Bluffing? This Is Called the Nika Fruit! Have You Ever Seen It?!

A tangible aura of pressure instantly swept across the battlefield, and the dense white mist was scattered in an instant.

The gale stirred up by Conqueror’s Haki tousled Bullet’s hair.

He watched the laughing youth opposite him with a grave expression.

The Demon saw the shadow of one of his subordinates in the other party, but the gap in their strength was simply heaven and earth.

"Will?"

"Don’t joke around!"

Bullet’s face twitched. If that subordinate of his possessed such strength, then Bullet might not even have his current position.

Come on, come on, you can have the seat of Seven Seas overlord.

He took a deep breath, then waved his hand to signal his men to fire. Yet several seconds passed without the slightest movement.

The Demon turned around in irritation, only to see that his subordinates’ faces were filled with terror.

Bullet had seen this kind of fear on his men many times before, except back then, the one they had faced was—

Himself.

There was no doubt that the youth opposite him, like him, was a king with the power to command others.

And most likely one in the same line of work.

That made what came next simple: king against king.

At that thought, Bullet let out a soft breath.

Yet the next moment, his eyes widened.

Whoosh—!!

At some unknown moment, Luffy had already arrived before the Demon amid a piercing howl of wind. His strangely elongated right arm, coated in an unknown black substance, slammed hard into Bullet’s face.

Red Lightning Four Flashes. The instant they made contact, Bullet was launched into the distant sea like a cannonball.

"HAHAHA!"

Luffy laughed without the slightest malice, then stretched out both arms and grabbed the masts of two massive warships beside him.

"AHH!!"

The One Piece pirates aboard the ships screamed. It was not because Luffy had attacked them, but because the two massive ships had turned into rubber under the influence of the Nika Fruit.

The limp hulls could no longer support anyone, and the pirates on deck fell into the sea like dumplings.

But Luffy had no time to care about them.

The youth fiercely swung the ships in his hands toward where Bullet had fallen.

Boom—!

Water sprayed into the sky as the remaining pirates stared blankly at the scene before them.

Honestly, they wanted to help their leader right now, but some instinctive voice kept telling them not to interfere in a battle between kings.

Just then, a figure suddenly shot out from the depths of the sea.

Bullet wiped the water from his hair in a sorry state and said with an ugly expression, "Kid, I underestimated you."

The moment he finished speaking, the Demon vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Luffy.

"This is for you!"

With a roar, a massive hammer formed in Bullet’s hand in an instant, then smashed into Luffy’s chest, where a cross-shaped scar lay.

Under that terrifying blow, the youth’s eyeballs flew right out.

Literally flew right out.

If Bullet, like Lu Su, had ever encountered otaku culture, he would have recognized that Luffy’s art style had shifted into that of a gag manga.

And in anime, there was one ironclad rule: never compare combat power with a gag manga character.

But clearly, the Demon did not know that.

Watching the somewhat horrifying scene before him, his hand paused mid-motion.

"What is this?"

Throughout Bullet’s long life, he had never seen such a bizarre battle.

No, compared to a battle, the youth before him seemed more like he was—

Playing around.

Realizing this, Bullet’s face instantly flushed red. He roared in humiliation and rage, "What kind of joke is this?!"

"You brat, get serious!"

As soon as he spoke, the Storm Giant Hammer in the Demon’s hand dispersed. Invisible wind then gathered from every direction, compressing relentlessly in his palm.

Until it was compressed to its limit.

Wind Blast immediately let out a monster-like howl. The already turbulent sea was torn open with a long gash in the blink of an eye.

Boom—!

Bullet’s furious attack struck its target exactly as he wished, and the youth’s body flew uncontrollably toward Shanghai City.

Inside the city.

The instant Luffy was sent flying, Che Yu noticed a figure hurtling toward the city at high speed.

The old woman immediately raised her guard to the utmost. After all, countless Shanghai City citizens stood behind her.

A terrifying sonic boom gradually approached, causing everyone to look up at the sky.

Yet before they saw who it was, they saw two absurdly long arms pierce through the clouds and brace against the ground.

Just as Che Yu was about to summon her cards, she suddenly staggered and failed to keep her footing.

