Limitless Pirates:
Bullet had originally intended to challenge the giants in Elbaf, but after fighting with Kaido, he comprehended Busoshoku Haki entanglement. So, he returned directly to the Limitless Pirates and fought with a group of Executive Officers to consolidate and skillfully apply his Busoshoku Haki entanglement ability.
Finally, after half a month, Bullet began to challenge Nox, challenging for the position of Vice Captain of the Limitless Pirates!
"Is Bullet finally going to charge for that position? That's fast! I thought he wouldn't have the strength for at least three more years. I didn't expect him to comprehend the technique of Haoshoku Haki entanglement!"
"Haoshoku Haki entanglement technique? Wait, I'll comprehend it quickly too!"
"Exactly, exactly! We can't let Bullet suppress us!"
"Uh, let's still work hard to be promoted to core Executive Officers. The position of Vice Captain is still too far for us!"
"..."
In the Limitless Pirates' training base in the Calm Belt, almost all the Executive Officers who were not on external missions came here. This was a grand event for the Limitless Pirates; how could they not come to witness it?
And only the Executive Officers had the chance to witness it. Those Pirate Captains didn't even have the chance to witness it because they weren't qualified enough!
On the barren land to the left of the island, Bullet and Nox stood there. Even though neither of them exuded any aura, the non-core Executive Officers watching from a distance felt a sense of pressure.
"Bullet, let me see your growth. The Vice Captain of the Limitless Pirates is not so easy to be!"
Nox clenched his hand in the air, and the Seven Star Sword suddenly appeared in his hand. The scarlet blood aura was condensed and did not dissipate, making people look at it as if they were looking at a blood abyss, extremely terrifying!
"Hahahahaha, Vice Captain, I'm determined to be it!"
Bullet laughed loudly, and immediately entered his Human-Beast form. Facing his own Captain, Bullet didn't dare to hide anything and immediately brought out his peak strength!
"Life Return · Power Enhancement!"
Bullet's already very muscular body instantly became even more swollen, and his entire body was filled with a savage sense of power.
This state is only used by Bullet when he is truly fighting for his life. Even when he fought against Kaido before, Bullet didn't use this move.
This move was created by himself using the technique of Life Return, which can greatly enhance his own strength. His Adamantine Titan Mythical Zoan form itself gave him a huge power boost, and now with the addition of Life Return's power enhancement, he has the courage to challenge Nox!
"Gravity Fist · Haki Entanglement · Titan's Divine Power!"
Bullet mobilized all his strength, vast Busoshoku Haki, gravity condensed into a black hole, the Haoshoku Haki entanglement he had recently comprehended, and the Eight Impact Fist technique he had learned, completely integrated onto his fist.
As Bullet punched out, the sky instantly lost its color. In an instant, the island's magnetic field rioted, and gravity changed from vertical to horizontal, pressing towards Nox with this punch.
"A very good punch, but the condensation of your power is too dispersed!"
Looking at the punch Bullet threw, Nox calmly began to find fault. Only when Bullet's fist approached him did he raise the Seven Star Sword in his hand and casually slash down!
Nox did not use Haoshoku Haki, only the power of his three types of Sword Intent and Busoshoku Haki.
This seemingly simple and ordinary sword strike perfectly integrated Nox's Sword Intent, Busoshoku Haki, his own swordsmanship, and power exertion techniques, unleashing one hundred and fifty percent of his power.
In this regard alone, the power of Bullet's punch only reached eighty percent, and he couldn't even unleash one hundred percent of his own power!
"Rip!!!!"
The originally dim sky was instantly illuminated by that ordinary yet brilliant sword strike. All the power on Bullet's fist was torn apart by this sword strike. Even his proud Haoshoku Haki entanglement and his own vast Busoshoku Haki were easily defeated by this sword strike.
Even the skin on Bullet's fist was cut open, exposing his bare finger bones. If Bullet hadn't covered his finger bones with Busoshoku Haki, his finger bones would have been severed by this sword strike!
"This sword!"
Bullet's pupils shrank. He felt that the power of this sword strike was not very strong, but it could easily defeat his fist, and there was a technique on it that he couldn't understand.
What shocked him even more was that Nox didn't even use Haoshoku Haki, and he easily defeated his strongest punch in his normal state!
