Chapter 322: A Decisive Strike

The awakening of a Devil Fruit generally signifies the user has developed their abilities to a certain advanced stage.

Typically:

- Paramecia awakenings enable the user to affect things beyond themselves.

- Logia awakenings allow users to permanently alter the natural environment with their elemental attributes.

- Zoan awakenings significantly boost the user's recovery abilities and combat strength.

Among these three types of Devil Fruits, Zoan awakenings may not be the most difficult, but they are the most dangerous!

Beyond the inherent difficulty of developing the fruit's abilities, Zoan users face a struggle between their human and beast forms as they push their powers to a certain level.

If successful, the user will gain immense power. However, if a Zoan user fails to awaken, they become a grotesque half-human, half-beast, losing their human rationality and becoming a mindless beast.

Moreover, this failure is permanent!

In the original timeline, the "jailer beasts" of Impel Down are all failed Zoan awakenings! {No way!}

{Ehhhh!? Check this out.

Minotaurus is one of the five Jailer Beasts in Impel Down and the first one to appear. He is an "awakened" Zoan Devil Fruit user who ate a fruit that allows him to turn into a Holstein cow.

- While Awakened, Minotaurus fell victim to the Awakening's power, turning him into a near mindless beast

Seriously? Those were awakened Zoan fruit users, but why were they so weak?}

Whether the white lion Guliang has awakened his Griffin Fruit remains uncertain to Adrian.

However, despite the massive barrage of ghostly energy cannon fire, the White Lion's sustained vitality and vigor are consistent with the traits of an awakened Zoan user.

But so what if he has awakened?

Adrian flicked his fingers, directing the massive, ghostly Thousand-Handed Buddha in the sky to launch a second wave of full-scale attacks on Guliang.

The brilliant ghostly energy cannons streaked across the sky like a cascade of blue meteors, raining down on the heavily injured white Griffin.

Seeing the incoming barrage, Guliang's pupils shrank, nearly cursing out loud.

What's with this White Ghost?

How can he repeatedly unleash such high-frequency, high-energy attacks?

Despite his dire state, shouldn't the enemy typically close in to confirm the kill?

Filled with frustration, Guliang nonetheless chose to swiftly dodge the energy cannons.

Taking a deep breath, his body steamed with blood energy as he shed his powerful half-beast form, reverting to the more agile white Griffin form.

With a sharp, metallic screech, the white Griffin spread its grayish-white wings and darted through the sky, evading the barrage while slowly recovering from its injuries.

Adrian remained unhurried.

The Griffin Fruit grants rare and valuable flight capabilities and substantial boosts to physical traits, resistance to negative effects, and high recovery prowess.

But its weaknesses are clear!

Though Griffins are mythical creatures in legends, they exist in this strange sea.

And the Griffin Fruit is just an ordinary Ancient Zoan type.

This is according to Guliang himself!

Without any extraordinary powers, the Griffin Fruit user relies on close combat.

Adrian relished fighting such opponents who could only take hits without counterattacking!

Using his Future Sight Haki, Adrian predicted Guliang's movements and continually adjusted the ghostly energy cannons' trajectory.

As time passed, the white Griffin, which initially dodged most energy cannons, noticed it was getting hit more frequently.

From one or two hits out of ten, to three or four, and now to five or six!

The Thousand-Handed Buddha's attack radius was shrinking, yet its precision was paradoxically increasing!

White Ghost's strength was beyond Guliang's expectations.

Since obtaining the Griffin Fruit, which allowed him to soar freely, such a suffocating feeling had rarely troubled him.

Yet, despite his unwillingness, Guliang had to face the truth.

He was no match for White Ghost!

He knew his Griffin Fruit's abilities well; continuing like this in a battle of attrition was pointless and would only lead to his demise!

He needed to close the distance and find a way to break the stalemate!

But each glance at the towering Thousand-Handed Buddha brought a bitter taste to Guliang's mouth.

If I charge in, how many cannon would I have to face?