Even a Diamond Grade Card Master was affected like this, so ordinary citizens fared even worse. Men, women, old people, and children alike fell to the ground in droves.

But what puzzled everyone was—

The ground had become soft.

As a result, there were no casualties.

"Hehehe!"

At that moment, the owner of those arms entered everyone’s sight.

The white-haired youth with a straw hat hanging from his back fell to the ground like a meteor, causing the earth to rise in a wave.

"A card?"

Sensing the newcomer’s aura, Che Yu still summoned her cards, though she did not attack first.

"Old Yan’s? Or Xiao Luo’s?"

The old woman silently wondered.

Yet Luffy did not speak to explain who he was. Instead, he stretched out both arms and grabbed the skyscrapers lining either side of the street.

Then, before everyone’s stunned eyes, the two buildings bent backward in an arc that should have been impossible, as though they were not made of steel at all.

"??"

"No, is this even reasonable?"

"Lord Niu’s coffin lid is about to blow off, isn’t it?!"

At that moment, a pair of arms and two skyscrapers formed an utterly absurd slingshot, launching Luffy back toward the battlefield.

Che Yu bent down and touched the ground, which had hardened again after the youth departed. Then she straightened up and looked at the two skyscrapers still swaying slightly, unable to suppress her curiosity.

"What a strange ability…"

With her experience, the old woman could vaguely tell that the scene had occurred because the surrounding environment had been assimilated by the youth. But throughout her long career of card-making, she had never seen an ability that could assimilate things so thoroughly.

Elsewhere.

After witnessing the entire battle from the shore, Yan Wenlai could not help frowning slightly.

He could already tell that this new card made by the youth beside him had an excellent foundation. With enough Trait Bonds enhancing it, it was not impossible for it to reach the level of that blond youth’s card.

But unfortunately, it was only a lone card.

What Yan Wenlai did not know was that Luffy also possessed the Straw Hat Pirates Bond. Its trigger effect simply required a deathrattle.

"Xiao Luo, leave the next battle to me. You focus—"

Before he could finish, he looked behind him in surprise.

At that moment, Luffy flew over the heads of the Association Card Masters at tremendous speed and once again sought out the Diamond Grade Demon on the sea.

"Rubber Headbutt!"

Under Yan Wenlai’s gaze, the white head slammed straight into Bullet’s stomach.

Caught off guard, the Demon’s face twisted at once. "Cough, cough… Blegh!"

He felt as though he was about to throw up the breakfast he had eaten that morning.

"You… you brat!"

Bullet roared, and a terrifying storm gathered around him in the blink of an eye.

A Tatsumaki that connected heaven and earth raised enormous waves across the sea. The few remaining One Piece pirates cried for their mothers and fathers, begging their boss to spare them.

But the Demon could not care about that now. All he wanted was to kill the white-haired youth opposite him.

Yet instead of being alarmed by the sight, Luffy was delighted.

Under Bullet’s astonished gaze, the youth voluntarily darted into the storm.

"W-What is going on?" he muttered in confusion. "Did he kill himself?"

But Luffy soon showed Bullet the reason.

The originally enormous Tatsumaki was kneaded together by the youth like modeling clay in an instant. However, his flushed red palms showed that reaching this point had not been easy.

Faced with such a scene, the Demon merely opened his mouth blankly. For a moment, he did not know what to say. "…?"

"Hehehe, here you go, mister!"

As though holding a scalding hot potato, Luffy tossed the Wind Ball in his hands toward Bullet.

Screech—!

The wildly dancing hurricane shredded everything around it, carving a massive hollow into the sea in only a breath.

On the shore, Yan Wenlai watched Luffy’s exaggerated ability and immediately began questioning his life.

"This…"

He secretly glanced at the youth beside him and found his expression incomparably calm, as though he had expected everything happening before them.

"Right, this white-haired youth was originally Xiao Luo’s card. It’s normal for him to know."

Normal my ass!

Though Yan Wenlai consoled himself like this internally, he knew that creating the Diamond Grade card out on the sea was fraught with difficulties.

At the very least, the middle-aged man believed he definitely could not do it, not even with the care of the World Consciousness.

"Could Xiao Luo really be the World Consciousness’s illegitimate son?"

Yan Wenlai could not help muttering to himself inwardly.

