บท 99: Chapter 99: Kami-e Unmatched, Tekkai Defeats the Enemy.

"This guy..."

"Madman!"

"What is he trying to do—"

Everyone in the tavern seemed to be under a spell, staring in shock at the smiling Roman. His calm words were so arrogant! Compared to that, Bellamy and his crew smashing bottles and hitting their heads seemed...

Low and childish.

Swish,

Bellamy pulled out a dagger and stabbed at Roman's back! Although Bellamy was full of madness and anger, he was destined to find no release.

Swish—

Roman simply stepped aside as Bellamy moved, the sharp dagger grazing his clothes. —Just like before, it was so close! Yet it felt like an insurmountable gap.

"Don't get excited," Roman turned back to look at Bellamy. Although he was smiling, his emotionless eyes made this 'big shot' with a 55 million Beli bounty freeze up!

"If we fight here, we'll damage the tavern. If you have something to say, let's take it outside."

As Roman walked straight towards the door, the stunned officers of the Bellamy Pirates snapped out of their shock. Watching Roman approach, their eyes gradually turned dangerous and crazy!

Take it outside to fight?

Dream on!

How could pirates follow any rules?

Swish,

A hooded officer suddenly drew a gun, the muzzle aimed at Roman's temple at point-blank range! Then he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

Blood splattered, and the person shot in the head fell backward!

Of course, the one who fell was a pirate opposite the hooded officer. As for Roman—

"What happened!"

"Am I seeing things?"

"This is impossible..."

Roman continued walking towards the door, each step precise as if measured. The hooded officer who fired the shot was now questioning his life. His marksmanship, which claimed to shoot down three birds in a second, missed at point-blank range?

"Let me handle this!"

"Big Knife" Sarquiss suddenly stood up, his uniquely shaped kukri knife flashing silver as he slashed at Roman! He seemed to have some skill. But—

Swish,

Facing this dangerous strike, Roman merely sidestepped slightly. As if rehearsed a thousand times, the strange knife brushed past Roman's clothes! The 'big shot' in the white fur coat almost stumbled.

"He's a Devil Fruit user, everyone attack together!"

Someone shouted. Although Roman dodged without injury using Observation Haki,

he was indeed a Devil Fruit user, so it was a lucky guess.

Swish, swish, swish,

To be fair, Bellamy's 'new era' pirate officers had some skill. Their eyes flashed with terrifying ferocity! Muscles bulged, bones cracked! Several long and short swords formed an impenetrable web, descending on Roman.

Blades surrounded him from all sides! Facing such danger—

Roman actually put his hands in his pockets!

??!!

Sidestep, move right, shrink chest, retract abdomen, his body became almost paper-thin. Two long swords brushed past his chest and back, and Roman's feigned dodge made one attacker instinctively swing his weapon! Then:

Splat!

In a blur, the attacker's weapon struck his 'companion'.

Roman then shifted, and a rapier from the right pursued him relentlessly! But as Roman's body dodged like soft paper, the rapier, missing its target, plunged into the chest of the previously injured attacker, spreading a crimson stain.

"What kind of ability is this??"

"Deflecting attacks? Or an illusion..."

"It's witchcraft—"

As Roman walked with his hands in his pockets, several members of the Bellamy Pirates who had accidentally injured their own comrades were left behind him! This made the other pirates instinctively back away, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

Kami-e,

One of the "Rokushiki" techniques, it involves relaxing the entire body and using the changes in airflow caused by the opponent's movements to make the body as light as paper, allowing for easy and agile control of the body to dodge incoming attacks at the last moment.

Roman's 'Paper-Paper Fruit' takes this a step further, directly giving him the characteristics of a 'paper person'. Combined with his awakened Observation Haki, it was like adding wings to a tiger.

He could easily dodge attacks by borrowing force, moving with the flow, and slipping through gaps with minimal effort, achieving maximum evasion efficiency. He could even guide opponents to attack each other during his dodges! As long as the enemy's individual combat power didn't exceed a certain level, he could hold out for a long time even if surrounded by thousands of troops.

But:

It's just a skill for bullying weaklings, good for showing off. Like now—

Clang,

A weapon fell to the floor, and a member of the Bellamy Pirates stepped back with a twitching face, uttering an unconscious trembling voice.

"Monster... we can't hit him at all—"

Thud,

A hand suddenly covered his face, interrupting his cowardly words, and then a huge force lifted him up and slammed him onto the floor!

Crack!

The 'officer' whose head was suddenly embedded in the ground was still twitching, but judging by the spreading blood and the smell, he was probably not going to survive. —Not everyone could use their heads to smash through decks as a daily routine like the Straw Hat crew.

"You've got guts!!"

