473. Terrifying Levels

Imu's control over the surrounding lava makes Buggy assumes that he can control everything with fire property. It makes Buggy wonders what kind of mythical creature Imu transformed into for him to have that kind of power.

Buggy destroys every lava bullet that rains down on him with just the sword in his right hand. The bullets are too big to be called bullets anymore though. There are many of them, but Buggy destroys every single one that is aimed at him.

However, he is too focused on the incoming lava projectiles that he doesn't realize Imu is making another move. Imu suddenly appears behind him with a massive lava fist ready to be shot. A low hook aimed at Buggy's right body is coming at a very high speed.

Buggy only notices the attack when it's about to hit him. He knows instantly that he can't dodge, so he braces himself and the lava fist hits him. The collision creates a very powerful impact that spreads everywhere like ripples.

Imu frowns when he realizes that his lava punch doesn't really touch Buggy's body. There is a very small gap that only both of them notice between his lava punch and Buggy's hardened black skin. Buggy managed to block the punch using advanced armament in the nick of time.

But because it was a hasty action, his advanced armament defense become weak. The lava punch might not touch his body, but most of the impact still passes through. Buggy is sent flying to the left and then he crashes onto the lava ground, splashing hot lava everywhere as a big crater is formed.

Imu stares at the new crater and frowns because Buggy is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, dust-like particles rise from the center of the crater. They get closer to each other and slowly form a human figure, shocking Imu a little.

Buggy stares at Imu while reforming his body that he chopped to a cellular level to reduce the impact of his crash. He couldn't cover his whole body with armament haki on time, so he used this method which was much easier for him and could be done in a split second.

It doesn't mean he is completely unharmed though. That attack was very powerful and even after doing that, he still received considerable damage. The impact of the crash is considerably strong that it could still form a big crater even after Buggy tried to reduce it by chopping his body to the cellular level.

It makes him wonder just what would happen to his body if he didn't reduce the impact. Even now, he already gets some internal damage that makes blood drips out of his mouth. He patches the damage by reforming his organs, but it's not a permanent solution, so he still needs Manba's treatment.

Buggy looks around and realizes that there's no lava in the crater. Every bit of lava here has been pushed away by the impact of his crash. He looks at Imu who stares at him with a slight shock in his eyes. Buggy wipes the blood that dripped from his mouth and places his palms on the ground as he crouches.

"Such a disadvantageous battleground, I will remove it. When things aren't in your favor, then you need to change it."

Buggy grins before his hair and clothes suddenly flutter up as if there is a strong wind coming from below. His eyes also shine white, making it looks as if he doesn't have pupils. This only happens for a few seconds before he returns to normal.

Imu is really confused because he doesn't know what Buggy did. But then, that confusion turns into shock once more, an even bigger shock than before as he sees many lava and red rock cubes floating around him. Even the lava beneath him has become a cube and floats.

Buggy has chopped the lava and the red rock ground beneath the lava into cubes using his awakened devil fruit ability. Chopping a very large area like this consumed a lot of energy for him who has spent quite a lot of it since he cut the Red Line.

He is now standing on a floating red rock cube while looking at Imu. They stare at each other for a while before Buggy suddenly grins and controls the floating cubes to attack Imu. Not only he has removed the annoying lava terrain, but he also can use it to attack his opponent.

Imu destroys the incoming cubes rather easily, but it soon becomes very troublesome because of the cubes' sheer number. Buggy has chopped an entire city that's almost as big as a small country, after all, so the number of cubes is very high.

That's why Imu starts to dodge before his wings expand and he flies to the sky. Buggy controls the cubes to chase him in the shape of a dragon and he stands on the red lava-rock dragon's head. Imu suddenly stops and turns back while pointing his palms at the dragon.

Buggy suddenly feels the dragon gets heavier and it becomes harder to control it. He immediately realizes that Imu is trying to control the lava that forms the Dragon. But Imu can't get full control because Buggy's Chop Chop Fruit power is isolating the cubes that formed the dragon.

After all, this isolation is the reason why he can chop even things like fire or water and it will still be in cube form unless he releases it. That's why the lava doesn't spill and still be in cube forms now. It's all because of the isolation of his devil fruit power. So there is an invisible barrier separating the contents of the cubes from the outside.

So, Imu being able to even get a portion of the control of his cube shows that the guy's mastery over his power is great. Buggy is sure that even if it's Akainu in his prime, he won't be able to control the magma or lava that has been chopped by Buggy's power unless Buggy releases the isolation.

He can cut ice or light and Aokiji and Kizaru won't be able to do anything to it. So Imu has far surpassed the Admirals and the Emperors. Even Whitebeard or Roger in their prime won't have high winning chances unless they fight together and have good teamwork.

Imu dives at the dragon while restricting its movements. His fist is ready to destroy this red lava-rock dragon. But obviously, Buggy won't let him destroy this dragon so easily. It's not that he likes this dragon puppet, but he has gotten this close to Imu, so this is his chance.

