Even without activating his Observation Haki, Leo sensed the enemy's intent.
His fist shot up, clenched tight, meeting the old man's finger head-on. The clash forced both of them to skid back from their positions.
The impact reminded Leo of the bear he had once fought in his village forest but he was far stronger now.
Still…
'How could a single finger carry that much force?' Across from him, the old man looked just as surprised.
"You dodged my Finger Pistol? This will be interesting." Leo narrowed his eyes. He could tell, the old man hasn't gone all out yet.
"I am Clam, a retired agent of CP09."
"Call me Leo," he replied flatly. "and I don't care if you're CP9 or CP900. Soon to be dead old man." Clam laughed.
In the next instant, he vanished.
"Shave."
Leo's pupils shrank as the old man reappeared right in front of him. Finger and fist collided again and again, each impact heavier than the last. Soon, Leo's knuckles began to tear under the repeated strikes, forcing him to step back with a grunt of pain.
"You really don't know about us, do you, kid?" Clam smirked. "Fine. I'll educate you before I capture you. Come, hit me as hard as you can."
Leo's lips curved slightly, he had already grown curious about his strange power and the old man's arrogance made it even easier. Acting weaker would only bring out more of that sadistic confidence and secret of his powers.
Unfortunately for Clam, Leo was far sadistic when it came to dealing with his enemies.
"Hm… don't complain later."
Leo tightened his fist, gathering all his strength, while Clam stood still with his hands behind his back, openly mocking him.
"Iron Body."
Leo lunged forward, his fist driving straight toward the old man's stomach but the moment before impact, Clam's body hardened like iron.
The collision sent a sharp jolt of pain through Leo's arm, a crunch echoed as his bones strained. He recoiled with a hiss, while the old man's internal organs screamed from the impact. Still, he forced it down as he mocked Leo.
"Ugh.. Hehe… tired already? I haven't even begun." A crude smile spread across Clam's face.
"I'm just getting started too." Something in his expression shifted just enough to unsettle the old man.
Clam activated Iron Body again, clearly aiming to break Leo's fist this time and Leo charged once more.
Same speed, same force but just before impact a thin silvery sheen coated his fist.
The moment his attack connected.
Crack.
Clam's Iron Body shattered like glass, a crushing sound followed not from Leo but from the old man's ribs.
Clam was sent skidding across the deck before stabilizing himself, dropping to one knee.
Clutching his side, he rose slowly, eyes now filled with a deeper hatred as they locked onto Leo.
"You can use Haki… you played me like a fool." The old man's voice rose and this time his legs moved in rapid, repeated movement kicking the air itself.
Leo frowned, 'What the hell is this power…?'
Rising high in the sky, the old man hovered for a moment before dropping down, his entire body coated in a hardened, iron-like sheen.
"Iron Body" "Finger Bullets"
As he descended, he unleashed a barrage of Finger Bullets, firing them down toward Leo.
Leo weaved through the attacks, dodging most while deflecting others with his Haki-coated fists, their fight destroying the ship's deck.
Then Leo crouched.
His legs surged with strength and Haki as he launched himself upward, meeting the descending old man midair.
With Observation Haki, he could already see the trajectory of the incoming Finger Bullets, his own fist, coated in Armament Haki, rose to meet it.
Then something unexpected happened.
The finger and fist collided but instead of overpowering Leo, the old man's finger fractured under the impact.
Leo's punch carried through.
The force tore through the old man's arm and slammed into his face, sending him spinning wildly through the air before crashing down onto the deck.
"Idiot… old man had my hopes up for nothing…" Leo exhaled, glancing at the surrounding Marines.
They stood frozen, guns raised yet their hands trembled.
behind, the prisoners stared stunned at Leo, unable to process what they had just witnessed.
"Don't shoot! The captain isn't done yet—" Before the Marine could finish a heavy impact echoed from where Clam had fallen.
Slowly a massive figure rose.
