Cavendish rushed forward in a fury and launched a fierce assault on Jerry, his elegant sword work reflecting years of aristocratic training.
"I just went with the flow—it wasn't intentional," Jerry explained casually while effortlessly dodging Cavendish's lightning-fast sword strike. "Once my face-targeting kick technique activates, it automatically follows the natural law of facial magnetism and unconsciously seeks out people's faces."
He grinned mischievously as he continued, "Look, just like this!"
As he spoke, Jerry smoothly evaded another sword thrust and delivered a perfectly aimed kick toward Cavendish's face.
Reacting instinctively, Cavendish drew his sword up to block the incoming attack and shouted indignantly, "You're still doing it?!"
Seeing his oversized flip-flop successfully intercepted by Cavendish's blade, Jerry nodded approvingly. "Whew... Fortunately, I managed to protect my handsome features through sheer determination. My devastating good looks have been preserved!"
The two fighters moved with increasing speed, and despite Cavendish's careful defensive efforts, Jerry's relentless kicks continued targeting his face with remarkable persistence.
"Really? Then keep blocking them," Jerry said with obvious amusement, genuinely impressed to meet someone who prioritized facial defense as much as he valued his own appearance.
If Cavendish hadn't broken into their hotel room the previous night and nearly injured innocent people, Jerry wouldn't have been quite so focused on targeting his face specifically.
"Boom! Boom boom!"
The two combatants moved back and forth with incredible speed, the continuous sounds of their clash echoing through the square.
Fortunately, the terrain here was open with considerable distance from the busy commercial streets. Few unrelated people remained in the immediate area, and those who witnessed the fighting wisely fled the scene simultaneously.
"Hey! Damn it! Are you picking a fight with my face specifically?" Cavendish demanded with growing frustration.
"You keep attacking my handsome features! Are you jealous that I'm more beautiful than you?" he continued accusingly.
"You think you can land a kick on me? Not a chance!" he declared defiantly.
It wasn't long before Cavendish began shouting in genuine annoyance, primarily because Jerry maintained that infuriating smirk while consistently attacking with his legs, targeting facial features with every single technique.
Faced with Cavendish's obvious provocation, Jerry decided to respond more directly.
"Haha, in terms of pure physical attractiveness, I'm certainly not inferior to you," Jerry replied with confident amusement.
"But since you've brought up the subject, I have no choice but to kick your head until it resembles a pig's!" he added with mock seriousness.
Jerry's smile remained unchanged, but his attack and defensive speed increased dramatically, forcing Cavendish to work much harder to keep up.
Witnessing this escalation, Cavendish couldn't help but adopt a more serious fighting stance.
He had seen Jerry's photograph in newspapers where the pirate had made major headlines, and knew he was dealing with a genuinely powerful opponent with a substantial bounty.
While he'd had no clear idea about Jerry's actual combat capabilities beforehand, he now felt considerably more pressure. After all, his opponent was fighting him using only leg techniques, which demonstrated either supreme confidence or overwhelming skill—possibly both.
At this point in his career, Cavendish had just recently set sail and hadn't yet formally established his own pirate crew, let alone attempted to challenge the New World's dangers.
His strength was indeed considered among the top tier within Paradise, but remained significantly inferior to Jerry's level of power and experience.
This disparity became increasingly apparent as the fight continued and Cavendish's responses grew more reluctant and defensive.
Cavendish possessed genuine talent as a swordsman. When he'd first gone to sea, he already wielded strength approaching true swordsman level, and after his brief time adventuring, he had now achieved that prestigious rank.
Combined with his naturally impressive speed, he hadn't encountered any serious rivals during his time exploring Paradise's various islands.
Coupled with his usual elegant mannerisms, flashy aristocratic clothing, and undeniably handsome appearance, Cavendish had genuinely become quite famous throughout the region.
He commanded a large following of enthusiastic fans, and many reporters eagerly published news about him even when nothing particularly noteworthy had occurred, simply to guarantee newspaper sales.
