Pirate: I, Ace, am the King of Eclipse!

He no longer simply compressed his domineering aura onto the surface of his skin to withstand it, but instead tried to push the energy within his body outward like flames.

"Dragon Hook Claw·Flowing Flame!"

Sabo's right hand shot out sharply, meeting the falling katana.

In that brief moment when the two fingers are about to touch the blade.

Sabo sensed that a slight amount of Armament Haki covering his fingers seemed to leak out. That invisible wisp of Haki briefly collided with Momonga's blade before physical contact could occur.

"clang!"

A crisp, distinct sound of impact rang out, quite different from the previous one.

Lieutenant General Flying Squirrel's expression changed drastically.

He felt his seemingly inevitable strike, just before it would land on his opponent's fingers, as if it had struck an invisible, incredibly resilient, slippery current of energy. The blade was actually deflected by half an inch by the surging, domineering aura!

It was that half-inch deflection that allowed Sabo's dragon claw to precisely avoid the sharpest edge of the blade and land directly on the guard of the katana!

"What?!" The flying squirrel was shocked and tried to draw its sword to defend itself, but found that the blade was as if it had been cast into solid iron and did not move at all.

"We've got you, Lieutenant General."

Sabo raised his head, his blue eyes fixed on the flying squirrel.

He didn't let this critical opportunity slip by. His left hand transformed into a fist, and the raging orange-red flames were compressed to an extreme degree in an instant, carrying a terrifyingly high temperature that could burn everything, and slammed hard into Vice Admiral Squirrel's chest.

"fire punch!"

A close-range, point-of-effect explosion!

The raging pillar of fire transformed into a roaring fire dragon, piercing straight through the flying squirrel's defenses. Even though the flying squirrel used Iron Body and covered itself in Armament Haki at the last moment, it was still blasted by the destructive impact of this combination of Armament Haki and high temperature, causing it to cough up blood.

"boom!"

Lieutenant General Flying Squirrel's tall body flew backward as if out of control, crashing heavily into a pile of steel rubble dozens of meters away. His famous sword also flew out of his hand and stuck diagonally in the scorched soil.

The flames gradually faded away.

Sabo stood there, panting heavily. His elegant tuxedo was now tattered, and several deep and shallow bloodstains were visible on his arms. He had also exhausted most of his strength.

He ignored the flying squirrel lying in the ruins, unable to fight, and instead lowered his head, quietly looking at his right hand.

Just a moment ago...

The domineering aura did indeed extend briefly at my fingertips. The feeling was incredibly strange, like breaking free of the body's inherent confinement and allowing the power to truly come alive.

But that feeling was fleeting. No matter how hard he tried to capture it now, the domineering aura remained firmly attached to his skin like a block of iron, unable to flow out naturally as before.

"Was it just a flash of inspiration on the verge of life and death?"

Sabo clenched his right fist, his eyes showing no disappointment but rather a more determined fighting spirit.

Although he hadn't fully mastered the advanced flow, he had already cracked a veil. He was certain that with more life-or-death battles of this level, he would be able to completely internalize this power before reaching the Sabaody Archipelago.

"However, this battle is truly difficult."

Sabo took a deep breath, calming his surging blood. He bent down and pulled the alloy rod from the ground, then turned to look at the other directions of the high ground battlefield.

The sea breeze dispersed the smoke of battle.

When he saw Ace slowly walking up from the edge of a huge crater in another direction, while the legendary Navy veteran Zephyr lay dead in the ruins, Sabo laughed.

It seems they have won this clash with the old era.

Chapter 46 The Sensation of Life and Death, The Captain's Guarantee

The heavy black steel greatsword collided violently with the fist covered in Armament Haki, exploding into a blinding cloud of sparks.

On the other side of the high ground battlefield, Leona's situation had become extremely precarious.

She was panting heavily, her wild, dark red hair soaked with sweat and blood, clinging tightly to her cheeks. Several deep, bone-revealing cuts marred her dark brown leather apron, the intense pain constantly assaulting her nerves, yet the fighting spirit in her vertical pupils grew ever more ferocious.

Standing opposite her was a well-built naval commander.

"She's a woman as tenacious as a wild beast."

The commodore flicked the blood off his fist, his eyes cold. "Without systematic physical training, and without even knowing Haki, you managed to withstand so many of my attacks relying solely on your beastly instincts and monstrous strength. As a pirate, you do have some talent."

"Enough with the nonsense!"

Leona gritted her teeth, gripping a black and a silver knife tightly in both hands. "On my chopping board, there's only meat that gets chopped up, no bone that can't be cut!"

With a sudden burst of power from her legs, she charged forward like an enraged lioness, meeting her opponent head-on. The black steel broadsword, accompanied by a whistling sound as it tore through the air, slashed down.

"too slow."

The brigadier snorted coldly and stomped his feet repeatedly on the ground. "Shave!"

His figure vanished instantly, leaving only a blurry afterimage. Leona slammed her powerful blade into the open ground, sending shards of stone flying.

"Here!"

