"What's there to be careful about?"
The Vice Admiral gripping his battle axe stared at Ethan with a puzzled look.
According to the intelligence he'd received, Ethan was nothing but a lucky survivor from God Valley who happened to eat a Devil Fruit. His combat power was practically nonexistent.
There was no record of him ever displaying Haki.
If Big Mom and Kaido hadn't held off Saint Saturn, Ethan wouldn't have stood a chance at obtaining that Devil Fruit.
With that thought, the Vice Admiral was fully at ease, his gaze dripping with disdain.
"Three-Eyed brat, don't think that just because you ate a Devil Fruit you're invincible. On these seas, Haki reigns supreme over Devil Fruits!"
As he finished speaking, the Vice Admiral roared, unleashing his Armament Haki from his chest. In a blink, his entire body was coated in pitch-black armor.
His giant battle axe was also enveloped in a dense layer of Armament Haki.
"I'll show you the true power of Haki today!"
The moment his words dropped, he charged and swung his axe down toward Ethan.
"Full-body Armament? Not bad."
Ethan easily sidestepped the strike, a flicker of genuine appreciation flashing in his eyes.
He knew there were Marines capable of full-body Armament like this, but when facing the Ope Ope no Mi, they still met swift defeat.
Ethan didn't have the Ope Ope's cutting abilities, but breaking through Armament Hardening wasn't a challenge for him.
As long as his opponent was touched by his Shura Holy Flame, even someone like Saint Saturn would be forced to shed a layer of skin.
He seriously doubted this Vice Admiral could handle it.
Ethan glanced over at Big Mom's battle and shook his head.
"Not yet. Big Mom and Sengoku haven't gone all out. They still have the energy to monitor this fight."
He was certain that if he finished the Vice Admiral too quickly or showed signs of escaping, both Big Mom and Sengoku would immediately stop fighting and hunt him down together.
"At the very least, I need to wait until they've burned through most of their stamina before I make my move."
With that decision made, Ethan settled in to toy with the Vice Admiral, carefully holding back to avoid accidentally ending the fight with a single blow.
"Right, time to test my 'Byakugan' Weak Point Detection."
He hadn't yet used this ability in battle, so he activated it immediately. The world before his eyes transformed.
Apart from the network of meridians in the Vice Admiral's body, everything else faded to white.
He noticed black energy clearly Armament Haki circulating through the Vice Admiral's meridians, gradually coating his entire body.
"So the black energy must be his Armament Haki." Ethan analyzed calmly.
Then he spotted something odd a minuscule gap on the Vice Admiral's left waist that wasn't covered by the black energy.
"Could it be that his Armament Haki isn't fully mastered, leaving this flaw?"
Without his awakened vision, Ethan might never have noticed it.
Now that he'd found the weak spot, he kept a blank expression, carefully watching Big Mom and Sengoku's escalating battle. Neither of them had time to spare for him anymore.
Sweeping his gaze across the three Vice Admirals, Ethan muttered under his breath.
"Looks like the time is right. I've played long enough it's time to send you off."
Originally, only one Vice Admiral was assigned to him. But when the other two saw their comrade unable to take Ethan down after so long, they jumped in to help surround him.
Just as the three of them were about to subdue him, Ethan's calm declaration left them stunned.
They couldn't understand why he still dared to speak so boldly when death was clearly imminent.
"Brat, you're looking to die"
Before the words fully left his mouth, a powerful sense of impending doom slammed into them. An overwhelming aura erupted from Ethan's body.
"Ikoku Sovereignty!"
A mountain-crushing sword beam tore through the air, slashing across their skin and piercing their chests, slicing their bodies clean in half.
"How… how can this be?!"
The three Vice Admirals stared in disbelief. They couldn't comprehend how Ethan, who had clearly been on the defensive just moments ago, could suddenly unleash such terrifying power.
Even the Vice Admiral wielding the giant axe was dumbfounded as he stared at the wound on his left waist.
That was his greatest weakness a tiny flaw where his Armament Haki never quite covered. He had always concealed it perfectly. No one had ever discovered it.
"How did he know? Does he have… X-ray vision?!"
There was no time to find the answer. His body was split in half by the sword energy and plunged heavily into the sea, blood dyeing the waves.
The frenzy of fish below tore the corpses apart within seconds, leaving only a bloody stain behind.
After effortlessly killing the three Vice Admirals, Ethan casually reached out his hand. His soul power surged, instantly pulling the souls from the nearby fallen Marines and pirates into glowing soul spheres, which he promptly absorbed.
As he felt his soul growing stronger, he noticed something strange the seeds in his dantian were absorbing souls too.
"What's going on?" Ethan frowned in confusion.
Ever since he had eaten the Devil Fruit, three seeds had appeared in his upper, middle, and lower dantian.
He had spent days studying them but had made no progress.
He'd nearly written them off as useless until now.
To his astonishment, one of the seeds began sprouting tiny roots and firmly planted itself in his upper dantian.
"Could this be the first step toward blooming and bearing fruit?"
Ethan pondered silently.
When the seed stopped growing, he set the thought aside and prepared to leave the battlefield.
"Hmm? This entry looks interesting."
Just before he departed, he spotted several entries hovering over a Fishman pirate's body.
[Underwater Breathing (White): Grants the ability to breathe underwater for 30 seconds, unaffected by Devil Fruit limitations.]
"Immune to seawater?"
Ethan's eyes widened in shock.
Everyone knew that once someone consumed a Devil Fruit, regardless of race even Fishmen they would become vulnerable to seawater and lose the ability to swim.
But with this entry, he could defy that restriction.
"Even if it's just thirty seconds, that's more than enough to save my life."
Without hesitation, he absorbed Underwater Breathing into his system.
His entry slots were already full. If he wanted to take in new ones, he would have to crush existing entries to free up space.
"You killed three Vice Admirals! Brat, I'll have your head!"
Before he could celebrate, a thunderous roar exploded in his ears. In the next instant, a brilliant golden light appeared in his vision.
Sengoku's shockwave struck at terrifying speed. Ethan had no time to react it blasted him dozens of meters backward, sending him hurtling toward the sea.
Fighting through the searing pain, Ethan forced his eyes open and saw Big Mom and Sengoku both rushing toward him.
His lips curled into a cold sneer.
"I'm done playing. See you later."
He didn't resist the momentum he crashed into the sea and quickly sank beneath the surface, vanishing from their sight in the blink of an eye.
Seeing her beloved fall into the sea, Big Mom's eyes burned with rage. Her killing intent surged as she glared at Sengoku.
"Sengoku! I'll make you pay with your life!"