Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—!
A long tonfa with an iron ball at the end flew out from the Shogun's Palace, whistling through the air as it spun at high speed, hurtling toward Jack with tremendous force.
Jack's eyes darkened as he raised his curved sickle and slashed upward!
Clang!
A dull thud echoed through the courtyard. As Jack deflected the iron club with his blade, he stumbled a step backward.
Feeling a slight, numbing ache in his arm, Jack looked up at the figure emerging from the estate, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.
Gin raised his hand to catch the returning iron club, staring back with a cold, indifferent gaze.
"A Lead Performer of the Animal Kingdom Pirates, one of the All-Stars, Jack the Drought..."
"Heh, finally, an opponent worth looking at."
Gin's lips curled into a cold smirk, his tone laced with amusement. "What, are you the only one from the Animal Kingdom Pirates who showed up?"
"Hmph! To deal with trash like you, I, the great Jack, am more than enough."
Jack bellowed, a puff of white steam shooting from his nostrils. As his words fell, he bent his knees and leaped high into the air.
His massive body blotted out the sun. Raising both curved sickles simultaneously, he used the momentum of his descent to hack down heavily at Gin!
"Who could you possibly hit with such a barbaric attack?"
Gin's eyes flashed with disdain. Tapping his toes rapidly against the ground, he used the high-speed movement technique, Shave, to instantly vanish from his spot.
Boom!!
Naturally, Jack's strike hit nothing but air. His enormous body crashed into the lawn like a human bomb, cratering the ground, while his twin sickles tore two long, extending trenches through the earth.
The next second.
"Haa!!"
Gin's figure flickered into existence right above him. With a fierce glare, he swung his iron club in a full circle and smashed it down!
Jack's reaction was relatively quick; he swiftly pulled back a sickle and slashed upward!
Clang!!
The two weapons clashed violently, sending sparks flying in all directions. The muscles in Jack's robust arms bulged as he exerted force, repelling Gin and sending him flying backward. Jack then took large strides, charging forward in a furious rush.
"You scrawny monkey! Die!!"
Gin flipped twice in mid-air. Facing the charging Jack, his gaze sharpened, and he began rapidly spinning the two iron clubs in his hands.
"Thirtyfold Acceleration: Demon Tonfa: Chaotic Waves!!"
With a low shout, Gin's arms emitted a strange purple glow. The twin clubs struck continuously at a bizarrely high speed, generating dozens of afterimages within a single second!
Clang!! Clang!! Clang!!
The dull sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly. Jack crossed his twin sickles in front of him to block, gritting his teeth as he pushed forward. Relying on his terrifying physical strength, he forcefully rammed Gin away!
Bang!!
Gin's body flew backward at high speed. When his feet hit the ground, they plowed two trenches into the lawn, sliding back over a dozen meters before he finally managed to stop.
"What astonishing strength...!"
After steadying himself, Gin looked at Jack again, unable to help but marvel at the sheer power the man had just displayed.
"Hahahaha! How do you think I got my bounty of one billion Berries? I have Fish-Man blood in my veins! My arm strength is naturally ten times that of a normal human!"
Jack laughed triumphantly, raising his arms and flexing to show off his robust muscles. At the same time, he activated his ability. Thick brown fur rapidly grew from his skin as he boasted:
"Combine this naturally strong body with the Ancient Zoan Elephant-Elephant Fruit, Model: Mammoth, and when it comes to strength and defense, not even the Giant Tribe can necessarily match me!"
As his words fell, Jack completed his transformation, taking on his mammoth human-beast form, which resembled a centaur.
Four thick, shaggy legs stood like pillars, while his upper body retained its human shape. Beneath a massive, thick trunk grew a pair of gigantic, upward-curving tusks.
This ferocious beast-like form, combined with his height of around ten meters, made Jack look like a monster straight out of a legend.
"I see. So you're the type who relies purely on brute force."