A green monster stood before him nearly ten feet tall, his body encased in a thick turtle shell. Its limbs had transformed into smooth and curved flippers like a turtle's natural limbs, yet sharpened along the edges like a sword's edge.
"A Devil Fruit user…" Leo muttered, observing him closely.
The Marines quickly took the prisoners to the edge of the deck, taking cover behind them as shields, their expressions tense.
They understood the captain's power and how serious the situation was and the boy… was as good as dead now.
"Kid… I hate people like you."
Each step Clam took made the deck tremble beneath his weight, drawing terrified screams from the prisoners.
"People who are handed everything on a silver platter… while people like us struggle for decades and still fall short."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, old man?" Leo replied, flexing his fist as it darkened under Armament Haki.
The sight only agitated Clam further.
"I trained in government camps since I was a child!" he roared. "Forty years! I bled and broke myself, yet I never awakened Haki!"
His flipper-like arms twitched, the sharpened edges scraping across the deck, leaving fresh scars effortlessly.
"And you, at your age, You wield both haki. Strength, talent, even looks… Why is life so unfair?!"
Leo clicked his tongue, 'This is getting annoying…'
Without another word, he shot forward, his Haki-coated fist drove straight into Clam's stomach but Clam barely reacted with a wince.
The thick shell front and back absorbed most of the impact.
It seemed Leo's Haki wasn't strong enough to break through his defenses.
"You rat."
In his hybrid turtle form, Clam swung his flippers. The movements were heavier, slower than before but far more destructive.
Instead of Finger Pistols, each swipe unleashed massive arcs of compressed sharp wind, slicing everything in its path.
His arms moved like blades.
Each strike carved into the deck, ripping through wood, Marines and even prisoners alike yet the old man didn't care.
Two of the wind slashes tore toward Leo, shredding the deck beneath them. If he dodged, the attacks would slice straight through his Shark Sub-Ski behind him, so he didn't move.
Instead, he raised his bound hands and let the attack collide head-on with the seastone cuffs.
The slashes failed to cut through but the force behind them sent Leo flying, his footing lost as he crashed across the deck.
'These seastone cuffs do come in handy… guess I'll have to fight him in close range.' Leo thought, noting the slicing attack hadn't left even a scratch on the cuffs.
"I would've liked to fight you, fairly old man…" Leo muttered, rising slowly. "But this isn't the time or the place, I still need this ship intact to reach the next island." His Haki flared.
In his hand he held the white jade blade, forged from seastone. Holding it in a reverse grip, his arm coated in Armament Haki, Leo stepped forward.
Another wind slash came but Leo dodged it running forward.
This time, he closed the distance, Clam swung again but Leo met the incoming flipper with the blade.
The rough edge of the blade sliced clean through.
"Swishhh–!"
"AAARGH—!"
Clam roared, clutching the severed limb as blood poured out like a river.
He drove a Haki-infused punch into Clam's body, forcing distance then, in the same motion, hurled the dagger forward with full force aimed at his heart.
The blade pierced the thick shell but stopped midway.
Clam's body trembled and numbness spread through it.
'It is made of Seastone…' He realized it instantly.
The dagger hadn't reached his heart but even then his strength was already draining each second.
He reached to pull it out but Leo was already in front of him.
As fast as "Shave".
Before Clam could react, Leo's leg coated in Haki slammed into the dagger's hilt, driving it in, all the way as the blade vanished into his chest.
Clam's body went slack as he fell back.
"You could've stopped that blade," Leo said coldly. "If only you knew how to wield Haki."
Leo stepped closer, towering above him his voice lowering.
"Let me tell you something else… if I wasn't wearing these seastone cuffs, I could've killed you with a single touch. In the worst way imaginable, that is how powerful my devil fruit ability is."
His hand shifted forming into a cone, coated in Haki as he thrust it into the wound, pulling the dagger free along with his heart.
"This world isn't fair. You struggled your whole life and got nothing… and now you die the same way, die with regret, you old relic of CP09…"
Clam's lips trembled, "You… phwahh… you're …evil incarn—" His body collapsed before he could finish.