Bai Yueming was also keeping part of his attention on the situation in the field.

If anyone present was under the greatest pressure, it was undoubtedly him.

At present, the old man’s main Master Grade cards were all fighting the Flesh King, while his Diamond Grade cards cooperated with the Shinigami-type Cards led by Kurosaki Ichigo to hold back the nation-destroying Demon Fox.

"Good thing Xiao Luo is here…"

Bai Yueming glanced at his young disciple and could not help sighing in relief.

If Lu Su had not been present, he would have struggled greatly against two Master Grade Demons alone.

As for Luffy—

It was not as if he had never seen him before. This card had already appeared during the Jiang Province Unified Examination, though it had only been a Bronze Grade card then.

Compared to Yan Wenlai, who was only Diamond Grade, Bai Yueming, as a Master Card Master, naturally knew much more.

The old man had long known that his young disciple was hiding secrets, and very significant ones at that.

Otherwise, he could not have escaped the control of that old dog Jin Ping and created so many outrageous cards.

This was not something that mere favoritism from the World Consciousness could explain.

After all, as far as Bai Yueming knew, Ye Zhou had been inferior to Lu Su when he was Diamond Grade.

At that thought, the old man murmured thoughtfully in his heart, "The World Consciousness…?"

Back on the battlefield.

After taking one of his own attacks head-on, Bullet was covered in dense wounds, but he was still far from being at the end of his rope.

Yet the Demon no longer had any desire to fight.

Perhaps he had still believed he could contend with Luffy earlier, but now, Bullet only wanted to retreat into the secret realm as quickly as possible. Surely that monster could not follow him into the secret realm, right?

But Luffy clearly would not let him off so easily.

"Woohoo! Mister, don’t run! Keep playing with me."

With an exaggerated grin on his face, the youth caught up to the Demon and casually draped an arm over his shoulder as though they were old friends.

Bullet shuddered as if he had encountered a ghost and hurriedly sped up.

Seeing that, disappointment appeared on Luffy’s face.

But since the other party had rejected his invitation, it was time to end the battle. After all, his Companions were still waiting for support.

With that in mind, the youth glanced at the cards fighting the giant Demon Fox in the distance.

"You brought this on yourself, mister."

Hearing those words, Bullet was horrified and immediately raised his guard to the utmost.

Even so, he did not stop moving.

"Rubber…"

"White Gun Barrage!"

As Luffy’s voice rang out, a sky-covering barrage of black-and-white fist shadows surged at Bullet from behind.

Feeling the fist winds scrape painfully against his body, the Demon instantly turned around. Howling gales gathered around him, forming a protective layer.

Perhaps Bullet believed the wind could block Luffy’s attack, but the youth had already mastered a technique that could harm an opponent without even making contact.

That was Ryou and Conqueror’s Haki Infusion.

Penetration plus true damage. Even someone as powerful as Kaido could only be defeated when facing Gear Fifth Luffy’s attacks.

Black and Red Lightning instantly tore through the Demon’s defenses, followed by Gear Fifth’s Rubber Gatling pounding solidly into his body.

Bullet clearly had not expected the boy to have such a move.

He had originally thought that terrifying pressure was merely an aura. He had never imagined it could actually be imbued into attacks.

Caught off guard, he was like a tattered sack, tossed about by Luffy’s fists.

Boom! Boom! Boom—!

A continuous barrage of impacts rang out over the sea, blood spraying through the air. Only after Straw Hat Boy delivered his final, overwhelmingly powerful blow did the demon lose all signs of life and fall toward the sea.

"Whoa, Uncle, you can’t leave." Startled by the sight, Luffy hurriedly stretched out his arm and scooped up Bullet’s corpse. "Lu Su still has a use for you."

In the distance, Lu Su finally relaxed after watching Luffy’s battle.

He had never expected Bullet, whose title was Overlord, to be such a coward. He had lost without putting up any meaningful resistance.

In the young man’s view, if this Diamond Grade demon had truly been determined to fight Luffy to the end, the battle definitely would not have ended so quickly.

But this was undoubtedly a good thing for Lu Su. After all, Luffy could basically be said to have lost very little of his strength.

With that thought, he turned his gaze toward the nine tails that reached from earth to sky in the far distance.

"Now, only it remains."