Chapter 15: Illusionary Beast Type? My Name is 'Drunken Chicken'!
Outside the dense forest, at the fortress.
"Hey! Brothers, wake up!"
Following Lan Li's advice, the Rear Admiral who had fled here looked at the Marines within the fortress, who were all severely wounded and in disarray. He felt both relieved and anxious.
The relief came from the situation here being better than expected—although they had suffered an extremely brutal attack, and almost all the equipment inside the fortress was unusable, the Marines' lives were thankfully not in danger.
It wasn't hard to guess that the remaining four bases were likely in a similar condition.
Beyond that, he had already reported the news of Alabasta Island's attack to Marine Headquarters.
But his anxiety also lay here.
"The nearest reinforcements in the adjacent sea will barely make it in half a day."
"But even if they arrive... can we truly help in a battle of that caliber?"
He muttered in a low voice, his gaze fixed on the center of the dense forest in the distance.
At this moment, from the center of that forest,
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Huge explosions and thunderous friction sounds, still piercing even from such a great distance.
And with each crash, he could see a giant tree within the Alabasta forest collapsing with a roar, raising violent smoke and dust.
From time to time, enormous slashes would tear through the forest into the sky, shattering all the dust.
There was no doubt.
That was a battle he had never witnessed before.
"Rear Admiral Lan Li... can he win?"
He murmured in his heart.
...
"Can't win."
Meanwhile, inside the forest, Marine Rear Admiral Lan Li, who was fighting Loy, silently reached a conclusion in his heart.
"Is this the power of an Ancient Type Ability User?"
He mumbled to himself.
He had long heard his mentor, 'Yamakaji,' speak about the difficulty of dealing with Ancient Type Ability Users—in fact, one of the famous 'Seven Warlords of the Sea' was known precisely for being an Ancient Type Ability User.
According to Yamakaji: Facing such a fellow is like facing a primeval beast.
Lan Li didn't quite understand before.
But now, he understood.
"Boom!"
The sound of rushing wind came—it was a huge tail.
Lan Li struggled to wield his katana to counterattack.
"Yamakaji Style: Explosive Slash!"
His full power, Haki, and strength burst forth.
But in the next moment, he was sent flying out of control with a crash, as if struck by a mountain.
"Rumble!"
His body gouged a huge crater in the ground, and the giant trees he crashed into along the way demonstrated the force of the impact.
Lan Li felt that perhaps another of his ribs had broken.
"Which one is this now? Three or four?"
He forced himself to stand up, supporting himself with his sword, and swallowed the blood he was about to spit out. His heavy gasping indicated his extremely dire condition.
Then, he looked up at his enemy.
That monster was just a short distance from him now.
On its massive tail, over three meters long, he could see a wound he had just inflicted, a faint gash.
But at this moment...
Lan Li could clearly see the muscle and membrane at the edge of the gash constantly repairing itself.
In just a moment, that bleeding wound had already turned into a faint red scar.
And this was precisely Lan Li's biggest headache, even his despair, at the moment.
"Vitality, stamina, speed, defense, strength—they are completely not on the same level."
Even if the opponent hadn't used Haki—perhaps they couldn't, or didn't want to.
Even if he had used his Haki and slashes with full power.
But the fundamental gap between the two lay in the essence of life itself—the formidable vitality brought by the Ancient Type Devil Fruit was truly astonishing.
Therefore...
"My cultivation is still insufficient. If Master Yamakaji were here himself, perhaps he could sever this fellow's body."
Lan Li pondered in his heart.
"In a normal fight, I have no chance of winning."
"So... I can only gamble everything on the next slash."
He had already made up his mind.
And at the same time...
"This Devil Fruit is truly monstrous. It's no wonder that any Ancient Type Ability User is at least a 'Tobi Roppo' or 'Three Calamities' of the Beast Pirates."
Loy, on the other hand, let out almost the same sigh as Lan Li.
That's right.
His fight with Lan Li this time was also intentional, using this capable Rear Admiral as a 'grindstone' to adapt to his new abilities.
And as the Devil Fruit owner, he knew even more clearly how strong the power brought by the Pteranodon Devil Fruit truly was.
"My basic combat ability and physique are not weak. Combined with the power of this Devil Fruit, I'm close to the combat power of a Marine Vice Admiral."
Loy concluded in his heart.
Of course, considering that the gap within the Marine Vice Admiral rank itself is astonishingly wide, his words were still conservative.
"Not to mention I still have... Hmm?"
However, just as Loy was about to continue analyzing and summarizing in his heart, he felt a stir—the unique sense of crisis of a Zoan Type Ability User made him look toward Rear Admiral Lan Li.
