Chapter 38

The blood-seeking war began between two pirate crews, in ruins where many metal objects were lying everywhere.

*Clang* The trident, held by Wire, struck the metal wall behind as Dan managed to dodge it by a narrow margin.

'That weapon… it's not affected by their captain's magnetic force.' Dan thought as he saw his opponent wielding the weapon with ease. 'Its hardness and sharpness feel stronger than the average steel alloy used for a typical weapon. A good strategy; their enemies will be disarmed while they get to keep theirs.'

Wire charged at Dan again, while spinning the trident atop of his head.

*Clang* *Clang* Quickly grabbing the metal pole that was lying down near him, Dan blocked the rapid strikes from Wire.

"Keep thinking, but that won't lead you anywhere, coward." Wire mocked in disdain as his trident didn't cease to stop striking. Up. Down, spin and then swipe from the left. Wire's wild and unkempt attacks were troubling Dan at the current moment.

At the same time, Kid, who was facing Rowan, operated his ability to a great extent, causing Dan's metal pole to slip off from his grip!

The trident was about to stab through Dan, until Wire had to dodge the daggers that flew towards him at a blinding speed.

With a shocked face, Wire turned his head and sighted Carina's hand outreached to Wire, while fending off against Killer by grabbing other metal objects from the ground.

'*Phew* Nice one Carina! You used magnetic force from their captain to enhance the velocity of the dagger!' Dan silently thanked Carina before widening the gap.

"Doesn't change anything." Wire regained his composure and stated impassively, with his grip on the trident tightened. "Don't expect your crew mate to help you again!!"

Nearby, Heat was struggling against Carmen.

'A logia-type fruit that grants complete control on fire…' Heat grimaced as he gazed at his disfigured sword. In front of him was Carmen, who was completely unscathed.

Standing full of confidence, Carmen opened her signature fan and made a dramatic pose.

"Witness the brilliance of Fiery Carmen! No one shall stand before the queen of fire!!" Carmen shouted her monologue before flapping her fan towards Heat in a wide motion, from left to right.

"Arc of Flamboyance!" Carmen announced as a huge arc of fire was emitted out of her fan flap and began to travel towards Heat.

"*Huaaa*" Heat inhaled the air as much as possible, filling his lung full of air. Right afterward, he exhaled a huge stream of fire from his mouth, to match Carmen's attack.

*BOOMM* Two fire streams collided with one another and exploded in midair. Before the hot wind blasted towards Heat, causing a few burns on his skin.

"Ugh!" Shielding the heat by crossing his arms in front of his face, Heat felt conflicted. Not only is his strongest attack, which is breathing fire, have no effect on the enemy, but Carmen's casual use of her ability was already overwhelming for him to deal with. Quickly thinking, Heat began to retreat towards the water tank that used to be a part of 'Gran's Deli & Bar,' as he realized that water may be the only way to counter Carmen's power.

However, Carmen didn't sit idly. She reached the same conclusion as Heat and instantly propelled herself towards the water by changing her form into the fire. She was notably faster than Heat, who was running, but due to her lack of control, she failed to change back to her normal body and ended up crashing into the water tank.

*BOOM* The water tank collided with Carmen's fire and evaporated with a boom, causing the steam to cover the entire area.

"Heh, nice one Carmen." Carina smirked as the steam enveloped her and Killer, who she was struggling to fight against with Kid's constant use of magnetic force. Immediately sneaking through the battlefield, she snatched the sword from Heat, who received the full blow of steam right in front of his face and received another set of burns.

"Tch. A fire devil fruit user? Seems like we are at disadvantage." Killer assessed the situation calmly and tensed his stance. Although he was very agile and possessed strength that far surpasses Carina, he did not have senses as enhanced as her to roam freely when his vision was obstructed.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* From the steam, Killer immediately blocked the slashes that came from his left shoulder, right leg, and top of his head consecutively, before backflipping away from his original position.

*BOOM* Amidst the steam, the sound of Rowan's bounce force boomed loudly before the metal objects started to fly in every direction. Carina and Killer parried or dodged, Carmen simply stood as they went through her body, Dan, Heat and Wire ducked to avoid getting hit.

Eventually, the mist cleared, and Wire managed to dodge just in time before Carina's strike landed on him. Swapping opponents, Heat dashed to close the distance between him and Dan, while Killer jumped with his scythe-like blades heading towards Carmen, who was recovering from the crash.

"Exactly what I was waiting for." Dan smiled confidently with a metal frame in his hand while dashing towards Heat as fast as possible. 'I've seen this dude's attack while his fight with Carmen; he breathes fire. If I time correctly, I can use this to my advantage.'

Heat knew that Dan didn't possess any special ability and that he was the weakest link of Rowan's crew. Inhaling air, Heat blasted the fire towards Dan, who dodged by sliding himself under the fire. Heat lowered his head to change the target to Dan while jumping back, but Dan already predicted this and leaped himself sideways to dodge the stream of fire. Running out of breath, the fire from Heat's mouth ceased and Heat raised his hand to prepare for Dan's strike, who held the metal frame back, ready to strike.