However, while Bullet was still shocked by Nox's sword strike, Nox disappeared from Bullet's sight in the blink of an eye.
"Not good!"
Instinctively feeling the strong sense of danger behind him, Bullet subconsciously covered his entire body with Busoshoku Haki.
"Rip!!!!"
But just as Bullet was about to turn around and use his hand to block the danger, Nox's Seven Star Sword struck Bullet's back first!
Even though Bullet had advanced Busoshoku Haki and the defense of the Mythical Zoan Titan, in front of Nox's Seven Star Sword, that defense seemed like ordinary steel, easily cut open by the Seven Star Sword!
Bullet instinctively charged forward, avoiding being cut to the bone by the Seven Star Sword, but a huge wound that went deep into the bone and spanned his entire back was still left on his back.
If Nox hadn't suppressed the Seven Star Sword's blood-sucking power, Bullet would have even lost a lot of blood as a result.
"Whoosh!!!!"
The moment Bullet dodged, Nox slashed in the air, and instantly a surging bloody slash spanning five hundred meters rushed towards Bullet.
Although this slash was half the size of Nox's previous slashes of thousands of meters, Bullet felt that the current slash was more threatening than the previous slashes of thousands of meters!
Bullet's feeling was completely correct. This was Nox's feeling that the power of his slash, even if it continued to grow larger, could not increase in power. So, he did the opposite and compressed the slash to make it smaller.
But this kind of compression is not something that can be done just by wanting to. It requires precise Sword Intent control to achieve, so much so that even Nox spent a year to compress his strongest slash to the five-hundred-meter level.
"So fast!"
Bullet felt the burning pain in his back and couldn't care less, because he once again felt the strong sense of threat behind him.
He had just turned his head when he saw the five-hundred-meter-long giant slash coming towards him, leaving him no time to dodge or even swing his fist. He could only subconsciously block in front of him with his hands.
"Puchi!!!"
Even though Bullet tried his best to resist the extremely sharp slash, he was still knocked back hundreds of meters by the slash, and there were signs of his arm bones being cut open.
"Get out of my way!"
After retreating a full thousand meters, the power of the slash was weakened. Bullet roared and directly lifted the slash and threw it into the sky.
The overcast sky was instantly pierced by this slash that shot straight into the clouds, allowing sunlight to shine on the island.
"Bullet, although your power is strong, your speed is too slow!"
Bullet had just gotten rid of that slash, but Nox had already appeared behind Bullet at some point. That terrifying speed made it impossible for Bullet to react!
"Rip!!!"
Bullet's back was once again slashed by Nox. However, Bullet still wanted to continue using the previous charging method to reduce his injuries, but Nox was one step faster and predicted Bullet's thoughts. Before Bullet charged, his Seven Star Sword directly broke through Bullet's defense, but when it slashed to Bullet's spine, Nox paused for a moment and did not directly slash to Bullet's spine.
"Wow, is the Captain really that strong? Bullet has already mastered the technique of Haoshoku Haki entanglement, but he is still being beaten without any ability to fight back, and the Captain didn't even use Haoshoku Haki entanglement!"
"What do you guys know? The Captain's Busoshoku Haki has reached the top level, and his swordsmanship is the best in the World. Plus, the Captain's physique is already very strong. Even if the Captain doesn't use his full power, he can still beat the current Bullet. Do you really think the strongest man in the World can be caught up to by Bullet so easily?"
"That's right. I remember that the Captain had already mastered the technique of Haoshoku Haki entanglement when he was in the Rocks Pirates. In other words, Bullet's current strength is roughly equivalent to the Captain's strength before the Limitless Pirates were formed more than ten years ago. Now, after more than ten years, the Captain's strength has reached a height that we cannot see!"
"Speaking of which, now that Bullet is being beaten so badly by the Captain, can he still pass the challenge and become the Vice Captain?"
"I remember the Captain said that to become the Vice Captain of the Limitless Pirates, you need to survive under the Captain's sword for six hours. That counts as passing the test!"
"Bullet is rough and tough, he should be able to last for six hours!"
"..."
All the Executive Officers present were watching this thrilling and abusive battle. They thought that Bullet would be able to catch up with the Captain's pace after mastering the technique of Haoshoku Haki entanglement, but they didn't expect Bullet to still be so far behind.
