Chapter 78: Playing Dead

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"Marine dogs, go to hell!" Jack bellowed, his muscles bulging, as thick as barrels, exuding a primal aura. 

The two scythe-like blades in his hands glinted coldly in the moonlight, their sharp edges reflecting a chilling glow. 

The scythes moved with incredible speed, slicing through Aokiji's body and striking the ground, raising a cloud of dust and leaving two long, deep fissures.

Aokiji's body split into three segments and gradually slid apart without spilling a drop of blood. 

Yet, Jack remained serious; no one believed that Marine Admiral Aokiji could be defeated so easily. 

The fallen "corpse" of Aokiji quickly turned into a pile of ice shards. 

In the blink of an eye, Aokiji reappeared before Jack, his body transformed mainly into ice, and shouted, "Ice Time!"

In an instant, a massive wave of cold air emanated from him, spreading from beneath Jack. 

A layer of white frost covered Jack, forming an icy armor that encased him completely. 

At such a low temperature, Jack felt his body freezing, his blood flow slowing, his limbs stiffening, and even his thoughts becoming sluggish. 

He barely managed to swing his arms, trying to break the ice covering him, but the spreading ice far outpaced his efforts. 

He was encased in ice in under five seconds, standing still like a frozen statue.

Nearby, Reisun and Reikyu watched with a hint of shock in their eyes. 

"Is this the power of a Marine Admiral?" 

"Even Jack the Drought, one of the Three Disasters of the Beasts Pirates with a bounty of a billion Berries, couldn't withstand a single move."

Byakuya, observing Aokiji's swift victory, chuckled and said, "Since Admiral Aokiji has finished so quickly, I can't afford to be too slow, or people might look down on us Marines." 

As the pirates charged at him, Byakuya lowered his stance, stepped back with his left foot, and placed his hand on the sword's scabbard. 

He drew out his sword, Kazemune, in a reverse grip and shouted, "Atomic Slash!"

The sword gleamed, and massive energy swept across, blinding the approaching pirates. 

Over two hundred pirates stood frozen in an instant, their expressions fixed. 

As Byakuya sheathed his sword with a 'shing,' all the pirates were sliced into pieces. 

A crimson blood spurted from their flesh, filling the air with a pungent smell of blood. Exactly five seconds! 

The 'Atomic Slash' is a basic technique of Atomic Samurai, which performs over 100 quick slashes within a second.

To unleash such terrifying power with a simple move requires immense strength and a deep understanding of swordsmanship. 

This was the first time Aokiji had seen his junior in action, and he was astonished by the hellish scene created by Byakuya's attack. 

Despite the sunny smile on Byakuya's face, Aokiji, a user of the Ice-Ice Fruit, couldn't help but shiver.

Looking at the gruesome scene, Aokiji seemed to remember something and sighed, "Byakuya, didn't I tell you to leave one alive? Why did you kill them all?"

Byakuya responded innocently, "I did leave one!"

Glancing at the flesh and blood covering the ground, Aokiji said, exasperated, "And this is what you call leaving one alive?"

Although it was undeniable that the Donquixote Family and the Beasts Pirates were engaged in dealings, Aokiji still wanted to leave someone alive to interrogate for more information. 

They could confidently revoke Doflamingo's position as a Warlord of the Sea with more solid evidence. 

Byakuya surveyed the scene and mumbled, "I did leave one alive earlier..." Could it be that he hadn't controlled his strength properly?

Byakuya quickly dismissed that thought, knowing his capabilities well. 

Every time he progresses his template, the first thing he does is adapt to the new power and control it. 

If it wasn't a mistake on his part, then there was only one possibility left... 

Byakuya recalled the moment when he struck, remembering Aokiji's instruction to spare the underlings of Jack or Doflamingo.

He had shown no mercy to Jack's subordinates, including two high-ranking officers: 

Sheepshead uses the artificial Devil Fruit, and Ginrummy is a Gazelleman ability user. Their flesh lay at Byakuya's feet.

As for the high-ranking officers of the Donquixote Family, he saw the flesh of Trebol, the Sticky-Sticky Fruit user. 

Trebol, being Doflamingo's most trusted man, knew the most. 

However, Byakuya found Trebol's sleazy appearance and snot-like abilities utterly disgusting, so he didn't hesitate to finish him. 

The last high-ranking officer was Diamante, the user of the Flutter-Flutter Fruit. His body remained intact with 'slight' injuries here and there.

Byakuya scratched his chin, thinking, 'I don't think I killed this one.'

He found Diamante's 'corpse' in the pile, covered in blood, was paling, apparently from excessive blood loss. 

His chest wasn't moving, making him look convincingly dead. But Byakuya knew better. 

After all, he was the one who swung the sword, and he was sure of the outcome. He hadn't expected Diamante to play dead.

Byakuya kicked Diamante impatiently and said, "You're a high-ranking officer of the Donquixote Family, with a bounty of ninety million Berries." 

"Do you think it's not disgraceful to play dead among this flesh of corpses?" 

Diamante, filled with fear, couldn't believe that even after pretending to be dead, the terrifying Marine Rear Admiral had still discovered him. 

Marine Rear Admiral?. He had never seen such a strong Marine Rear Admiral in my life! 

But no, he had to continue playing dead; admitting to feigning death now would mean certain death.

Seeing Diamante remain motionless, Byakuya grew more annoyed. 

Aokiji, thinking Byakuya was only claiming Diamante was pretending out of fear of reprimand, said, "Byakuya, if he's dead, so be it." 

"We already have enough evidence of the Donquixote Family's collusion with the Beasts Pirates." 

But Byakuya ignored Aokiji and drew his sword, pointing it at Diamante. 

He threatened menacingly, "If you keep playing dead, I'll carve the flesh from your bones, piece by piece. Let's see how long you can keep this up!"

<End Chapter>

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