Water Seven: The Edge of the Breakwater.
"Then I'll use a method that can hit you, and smash that shell of yours to pieces!"
Enel didn't waste another breath on the masked agent's lecture. Lightning crackled beneath his soles, and he vanished, reappearing with a speed that bypassed the human optic nerve. He swung his golden staff—now coated in a fledgling layer of Armament Haki—in a brutal overhead arc.
Bastian's eyes widened. He could refract energy, but a physical strike imbued with Haki ignored his defensive field. He threw his arms up, wrapping them in a dense, ink-black Haki that felt like solid iron.
CLANG!!
The scream of metal on metal tore through the rainy night, sending a shockwave that cleared the mist. Enel's teeth rattled; the feedback from the staff was like hitting an immovable mountain. His newly mastered Haki felt fragile compared to the agent's veteran defense.
"Your foundation is shallow," Bastian grunted. With a violent heave, he shoved upward, not only parrying the blow but sending Enel hurtling backward.
Enel flipped in mid-air, turning into a bolt of lightning to stabilize himself on a pile of ruins fifty meters away. He massaged his trembling hand, his gaze narrowing.
Bastian brushed the dust from his white suit. "Logia... the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. The reports said this ship only had the Mera Mera no Mi. Since when did the Eclipse Pirates recruit a monster like you?"
"I stopped liking the word 'invincible' after meeting this bunch of unreasonable Blue Sea bastards," Enel spat. He wasn't stupid; if he couldn't win a direct clash of Haki, he'd change the rhythm.
"30 Million Volts: Thunder Beast!"
A massive blue wolf of lightning lunged at Bastian. Bastian waved his hands, and the ripple-like Refraction Fruit field opened.
BOOM!!
The wolf's trajectory snapped sideways, crashing into the sea. But Enel didn't care. He knew every refraction cost the agent mental energy.
"Found an opening!"
As the barrier flickered, Enel turned into a spark, reappearing in Bastian's blind spot. He drove a Haki-clad fist into the agent's back.
Bang!
Bastian slid several meters, grunting in pain. Before he could counter, Enel had already dispersed into lightning, retreating to safety.
A bolt of lightning to distract, a high-speed dash for Haki damage, and a clean retreat. This "kite-style" guerrilla tactic, powered by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's mobility, was driving the CP0 deputy into a state of blind fury.
The Back Streets: The Radar of the Thief.
High above the clock towers, Kalifa was a shadow in a tight skirt, using Moonwalk to pursue her prey like a venomous spider.
A hundred meters ahead, Carina weaved through the architecture with predatory grace. She fired her modified flintlock blindly over her shoulder. Bang!
Kalifa twisted her waist to dodge, but the bullet grazed her cheek and shattered a jar behind her. Shards of pottery tore through her stockings, drawing beads of blood.
"Hit again..." Kalifa landed on a roof, cold sweat on her brow. "How? I'm attacking from her blind spots! How does she see me without even turning her head?"
Ahead, Carina landed on a ledge, a confident smirk on her lips. In her mind, the Communication-Communication Fruit was at full power. She had bypassed the need for devices, spreading an invisible radio-wave field that acted as a 360-degree holographic radar.
She could hear Kalifa's heartbeat, the friction of her boots on the tiles, and the vibration of the air as she moved. To Carina, the "blind spots" were as bright as noon.
Kalifa lashed out with her thorny whip, sealing off all potential landing spots. "You can't dodge this!"
But Carina didn't use force. She relaxed every muscle, becoming as limp as a sheet of paper. As the whip's gale-force wind hit her, she buckled and flowed with the air current, the barbs grazing her clothes without drawing blood.
"Paper Arts!"
As she touched the wall, she pushed off. "Shave!" She vanished, reopening a hundred-meter gap. A year ago, this micro-management would have killed her. But now, she felt a bottomless well of stamina.
She remembered the training on Sky Island. Ace had been their "ultimate cheat." Whenever they collapsed from muscle tears or exhaustion, his Nirvana Fire would wash over them, erasing the pain and fatigue while perfectly preserving the muscle memory and strengthening effects of the workout.
Under Ace's watchful eye, even the "weak" foundation of a thief had been forged into something monstrous.
"Who is the hunter now?" Carina landed on the eaves of a warehouse, hooking a finger into a rusted wire ring she had hidden earlier.
"Found you!" Kalifa roared, lunging into the narrow alley—a perceived dead end. Her fingers formed a sharp cone for a lethal strike. "Die here!"
Carina didn't dodge. She pulled the wire. "Taste the art of explosion."
BOOM!!!
A massive, calculated blast of fire erupted in the confined space, swallowing Kalifa whole in a roar of red and black flames.
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