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"What can you do without your sword?" Arthur's hand, crackling with lightning, shot out from the whirlwind of sword energy, seizing Gram's blade.
Arthur's reflexes were unmatched. Any attack slower than his reaction time was practically frozen in place.
While Gram's Spinning Slash was powerful, Arthur, in his Thunder God form, could withstand it easily.
"Damn!" Gram's cold eyes widened as he struggled to free his sword from Arthur's grip.
"I told you—I'm taking your head to Big Mom's Tea Party. I always keep my promises. Hahahaha!" Arthur's laughter echoed, his excitement growing at the thought of Big Mom's reaction.
He didn't wait for a response.
A surge of electricity coursed through his body, tendrils of lightning snaking outwards, the air crackling with energy.
The intense electric field was almost palpable, a suffocating pressure that caused Gram to instinctively shield his eyes.
"Your head is mine!" Arthur roared, the sound, amplified by his power and the close proximity, slamming into Gram, momentarily disorienting him.
Arthur's grip on Gram's sword tightened.
His leg, crackling with a concentrated burst of lightning, shot out—a laser beam of pure electrical energy—aimed at Gram's exposed torso.
"NOOO! I can't dodge—!"
Gram, still struggling to free his blade, watched in horror as the attack approached, a blinding flash of blue light—then a searing, bone-jarring impact.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact sent him flying, the force of the blow shattering the air, the sound deafening.
His body, propelled by the blast, ripped through the air, the force of his passage flattening the nearby wheat stalks.
He crashed into a rocky outcrop at the edge of the island, the impact creating a massive crater, the force of it even causing fissures to appear in the earth.
Zzzzzzt!
The lightning around Arthur subsided as he returned to his normal form, walking towards the crater where Gram lay.
"Took some effort, but it'll make a nice gift for Big Mom."
"Cough…cough…cough…"
Gram, struggling to sit up, coughed up blood and chunks of his internal organs, his face a mask of pain.
"I knew this day would come…But you…you'll never defeat Mama! She will avenge me! ough…cough…ARGH!" He coughed up another mouthful of blood.
Big Mom's children, her Officers—they were a force to be reckoned with, their vengeance swift and merciless.
Few escaped their wrath...
"Placing your hope for revenge in another's hands? How pathetic." Arthur approached, his electromagnetism activating, pulling Gram's sword from the wreckage. It flew through the air, landing in Arthur's outstretched hand.
"Finished with your last words?"
With a swift, fluid motion, Arthur decapitated Gram, wrapping the head in a piece of cloth he pulled from his storage bracelet, and stored it away.
Big Mom wouldn't be expecting this—her 300 million Belly Officer, "Snakehead" Gram, defeated by a Rookie pirate on some insignificant wheat island.
The loss of such a powerful subordinate would weaken her crew significantly. She'd have to rely on her children to fill the void—and they were still young.
——
The entire battle, lasting barely half an hour, was observed from a ship on the distant horizon, its Jolly Roger a Golden lion's mane—a ship of the Golden Lion Grand Fleet.
Two figures—a man and a woman—stood at the railing, their appearances remarkably…normal for the Grand Line.
The man, around eight feet tall, his head shaved bald, wore a black greatcoat that accentuated his massive, muscular arms.
A cigar was clenched between his teeth.
The woman, barely six feet tall—considered short in the world of giants and towering pirates—wore a bright red dress that contrasted sharply with her flowing blue hair.
Her figure was striking, her face beautiful, her eyes, however, were what truly captivated—a faint, otherworldly glow emanating from them as she gazed towards Wheat Island, and Arthur.
"What did Captain Shiki want us to see? If he's interested in recruiting Arthur—why are we spying on him?" The man, his arms as thick as a gorilla's, puffed out a cloud of smoke, turning to the woman.
"What do you think, Amy?"
"Captain Shiki's motives are not our concern, Brindle. We only follow orders." Amy's voice was cold, her expression impassive.
Questioning Shiki was dangerous.
"Don't you think the Captain has been…different since Edd War? More erratic? Why are we even watching this Arthur kid? His only connection is that brief encounter with Roger—" Brindle grumbled, scratching his head.
"Shut up! That's not for us to discuss!" Amy snapped, a flicker of fear in her glowing eyes.
They both knew Shiki hadn't been the same since his defeat by Roger. He was more volatile, more unpredictable. Anyone who mentioned Edd War risked his wrath.
Brindle, also wary of angering Shiki, quickly changed the subject. "So, what about that Arthur kid? How's he doing against Gram? I hope he gets killed. Saves us the trouble of recruiting him."
Amy's gaze, fixed on the distant island, narrowed.
"It's almost over. Arthur has the upper hand."
"No way—!" Brindle exclaimed, instinctively touching the long scar on his neck.
He had faced Gram before...
Gram was strong. Much stronger than him.
If not for a timely intervention—he'd be dead. And this Arthur kid, a newcomer to the New World, had him on the ropes?
No wonder the kid was arrogant.
"It's over. Gram's dead. Decapitated. Let's go meet him—and deliver Captain Shiki's message." The light in Amy's eyes dimmed as she wiped away a tear, then turned to Brindle. "Get the ship ready."
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