Facing Lao G's desperate, all-out strike, Zane's eyes didn't flicker, nor did he attempt to dodge. Instead, he calmly crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Way of the Soldier: Killing Fist—Immovable as the Mountain!
BOOM!!!
A deafening roar erupted.
Violent shockwaves radiated outward.
The surrounding ground shattered layer by layer, sending massive amounts of debris into the sky only to rain down in the distance.
Nearby, Manlong shielded his face with his hand to block the impact of the air currents, his eyes locked onto the battle through the gaps in his fingers.
The shockwaves began to subside.
As the violent impact dissipated, Zane was revealed standing rooted to the spot, completely unmoved.
Looking at Lao G, the situation was quite different.
That final strike of the Seal of G had clearly drained the last of his stamina.
His once-bulging, muscular fra shriveled back into its original withered and frail state.
Drenched in sweat, his ragged breaths sounded as if they were about to burst his chest.
Thud.
Lao G could no longer hold himself up and collapsed to his knees.
[LET'S DUEL!]
Seeing that his opponent had no strength left to fight, Zane lowered his arms and calmly activated his Nen ability to begin the final harvest.
A brief departure, followed by a swift return.
It looked as though nothing had happened, but in reality, Zane's ntal power had once again seen significant growth.
Not bad.
For his plunder of Lao G, Zane had once again chosen the ntal attribute.
In terms of raw combat power, Lao G might not have surpassed Rob Lucci.
However, as a veteran of a thousand battles, Lao G's aging and frail body harbored a ntal attribute that was far superior.
'As an executive, Doflamingo must have a Vivre Card for Lao G. Now that he's dead, the boss will likely find out soon. Coupled with the news Sarkies sent out earlier, he's definitely coming for .'
Feeling the substantial improvent in his output aura and Haki, Zane looked toward the New World, as if he could already see an infuriated Doflamingo.
"Co then."
"I'll be right here in Mock Town, waiting for you."
"Heavenly Yaksha of the Seven Warlords, I look forward to your arrival."
As a licensed Professional Hunter, Zane would never turn away prey that ca knocking on his door.
.......
The battle was over.
Zane returned to the ship with the heavily injured Manlong to have the ship's doctor treat him.
Next, he plundered Buffalo as well.
Spinning—Aggressive as Fire!
At the harbor.
Zane suddenly leaped into the air. His right arm began to spin like a drill, enveloped in roaring flas as he slamd a fist into a docked pirate ship.
BOOM!!!
The earth-shaking roar resonated through the entire town.
Amidst the violent, fla-licked shockwaves, the pirate ship—which was no smaller than the Riding the Wind and Waves—was first pierced by the force of the punch before exploding into a cloud of debris.
Using the recoil to flip back onto the harbor.
Zane looked at the destructive power of his strike as his spinning right arm slowly ca to a halt.
"The effect is pretty good!" Zane chuckled, clearly satisfied with his attack.
Buffalo's strength was far below Lao G's.
However, his Spin-Spin Fruit ability had piqued Zane's interest.
The Paracia-type Spin-Spin Fruit wasn't particularly outstanding among the myriad of Devil Fruit abilities.
Yet, Zane saw how perfectly it synergized with martial arts.
For instance, right now.
By simply adding a spiral force to his right arm, the power of Aggressive as Fire had imdiately received a massive boost.
"Captain, have so juice!"
As soon as Zane stopped, Baby 5, who had been waiting on him, stepped forward eagerly with a glass of juice.
"Thanks!" Zane looked at her and took it with a smile.
While sipping the juice, he sized up Baby 5.
Of the trio from the Donquixote Pirates, only the Baby 5 in front of him had survived.
Zane liked Baby 5's exceptionally obedient personality.
Of course, the prerequisite was that she only listened to him.
"Baby 5, from now on, can you let yourself be needed only by ?" Zane asked seriously as he handed back the empty glass.
"Huh?" Baby 5 blinked, her face twisting into a look of inner conflict. "I would love to be needed only by you, Captain, but... it's really hard for to say no when other people need ."
"That won't do. You must adapt to being needed only by , because no one needs you more than I do," Zane said earnestly, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Um... okay. Then I'll try my best to adjust."
Baby 5's body trembled slightly. Zane's final words had clearly struck a chord in her heart, filling her with imnse joy.
Despite her lingering internal struggle, she nodded repeatedly, her beautiful and delicate face filled with determination.
Yeah... right.
Zane didn't actually believe a couple of sentences would fix Baby 5's obsession with being needed.
But it was worth a try.
As long as he kept her by his side and continued to gaslight—no, let's call it nurturing—her, it wasn't impossible to win her over completely.
"Boss, I've brought them."
Just as Zane was pondering how to ta Baby 5, Manlong approached from a distance.
Hearing this, Zane raised an eyebrow. "Let's go et them."
Soon, followed by Manlong and Baby 5, Zane t three people on the deck of the Riding the Wind and Waves.
There was a man with a diamond-shaped face and two strange creatures that were either apes or humans.
All three were bound in iron chains.
"Unbind them!"
Zane settled into his custom sofa and waved for his n to remove the chains from the trio.
"My apologies. To see you as quickly as possible, I had to have my subordinates use a slightly rough thod to invite you here," Zane said with a smile as the three regained their freedom.
"It's a small matter. But I am curious—what do you want with us?"
The descendant of the Liar, Cricket, calmly patted down his clothes and pulled a cigarette from his pocket to light it.
He didn't have much of a choice but to stay calm.
The subordinates across from him had subdued the three of them with ease.
Making a scene in front of such people would just be asking for a death sentence.
"It's nothing major. I just want to learn about the cycle of the Knock Up Stream from you, and have you help modify my ship so we can use it to reach Skypiea."
Seeing how the other guy was trying to act all cool, Zane wasn't about to be outdone; he had to be even more composed.
He gestured, and Baby 5 obediently stepped forward to hand him a cigar and light it. Zane took a deep drag and stated his goal with complete nonchalance.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Cricket choked on his smoke, tears imdiately welling up in his eyes from the coughing fit.
But he ignored the discomfort, hastily wiping his eyes as he looked at Zane in disbelief. "You actually believe Skypiea exists?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Zane countered.
Indeed.
Why wouldn't he?
Rumors of Sky Island were never in short supply; why would anyone doubt it?
Cricket was speechless.
"Anyway, regardless of whether you believe it, I do. So, can you handle my request? Don't worry about the money." Zane leaned back with his cigar, exuding the aura of a wealthy tycoon.
After dealing with Lao G and Buffalo, Zane hadn't been particularly rciful to the pirates of Mock Town.
He eliminated so, recruited others, and redistributed their wealth.
This not only filled the ship with more talent but also significantly padded his coffers with treasure.
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comnt ans the world!
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