During the intense rapid exchanges between the two fighters, a sudden distinctive sound interrupted their rhythm.
Cavendish had failed to react quickly enough, allowing Jerry to skillfully kick his sword aside and land a solid blow to the side of his face.
Cavendish stumbled backward several meters, rubbing his slightly swollen left cheek with obvious pain, and roared furiously:
"Are you serious?! My handsome face..." he wailed dramatically.
"I'll destroy you for this!" he declared with renewed determination.
Seeing Cavendish charging toward him again, Jerry raised an amused smile and called out cheerfully:
"I promised I'd kick your head until it looked like a pig's, and I always keep my word!"
Before finishing his statement, Jerry rushed forward to meet the attack.
The enraged Cavendish gripped his famous sword "Durandal" tightly, stepped lightly on the ground, and shot forward like a released arrow. He gathered tremendous strength in his arms and thrust straight ahead with devastating precision.
"Beautiful Sword: Blue Bird!" he announced his technique.
The blade thrust forward at tremendous speed, causing the surrounding air to swirl violently as sharp winds whistled outward, heading directly for Jerry's face in obvious retaliation.
Jerry remained completely calm, standing motionless while drawing his fishing rod with his right hand. He appeared unhurried and relaxed, waiting until his opponent's attack drew dangerously close before swinging the rod fiercely in a single fluid motion.
"Let me demonstrate my improvised fishing rod technique," Jerry announced with obvious enjoyment.
"Rising Current Strike!" he called out his move.
Jerry swung his rod upward with perfect timing, accurately striking the tip of Cavendish's approaching sword.
After both combatants held their positions for half a second in tense equilibrium, Jerry applied additional force, causing Cavendish's sword and arm to deviate upward uncontrollably.
Cavendish was so shocked by his sudden loss of control that he couldn't halt his momentum and rushed straight toward Jerry with wide, panicked eyes.
Facing this development, Jerry smiled with obvious satisfaction and swung his fishing rod toward the helpless Cavendish:
" Crashing Wave Overhead!" he announced with theatrical flair.
Cavendish was struck solidly on the head and screamed in pain and surprise. His body flew backward several meters like a projectile launched with tremendous force, landing heavily on the ground with a dull impact.
The next moment, Cavendish immediately sat up from where he'd fallen, reflexively covering his swollen and now symmetrically bruised cheeks with both hands. His shoulders trembled slightly as he lowered his head and remained completely motionless.
Skull and Brook stood at a safe distance among the sparse crowd of remaining spectators and asked with obvious concern:
"Why isn't he moving anymore? Boss Jerry, you didn't permanently disable him with that hit, did you?"
"That shouldn't be the case—he just sat up on his own," Brook observed reasonably.
Jerry activated his Observation Haki and immediately sensed that Cavendish's spiritual aura was undergoing a quiet but dramatic transformation. He spoke with calm understanding:
"Don't worry about him. He's transforming into something else. Just watch what happens next."
As soon as Jerry finished speaking, Cavendish slowly raised his head again to face them.
His facial expression had become distorted and appeared genuinely unsettling, though his swollen cheeks added an unexpectedly comedic element to the otherwise serious transformation.
The corners of his mouth stretched into an unnatural grin, his eyes had rolled back to show only whites, revealing a truly ferocious expression. Even his distinctive curly hair seemed to flutter and move automatically without any wind to disturb it.
Cavendish, now transformed into his dangerous secondary personality known as Hakuba, suddenly released a bone-chilling roar that shocked everyone present.
He grabbed his sword from beside him and his speed instantly increased to an almost supernatural level. His figure flashed past the sight of Skull and other onlookers, disappearing from view like a phantom moving faster than human eyes could track.
Jerry calmly observed this development and murmured thoughtfully:
"Hmm, if I remember correctly, this transformation nearly doubles your power level, doesn't it?"
A competitive gleam entered his eyes as he continued, "Let me test whether your built-in enhancement system is actually as impressive as it appears."