However, right before the metal frame landed, Dan let go of it, and while Heat blocked the metal frame thrown at him, Dan revealed a small metal screw in his hand, before slamming it into Heat's chest!

"HEAT!!" Wire cried as he saw the scene, but he didn't have time to help Heat, as he too was slashed by Carina multiple times, causing him to stumble back from the pain. Gritting his teeth in pain, Wire spun the trident all around his body, attempting to parry Carina's strikes, however, she was nimble and agile, to an extent where she somehow slipped through Wire's defence before wounding him further.

*BOOM* Killer was seen to be flown up in the air and crashed into the metal wall with scorch mark on his abdomen, as Carmen managed to evaporate all water on her body just before Killer's strike landed, then turned herself into the fire, causing Killer's slashes to go through her, before blasting a fire towards his exposed stomach.

"*Kek*" Spitting out blood, Killer wobbly stood back up. "Heat, Wire, stand up! Is that all you got?!" With Killer's shout, Heat and Wire stood back up as well.

"H-heh, what do you mean. We are just getting started." Heat bumped his fists together as he stood on the left of Killer. Wire too stood up with his trident supporting his weight, on Killer's right.

"Time for round two." Killer's demeanor changed as he threw away one of his melted scythe-like blades, before crouching down.

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*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Rowan and Kid were seen to be on constant move, with Rowan advancing towards Kid with his punches backed by bounce, while Kid was defending each strike with metal clusters he created in a small amount of time, while continuously retreating away from the other groups.

'Our plan isn't working as intended.' Kid thought while facing off against Rowan. 'My presence isn't helping Killer, Heat, and Wire; I've almost injured them myself. Besides, I cannot defeat Grimheart without exerting my full strength, which means I got to get away from them.'

Every time they collided, metal objects were seen to be flying everywhere, and the buildings nearby were being disintegrated due to Kid's ability.

"Attract!!" Kid held out his hand that was encased with purple electricity, and numerous amount of metal objects that were flying away abruptly stopped in midair before shooting towards Rowan and Kid at a rapid pace.

*BOOM* Rowan used bounce all around his body to repel the objects, but they kept on regaining their speed towards him, which left no choice for him but to jump up to dodge them.

The metal objects soon joined together to form a large fist on Kid's left arm, who held the metal-clad arm up towards Rowan, who was in the midair.

"Repel!!" The giant cluster of metal shot towards Rowan at a rapid pace, who bounced in the midair and backflipped to dodge Kid's attack just in time. Subsequently, Rowan propelled himself towards Kid by bouncing on the air once more, while cocking his right arm back, with his palm open.

At Kid's command, the metals once again flew towards him and formed a thick, metal shield on his left arm.

"Bounce Crash, 10-Hit." Rowan's palm came in contact with Kid's metal-clad arm. Ten loud booming sounds were rapidly heard consecutively, and Kid's confident grin turned into a shock.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Six strikes formed a noticeable crack in Kid's metal shield, before the seventh strike completely broke it apart.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* The last three strikes landed on his left arm which was left defenseless, completely shattering the bones and causing it to bleed severely.

"Ugh..." Kid clenched his teeth and immediately jumped back, with his right arm covering his severely injured left arm. However, his eyes continued to burn in fighting spirit.

Landing on his feet, Rowan quickly checked Kid's state before propelling himself once again. This time, Kid too jumped towards Rowan, with his fight fist stretched out towards Rowan.

"Punk..." The metals all around them began to attach themselves on Kid's right arm at a blinding pace. In less than half a second, Kid's arm became impossibly huge, and Rowan saw a giant arm blasting towards him with a blinding speed!

"Bounce..." Rowan stopped himself from propelling by skidding on the floor and prepared himself just before the giant metal arm reached him.

"Gibson!!" / "Rush!!" Both simultaneously shouted as one giant metal arm and blindingly fast punches collided.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Rowan's insanely fast punches, reinforced by the strongest bounce forces he could muster, faced against Kid's giant metal punch that crashed onto him with domineering strength. The shockwaves produced from Rowan's constant bounce forces blasted off, destroying everything around the surrounding.

Rowan was skidding on the ground due to the enormous force from Kid, but didn't stop his punches. Eventually, Kid lost his momentum and landed on the ground.

"Repel!" Kid's giant arm immediately blasted off right in front of Rowan before he could dodge. Crossing his arm in front of himself, Rowan generated bounce all around his body to parry all the metal objects propelled towards him.

"*Huff* *Huff*" Landing on his feet, Rowan was seen to be sweating profusely as his face showed visible fatigue. Kid too seemed exhausted and in pain, with his severely damaged left arm still not taken care of.

"Well, shall we continue?" Catching his breath, Rowan let out a grin, which was reflected by another one from Kid.

"Naturally." Kid replied as the metal objects began to gather around his right arm again, with the surrounding completely devoid of any other life except for the two. "Don't die too quick, Grimheart!!"