Chapter 45: Accident
The aftershocks of the explosion echoed across the arena, and for a moment, neither moved, seemingly returning to a standoff.
A few minutes later, King’s disordered breathing gradually steadied, and his hunched figure straightened again.
“Oh? Rested up?”
Seeing the opponent stand firm again, Obei spoke in praise: “Not bad physical fitness. My attack just now wasn’t playful strength, yet you recovered to peak condition so quickly.”
“You’ve really made me look with new eyes, Masked Man.”
“Indeed, that attack was quite impressive. It’s been a long time since I was this disheveled. In a real fight to the death, you’d have won by now.”
King also acknowledged the damage from Obei’s series of attacks just now. If she had pressed the advantage or unleashed another Haki Bomb, he truly wouldn’t have been able to resist.
“Enough with the boring praise. Time to show some true ability, right?”
Obei still had that arms-crossed, effortlessly composed look.
She knew King was one of those so-called Ability Users, yet he hadn’t transformed or used any ability up to now.
“Indeed, it’s hard to win you in my current state.” King sheathed his blade and hung it back on his waist.
“Then, watch closely—the form of a Zoan Devil Fruit User!”
The air suddenly grew stagnant, and Obei’s pupils contracted sharply with the scene before her.
The crisp sounds of bones misaligning rang out in succession. King’s facial bones emitted fine cracking noises, his cheekbones rising to form streamlined bone armor, his lips and teeth extending into a half-meter-long curved hooked beak.
Immediately after, she saw his shoulder blades bizarrely bulge, dark wing membranes rapidly spreading, instantly transforming into wing blades gleaming with metallic sheen.
When the seven-meter wingspan giant wings fully unfurled, a small whirlwind stirred up in the arena.
Zoan—Ancient Zoan—Pterodactyl form!
Even having seen Boss Kaido’s transformation process multiple times, Obei still felt astonishment at these Zoan Ability Users’ transformations.
A humanoid creature right before her eyes had vividly turned beastly, with muscles and bones completely reshaped. For Obei, whose thinking leaned scientific, it always felt like common sense being overturned.
“Then, let’s start the second round!”
“Boom~”
A sonic boom suddenly erupted, and King soared into the sky once more.
Unlike before, his speed this time leaped forward dramatically, surpassing ordinary dynamic vision, like a black bomber cruising the skies.
King had clearly found a way to deal with the stone block bombs: as long as his speed was fast enough, she couldn’t hit him.
Obei was momentarily at a loss against this “speed is invincible” solution.
“Speed amplification 216%, and mobility even more—”
“Blade Dance Double Emperors!”
The tactical analysis was forcibly interrupted by cold light filling the sky.
King clearly had no intention of giving Obei time to think, unleashing countless slashes from his pitch-black wings, forcing Obei below to raise her arms to block.
“Dan Gong Huang!”
Without the slightest pause, King’s next strike came head-on.
The Pterodactyl’s massive body defied physics as it plunged sharply, its right wing turning into an uncatchable slashing arc of light.
The instant the blade edge touched her arm, the rock layer beneath Obei’s feet collapsed with a boom.
“Clang!”
Amid the piercing clash of metal, the blue figure shot backward like a cannonball, plowing a dozens-of-meters-long trench in the earth before barely halting her momentum.
Glancing at her arm, the spot just struck now bore a shallow red mark, giving Obei a clear sense of the power behind King’s attack.
It was a slash capable of splitting mountains and cracking stones.
“Both attack and speed have risen more than one level. This probably isn’t just from the transformation boost, right? Where’s your flames?”
Shifting her gaze from her arm, Obei noticed that the flames behind King had vanished after his transformation.
“This is our clan’s trait: by channeling flames inward, we sacrifice defense for speed and burst power.”
King had no intention of hiding it and directly told her about this racial talent.
“I see, cast off, huh… Definitely a tricky form.”
Though she knew his defense was lowered now, without using Authority, Obei couldn’t think of a good counter for the moment. Initiative still lay with him.
As for King, though he’d seized attack initiative, he was equally stymied by Obei right now.
