Delta Island, Central Lake.
Mid-air, after knocking Bullet away, Sephiroth flapped his black wings behind him, turned his head to look in a certain direction of the island, and murmured softly:
"Finally, a fish has taken the bait."
Suddenly! A loud "Rumble-!" sound came from the distant mountain, causing the entire island to shake non-stop.
"Sephiroth, I want you dead!!!"
As Bullet's enraged roar echoed from afar, a massive monster, completely covered in Armament Haki and pitch black, rapidly rose from the ground, reaching a height of over a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, and its size continued to expand, even integrating the submarine battleship Kata Boruto parked on the Central Lake.
"Speaking of which, he seems really angry." Ace turned to look at Sephiroth beside him with a speechless expression.
"Tsk! He's desperate, he's desperate! Isn't it just being slapped in the face repeatedly? Why go to such lengths, why go to such lengths!!" Sephiroth shook his head and sneered.
Hearing this, Marco couldn't help but mutter softly: "It's easy for you to say! The problem is you're the one slapping others in the face, not the one being slapped..."
Seeing that Bullet was still unwilling to give up and intended to use his Merge-Merge Fruit to fuse and transform, Sephiroth did not continue to stop him this time, but allowed him to do as he pleased.
Soon, Bullet, who had activated the awakened state of the Merge-Merge Fruit, constructed a black giant beast a thousand meters tall, its massive, mountain-like body bringing an extremely heavy sense of oppression.
Bullet, located within the head of the giant black beast, looked at the seemingly tiny Sephiroth below him, and instantly felt that the sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, and he was capable again.
"Hahaha! My Merge-Merge Fruit ability, the more things I fuse, the stronger my power becomes. Now, I possess power so strong that no one can rival me! No matter who it is, I can defeat them!"
In the awakened state of the Merge-Merge Fruit, Bullet could not only fuse all non-living matter he touched, but also fuse Armament Haki and Haoshoku... Yes, he could even fuse Conqueror's Haki!
Therefore, the black beast created by Bullet's ability, due to the mixture of Armament Haki and Haoshoku, was incredibly difficult to break through with even general Armament Haki internal destruction; its defense could be said to be outrageously high.
Furthermore, even if the black beast's body was damaged, Bullet could quickly restore it to its original state using his Devil Fruit ability. As long as his stamina didn't run out, the black beast was essentially immortal!
"Tsk! Do you think being big makes you impressive?" Sephiroth curled his lip, his expression full of disdain. He gripped his butcher knife tightly and held it vertically in front of him.
Immediately after, streaks of dark red lightning quickly wrapped around the pitch-black blade of the butcher knife, constantly brewing a fierce blade light.
"Hmph! You'll know if you try!" Bullet snorted coldly, controlled the black beast to swing its right fist, which was the size of a small mountain, at an extremely fast speed, bringing with it a whistling sound as it rushed towards Sephiroth.
The power of this punch was enough to shatter an island... Bullet was absolutely confident that he could now crush Sephiroth like an ant.
However...
"All things in the world, nothing cannot be cut... Secret Technique: Dimensional Severance!"
Sephiroth fiercely swung the butcher knife in his hand, unleashing a pitch-black blade energy slash hundreds of meters long, directly meeting the black beast's giant fist.
Swish-!
In Bullet's horrified eyes, the right fist he controlled the black beast to swing began to collapse and annihilate instantly upon touching the pitch-black blade energy. In the blink of an eye, wherever the pitch-black blade energy passed, the black beast's arm was completely "devoured", leaving no trace behind.
What terrified Bullet even more was that after severing the black beast's right arm, the pitch-black blade energy actually turned and rushed towards the black beast's head and torso. If he still chose to maintain the black beast's body, he himself would likely be directly devoured just like the black beast's right arm!
"Damn it!" Bullet first cursed in a low voice, then instantly deactivated the awakened state of the Merge-Merge Fruit. Immediately after, he leaped with all his might, narrowly avoiding the pitch-black blade energy that grazed past him, and landed on the ground.
"Oh ho! Why aren't you continuing your transformation? Let me see just how strong you are in that state!" Sephiroth said with a playful expression.
Hearing this, Bullet's face instantly turned ashen, his fists constantly making a "crack!" sound as he clenched them. Ever since meeting Sephiroth, he had been constantly frustrated and repeatedly slapped in the face, making him feel absolutely furious!
At the same time, he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart... It was a feeling he often experienced many years ago when he challenged Roger. It made him feel like he could never catch up to that man... This feeling was simply terrible!
Just as Bullet was contemplating in his heart how to defeat the silver-haired young man before him, a sinister chuckle came from far away and grew closer, suddenly entering his ears.
"Zehahaha-! Bullet, give up! You absolutely cannot contend against this guy Sephiroth with your strength alone... After all, in this world, if there is one person who can bear the name of the strongest, it is definitely him! How about it? Why don't we team up to defeat him!"
Bullet looked in the direction of the sound and was startled to find that Blackbeard Teach had appeared about ten meters away from him at some point, with the Blackbeard Pirates and the Donquixote Pirates standing behind him.
"Blackbeard Teach, Donquixote Doflamingo... are you two also here for Sephiroth?" As he spoke, Bullet's gaze swept over the two Sea Emperors, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Fufufufufu! That's right, this guy Sephiroth is too dangerous! If we don't kill him today, there will be no place for Pirates to stand on this sea in the future..." Doflamingo said coldly.
Swish-! Swish-!
With the appearance of the Blackbeard Pirates and the Donquixote Pirates, two figures immediately leaped out from the distant spectator stands and stood beside Sephiroth. Everyone looked closely and found that the two were none other than the Shichibukai, Sea Knight Jinbe and Hawkeye Mihawk.
Hmm!?
You ask why Jinbe is still a Shichibukai now when he clearly refused the Shichibukai conscription order during the Marineford War and was imprisoned in Impel Down...?
Sephiroth stated that Jinbe is an honest person with a good nature, and rather than killing him directly, it would be better to let him remain useful and continue working for the Marine, so he magnanimously decided not to pursue the matter of resisting the Shichibukai conscription order, considering it a one-time offense with no repeat.
Therefore, Sephiroth absolutely did not let Jinbe off the hook because Shirahoshi's 'oppai' mattress was too comfortable at the time, and he was swayed by her words, softening his stance...