A breeze drifted in through the tavern's window.
The air was thick with the suffocating stench of blood.
On the floor lay a headless corpse, grisly and horrifying.
The blue-haired man was dead.
Blown apart by a single punch from Kai—so fast and overwhelming that he didn't even have the chance to react.
Swift.
Ruthless.
Absolute domination.
One strike. Instant kill.
The tavern fell into silence.
Dead silence.
Gulp!
Several pirates couldn't stop themselves from swallowing hard, eyes wide with terror as they stared at the headless body. Their faces turned pale, pupils trembling with shock and fear.
The entire process…
They hadn't even been able to see what had happened.
By the time they realized, the man was already a corpse on the ground. His skull had been obliterated by a single blow, blood gushing like a river.
The scene was burned into their eyes, magnifying their terror to its peak.
Drip.
Drip.
Fresh blood slid down Kai's fist, falling to the floor.
His upper body was bare, muscles bulging with terrifying definition. His back, covered in grotesque, demon-like muscle patterns, looked like the mark of hell itself.
He exuded a suffocating pressure that spread throughout the tavern.
At that moment…
In the eyes of the few remaining pirates—and Buggy—Kai wasn't a child at all. He was a devil risen from the underworld.
"S-So strong!"
One pirate staggered back half a step, voice shaking, throat dry, face chalk white.
The others beside him trembled as well, bodies shaking uncontrollably.
Fear.
Overwhelming fear gnawed at their hearts.
"We didn't even see him move."
"In just one exchange…"
"Jack was blown apart with a single punch."
"We're not even in the same league as this monster."
"In his eyes, we're nothing but ants."
Despair crushed them.
They could do nothing but watch as their comrade was destroyed right in front of them. The powerlessness left them broken.
"You—you used Rokushiki?!"
Buggy's eyes widened, staring hard at Kai, panic rising in his chest.
He recognized it.
The move that boy had just displayed—
It was Rokushiki, the Marine's famed combat technique!
But how?!
How could a child use the Marine's Six Styles?!
Could it be…
Was this boy part of the Marine?
Or perhaps from a Marine bloodline?!
"You guessed right."
Kai smirked, flexing his arm and shaking blood from his fist. Crimson drops spattered across the floor.
"But too bad—"
"There's no prize."
Buggy's throat tightened.
A four-year-old monster with Conqueror's Haki…
And now, he saw clearly—the boy had mastered Rokushiki as well. Not fragments of it. The complete form!
That meant…
The child wasn't just talented. He was beyond comprehension.
"What kind of monstrous talent… can master both Conqueror's Haki and Rokushiki at the age of four?!"
Buggy was horrified, his face drained of color.
"Who am I?" Kai chuckled. "Does it matter? It doesn't. What matters is…"
"You're about to die."
Buggy shivered. His scalp went numb, cold dread spreading from his spine.
"You think you can kill me?!"
He snarled, forcing down his fear. Then he whipped his head toward his trembling subordinates.
"You lot! Attack! Kill this damn brat!"
But his men only shook harder, not daring to move.
After seeing Jack obliterated by a single punch, who would dare?
They were already broken in spirit.
"Useless trash!" Buggy cursed, furious.
"B-Buggy boss… we can't beat this monster," one pirate stammered. "If we surrender, maybe the Marine's prison will spare us. But if we fight… we'll die just like Jack!"
"Damn it!" Buggy's jaw clenched.
He stared at Kai, body taut with fear. The boy could wield Rokushiki effortlessly… How could he possibly fight that?
He knew the truth.
He couldn't win.
There was only one path left.
Escape!
"I have to run!"
Without hesitation, Buggy spun and spat out a black orb toward Kai.
"Buggy Bomb!"
He barked the name of his attack and bolted for the opposite side of the tavern.
The bomb hurtled at Kai.
But Kai's expression remained cold. His eyes weren't even on the bomb—they were fixed on Buggy, trying to flee.
"Run?" he murmured. "You think you can escape?"
He raised his right arm, fist clenched.
Power surged into his knuckles, compressing, building.
Terrifying pressure gathered, shaking the air.
"Tekkai… Steel Fist!"
Kai channeled Tekkai into his arm, making his fist harder than steel.
Every muscle fiber tensed, defense and power rising to their peak.
Then—
He struck.
BOOM!
His fist met the bomb head-on.
The explosion detonated with a thunderous roar, blasting shockwaves that shattered the tavern floor beneath his feet. Tiles cracked like spiderwebs as the ground collapsed under the impact, sinking beneath him.
The clash of forces raged violently, shockwaves colliding like crashing thunder. Arcs of energy sparked across Kai's body, his muscle-packed frame illuminated by the light.
"Break!"
Kai roared, his power surging.
His fist forced back the explosion itself, redirecting the destructive blast—straight toward Buggy.
The shockwave screamed across the tavern.
Buggy's eyes widened in horror.
Then it hit him.
BOOM!
The force wrapped him in a storm of destruction, his clothes ripping to shreds as his body was flung like a ragdoll. Blood spurted from his mouth as pain tore through him.
"Ahhh!"
He screamed in agony, hurled dozens of meters through the air before slamming into the tavern wall a hundred meters away.
CRASH!
The wall shattered under the impact, crumbling into rubble as dust and debris rained down.
Kai's punch had not only shattered Buggy—
It had blown apart the entire tavern!
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