Next PowerStone Goal - 70
"Just a heads up," Longshot said kindly before the match began. "My ability involves weapons in combat. If you need a weapon too, you can ask Red Devil to fetch one for you."
"No need," Raymond shook his head. "Let's begin."
Longshot didn't hold back. A silver throwing knife suddenly appeared between the fingers of his right hand.
"Hm? Throwing knives?"
Raymond's eyes narrowed, and in a blink, his entire aura changed. He clasped his hands behind his back and gave a mischievous smirk. "Go ahead, I'll let you strike first—"
"Don't underestimate him," Raymond reminded himself silently. "This guy might be just as strong as Juggernaut. We still don't know what his ability actually is."
"Relax," Tao Pai Pai's sub-personality replied confidently. "I've handled worse… Ow, what the—!"
In that moment, as he was striking a master's pose to let Longshot go first, the opponent made his move—swift and clean, flinging the silver blade directly at him.
The force behind it was sharp and heavy. It flew faster than most bullets fired from a gun.
But for Tao Pai Pai, this should have been nothing.
He could catch bullets with his fingers. How hard could a little knife be?
The moment he saw Longshot use throwing knives, he relaxed. It meant Longshot didn't have some weird supernatural ability, just raw skill.
After all, Tao Pai Pai had seen all sorts of strange powers while following Raymond.
He still had nightmares about certain sub-personalities with crazy powers—especially the Shadow King, who had been defeated by the John Constantine sub-personality.
Against that kind of spiritual entity, Tao Pai Pai admitted he was useless.
But Longshot? A guy throwing knives?
With full confidence, he let Longshot attack first, not even bothering to take initiative.
Even when Raymond warned him, he wasn't worried.
The knife reached him in an instant.
He moved by reflex, raising his hand to catch it with his fingers…
But just as he was about to pinch the blade—
—his hand suddenly cramped. A strange numbness hit his fingers. He was half a beat too slow.
That tiny delay was all it took.
The knife embedded itself in the back of his hand!
Tao Pai Pai's face darkened instantly.
With a flick of his muscles, he forced the blade out from his hand, flinging it to the ground. The wound was shallow—not serious for someone like him.
But the humiliation? That stung.
Just a moment ago, he had been confidently showing off in Raymond's mind, saying everything was under control. Then he immediately got hit.
He had basically slapped himself across the face.
If this had been his shadow clone rather than his main body, this one knife would have completely destroyed him.
And up till now, none of Raymond's Silver or Bronze sub-personalities had ever been forcefully dispelled in shadow form by external attacks.
If he hadn't sent out his real self today, he might have become the first sub-personality to get shattered by enemy fire.
He could already imagine how that loudmouth Akainu sub-personality would mock him for this later…
What happened? You couldn't even block that?
Raymond questioned sharply in his mind.
That kind of attack—he thought—even if he had stepped in personally, even if he couldn't catch the knife, dodging it wouldn't have been hard.
So how did the Tao Pai Pai sub-personality get hit?
Even as he watched it all unfold in real-time, it just didn't make sense.
"My hand cramped up just now…" Tao Pai Pai's voice echoed solemnly in his mind.
Raymond didn't expect that kind of answer. He couldn't tell whether Tao Pai Pai was being honest… or just trying to save face. Still, he calmly gave the order:
"Stay sharp. No more slip-ups."
Truth be told, Tao Pai Pai didn't need the reminder. After that humiliating start, there was no way he'd let his guard down again—not with his pride on the line.
Their conversation happened entirely within Raymond's mind—only a split second had passed in the real world.
Longshot, of course, wasn't going to stand there doing nothing. After testing the waters with his first throw, his attitude suddenly turned serious.
In a blink, three more silver throwing knives appeared between his fingers!
But this time, Tao Pai Pai wasn't about to sit around waiting.
With a sharp stomp, he launched forward like a cannonball, rocketing toward Longshot!
Longshot suddenly blasted upward, a surge of wind propelling him into the sky. At the same time, all three throwing knives flew downward—aimed directly at the rushing Tao Pai Pai!
But Tao Pai Pai's reflexes were razor sharp. The instant Longshot took off, he sensed it. He slammed his foot into the ground to pivot mid-air and launch himself after his airborne opponent.
The moment his foot hit the ground… the patch of dirt under him unexpectedly gave way, collapsing just slightly.
He still managed to kick off the ground, but the force was off. He lost balance—and nearly twisted his ankle.
And right then—Longshot's three knives reached him from above!
Tao Pai Pai's eyes widened. He raised his arm to deflect the blades—only for a blob of bird poop to fly straight toward his face.
With his reflexes, there was no way he'd get hit. He instinctively turned his head to dodge it.
But that tiny movement threw off his posture—and his raised arm missed the incoming knives completely.
All three blades sank into his shoulder. One came dangerously close to piercing his throat.
Furious, Tao Pai Pai burst his shirt apart, revealing his ripped, triangle-shaped torso. His muscles flexed with explosive force, ejecting the embedded knives in a metallic burst.
But blood had already started trickling down his shoulder—he was wounded.
At last, Raymond—who had been watching the entire fight—was convinced.
None of this was random.
There was no reason Tao Pai Pai would hold back. He had no motive to let Longshot land clean hits.
And yet he had now been hit twice—the second time with full awareness and caution.
This could no longer be explained as coincidence. Something deeper was at play here.
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