Gin licked his lips, his gaze burning as he stared at Jack. Looking as though he had already seen through all of his opponent's tricks, he mocked,
"It's a pity my bounty is 1.35 billion Berries. Unfortunately for you, that puts me a head above you."
"Grr...!!"
Hearing this, Jack choked on his words, his eyes instantly filling with rage as he roared,
"Bounties don't equal strength! You scrawny bastard monkey, watch how I tear you to shreds today!"
Thud!! Thud!! Thud!!
With that, Jack charged forward ferociously on all four legs. As his heavy body broke into a run, even the earth trembled beneath him!
Facing the overwhelming, landslide-like momentum of the mammoth's charge, Gin's lips curled into a cold sneer.
"Besides, even in a contest of brute force, I don't think I'd lose to you."
As he spoke, his body also began to expand, his muscles bulging.
Activating his Buccaneer Tribe Lineage Factor, Gin's size rapidly increased under Jack's astonished gaze, growing to over six meters tall!
Gin stepped forward to meet Jack's charge head-on. Both of them simultaneously imbued their weapons with Armament Haki, violently clashing in the most barbaric manner possible!
Clang!!
A crisp, metallic hum echoed in their ears. The clash of Haki generated a powerful shockwave, the fierce winds forcefully bending the surrounding grass and trees!
"To think you can match me head-on in strength... I'll admit you've got some skill."
"I should be the one saying that."
Gin and Jack locked eyes in a fierce standoff, black lightning born of their Haki faintly crackling from their weapons.
Clang!!
Sparks flew as both men exerted force at the same time, repelling each other's weapons and stepping back a few meters.
The moment they steadied themselves, Gin and Jack's eyes darkened, and they charged forward once more!
Clang—!!
Boom!!
Clang!! Clang!!
Accompanied by deafening metallic hums, sparks scattered violently across the courtyard. Wherever their battle took them, everything was destroyed, leaving the ground in absolute ruins.
Jack swung his twin sickles in an airtight defense, focusing on heavy, powerful slashes!
Compared to his barbarism, Gin employed a bit more technique. Combined with his speed advantage, he steadily suppressed his opponent.
In less than ten exchanges, the flow of the battle had already become clear.
"Fiftyfold Acceleration: Razor!!"
Tapping his toes rapidly against the ground, Gin unleashed a terrifying movement speed, creating over a dozen afterimages in the space around Jack. Every single afterimage simultaneously raised its clubs and smashed down!
Jack's pupils shrank in shock. What appeared to be phantoms were actually ten consecutive attacks from Gin; the speed was simply so fast that the afterimages looked synchronized.
Bang!! Bang!! Clang!! Bang!!
Multiple dull impacts nearly overlapped. Aside from blocking the frontal assault, the remaining nine strikes all landed, the iron clubs smashing ruthlessly into various parts of Jack's body!
"Gah—!!"
Jack grunted in pain through gritted teeth, crimson blood seeping from between them.
The iron balls struck him almost simultaneously, caving into his flesh and making his body look as though it were twisted.
A cold glint flashed in Gin's eyes. Channeling his ability into his twin clubs at full power, the two iron balls suddenly expanded, becoming as large as water barrels!
"Fiftyfold Multiply: Bone-Shattering Meteor!!"
Gin roared ferociously, raising both clubs horizontally and bringing them down together, violently blasting them into Jack's broad chest!
Bang!!!
Accompanied by a dull, thunderous boom, the iron clubs—amplified fifty times in both speed and mass—crashed down with brutal force!
"Blergh—!!"
Jack's chest caved in on the spot, his ribs completely shattered. His bloodshot eyes bulged so far they nearly popped out of their sockets as he agonizingly spewed a massive mouthful of blood!
"Fly!!"
Gin bellowed in fury, the veins in his arms bulging as he exerted force once more, viciously blasting Jack's massive body away!
Screech— Bang!!
Jack became a human cannonball, flying backward at high speed. His back plowed a hundred-meter-long trench through the grass before his head smashed through a thick stone wall, burying him instantly beneath the collapsing boulders!