Ordinary attacks were mere tickles to Obei; even his Dan Gong Huang just now had little effect.
But attempting a big charged power attack would surely expose a flaw, letting her blast down just like before.
In flame-constricted state, King absolutely couldn’t take another Haki Bomb.
『In any case, can’t let her have time to think of a counter.』
“Blade Dance Double Emperors!”
Countless slashes assaulted again, forcing Obei to keep dodging.
Though Armament Haki could let her stand firm and take them effortlessly, Obei chose to evade on the move.
After all, she wasn’t Aoxi; she didn’t have the habit of playing ironhead baby.
『Counting the time, the next heavy strike is coming soon…』 Obei silently calculated the next charge based on King’s previous attack timing.
『5, 4, 3… Here it comes!』
Sure enough, just as the words fell in Obei’s mind, the overhead Blade Dance Double Emperors slashes suddenly paused.
Obei immediately snapped her head up to observe King in the sky.
King was currently backlit against the sun, seemingly planning to blind Obei with its glare for a surprise, but Obei’s physical functions clearly exceeded his imagination.
Her line of sight was completely unaffected by the sun; every move of King was crystal clear in Obei’s eyes below.
“Huff~”
Right hand clenched tight, astonishing power secretly building as Obei locked eyes on King’s every motion above, planning a surprise the moment he closed in.
『At least snap that pair of wings!』
Once air superiority was lost, he would no longer be Obei’s match.
While ground-bound Obei focused intently, King’s attack had begun—but this time, it wasn’t the expected repeat of last time’s “Dan Gong Huang”; instead…
『Huh? What the hell?』
Beyond Obei’s expectations, King in the sky grabbed his own head crown and yanked backward hard, stretching that distorted Pterodactyl face into a comical conical shape.
“Pfft!”
King’s twisted expression stunned Obei, who had been staring at him, then uncontrollable laughter bubbled straight from her heart to her face, her mouth corners involuntarily curving up!
“Damn it! Pfft~ Haha~ To think, mental attack too? So despicable! Hahahaha~”
“No, can’t laugh! Stop laughing already! Hahahahahaha~”
Obei could no longer maintain her charging stance, collapsing into laughter-induced weakness.
The life-or-death rhythm hit a fatal break here.
The instant Obei’s momentum collapsed, King’s attack charged right before her!
“Diao Zi Zun Huang!”
King’s head stretched like a slingshot, supersonic headbutt breaking the sound barrier, solidly smashing into her wide-open midsection.
“Ugh!”
Caught almost completely defenseless, Obei took the hit dead-on, brutally slammed into the ground, the kicked-up smoke and dust soon shrouding the tiny figure deep in the pit.
……
“Is, is it over?”
“Probably… That little one ate a full Boss King’s Diao Zi Zun Huang; bet she can’t stand anymore.”
“Boss King’s Diao Zi Zun Huang is awesome as expected. Is this Ancient Zoan power?”
“What a huge pit. That little one isn’t dead, is she?”
“Don’t jinx it. Didn’t you see Boss Kaido and that Ra looking calm? The little one is definitely fine.”
“Good then. Though that blue-haired little one cost me a ton in bets, I still kinda like her.”
……
King, having landed a solid hit, reverted to human form on the ground, flames reigniting behind him.
This time he’d truly struck her; the soft sensation from his beak tip assured him she’d had no time for defense.
“Didn’t expect the blue-haired brat to get disrupted by King. The sun? Nah, what’s funny about the sun?”
Burufaruto couldn’t quite grasp why Obei had suddenly burst out laughing.
“Boss Kaido?”
“Probably King’s face. That little one seemed to suddenly find something hilarious about King’s face?”
Kaido had seen the reason for Obei’s laughter, but even he couldn’t fully comprehend, so he wasn’t certain.
Truth be told, to these Beasts Pirates roughnecks, King’s Diao Zi Zun Huang was flawless: fast speed, huge power—a seriously strong move.
King had explained before that it was actually the ancient Pterodactyl’s special predation method, and everyone found it reasonable.