Imu's fist almost hit the dragon's snout when Buggy suddenly appears from its mouth with a fist ready too. Even though he is surprised, Imu manages to calm himself instantly and is ready to face Buggy. But they suddenly stop when there is still a wide gap between them, an almost 1-meter gap.

The Clowns who watch it are not confused though, instead, they are shocked as their eyes widen so much, enough for their eyes to pop out. After all, they know that both Buggy and Imu are using advanced haki. They use both armament and conqueror haki in their attack.

But that's not a surprising thing. The surprising thing is the gap between their punches. They never see such a wide gap when 2 advanced haki attacks collide. Such a wide gap indicates that both Imu's and Buggy's advanced haki has reached very high levels and they have very high haki energy levels too.

Black lightning bolts and shockwaves are generated from their advanced haki clash. The black lightning bolts are very densely packed and cover the entire fallen red line sky. As for the shockwaves, they reach the sea and can even be sensed from the New Marineford.

The Revolutionary Army and the 2 Admirals that are fighting fiercely even need to stop because of the pressure they feel. They can even feel the pressure caused by Buggy's & Imu's conqueror haki clash despite being so far away from the clash.

"Such ridiculous pressure. Just what kind of monster is fighting that clown now for their clash to create this level of pressure that can be felt even from here?"

"Vi doesn't know, but Vi knows that even the Marines seem to be surprised as well. It's either they don't know that Papa Clown is this strong or they don't know there is someone this strong in Marie Geoise, or even both."

"As I thought, that Papa Clown is a bit unpleasant, Iva-san."

"But he is a father, you know, and 2 of his children are Straw Hat-boy's crewmates."

"Luffy's crewmates, huh? I wonder where they are now. 1 more year and I will meet them again, Ace and Luffy."

*BOOM*

Dragon suddenly appears in front of Iva & Sabo to block Kizaru's powerful light beam attack.

"SABO! IVA! FOCUS ON OUR WAR! You can talk about that Clown later. Worry more about yourselves now. There's no need to worry about that Clown because if he can't win, then none of us can win against his current opponent. It's useless to worry about an enemy we can't defeat. We can only hope that he wins now."

Just like the Revolutionaries, Kizaru and Fujitora are surprised too. They are surprised to know that Buggy is actually this strong right now because they know only Buggy can show this level of power among the Clown Pirates.

But they are also surprised to know that someone in Marie Geoise is just as strong as Buggy or maybe even stronger. The problem is they don't know who it is because the strongest people on Marie Geoise that they know are those old people, but they aren't this strong.

Even if they have this level of power, it should be when they were in their prime. But it's impossible for them to have this level of power now even though they are still very powerful. So there must be someone they don't know who has this level of power.

The same reactions are shown by the ones who fight on New Marineford. They can feel the pressure even if it's not that powerful. But the fact that they can even feel it from here shows just how powerful the ones who caused this pressure from their clash are.

Aokiji and the high-level Marines look quite tense right now because one of their enemies is showing a world-defying power. Though the ones on Clown Pirates' side are also shocked. Even Legend Pirates who have followed Buggy for years are also shocked because they never know Buggy's true power.

Whitebeard Pirates that have just arrived to assist the Clown Alliance to pay back for their help during Marineford War are also shocked just like the Charlotte Pirates that have sworn allegiance after Big Mom was killed by Buggy. The Charlotte Pirates look very relieved now. Following Clown Pirates seem to be the correct choice, after all.

"You felt that, Aokiji? It seems you need to thank us for stopping you from killing your men by sending them to that hell."

"Indeed, we avoid getting into that hell. But it is our duty as Marines to enter hell for people's safety. We can't let Pirates win and take over the world."

"Sigh, how many times do I have to tell you that we are not interested in ruling the world, never."

"Do you think I'll really believe that?"

"Tsk, whatever."

Marco suddenly lands beside Alan in his human-phoenix form.

"You done talking?"

"Yeah, thanks for your help, Marco. He is not someone I can defeat without killing myself yet."

"But you can still defeat him even with a very high price, that's a very good achievement already. Though defeating him is one thing, killing him is another thing."

"I know. Let's stop this and fight again."

Alan and Marco dash toward Aokiji to fight the new Fleet Admiral again. Aokiji shows a completely different level of power now compared to what he showed in Marineford War. He shows much stronger power, more decisive attacks, and he looks much more serious.

All while keeping leading the Marines and supervising the situations on the whole battlefield of New Marineford. Even Alan and Marco are struggling to fight the lone Aokiji. He really has great qualities of a leader both in leadership and power.

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You can read more chapters ahead of my fanfics and more pictures on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.

Voting for this book is highly appreciate. Cover image is the MC, artist's ig: @fatmaqn_

I've uploaded Chapter 511. Defeating Straw Hats

- Pictures of both stories (ex: bounty poster & magazine cover) by fatmaqn_

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