Chapter 54: 54. Marco vs. Wang Hao. Jozu vs. Tora.
│3rd Person POV│
[Grand Line, New World, Beehive Island…]
The next second, the battle broke out completely.
Marco and the other Commanders engaged in combat with Ochoku's cadres and they went all out as soon as they took action.
"Marco, die!"
A low roar resounded, and a figure quietly appeared in the area in front of Marco. The long sword in his hand stabbed straight towards Marco's heart.
"Vice Captain of the Ochoku Pirates, Wang Hao!"
Seeing the incoming assailant, Marco dodged and avoided the opponent's attack.
Immediately afterward, his figure blurred, and he transformed into Human-Beast Hybrid Form and kicked out with his right foot.
The next second, the Phoenix's talon collided with the long sword covered in Armament Haki.
Clang—
Blue fire splashed everywhere, and Marco's figure jumped into the air, while Wang Hao suddenly retreated a dozen meters before stopping.
"Damn it! How did your strength increase so much?"
With his body stable, Wang Hao shook his numb arms and looked at Marco in mid-air in disbelief.
As a great pirate of the New World, almost everyone was familiar with the strength of the opponents they occasionally clashed with.
As it was, there were many battles between the Ochoku Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates in the past. As the vice-captain, he and Marco were also old rivals.
But now?
The power Marco exerted was completely beyond his understanding, and it was even much stronger than before.
"Of course, it's because we don't slack off!"
In mid-air, Marco raised the corner of his mouth and looked at Wang Hao with a playful expression, "We, the Whitebeard Pirates, have a powerful heir. How can we, the Division Commanders, stay still, yoi~?
"Wang Hao, I fought with you thirty-eight times in the past. We all had our own victories and defeats, and many times we were evenly matched.
"But today, in this fight, we will decide who gets to live or die."
As he spoke, the flame on Marco's head flickered.
Immediately afterward, Wang Hao could clearly see that the blue color of the flames transformed into dark blue at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In an instant, the temperature of the flames around him rose rapidly, reaching 600 degrees Celsius in a short period of time.
"Finally done."
The corners of his mouth raised; feeling his ever-increasing power, the smile on Marco's face became even more radiant.
After seeing Ron completely assimilating the power of the Mera-Mera Fruit and evolving his Phoenix Blue Flame into a stronger variant, Marco also approached Ace.
He was the genuine Phoenix Fruit ability user, and the level of development appeared to be less than that of Ron's.
Although it was a difficult process, he still completed it and successfully evolved his Blue Flame.
The flame temperature increased three times, and his development of the Phoenix Fruit also improved significantly.
Because of this, Marco's strength at this moment was many times greater than before, and his shortcomings of insufficient attack power have also been greatly improved.
"Asshole! How could the flame temperature of the Phoenix Fruit increase so much?"
On the ground, Wang Hao stared blankly at this scene for a while before his whole face suddenly turned ferocious.
At this moment, a black aura emerged from Wang Hao's body.
Immediately afterward, countless feathers began to appear on his body, but his feathers were blue-black, a chill filled the air, and a cry resounded from his body.
Screech—
In an instant, Wang Hao shifted into his own unique Human-Beast Hybrid Form.
A black eye appeared in the middle of his forehead, filled with the emotions of killing intent, destruction, and a faint chill.
Wang Hao was a Devil Fruit user. His Devil Fruit was Mythical Zoan-type, Bird-Bird Fruit; Model: Netherworld Phoenix.
Seeing this scene, Marco was not afraid. He remained calm and declared, "Come on! Today, you and I will decide who the true king of the sky is!"
After saying that, Marco's figure swayed, and he swooped towards Wang Hao.
"Today will be your last, Marco!!"
In response, Wang Hao did not refuse.
The renowned sword he wielded emitted a cold aura, and the set of black wings that manifested behind him as part of his Human-Beast Hybrid Form enabled him to ascend into the air and confront Marco.
Bang—
Bang—
Bang—
In an instant, Marco and Wang Hao were locked in a fierce combat.
The power on both sides was intense and contrasting.
As they continued to clash, the terrifying force spread out, causing the surrounding members of the Whitebeard Pirates and Ochoku Pirates to quickly retreat without daring to get too close.
=+=+=+=< Scene Change >=+=+=+=
"Jozu, I finally found you."
On the other end, Jozu was annihilating the normal members of the Ochoku Pirates when a vicious voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
The next second, a figure approached him swiftly, and a tiger claw covered with Armament Haki attacked Jozi's heart without hesitation.
"It's you! Tora! The Captain of Big Cat Pirates!"
Feeling the fluctuation behind him, Jozi was not afraid at all.
The next second, the brilliance of diamonds on his body became visible, and the tiger claws covered in Armament Haki struck hard.
However, it only splashed harmlessly against the diamond surface and posed no threat to Jozi.
"The defeated one will die today, Tora!"
After receiving a blow, Jozu's counterattack happened in an instant. Armament Haki coated on top of his diamond-covered fist, bombarded the area behind him without hesitation.
A painful roaring sound resounded, and a tiger-shaped figure could be seen quickly retreating more than ten meters.
After stabilizing his body, the kitten's eyes turned red as he stared at Jozi with murderous intent. "Damn you, today will not be like back then! If someone hadn't helped you, how could you have been my opponent at that? No one can help you now. Jozu, just die."
While speaking, he transformed into his Human-Beast Hybrid Form in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, his aura became much stronger, and his upper body was surrounded by a very faint black flame cloud.
"Awakening?"
Seeing this scene, Jozu's face darkened.
He didn't expect that in just a few years, Tora would actually develop his Devil Fruit to the point of awakening it.
Feeling the aura emanating from his body that was far beyond the level of an Elite Vice-Admiral, Jozu knew that this battle was going to be somewhat difficult.
However, he also had a reason not to lose.
After taking a deep breath, the bright diamond brilliance around him began to darken at a speed visible to the naked eye. Armament Haki's coating enveloped his whole body.
After doing all this, Jozu said, "Come on! Tora! It's not your time to show off yet!"
Hearing this, Tora didn't hesitate. After letting out a loud roar, he suddenly rushed towards Jozu with speed incomparable to his previous self.
Seeing, Jozu showed no signs of hesitation; he strode forward, raised his fist, and let out a punch.
Bang—!
Boom—!
In an instant, the two huge figures were constantly clashing with each other.
Jozu's fists kept hitting Tora's body, but they could not bypass his defense.
Similarly, Tora's claws also kept attacking Jozi, but they could not break through his diamond body plus Armament Haki's defense.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
A/N: Tora hasn't really awakened his DF but he is close to it. He just has a very faint black flame cloud around his body to indicate that.
Jozu hadn't yet encountered an awakened Zoan DF user, so he thought Tora had completed awakening according to his limited knowledge.
Anyway, Power Stones and Review please. Also, don't forget to add this in your library!
Shameless P@treon & Coffee plug...;
👉 patreon.com/ChaosWriter;
👉 buymeacoffee.com/ChaosWriter;
You can read up to 20 chapters ahead of Webnovel. Your support would be appreciated, but don't feel pressured to join. I'll upload stuff outside it and not keeping it behind a paywall forever.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone