Chapter 167: Mythical Zoan · Golden-winged Bird Form
The huge waterwheels turned unhurriedly under the propulsion of the flowing water. There were quite a lot of types of these waterwheels, not just differences in appearance and structure, but also various functions. Some were used to irrigate fields, some to grind grain and pound rice, and there were special large waterwheels with wires, which were used for power generation.
The life of the people on Water Wheel Island could be said to be closely related to the waterwheels. Everything they now possessed was established on the foundation of the waterwheels.
So when the waterwheels were damaged, this major event immediately attracted more attention from the villagers. As the crowd gradually increased, everyone’s courage also magnified considerably. Looking at the waterwheels felled on the shore, finally some older villagers stepped forward, mustering their guts to berate the culprit who destroyed the waterwheels.
That is, Fran and Burgess who were currently fighting fiercely.
“Annoying trash.”
Burgess glanced at the shouting crowd with the corner of his eye, not taking these small fry to heart. A bunch of idiots protected by the Whitebeard Pirates who had forgotten the cruelty of the New World. When Whitebeard died, these idiots would know how foolish they were!
“Getting distracted in combat, your guts are even bigger than I thought!”
A voice cold enough to drop ice shards entered his ears.
Burgess’s heart suddenly jolted.
In his haste, he unsparingly expended Armament Haki. His reaction was already fast enough, but the problem was that Fran’s attack was even faster. A fist wrapped in golden-red illusory flames stabbed straight at Burgess’s chest like lightning.
Like being hit head-on by a battering ram.
Burgess nearly couldn’t catch his breath.
The stabbing pain from his chest made him clearly understand that his body was seriously injured, not just the chest. After several exchanges with Fran, he had injuries in multiple places on his body. Although it hadn’t reached the point of making him lose mobility, if it continued to drag on, it might turn into an incurable chronic ailment.
As a perennial champion on the fighting stage, he had seen too many old fighters who had to leave the arena due to the weakening of their bodies, so he was very clear about the importance of maintaining his body.
But—
“Spiral Elbow Strike.”
Burgess thrust his right elbow forward fiercely, meeting Fran’s beautiful fist like white jade.
Fist and elbow collided. Burgess retreated, and Fran’s body also swayed back a bit, but she still lifted her foot and continued to advance.
Looking at Fran who was relentlessly pursuing, Burgess had a splitting headache. Let alone recuperating, he didn’t even have time to rest for a moment. This felt completely different from the fight with Farrug. Fran was far stronger than Farrug. This battle put enormous pressure on him both mentally and physically.
Fran was very strong.
This point was clearest to Burgess after experiencing it firsthand.
Extremely powerful fighting techniques, arm strength not inferior to his, and still a Zoan Devil Fruit ability user, either Ancient Zoan or Mythical Zoan… The key was that it was a flying bird type, with mobility completely surpassing his.
If not for the skills and perseverance honed from over a thousand fights supporting him, he would probably have been beaten to the ground already.
At this point, escaping was impossible, or rather, precisely because the possibility of successfully escaping was so slim, he stayed to fight desperately, thinking of grabbing a hostage to save himself. But Fran ruined his plan and beat him into a sorry state with a pair of white and tender fists that seemed like they had never done any heavy labor.
Thus,
“I have never offended His Highness the Black Prince.”
“Your Excellency, why attack me?”
“…As long as you can guarantee my life, I am willing to surrender.”
Burgess’s backbone wasn’t very strong.
Or rather, as a free agent, he had no burden in surrendering. As long as the Black Prince was willing to accept him, surrendering to the Black Prince wasn’t an unacceptable choice… Although he knew the possibility was small. Whether Farrug or Fran, they had both gone straight to fighting him without any words resembling recruitment.
The attitude hidden behind this behavior was so clear.
His probe failed as expected. Fran had no intention of deceiving Burgess. In the maid’s view, there was no need to waste words recruiting an unstable bomb that could be knocked down with fists, especially since she knew exactly what use Burgess would serve…
“Not giving even a little chance?”
Pleading fruitless, looking at Fran closing in step by step, a fierce glint rose on Burgess’s face. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. Burgess, who seemed spineless, was no soft and weak rabbit; he was a man-eating hungry tiger.
The ferocity and cruelty in his bones were stimulated once again.
“Solid Elbow Strike.”
“Useless. Your attacks can’t break my defense.”
Fran took Burgess’s attack with one hand. Golden-red wings flapped wildly behind her. Her fair and delicate palm was also wrapped in a layer of golden-red flames. She grabbed Burgess’s right elbow. Looking at Burgess whose face was as gloomy as water, a faint smile appeared on her pretty face.
“Is it strange? I am a Mythical Zoan ability user. The golden-winged bird’s flames grant me diamond-like defense without affecting muscle flexibility. If you want to hurt me, your strength is far from enough!” Fran tightened her fingers, making the already tattered armor crackle and burst, with shattered armor pieces falling to the ground.
Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Golden-Winged Bird Form.
This was the true nature of the Devil Fruit Fran had eaten.
The special ability of this Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit was quite simple, as Fran said. The golden-red illusory flames had no damaging power. Their sole effect was to enhance her body’s defense. Moreover, unlike the stiff diamondization of the Glint-Glint Fruit, Fran could perform high-difficulty moves like a gymnast while having diamond-like defense.
An ability that seemed simple was actually quite perverted.
Especially after Fran layered on Armament Haki, that defense was despair-inducing. Elus and Fran had sparred several times. Without going all out, let alone knocking her down, even leaving a mark on her became exceedingly difficult.
Hearing Fran reveal her ability.
Burgess’s face grew even uglier.
At this time, so straightforwardly revealing her ability details… It could only be said that Fran was determined to fight him to the end.
