novelraw Chapter 290 290: They Reached Out Their Hands
Chapter 290 290: They Reached Out Their Hands
Shanks' boots scorched two black trails across the deck, while Buggy's spiral legs carved ripples across the sea.
They both steadied themselves at the same time, then broke into the same grin.
Boom!
Buggy's fist split into three streams, striking toward Shanks' face from different angles.
But the red-haired man seemed to "see" the future and dodged with ease, his elbow driving straight toward Buggy's ribs.
Smack!
Buggy's abdomen split open on its own, forming a hollow gap that let the blow pass through, while his knee slammed up into Shanks' chin.
Shanks' jaw cracked audibly.
"Hey, hey, Buggy. Didn't we agree this would be a clean, bare-handed brawl?"
Every one of Shanks' attacks aimed straight for Buggy's red nose.
Every one of Buggy's strikes went straight for Shanks' groin.
"That's dirty fighting!" Shanks suddenly grabbed Buggy by the ankle. "Fly!"
"Waaah!"
Buggy was hurled away like a shot put.
"Shanks, why are you grabbing my ankle?"
Buggy dug in his nose. His left ankle was gone, but the rest of his body was still intact.
"Shanks, you bastard! You pulled this trick back on Roger's ship twenty years ago! Can't you come up with something new?!"
"Hahaha! So that's what it's called now? It feels pretty natural to me."
Shanks suddenly leapt into the air. Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his right fist.
"Try this on for size!"
Buggy's scattered body parts fused back together in an instant. Purple Haki coated his entire body.
"Clown Armor!"
He threw a punch, colliding head-on with Shanks' left fist.
Boom!
The shockwave from their fists crushed the sea into a bowl-shaped depression nearly a hundred meters wide.
Mor stuffed the microphone into his beak, screaming with excitement. "Ah! Is the ship going to fall apart? Is it going to fall apart?"
Motor's camera shook violently. "But they are not directly attacking the ship. Such noble warrior spirit!"
Buggy pulled his scattered parts back into place.
Boom!
His knee smashed into Shanks' abdomen.
The red-haired man grunted, then his left hand flashed out, catching Buggy by the ankle and hurling him over his shoulder into the sea.
Splash.
Before Buggy touched the water, his body split apart again. The fragments swarmed together behind Shanks and reassembled in midair. His right fist, glowing with purple Haki, smashed down toward Shanks' spine.
"Clown Heavy Cannon!"
Shanks suddenly threw his head back and laughed. He did not dodge. He braced himself and took the blow head-on.
Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his entire body, crushing the sea beneath their feet into a hemispherical crater.
Reed, you two are going to get people killed if you keep fighting like this.
They had chosen the least destructive way to fight when it came to the ships.
Because if Shanks were serious, that so-called Divine Evasion would not be the only thing he remembered. In terms of sheer power, he had a lot more to say.
Speaking of Kid, people could not help but complain.
When fighting Big Mom, Kid endured endless beatings.
When he met Shanks, one slash and he was gone.
Known facts: Big Mom used countless "sit-ups" to fight Kid.
Also known as: Red-Haired Kid gets taken out in one strike.
Formula: one hit, instant defeat.
The Red-Haired Empress could probably cut Big Mom down in one blow.
That was ridiculous.
"So strong!" Blood trickled from the corner of Shanks' mouth, but his right hand clamped onto Buggy's wrist. "My turn!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three brutal uppercuts slammed into Buggy's abdomen, each one exploding with a deafening sonic boom.
Buggy's body felt cold, but he grinned, baring bloodstained teeth.
"Is that all you've got?!"
He suddenly slammed his head into Shanks' nose. Blood sprayed from both of them, mixing in midair.
"Captain!" Mochi hugged Richie the lion and shouted. "Use your ability!"
"Shut up!" Buggy roared, mouth wide open. "This is between me and Red-Hair!"
Shanks' cloak was in tatters, his bronze-toned upper body covered in bruises.
He spat out blood, then suddenly assumed the very same stance Gol D. Roger once used when stepping onto the battlefield.
"Come on?"
Buggy's pupils shrank. His body moved on instinct, mirroring the exact same stance.
"Afraid of you?!"
They charged at each other like cannonballs. The instant their fists collided
Crack!
The shockwave tore open the clouds in the sky. Bolts of Conqueror's Haki lightning poured down like a storm.
Buggy's armored right arm shattered piece by piece. Shanks' finger bones groaned under the pressure.
Boom!
Both men were blasted backward, crashing into the deck and leaving human-shaped craters behind them.
Buggy's nosebleed shot three meters into the air. "My nose! Damn it!"
Shanks' left eye swelled shut. "Draw?"
"Don't lie!" Buggy sprouted over a dozen hands and flipped him off. "You used Conqueror's Haki first!"
The sea suddenly fell silent.
They struggled to their feet, only to see countless ships halted a hundred meters away, pirate cannons all trained on them.
It had to be said.
Both pirate crews were gaining fame at a terrifying speed, rising into two dominant powers of the seas. Buggy the Clown Emperor and the Red-Haired Pirates. Shanks' name thundered across the New World and the Grand Line.
If they fell here, then whoever defeated them would gain even more fame as they grew stronger in the future.
In this massive fleet, pirate ships made up the overwhelming majority.
Sometimes Reed could not understand it.
Were these pirates really willing to risk their lives for nothing more than a title?
"Hehehe…"
With a thunderous roar, Donquixote Doflamingo descended from the sky in flamboyant fashion.
"Interrupting someone else's match…"
"…always comes at a price."
Charlotte Perospero's candy cannons finished charging.
Shanks and Buggy stood back to back, grinning at the same time.
"Heh…"
"Looks like things got out of hand…"
Mor screamed into the microphone. "Unprecedented! The Red-Haired Pirates and the Buggy Pirates are being forced into an alliance! This is insane!"
Shanks and Buggy stood back to back on the deck of the Red Force, their purple Haki twisting together into a spiraling helix in the air.
"We're fighting side by side again, Buggy." Shanks' eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Tch, don't get in my way, Shanks." Buggy stared at the warships aiming their cannons at them. His severed right hand had already reattached itself.
"Fire!"
Hundreds of cannons roared at once. Cannonballs rained down like a storm.
Shanks' Conqueror's Haki erupted, crushing half of the cannonballs into dust midair.
Buggy's body split into thousands of fragments, each one intercepting a cannonball with perfect precision.
"Super Disassembly!"
The cannonballs fell apart silently at his touch, breaking into clouds of iron fragments that drifted down like metallic snow.
"Beckman!" Shanks shouted.
Ben Beckman raised his flintlock calmly while smoking, aiming straight at the powder magazines of three pirate ships.
Buggy split into thousands of purple Haki-infused fragments once more.
"Super Disassembly Circus Charge!"
Shanks finally drew Gryphon. A slash infused with Conqueror's Haki swept across the sea.
"Divine Evasion. Hundred Strikes!"
Crimson sword waves surged forward like a tidal flood, flipping dozens of enemy ships into the air.
Buggy reassembled his body and leapt onto the Red Force's mast.
"Boys! Fire on me!"
Bang bang bang!
When the smoke cleared, dozens of enemy ships lay broken across the sea, black smoke curling from their hulls.
Only drifting planks and unconscious bodies remained on the water.
Shanks and Buggy stood at the bow of the ship and reached out their hands at the same time.
Smack.