One Piece: So What If I Sin, Lie, and Lust? I'm Still a Good Marine Chapter 164: Volume 2 – - 66: Team Up

"Don't let your guard down."

Sakazuki shot a glance at Daren, his voice cold.

He stared expressionlessly at the blond youth not far away, whose entire body radiated a demonic aura. A faint gloom flickered in his eyes beneath the shadow of his cap.

Their earlier clash might have forced Bullet back, and on the surface, it looked like a draw—but the dull ache and numbness lingering in his arm kept reminding him of just how formidable this guy was.

A superhuman physique, explosive power, and overwhelming Armant Haki... This mission was turning out to be far more difficult than Sakazuki had anticipated.

Daren stepped forward and ca to stand beside him.

With a slight flick of his fingers, tons of steel buried in the town's ruins surged up like coiling dragons, quickly twisting into sharp tallic tendrils that hovered nacingly above his head.

"I've never been one to underestimate my opponents."

Sakazuki narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked,

"When did you awaken your Conqueror's Haki?"

Daren glanced at the side of Sakazuki's face. He didn't see anything unusual, so he chuckled.

"Back in the North Blue."

As he spoke, he clenched his spread fingers into a tight fist.

Shhh!!

Dozens of massive tal tendrils shot forward like rampaging dragons, tearing through the air at breakneck speed, lashing toward Douglas Bullet.

Rumble!!

The countless tal spikes, like giant pillars falling from the sky, crashed down in sequence, stirring violent shockwaves across the ground. Dust and smoke rose like towering columns, and the ground trembled beneath the force.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Bullet burst into crazed laughter. Without even moving visibly, he flickered across the battlefield at terrifying speed, his figure blurring into afterimages.

The tal spikes, sharp enough to pierce a warship, all scraped past his body—yet not a single one landed a hit.

"Is that all? Co on, both of you—hit together!!"

He grinned wildly, crimson light flaring in his eyes. Then, with a sudden stop, he raised his hand and grabbed one of the spikes flying toward him.

Crack crack crack...

With a squeeze of his fingers, his surging Armant Haki exploded outward. The hundred-ter-long tal spike shattered midair into countless fragnts.

The next second—

A crimson figure tore through the cloud of tal debris like a mad beast. The snow-white cloak trailing behind instantly lted into bubbling lava.

Blistering heat surged outward, distorting the surrounding air.

"Inugami Guren!" (Dog Biting Crimson Lotus!)

Sakazuki's voice rang out cold and sharp. Lava erupted from his arm like a missile launch, roaring forward.

A massive magma hound, blood-red and monstrous, opened its gaping jaws like a burning lotus and lunged straight at Bullet!

"Hahahahaha!! That's more like it!!"

Bullet laughed louder than ever. Facing Sakazuki's overwhelming strike, he stepped forward instead of retreating, driving his fist forward with full force.

Boom!!

His overwhelming Armant Haki burst outward, forming a visible arc of force around his fist that slamd straight into the magma hound's jaws, holding them at bay.

Lava splashed violently, scattering in all directions.

At the sa ti, Daren's figure appeared at Bullet's side like a ghost. He swung a horizontal kick at Bullet's head.

The black military boot glinted in the sun. Bullet squinted, then reached out with his thick arm—his palm wide and muscles bulging—and grabbed.

Bang!

A blast of compressed air exploded outward.

He seized Daren's foot in a firm grip. The shock from Daren's Haki made him grunt, and his body swayed slightly.

"Yeah... this is the feeling..."

Bullet's eyes were blood-red. Grinning madly, he raised his leg and delivered a brutal knee strike straight at Daren's chest.

He was aiming to be the world's strongest!

No matter how many opponents stood in his way, he would never take a single step back!

Daren's eyes narrowed. He lifted his own knee to et the blow head-on!

This guy's fighting style was brutal and unrelenting—pure battlefield warrior through and through!

Boom!!

A shockwave erupted, blasting wind in all directions.

Riding the montum, Bullet stepped back. His right foot stomped hard into the ground, shaking it with a loud tremor. At the sa ti, he grabbed a twisted tal spike beside him and, laughing wildly, hurled a punch.

As he punched, the remnants of the spike seed to co alive, rapidly coiling around his left arm to form a massive shock cannon.

Dark purple Armant Haki wrapped around it. White steam blasted from the cannon's base like rocket thrusters, dramatically boosting the punch's explosive power.

The force and pressure of the fully unleashed strike were so intense that the air around his swing seed to collapse, spiraling into a fierce whirlwind.

"Unión Armado!"

An enormous, indescribable cannon punch ca crashing down on Daren. The sheer force of the wind distorted his face as it tore past.

Daren's pupils shrank.

The power behind this punch...

He crossed both arms in front of his chest, Armant Haki flaring over them, and a faint arc of electricity flickered between his fingers.

Boom!!

It felt like being slamd head-on by a high-speed Buster Call battleship. Daren was blasted backward like a severed kite, coughing up blood as he flew.

"Kahahahaha!! As long as I'm on the battlefield, I'm invincible!!"

Bullet laughed even more maniacally. Relentless, he didn't give Daren a mont to breathe. The tal cannon fused to his arm shifted again, its end morphing into a black, gaping barrel.

As the wielder of the Gasha Gasha no Mi, he could rge any object he touched with his body, rearranging them to forge new weapons. As long as he was on a battlefield, he had an endless arsenal at his fingertips.

A dark red glow rapidly gathered in the cannon's barrel—its aim locked firmly on the airborne Daren.

"Let's finish this—"

Bullet's pupils narrowed. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the Marine who had just been sent flying... smirking.

A chilling grin curled at the corner of Daren's lips.

Realization dawned.

Bullet's eyes went wide.

Suddenly, the cannon fused to his arm crackled with dancing arcs of electricity.

Boom!!

The cannon backfired violently, erupting in flas and thick smoke that engulfed Bullet in an instant.

"What the hell...?"

His body staggered as burns appeared on his neck and arms, his face filled with shock.

But before he could recover—

A surge of molten lava exploded before his eyes like an erupting volcano.

The punch ca fast and furious, like a thunderclap, like the last savage bite of a rabid dog let loose from its cage.

Too fast!

This punch...

A crushing sense of danger surged in his chest.

Bullet reeled. He hardened his upper body with Armant Haki, and clenched his left arm, trying to counter with the power of the giant fused cannon.

But more arcs of electricity erupted across the cannon-arm.

A strange, invisible pulling force locked his movents down, dragging him and dulling his reflexes.

"What kind of ability is this?!"

Bullet's pupils trembled violently. He grit his teeth.

"Well done!!"

Sakazuki roared.

He and Daren had fought side by side for years in the North Blue. Their battle-hardened instincts and unspoken trust ant a single glance was all it took to read each other's intentions.

This—this was the opening Daren had created for him!

Now's the mont!

Sakazuki's eyes burned with killing intent.

His lava-coated fist surged with apocalyptic energy and erupted forward!

"Hellhound!!"

...

(70 Chapters Ahead)

p@treon com / PinkSnake