A chilling voice came from Leona's blind spot. The brigadier appeared silently to her left, his index finger taut as a needle, aimed at her vital area below the ribs. "Finger gun!"

The force of the energy emanating from his fingertips was already upon him. At this distance and speed, the body's physical reaction was simply too late to dodge.

"I'll die!"

Just as the finger gun was about to pierce her body, Leona's mind went completely blank.

She couldn't hear the chaotic sounds of artillery fire on the battlefield, nor could she hear the wind. In her perception, the whole world seemed to have suddenly been put on slow motion.

Just as that fatal finger was about to pierce her internal organs, an instinct honed from years of hunting prey in the ancient forest, under the pressure of this desperate situation, suddenly broke through an invisible membrane.

She didn't look with her eyes, but the trajectory of the brigadier general's arm muscles contracting suddenly appeared in her mind!

"Now!"

Leona, relying entirely on this sudden intuition, twisted her waist by half an inch at an incredible angle.

"laugh!"

The finger gun, originally aimed at her heart, grazed the edge of her ribs, drawing a long trail of blood.

Although she was still injured, she avoided fatal wounds!

Not only that, in the instant she dodged the attack, Leona used her left hand to grip the silver boning blade and thrust it upwards, the blade like a venomous snake, tearing a deep, bloody gash into the brigadier's arm!

"what?!"

The commodore staggered back in pain, clutching his bleeding arm, his eyes filled with shock. Just a moment ago, the female pirate's movements had completely exceeded the limits of human reflexes; she had clearly predicted his attack trajectory!

"The rudiments of Observation Haki?!" The brigadier's face darkened.

"Huh...huh..."

Leona knelt on the ground, using her black steel greatsword to support her body. She gasped for breath; that brief moment of awareness had saved her life but also drained her energy. Her strength was nearly depleted, and her hands gripping the sword trembled uncontrollably.

"If you can even grasp the basics of dominance in actual combat, keeping you around would be a disaster."

The brigadier held nothing back; he crossed his arms and unleashed a powerful vacuum slash with his right leg in mid-air.

"Storm Kick - Chaos!"

A dense barrage of crescent-shaped vacuum slashes wove together a strangling net, engulfing Leona in a devastating onslaught.

Leona gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand up. She knew she couldn't withstand this attack; the miraculous sensation she had felt earlier didn't return, and excessive blood loss was blurring her vision.

Even so, this proud lioness would never close her eyes and wait to die. She raised her twin swords, ready to take the onslaught of slashing waves head-on.

At this critical moment.

"boom!"

A tall, imposing black figure descended from the sky without warning, standing firmly in front of Leona like a mountain.

The wind whipped up his dark red trench coat.

Faced with those dense slashes that were enough to shred steel, he didn't even lift a hand.

"Om-"

A layer of black Armament Haki instantly covered his back and shoulders.

"Clang clang clang clang!"

The dense slashes and strikes struck the invisible armor, producing a series of dull metallic crackling sounds, before shattering and dissipating like waves crashing against rocks!

The brigadier general's pupils contracted sharply, and cold sweat poured down his face.

As the smoke cleared, the black-haired man, who resembled a demon god, turned around.

Ace turned around and glanced at the brigadier general. The general had already seen Zephyr lying dead in the distance, and his clenched fists trembled slightly.

"Well done." Ace turned his head slightly and glanced at Leona, who was covered in blood but still gripping the knife tightly.

There was no reprimand in his tone, only affirmation of his companion's breakthrough: "Being able to capture the opponent's aura in that instant means you've already touched the threshold of Observation Haki."

"captain……"

Leona's tense nerves finally relaxed completely the moment she saw that broad back. She collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, but a smile appeared on her face.

Ace withdrew his gaze and looked again at the terrified naval admiral not far away.

"Even that old bastard Zephyr has fallen, are you shrimp soldiers and crab generals still going to continue fighting?" Ace asked calmly.

"Zeff-sensei has been defeated?!"

The brigadier was struck dumb, and he looked sharply towards the other side of the high ground. When he vaguely saw the crater that had been blasted into ruins, his fighting spirit completely collapsed.

But he gritted his teeth and raised his trembling fists: "I am a Marine Headquarters Admiral, and I will never bow down to pirates!"

"It has backbone, but it's meaningless."

Ace strode forward and walked towards the brigadier.

He didn't use divine fire, or even the Flowing Sakura technique. Against an opponent whose strength was on a completely different level, any unnecessary moves would be a waste of time.

The brigadier roared and swung his heavy fist, which was covered in iron blocks.

Ace dodged the punch by tilting his head. Immediately afterward, he clenched his right fist, and jet-black Armament Haki instantly covered his fist. With a sudden burst of power from his waist, he delivered a straight punch without any fancy moves, slamming it hard into the commodore's abdomen.

"boom!"

With a dull, piercing sound of bones shattering, the brigadier's eyes bulged out, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His prized Six Powers Defense was as thin as paper in front of Ace's monstrous strength. He was lifted off the ground and shot backward dozens of meters, crashing heavily through a thick stone wall before instantly losing consciousness.