After all, no one had truly seen how those long-extinct Pterodactyls hunted.
As for facial distortion? Totally irrelevant! No one in the Beasts Pirates would waste attention on such trivia.
“Smack!”
Just as King pondered approaching to check, a small hand gripped the pit’s edge, followed by a figure flipping out and landing on the ground.
“Cough~ Cough cough!”
Clearing the dirt from her mouth, Obei finally turned her gaze back to King.
……
“Pfft~”
Alright, she still couldn’t hold it in. Obei had to look away again.
“What’s wrong with you? Something funny?” King, already in stance, asked puzzled by Obei’s state.
“N-Nothing… Pfft~”
“D-Don’t, don’t talk. Consider it a plea.” Obei suddenly turned her back, shoulders shaking violently.
『Done for. Forget looking—now even hearing his voice brings back that scene! Damn, why did this usually dead-serious guy develop such a ridiculous move!』
“This… this fight’s yours. T-Today ends here… Pfft~ Haha~”
Looking somewhat disheveled, Obei hurriedly covered her mouth and ran off the field. Right now, she couldn’t even fight, let alone clench a fist properly.
The endless laughter surging from her heart left her body limp, utterly powerless.
……
The sudden surrender declaration surprised everyone. The tiny blue figure staggered away from the clearing’s center, leaving a baffled King and confused onlooker Pirates.
“Why’d the blue-haired brat suddenly forfeit!”
“Weird, she doesn’t look injured at all?”
“She seemed to be holding something back the whole time. Probably internal injuries?”
“Yeah! She covered her mouth running off—must be fighting back vomit blood!”
“Hiding weakness from others, huh? Hmph! What a gutsy little one!”
“A real champ. I acknowledge her!”
“Boss King! Boss King! Boss King…”×n
More Pirates shouted King’s name, celebrating his win—and theirs as organization veterans.
……
“Deep breaths, good~~ Yeah, right~ Relax, don’t think about it.”
At the training ground edge, Ra gently patted Obei’s back, helping her adjust.
When Obei had run up earlier, she was already laughing so hard she was gasping, unable to speak. Ra first used Divine Power to smooth her breathing, then slowly pacified her.
“You’re too lame, Obei. Forfeiting because his face made you laugh uncontrollably.”
Aoxi, now awake, stood nearby holding a cup of water.
“You didn’t see the Masked Man’s face then. Pfft~ Can’t anymore, thinking of it again, hahaha~”
“To break your poker face, I’m getting curious just what level of facial acting that was.”
Aoxi handed the water to Obei as she spoke. “Wanna try it sometime?”
“Don’t! Or you’ll end up like me, unable to look that guy in the face ever again.”
Obei sincerely didn’t want Aoxi falling into the facial acting abyss too. If she ended up laughing herself breathless, Big Sister would have to tend to her…
A few minutes later—
“I’m fine now, Big Sister.”
After deep breaths, Obei finally recovered, then lowered her head in slight shame.
“Sorry, couldn’t win this time.”
Various reasons aside, losing two in a row made Obei feel she’d let down Ra’s patient training these days.
“No matter. Wins and losses aren’t important. As long as you gained insights and learned from the fight, that’s fine.
Besides, you didn’t use Authority either, right? I believe your true strength surpasses theirs.”
Ra didn’t care about the outcomes; seeing their progress on the field satisfied her plenty.
“Of course! At full power, I could flatten those two with one hand.” Aoxi put hands on hips, proudly tilting her little nose skyward.
“Discipline and restraint.”
Ra lightly patted her almost-up-to-the-sky little head, then abruptly raised the issue they’d both tacitly avoided.
“By the way, homework deadline’s in two days. How’s prep going?”
“…”
『Wash motor!』
The little ones’ expressions froze! Then they both forced awkward chuckles.
“Uh… A-Almost, right~ Ha~ Haha~”×2
Lies. These two actually had zero clues even now.
Ra didn’t call them out, just smiled: “Then, bon voyage on your sea trip in advance~”
“Th-Thanks, Big( Ra) Sister… Ha, haha…”×2
