with satisfaction, flicking blood from his blade.
"What are you thinking? I've already finished over here," Ace called out, pointing down at Bruno's unconscious form at his feet.
In his battle with the Door-Door Fruit user, Ace had chosen not to rely on his usual Fire Fist technique. Instead, he'd coated his hands and feet with Armament Haki, using controlled flame jets to accelerate his movements as he relentlessly pursued Bruno with devastating punches and kicks. The CP9 agent barely had a chance to utilize his spatial manipulation abilities before Ace's superior speed and power overwhelmed him completely.
Cavendish opened his mouth to protest, but his attention was immediately drawn to where Ace was now looking—toward the sound of Jerry's ongoing battle with Lucci.
What they saw was the CP9 leader lying at the bottom of a large crater, with Jerry standing calmly at the edge. Throughout their fierce exchange, Lucci had remained vigilant even when smoke and debris obscured his vision, uncertain whether his attacks had found their mark.
What he hadn't anticipated was Jerry's tactical cunning. Taking advantage of the chaos and dust clouds, Jerry had suddenly exploded forward with unprecedented speed, appearing beside Lucci in an instant and unleashing a devastating combination attack. Despite Lucci's best efforts to defend himself, the CP9 agent was systematically overwhelmed through several brutal exchanges before being launched backward into the crater.
Blood trickled from the corner of Lucci's mouth as his chest heaved with labored breathing. Slowly, he began to speak: "You—"
"The battles over there are finished," Jerry interrupted without ceremony. "Looks like I need to wrap this up too."
Lucci's expression darkened like storm clouds gathering before a hurricane. He slowly rose to his feet, cold eyes fixed on his opponent with unwavering hostility.
"Cough... So you're determined to be an enemy of the World Government?" Lucci asked, his voice carrying both pain and defiance.
Jerry blinked and responded with a slightly mocking tone: "What's the point of saying that now? Are you still dreaming that I'll stop and let you walk away because I'm afraid of the World Government?"
"Let me walk away? I'm not that pathetic!" Lucci laughed harshly, though the sound held no genuine mirth.
Hearing this, Jerry rubbed his temple thoughtfully and tilted his head. "Right, I remember you once said that people with weak strength have no right to survive in this world. You even slaughtered five hundred kingdom soldiers because of that philosophy."
"So what if I did?" Lucci raised the corner of his mouth slightly, making no attempt to deny the accusation.
"Nothing much," Jerry replied with a grim smile spreading across his face. "I just think that same logic applies to you now."
"Hahaha! Do you really think you can kill me so easily?" Lucci's eyes darted toward the distant ocean, as if calculating something.
"What? Think I don't know there are Marine forces preparing to arrive? Planning to stall for time and wait for backup?" Jerry's observation was rewarded by a flash of surprise across Lucci's features, confirming his suspicion.
Without another word, Jerry stepped forward, ready to resume their unfinished battle.
"Then take this—Water Dragon Fist!" Jerry declared, his attack carrying the full weight of his water manipulation techniques.
"Even if you run to the ends of the earth, you won't escape today!" Jerry had no intention of allowing Lucci to live. He understood that given a few years of dedicated training, the CP9 agent's strength would increase dramatically. By then, Lucci might become a persistent threat, constantly targeting Jerry and his crew from the shadows.
While Jerry wasn't afraid of such harassment, he knew Lucci's character well enough. If he had the opportunity to eliminate this threat directly, why would he allow it to fester and cause future problems?
The two combatants moved with lightning speed, Jerry pursuing Lucci like a relentless force of nature. Each time Lucci was knocked down, he immediately sprang back to his feet—some people in this world possessed such incredible resilience that near-death experiences only seemed to make them more dangerous.
Jerry maintained complete dominance throughout their exchange. After landing two consecutive devastating blows that sent Lucci flying backward while coughing up blood, the CP9 agent somehow managed to continue fighting. Witnessing this remarkable endurance, Jerry decided it was time to end this decisively.
He had no desire to become an unwitting mentor, allowing his opponent to grow stronger through their battle like some protagonists he'd heard about. That kind of mercy would only create future complications.
Jerry's figure appeared beside Lucci like a phantom, moving faster than the eye could follow.
Lucci remained focused despite his injuries. With remarkable reaction speed, he swung both fists forward and roared: "Six Style Ultimate Technique: Six King Gun!"
However, Jerry seemed to anticipate the attack perfectly. His left hand shot out, five fingers spread wide, and caught Lucci's wrist in an iron grip. He pulled hard, using the momentum to close the distance while causing Lucci's full-power technique to miss its mark entirely.
Jerry twisted his body with fluid grace, his right hand glowing with concentrated power as he threw a thunderous punch.
"Water Dragon's Poisoned Fang!" Jerry declared, his technique combining both his water manipulation abilities and Fishman Karate principles.
Lucci's face showed complete astonishment, still processing how his opponent had so perfectly countered his ultimate attack. Then Jerry's devastating blow connected with his upper torso, and rational thought became impossible.
In the blink of an eye, Lucci's entire body was launched backward at tremendous speed, blood scattering through the air like crimson rain. While airborne, he slowly reverted from his hybrid leopard form back to his human state, falling toward the ground like a discarded puppet whose strings had been cut.
His chest was a mass of blood and trauma, and in that moment, all vitality seemed to drain from his eyes.
"Heh... as expected, weakness truly is the original sin... I'm not qualified..." Lucci gazed up at the sky with gradually dimming eyes, perhaps reflecting on the experiences that had shaped his harsh worldview.
Jerry looked down at the CP9 agent, who had maintained his twisted beliefs even unto death, and sighed quietly.
"I don't know what hardships you endured in your past, but even mice have their own ways of surviving, and ants struggle to live another day," Jerry said, his voice carrying unexpected gravity. "Even the smallest creatures have the right to exist. Weakness should never be justification for taking a life."
"After all, how many people are born with overwhelming power..."
Lucci believed in what he called "Dark Justice"—a philosophy that valued only strength and dismissed the weak as expendable. Jerry had no insight into the man's past, what childhood trauma might have created such a cold-blooded outlook that treated the lives of the vulnerable as worthless.
Besides, they had chosen opposing sides from the beginning. Jerry saw no point in making moral judgments about another person's life philosophy, especially when that philosophy had led directly to this confrontation.
"Alright," Jerry announced, turning away from Lucci's still form. "Let's head to the coast near Shipwreck Island and wait for Deuce and the others to arrive."
As they prepared to leave, Jerry's enhanced Observation Haki detected several hidden observers in the distance—likely reporters or intelligence operatives documenting the battle's outcome. He paid them no mind and began walking away with Ace.
Cavendish glanced back one final time at the fallen CP9 members scattered across the battlefield. His eyes flickered with some unreadable emotion, but ultimately he said nothing. Silently quickening his pace, he followed Jerry and Ace away from the scene of their decisive victory.
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