Jake's words stabbed deep into Pica's heart like a knife.
He stared at Jake, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief—and a deep, seething hatred.
"It's you?! That time, when that damn Marine stopped me from killing you and that woman who stole the Snow-Snow Fruit—you've been my lingering nightmare ever since! You've come at the perfect time. I'll cut off your head and present it to the young master to wash away the humiliation i suffered!"
"If you can do it, I welcome you to try. But if you can't, then tonight, your head will be the one I deliver to Doflamingo."
The moment Jake's voice faded, Pica instantly transformed into a raging beast, charging straight at him.
"You arrogant bastard! I'll crush you and all your pride into pulp with my stones!"
As Pica's furious roar echoed, the scattered rocks around them suddenly came to life, hurtling towards Jake—no, more accurately, surging towards Pica himself.
The Stone-Stone Fruit—a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit with abilities nearing that of a Logia.
The user could assimilate with any rock they touched, adopting its appearance, hardness and all other properties as their own power, transforming into a colossal stone giant for attack.
But no matter how close it was to a Logia-type Devil Fruit, Pica couldn't possibly execute such an elemental attack.
Even though Jake had dodged it using his Observation Haki enhanced by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
How had Pica managed to pull off such a move?
Pica soon provided the answer to this confusion.
He raised both legs and slammed them heavily onto the ground.
In the next moment, sand and soil scattered in all directions, revealing the interconnected stones beneath.
Pica could manipulate rocks by touching them and any stone he touched would effectively become an extension of his arms, expanding the range of his abilities.
However, this extension wasn't limitless.
It required all stones to be within a certain range and in contact with each other to form a connected network.
Only after the sand and soil had dispersed did Jake realize that the ground beneath Pica's feet was entirely covered with interconnected stones.
The reason those stones had been able to attack Jake from all directions earlier was because Pica had already taken control of the entire battlefield.
Looking at Jake now, Pica curled his lips into a mocking smile.
"Seems like you're not just arrogant but also incredibly stupid. Walking right into the enemy's stronghold—didn't you realize you'd never have the geographical advantage in this fight? Do you really think the young master would assign me to guard such an important place for no reason? Do you think I'm stationed here alone just for show?!"
"There's only one reason for all of this—because I'm strong enough! On this island, I'm invincible! A weakling like you could never defeat me!"
Pica's shrill voice was almost painful to the ears.
Though he didn't yet possess the city-scale manipulation abilities seen in the original story, the sight of the stone-covered terrain spanning hundreds of meters around them kept Jake on high alert.
Noticing Jake's hesitation, Pica sneered.
"What's wrong? Lost the will to fight after realizing your disadvantage? If that's the case, just stand there quietly and wait for me to snap your neck!"
With that, Pica vanished into the stone formations.
He could move freely through solid rock, and the stones sometimes interfered with Observation Haki.
Confident that Jake wouldn't be able to dodge this attack, Pica emerged from a stone pile behind Jake, his entire arm coated in black Armament Haki and swung straight for Jake's neck.
A direct hit would undoubtedly be fatal.
But just as Pica's lips curled in triumph, a pale golden light shimmered around Jake.
A thin, eggshell-like barrier had somehow formed around him.
Despite its fragile appearance, it withstood Pica's strike effortlessly.
Before Pica could react, the eggshell-like protective barrier shattered completely.
The searing pain and numbing paralysis that followed forced a howl of agony from his lips.
The moment the barrier broke, an intensely blinding light erupted, temporarily dazzling Pica's vision.
Though he had mastered Observation Haki, it clearly couldn't replace his eyes in handling high-density, high-precision combat scenarios.
In those brief seconds while he squinted against the glare, multiple bloody wounds had already appeared across his body.
Had it not been for his thick armor, those few seconds would have been enough for Jake to finish him off.
As his vision gradually recovered, fueled by the frustration of being continuously suppressed, Pica didn't hesitate.
He immediately wrapped surrounding rocks around his arm and swung a devastating punch towards Jake's location.
Yet the moment his fist shot forward, Pica instantly regretted it.
While such a powerful attack delivered tremendous force, it came with a severe drawback—the extended recovery time and movement lock if it missed.
Against opponents with exceptional speed, this drawback was a fatal mistake.
Just as expected, the moment Jake sensed Pica's intention, he utilized the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's elemental transformation to evade effortlessly.
Simultaneously, azure amulets and electric arcs flickered in his hand.
The next moment, an orange-golden light descended from the sky as Jake's voice rang out.
This was Jake's newly developed technique—a fusion of the Thunder summoning amulets, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and his Holy Light Infusion attribute.
Each strike carried nearly 20 million volts of power, with a release interval of just 0.1 seconds!
Thunder summoning amulets :
Uses an amulet to strike the front area with a thunderbolt.
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