“Alright, Your Highness is arriving soon. Let’s end this game quickly!”
Fran said so.
Burgess opened his mouth, wanting to express his anger.
But—
A shrill wind howling sound spread in all directions.
Villagers standing not far enough were startled. Burgess’s expression twisted to the extreme. In the span of a flick of the fingers, the distant gap was crossed in a flash. Golden-red wings flapped at phantom-like speed, and a fist like carved white jade smashed down fiercely at Burgess.
A muffled thunder-like sound echoed across the fields.
Feeling the numbness and stabbing pain in his arm, his body involuntarily leaned back. Burgess exerted all his effort to control his muscles all over his body to avoid sitting on the ground. But this was only the first strike. In the instant he regained balance, Fran flew back to the previous distance.
Then,
Swung fist, attacked again.
“Bang!”
The fist and elbow collision produced a shocking explosive sound.
Burgess, whose right arm was nearly numb, was furious, his face flushed red.
Unfortunately, anger couldn’t reverse the fact that he was at a disadvantage in speed. Relying on the powerful mobility from her wings, she repeatedly opened distance, accelerating to boost her fist’s attack power even further. Burgess failed to dodge even a single attack.
Speed converted to power.
The hardness of Fran’s fists, doubly enhanced by the golden-winged bird’s flames and Armament Haki, surpassed Burgess’s elbow.
Striking egg with stone.
Probably something like that.
Accompanied by “crackling” fracture sounds, the armor on Burgess’s arm completely shattered. His swollen right arm also bent in an unnatural, strange direction. This time Fran didn’t pull away again. She swung her right fist once more, smashing toward Burgess’s abdomen.
A muffled sound, the heavy impact force broke through the already waning Armament Haki, piercing through the solid abs and hard ribs, immediately churning Burgess’s insides.
She wanted to capture him alive.
Fran hadn’t forgotten that.
A living Fighting Champion was far more valuable than a dead Burgess.
Not entirely reassured that this Fighting Champion would surrender just like that, Fran continued punching as Burgess bent over like a boiled red shrimp. This time the fist landed on Burgess’s left shoulder. While his right arm lost mobility, his left arm also became temporarily disabled.
Without hands.
Burgess still had legs, but flipping the situation with just two legs was impossible.
In intense pain, Burgess lying on the ground painfully raised his head, glaring wide-eyed at Fran standing before him. However, Fran remained expressionless. She indifferently looked down at the unwilling Burgess. “No matter how you struggle, you can’t escape His Highness’s grasp. Your current state is the price of resistance.”
“Spa… Spare me, huff huff… I don’t want to die.”
As soon as Burgess opened his mouth, bloody foam flowed from the corner of his mouth.
“Your life or death is for His Highness to decide.”
Fran stepped back two steps to the side, turning her head to look at the sky behind her. “Wait! His Highness has arrived.”
At the horizon,
A black shadow emerged.
After the battle ended, Elus arrived fashionably late.
“Gizas Burgess… Your luck isn’t very good!” Elus stood in front of Burgess, looking down at this big guy lying on the ground. Both arms bent unnaturally, and intermittent bloody foam from the corner of his mouth proved his organs had taken serious damage.
Of course, these injuries looked serious but weren’t fatal.
For a robust guy like Burgess, such external injuries could slowly heal just by setting the bones, even without medicine.
“El… Cough cough! Your Highness Elus, I, cough cough… I am willing to surrender. Please, huff huff, please don’t kill me.”
Burgess struggled to beg for mercy.
He was not willing to end his life just like this. He had finally honed this set of skills on the fighting stage, hadn’t yet made a resounding reputation, hadn’t properly enjoyed the taste of power and wealth… He really wasn’t willing.
“Kill you?”
A kindly smile appeared on Elus’s face. He squatted down, poked Burgess’s abs with his finger, and said warmly: “Rest assured, I won’t kill you. At least not for this period of time. Though the world is full of strong people, material like you is quite hard to find.”
Burgess endured the pain crashing against his mind like tides.
He strained to open his eyes wide, watching Elus’s every move. His intuition told him Elus wasn’t deceiving him, or rather, fallen to this state, he had no value in being deceived. But… for some reason, he felt no sense of relief, always sensing an invisible crisis looming over his head.
At this time, Elus stood up.
“Fran, call people over to move the goods… And you, Farrug, you waste, I brought you along to move things, but you ended up lying down needing others to carry you.” He turned around, first said something to Fran, then flew to Farrug’s side and scolded this subordinate beaten unable to stand by Burgess.
“Your Highness, it’s my fault.”
Farrug obediently lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
He had several ribs broken by Burgess, and the tibia of his left leg was unfortunately cracked. Let alone moving things, even walking had become difficult for him.
“After taking a beating, how does it feel?”
After scolding, Elus asked Farrug for his thoughts.
“Uh… I was too arrogant. Your Highness, your judgment was correct. I am not that guy’s opponent.” Farrug scratched his face. “But I don’t regret this choice. It hurt getting beaten, but figuring out my own weight wasn’t for nothing.”
“…As long as you gained something, don’t make it so embarrassing next time. If you lose this badly again, I’ll start doubting my eyesight.”
“That’s hard to say! If I run into a monster like Hawk Eyes, there’s no way!”
“Get lost! If you ran into Hawk Eyes, you’d be done for long ago.”
Elus laughed and cursed.
Although Farrug was a mid-way recruit, he was good in character, loyalty, ability, and potential. After vetting, Elus added Farrug to the training list, not expecting him to match a General in the future—just blocking one or two Vice Admirals would suffice.
After all, even if the Hogyoku could ‘force growth’, not everyone could reach the level of a Navy Vice Admiral.