Bellamy, with his hand covered in blood and brain matter, stood up and looked at Roman, who was walking towards the door with his back to him.

"I'm going to beat you into a pulp and use your skin to make a pirate flag!"

Facing the threat from behind, Roman didn't even bother to turn his head.

"If you can do it,"

Boom!

Crash—

The bar's door shattered, and a black figure flew out from inside! The impact sent debris flying and dirt splattering across the floor opposite the hotel. After leaving a long scratch on the ground, the surrounding pirates, who were startled, finally saw what it was.

"Bellamy?"

"How did he—"

"Hey, he looks a bit battered..."

"Did he encounter a strong man?"

"Hehehe, this is going to be interesting~~~"

The voices around him made Bellamy even angrier. He squatted on the ground, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the broken door of the bar! Like a snarling hyena.

"I told you, don't go around breaking things."

Roman slowly walked out of the broken door and looked at Bellamy, who was crouching on the street in front of him. "I hope you brought enough money, otherwise—"

"I'll kill you!"

"Spring Sniper!"

Bellamy's move involved turning his lower legs into springs, pressing them against the ground to store a large amount of elastic potential energy, and then releasing it to launch himself at his opponent with incredible speed and force!

The high-speed launch could blast the opponent like a cannonball. The more energy stored, the stronger the impact. —Yes, Bellamy didn't have the typical 'pirate' style of introducing his Devil Fruit abilities before a fight, showing that he was already enraged to the point of losing his mind.

With a bang, Bellamy shot towards Roman like a human cannonball! But naturally:

Crash!

As Roman dodged to the side, Bellamy crashed headfirst into the second floor of the nearby bar, making Roman shake his head in disappointment.

Another weakling who relied on his Devil Fruit abilities to bully ordinary people.

Honestly, Bellamy might be the only one who developed his Devil Fruit abilities so poorly.

His entire ability was just turning his legs into springs, which would make other Devil Fruit users who developed all sorts of strange and ingenious techniques laugh to death.

"Don't hide if you can, coward!!"

Whoosh—

Bellamy, like a human cannonball, shot out from the ruins of the tavern's second floor, charging at Roman at high speed, but naturally missed again! He crashed onto the street beside them, but this time:

Bang,

He suddenly changed direction, landing on his feet, his spring-like legs compressing on the street to build up power. Then Bellamy shot towards the clock tower, once again stomping hard to compress and gain more momentum.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

This time, Bellamy didn't attack immediately but kept bouncing back and forth between the surrounding buildings. Each bounce accumulated more kinetic energy, getting faster and faster! It was like a barrage of cannonballs surrounding Roman! But:

"Useless."

Such an impressive, whirlwind attack was laughable in the face of 'Kami-e'!

Roman stood still, not even moving his feet. He let Bellamy attack from all directions. Roman's figure was elusive, like a feather under a hammer. The hammer hadn't fallen, but the wind had already arrived! And as long as there was a breeze, it was enough to make the feather dance with the wind. No matter how the hammer roared and swept, it couldn't harm the feather in the slightest.

"Lackey! Trash! Coward!"

After attacking repeatedly for a long time without even touching a hair on Roman, Bellamy was furious! He spoke without thinking.

"Have the guts to stand still and let me hit you!!!"

This...

No one would listen to your nonsense—

Amid the onlookers' comments, Roman calmly responded.

"Alright."

Roman then took a stance, fists together, ready to 'take the hit'!

He wasn't being reckless; it was because a dark, terrifying presence was watching the battlefield, and the source could only be the towering Blackbeard sitting nearby, eating cherry pie!

Good, after demonstrating 'Kami-e', let's show 'Tekkai'.

With Blackbeard's meticulous mind, he would likely have many interesting thoughts...

"Die!!"

Bellamy, now a blur, punched at Roman with the force of a Marine heavy cannon!

And Roman didn't dodge, letting Bellamy's fist hit his chest! They collided head-on.

Boom!!

A loud explosion, as if a bomb had gone off, shattered the ground in rings! The flying dirt and stones shot out like countless arrows in all directions.

The pirates watching the battle gasped!

In the center of the battlefield, Roman's body didn't even sway, standing like a steel statue! But Bellamy, trailing dust, flew backward, crashing into a building behind him! Judging by the bent shape of his exposed arm, a compound fracture was inevitable!

"A monster, too terrifying!"

"Taking Bellamy's punch head-on and still reflecting it back like that..."

"Who is this expert?"

Amid the surprised voices of the pirate onlookers, Blackbeard, after taking a sip of wine, had a glint in his eye.

Kami-e, Tekkai?

It seemed similar, but given his disdain for pirates and his behavior, he was likely from the 'government'. A Marine or CP traitor or undercover agent?

Interesting~~

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