“Waaaah…”

  “My pointed head… it’s gone!”

  “Damn you, Sengoku! I curse you to have children with no butt—or better yet, to die without desdants!”

  …

  Three days ter.

  The Gcier Mountai Blue.

  A bandaged figure repeatedly smmed his head against the icy surface of the gcier.

  “Smash… smash…”

  Each impact echoed, but the ice remained unyielding. Far beh it y a dazzling trove of gold and jewels—visible yet utterly inaccessible.

  The once-proud jao the Drill, now with his trademark pointed head reduced to a ftteump, sobbed bitterly in despair.

  “Captain jao!”

  Members of the Happo Navy called out, trying to sole him, but he igheir pleas and tinued ramming his head into the gcier.

  “Open, gcier!”

  “Drill Head Teique!”

  “Smash… smash…”

  “Waaaah!”

  High above…

  A t figure with wings desded rapidly from the horizon, fmes bzing behind his head.

  “Hmm?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Gulp… no way…”

  “It’s Fallen Angel El!”

  “Why is someone of his stature here?”

  Armed, the Happo Navy members froze in terror, eyes locked onto the approag figure as their bodies quivered in unease.

  On the gcier…

  “What a pathetic sight.”

  The winged giant nded, his imposing silhouette casting a long shadow across the ice. He observed jao, who was still feebly banging his head against the gcier.

  “So, you’ve even lost your pointed head?” El remarked, raising an eyebrow. “You really do look like a dog that’s lost its home.”

  He shook his head in mild amusement. It seemed Sengoku had indeed improved if he could ftten jao’s legendary drill-like head.

  “You…!”

  jao lifted his gaze, bloodshot eyes fixed on El.

  “Are you mog me?” he bellowed, springing to his feet.

  “Hasshoke Art: Headless Dragon Head Strike!”

  Spinning violently, jao unched his fttened head like a onball aimed straight for El.

  “Smash!”

  Before the blow could nd, El raised a single finger—uncoated with Haki—and halted jao’s strike effortlessly.

  “What!?”

  jao’s pupils tracted in shock. The onlooking members of the Happo Navy looked equally stunned.

  “Is losing your pointed head such a big deal?” El asked, his cold gaze pierg jao.

  “Has it weakened you this much? How disappointing.”

  “Damn you!” jao’s face turned scarlet with rage as he staggered back.

  “Don’t uimate me, you bastard! I’m jao the Drill!”

  Fighting back his shame, he charged again, unleashing his ultimate teique.

  “Headless Dragon Head Strike!”

  El remained unmoved. As jao lunged, El flicked his finger with blinding speed.

  “Smash!”

  The simple flick sent jao flying backward like a onball. His body skidded across the gcier, leaving a jagged trail in the ice.

  “Captain jao!”

  “No way…”

  The members of the Happo Navy stood aghast.

  “He blocked the boss with just one finger…”

  “Even without his pointed head, the boss shouldn’t be this weak…”

  A chill ran down their spihough jao’s injuries had weakened him, El’s ease in subduing him was overwhelming.

  “So this… is the power of the World’s Stro Creature?”

  “Damn it…”

  Several hundred meters away, a battered and disheveled jaled to his feet. Before he could steady himself, a massive haled on his head, freezing him in pce. Cold sweat beaded on his skin.

  “Hmm, so this is the Hasshoken?”

  El appeared in front of him in an instant, his expression calm, almost bored.

  “While it has its merits, it’s nothiraordinary,” he observed, as though disseg the e in a single gnce.

  “Have you realized your weakness? Does it make you unwilling to accept it?”

  He released jao, who remairembling, and cast his eyes downward at the vanquished fighter.

  “You’ve lost your teeth—but don’t you still have cws?”

  “The Hasshoken’s ultimate teique isn’t fio your head. You use your fists a as well. Or are you tellihat losing your pointed head has also robbed you of the will to move forward?”

  El did nothing to restore jao’s iic head. Whether he could or not was irrelevant. If jao remained mired in despair, it merely proved he wasn’t worth El’s time.

  True strength is born of perseverance.

  The Hasshoken wasn’t limited to an iron head alos ultimate moves could be executed with fists a. If jao refused to adapt, to let go of his loss, his so-called strength was hollow. Given his knowledge of Hasshoken’s secrets, rebuilding his arsenal with fists a should take less time than it would for someone learning from scratch. If he still failed, it would only prove his prior training was superficial.

  “Lost my teeth… but I still have fists a?”

  jao’s body quivered. He stood there, staring at El’s imposing form, which radiated an almost suffog dominance.

  “Whether you bee a dragon or remain a worm is entirely up to you,” El stated.

  A moment ter, a sharp, peculiar fruit appeared in El’s hand. He tossed it to the bewildered jao, who caught it reflexively.

  “This… is this a Devil Fruit?”

  jao and the surrounding Happo Navy pirates gawked in disbelief. The fruit’s distinct spiral markings left no doubt—it was one of the fabled treasures of the sea.

  “Why are you givihis?” jao asked, still dazed.

  El folded his arms, his eyes narrowing.

  “It’s the Point-Point Fruit, a Paramecia-type ability. If you eat it, every part of your body bee a razor-sharp, steel-like point.”

  “What!?”

  “A Point-Point Fruit!?”

  “Does that mean the boss’s pointed head could…”

  Eveoughest pirates couldn’t ceal their excitement. It was obvious that jao could recim his pointed head, reinstating his once-feared teique.

  “I’ll give you one ce,” El said, his tone unyielding.

  “But here’s the dition: for the hree years, you’re forbidden from using that fruit’s power. You must rely solely on your fists ao master the Hasshoken’s ultimate teiques and open the Gcier. Then, e find me.”

  Without waiting for a reply, El turo leave.

  “What?!”

  jao’s eyes widened.

  “Three years, no fruit powers? Open the gcier with my fists a? That’s impossible!”

  “Is it really impossible?”

  El paused mid-step, throwing a brief gnce over his shoulder. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

  “If you ’t do it, I’ll take back the power I’ve bestowed upon you—and cim every treasure your Happo Navy has amassed over the turies.”

  Before jao could respond, a terrifying aura surged from El, pressing down on them like a massive weight.

  “Boom…”

  In one deliberate motion, El raised his right foot—coated in a dark yer of Haki—and stomped upon the gcier.

  “BOOOOM!”

  The thunderous impact resouhrough air and ice alike. jao and his men watched, speechless, as deep cracks spider-webbed across the once-impregnable Gcier Mountain.

  El’s aura engulfed them, an overwhelming presehat brooked no defiance.