And at this moment, Rear Admiral Lan Li had already walked out of the smoke and dust.
Unbeknownst when, the great katana in his hand had already been sheathed.
He crouched, his right hand gripping the sword hilt within the sheath, his gaze frighteningly sharp.
"Are you going for a decisive blow?"
Thus, Loy naturally understood the opponent's plan—the opponent clearly intended to decide victory or defeat with the next strike.
So,
"Alright."
"My adaptation to the Pteranodon Devil Fruit's ability is almost complete, it's indeed time to finish this."
Loy muttered in his heart, and then he also looked at Rear Admiral Lan Li in front of him.
And at this moment...
"Boom!"
Rear Admiral Lan Li gripped the sword hilt tightly, his breathing heavier than ever before.
"Hoo!" "Hoo!" "Hoo!"
And with each breath, Haki slowly coated his hand, and all the strength in his body converged at this moment.
At this moment, his momentum was like a volcano gathered and poised to erupt.
"If you encounter a powerful enemy, it is naturally a crisis, but it can also be an opportunity."
"Gather your momentum, stake everything on a single sword strike."
"Focus your mind and heart, gather it to one point—this is called 'Iai'."
In his ears, his mentor Yamakaji's voice still seemed to echo.
Then...
"Boom!"
In the next moment, the sharp blade appeared.
Like a volcanic eruption!
That was a slash—a slash unlike any before!
The speed and intensity of this strike far surpassed everything before, tearing the atmosphere.
Wherever it passed, countless surrounding trees were instantly cut in half, and huge dust exploded with a roar accompanying the slash.
"Sword drawn with heart, with unified mind and spirit—this is 'Iai'."
At this moment, Lan Li was very satisfied.
Because this was the strongest strike he had ever unleashed.
"Yamakaji Style: Iai Slash - Yamakaji!"
And at this moment, even in Loy's beast-transformed vertical pupils, a hint of surprise couldn't help but flash.
In the next moment...
The slash flew past.
"Squelch!"
And that head, wearing a rooster mask and covered in dragon-scaled plating, silently separated from the neck!
A single sword, decapitation!
Thus, Lan Li finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I won."
He slowly slumped to the ground, panting heavily, feeling as if even moving an inch of his body was extremely difficult.
But...
"This slash was not bad."
In the next moment, a voice suddenly rang out, almost making Lan Li's heart stop.
"Wha—"
He turned his head in disbelief.
Then, he saw a scene he would never forget in his life.
At this moment, within the ravaged forest, the sunlight was just right.
And Loy's severed head, wearing the rooster mask, transformed into countless fine, flowing golden light particles.
Then...
"Buzz!"
Those scattered light fragments constantly gathered, gradually re-coalescing onto the headless body.
Amidst the dazzling golden light, the outline of a head coalesced.
In just a moment, Loy's body was completely restored.
However, at this moment, Lan Li could see the changes in his body.
At this moment, golden light ribbons clearly wrapped around his entire body, and even the dragon claws in his hands seemed to glow with golden light.
Thus, the forest fell into a dead silence.
Lan Li's gaze, at this moment, almost froze.
He looked at the incredible, indescribable posture in front of Loy.
"A Zoan Type Ability User, but Logia Transformation!?"
In his still-thinking mind, he was recalling that incredible scene just now.
After such a long battle, he was almost certain that Loy was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
But that scene just now, he had seen in the Marines—it was extremely similar to the Logia-type ability possessed by Marine Admiral 'Kizaru'.
Therefore, he couldn't help but come to that almost sole conclusion.
"You are... an Illusionary Beast Type?"
Only that rarest Devil Fruit type in the entire sea, the Zoan Type: Illusionary Beast Type Devil Fruit, could possess such incredible power!
And what followed was another conclusion.
That was...
"Your fight with me just now... you weren't using your full power?"
If the opponent was indeed an Illusionary Beast Type Ability User, then this was an almost inevitable conclusion.
Thus, Lan Li's heart was almost stunned.
He was confident in his own strength—among those below Marine Vice Admiral, he was confident that he would not lose to anyone.
But now, this mysterious attacker in front of him could defeat him without using his full power.
"You... who exactly are you...?"
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask.
Then, he saw the opponent's dragon claws slowly raised.
"Buzz!"
Golden light gathered on the dragon claws, and then burst forth in the next moment.
"Boom!"
And in the next moment, Lan Li lost consciousness.
"Who am I?"
And before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear the opponent's calm but confident voice.
"My name is 'Drunken Chicken'."
(end of chapter)