Seeing Bullet constantly defending and persisting, many of them were not confident about Bullet becoming the Vice Captain.
"Again!!"
Although Bullet was always in the position of being beaten, he never lost his mind because of it, nor did he let his fighting spirit weaken. It was precisely because he was constantly suppressed that Bullet's fighting spirit became even more vigorous.
"Gravity Fist · Haki Entanglement · Eight Impact!"
Bullet followed Nox's suggestion and made his own strength more solid, or rather, integrated his own body art, gravity, and Haki more perfectly, allowing his own strength to be better unleashed!
"Not bad, not bad!"
Seeing that Bullet's Eight Impact Fist was already showing signs of compression and condensation, about to transform into Seven Impact, Nox nodded with satisfaction, and then mercilessly defeated Bullet's fist with another sword strike, sending him flying hundreds of meters away.
"Again, again!!!"
Bullet really liked the feeling of constantly improving in battle.
It took him two full years to master the Eight Impact of the Eight Impact Fist, and in the end, it proved the power of the Eight Impact.
But now, according to the Captain's instructions for his improvement, this Eight Impact needs to be compressed little by little back to One Impact, until all Eight Impact are in place as One Impact. Then, the Eight Impact will be completely integrated and transformed into One Impact. What kind of power will be unleashed in the end? Bullet felt excited just thinking about it!
Although Nox said he was going easy, he was only not killing him. In other aspects, he would not indulge him. Anyway, he was using Bullet to practice, no, he was helping Bullet train while also training his own slashes.
Having a sandbag is better than releasing slashes at the Sea, or rather, having an opponent makes it easier for Nox to compress and strengthen his slashes.
Bullet was bathed in his own blood, like a Blood Devil, constantly getting stronger under the flow and bathing of his own blood.
Even if he was wounded by Nox's Seven Star Sword again and again, each time he could endure the severe pain and swing his fist at Nox again, emphasizing one word: fight until crazy, fight to the death!
As the battle continued, Bullet had already forgotten the initial assessment for promotion to Vice Captain, and even forgotten his own pain. All he had was the belief to constantly swing his fist and shatter Nox's slashes.
Even if it was just once, even if he could shatter it just once, he would be satisfied!
Another slash of about five hundred meters was unleashed from Nox's hand. If Bullet observed carefully, he would find that this slash was a few meters smaller than the previous one, but it had become stronger.
"Ah, shatter for me!!!"
"Gravity Fist · Haki Entanglement · Eight Impact!"
Bullet roared. He who originally possessed Eight Impact, broke through at this moment, compressing and crushing the Eight Impact into Seven Impact. But Seven Impact was stronger than the previous Eight Impact!
"Bang!!!"
However, even though Bullet's Eight Impact Fist ability had broken through, facing Nox's slash, all the power attached to his fist was still shattered, and his entire body was sent flying by this slash and smashed to the ground.
This time, Bullet did not stand up again as before, but lay directly on the ground and fainted.
"Fainted from excessive blood loss!"
Nox saw Bullet's current state at a glance. Even though Nox did not use the Seven Star Sword's blood-sucking ability, Bullet had too many sword wounds on him now, and they were all very deep sword wounds, which caused even Bullet's Life Return to be unable to stop the loss of his own blood, resulting in him fainting from lack of blood now.
"Carry Bullet away for treatment. Also, Bullet lasted seven hours under my hand, which has met the requirements for promotion to Vice Captain. From today onwards, Bullet is the Vice Captain of the Limitless Pirates!"
Nox said to the group of Executive Officers and the medical staff who were already prepared in the distance.
"Great, Bullet has really become the Vice Captain!"
Hearing Nox's words, Hermes and the other Executive Officers were happy for Bullet. Similarly, they also clearly knew that Bullet had set an example for them, and in the future, they would also become Vice Captains just like Bullet today!
"Alright, Hermes, Chinjao, I haven't guided you for a long time. Now you can come over, and I will guide you!"
Nox looked at those Executive Officers and smiled.
He had just found the feeling of compressing his slashes, but he didn't expect Bullet to be unable to continue. Fortunately, there were still many Executive Officers of the Limitless Pirates present.