"Still not giving up? Such impressive stamina and vitality, Griffin..."

As the mocking voice echoed from afar, the thousand hands of the pale white Thousand-Hand Buddha, sitting cross-legged in mid-air, began to glow. Countless energy cannons rained down like a torrential downpour, completely engulfing the area where White Lion Guliang stood.

With a roar, Guliang's fur bristled. He coated his pale wings with Armament Haki, turning them a dark color, and brought them together to shield his body.

The relentless barrage of energy cannons pounded against his haki-covered wings, causing them to tremble. It seemed they wouldn't hold out for much longer.

Through his Observation Haki, Guliang sensed no pause in the bombardment. He let out a beastly roar, his feathers on the pale wings standing on end, crimson fluid seeping from the gaps before they suddenly exploded.

"Lion Phoenix Feather Meteor!"

Feathers burst from his wings, coated in Armament Haki, launching a counterattack of equal intensity. The sky filled with the sounds of explosions once again.

Taking advantage of the moment, Guliang flapped his tattered wings, using his four powerful beastly legs to propel himself through the air like an arrow toward Adrian.

"Furious Lion Roar!"

Guliang's eyes had turned into yellow slits, more beast than human. His roar was now an unintelligible growl, yet his wounds began to heal rapidly.

Adrian looked at the rapidly approaching white Griffin with cold indifference.

"So, you've only now begun your fruit's awakening… Trading human intellect for beastly strength. How pathetic!"

Adrian extended his right hand, slowly forming a pale spiritual pressure sword in his palm, his aura becoming overwhelmingly powerful.

Despite the intimidating aura, the white Griffin didn't retreat but instead let out a threatening growl, flapping his newly regrown feathers to increase his speed.

After a brief buildup, Adrian's power reached its peak. His eyes sharpened as he swung the spiritual pressure sword with force.

"Spirit Pressure: Mighty Nation!"

The mighty flying slash exploded, engulfing the space around the white Griffin. Everything it touched was obliterated, blood splattering everywhere.

Numerous deep cuts instantly appeared on Guliang's body. With a snap, his left wing broke off, the scattered flesh vaporized by the impact.

The force of the Mighty Nation attack sent the grievously injured Griffin hurtling downward, right towards the White Lion Pirates' ship, which was rocking on the turbulent sea below.

As the ocean surface approached, Guliang found a sudden burst of strength, fighting against the shockwave's recoil to accelerate further.

At some point, his yellow beast eyes turned back into bloodshot human eyes.

Gazing at the pirate ship and its familiar crew, a resolute determination flashed in his eyes. He crashed into the ship, shattering it into pieces and sending the crew flying into the sea.

The Mighty Nation attack followed closely behind.

Boom—!!

The sea erupted into massive waves, the terrifying impact creating a storm that even obscured part of the sky.

With one strike, Guliang was blasted into the ocean, his fate uncertain.

The White Lion Pirates were nearly annihilated, both ship and crew torn apart.

Standing in the sky, Adrian exhaled softly and opened his status panel.

A stream of kill notifications flowed, but Guliang's name was not among them.

Adrian wasn't surprised.

When it comes to being hard to kill, Zoan fruit users are at the top.

Especially since the white Griffin had nearly awakened!

But now that he's fallen into the sea…

Adrian didn't think Guliang's chances were good.

A Griffin is no dragon!

However, Guliang's final act before being blasted into the sea did surprise Adrian.

"Rather than being utterly destroyed by the Mighty Nation, he chose to end his pain prematurely—or perhaps to give them a last chance to survive?"

Adrian was silent for a moment, feeling a bit of admiration for Guliang's resolute will.

Not all pirates on these seas can be heartless.

Clearly, the bond within the White Lion Pirates was stronger than most pirate crews!

Shaking his head, Adrian decided not to dwell on the White Lion Pirates anymore. There were more important matters to attend to.

After the battle, the trial points for the post-war settlement finally appeared on the panel.

[Extreme Trial]: Current Task Progress: 1000/1000!