Seeing that Valsa remained completely unmoved by his threats and instead burst into mocking laughter, Adams became furious.
“What are you laughing at?!”
The laughter gradually faded, and Valsa said calmly, “Then let me say something too.
You, along with everyone else in the village outside, will hand over all your treasure right now and obediently follow our orders.
If you do that, I’ll be merciful enough to spare your lives.”
Hearing this, Adams laughed out of sheer rage, his eyes turning cold.
“Captain Valsa, you’re certainly making things difficult for us.”
Valsa downed the wine in his glass, then slammed it heavily onto the table and let out a long sigh.
“Ah, difficult?
Then forget about it!”
With that, he immediately flipped the table over.
The leftovers and scraps of food splattered all over Adams’ face.
Adams’ face turned red with rage as he roared, “Kill him!”
Valsa was faster.
[Knuckle Down]!
Golden light wrapped around both of his hands.
With a powerful spinning swing, he sent the surrounding pirates flying several meters backward.
Adrian and Elik instantly rose to their feet and launched their attacks as well.
Adrian went up against Gabri, but the disparity in their size and weapons left him steadily retreating.
Elik unleashed the power of the Sickle-Sickle Fruit, inflicting devastating casualties on the Outlaw Pirates.
However, he couldn’t withstand their overwhelming numbers.
The Outlaw Pirates had already surrounded the entire hall, and more of them were continuously pouring in.
Valsa was covered in wounds by now, yet golden light continued surging from his entire body, leaving everyone else astonished.
Adrian was sent flying by a hammer blow.
Gabri leaped high into the air, swinging his massive hammer as he delivered a killing blow toward Adrian, who was lying helplessly on the ground, unable to move.
At the critical moment, Valsa broke through the encirclement and crossed his arms in front of Adrian.
“Boss!”
Seeing Boss disregard the enemy’s attack and rush over to save him, Adrian was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
BOOM!
Valsa was sent flying like a kite with its string cut.
He smashed through several stone pillars along the way before finally crashing into a wall.
Dust and smoke billowed everywhere, obscuring his figure.
“Boss!”
“Captain!”
Adrian and Elik shouted anxiously.
“Hahahahaha!
That’s it?!
That’s all the strength you’ve got?!
And you dared to run your mouth like that?!
I’ve met plenty of arrogant fools like you before.
Unfortunately for them, they picked a fight with me!
So I sent every last one of them straight to hell!
Hahahahaha!”
Seeing Valsa blasted away, Adams threw all restraint aside and laughed hysterically.
“Hm?”
Gabri looked toward the spot where Valsa had landed, puzzled.
After taking that hit from me, even if he isn’t dead, he should be seriously injured!
“You guys’ attacks feel like little more than a tickle.
Hahahaha!”
A voice came from within the dust.
Valsa slowly emerged from the rubble, golden light blazing from his entire body.
He even took the time to mock the members of the Outlaw Pirates.
“Boss!
Captain!”
Adrian and Elik were overjoyed.
As long as the Captain was fine, everything was okay.
Yet Gabri couldn’t shake the ominous feeling in his heart.
Based on the strength Valsa had displayed earlier, there was nothing particularly threatening about him.
So where was this inexplicable sense of dread coming from?
Valsa leisurely walked back to stand in front of everyone.
After taking that hammer blow, his Grit was already nearly overflowing.
“That’s all the strength you have?
What a disappointment.
Looks like it’s time to put an end to this farce.”
Valsa stretched his body.
The golden light around him grew increasingly intense.
He shifted his right leg backward and assumed a punching stance.
An intense sense of dread suddenly surged through Gabri.
Not good!
“Even now you still dare to boast?!
Lord Gabri’s strength is enough to defeat a Marine Lieutenant!
I’m telling you—”
“Not good!
Retreat!”
Gabri shouted anxiously and immediately turned to run.
But was there still time?
Valsa glared furiously.
[Haymaker]!
“Spirit!!!”
“Get back!!!”
With Valsa’s furious roar, an enormous aura erupted instantly, sweeping away all the surrounding dust.
Then, carrying unstoppable momentum, he threw a devastating punch.
A colossal wave of force erupted forward!
The punch was broader than the last one and far more powerful, carrying a terrifying torrent of air.
At the very center, Adams hadn’t even finished speaking before his expression turned one of horror.
Then he was reduced to dust.
Behind him, Gabri was wearing heavy armor, yet the moment Valsa’s Haymaker, charged to full Grit and carrying true damage, struck him, he was as helpless as an insect.
He was blasted into pieces on the spot.
His entire body was shattered, not a single bone remaining intact, until all that was left was a mangled mass of flesh.
And that wasn’t all.
The entire banquet hall was reduced to rubble in an instant!
The force of the punch reached fifty meters away.
Every pirate caught in the center simply vanished, while those at the edges were also killed by the blow, their bodies sent flying more than a hundred meters.
One punch had killed at least two hundred people.
The entire Outlaw Pirates numbered only around three hundred.
With a single punch, the infamous Outlaw Pirates had been completely annihilated!
Elik and Adrian stood there dumbfounded.
Even the members of the Overlord Pirates who had arrived nearby under Lucas and Quans’ command were equally stunned.
Some of them had witnessed the Captain’s technique before, but they had assumed that the destructive power they saw last time had already been its limit.
The sheer devastation before their eyes was now deeply etched into their minds.
Any pirates who had previously entertained thoughts of resisting or escaping immediately abandoned them.
Disco, who had been secretly watching from nearby, was equally stunned.
His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
He forcibly suppressed his breathing and quietly slipped away.
What kind of monster is this?!
How could a monster like this possibly appear in a place like the South Blue?!
His mind was a complete mess.
At this level of strength, even on the Grand Line, he had never seen many people capable of such power.
Valsa let out a long breath.
Looking at the devastation before him, even he found it difficult to believe that he had caused it.
This was his first time unleashing Haymaker with his Grit fully charged.
This Haymaker had reached fifty meters in length.
Its maximum width was thirty meters, while even its narrowest point was ten meters wide.
He remembered that it hadn’t been nearly this large last time.
Looks like as the template’s progress increases, it’s not just the stats that improve.
The skills themselves are becoming stronger too.
Valsa’s thoughts shifted, and he opened his template.
[Template: The Boss / Sett]
[Template Progress: 45%]
[Unlocked Skills: Pit Grit, Knuckle Down, Haymaker, Facebreaker]
Oh?
I’ve unlocked a new skill.
[Facebreaker]: Slam enemies on both sides of you into each other, dealing damage and stunning them.
If there are enemies on only one side, the skill can only slow them and cannot stun them.
Not bad.
At least I finally have some crowd control.
With this huge increase in template progress, Valsa could feel that his strength and speed had both improved dramatically.
He had even grown considerably taller.
Previously, he had been around 2.1 to 2.12 meters tall.
Now, he had reached 2.35 meters.
Quans and Lucas arrived with their men somewhat late.
Even someone as cautious as Quans could have times when his preparations fell short.
Fortunately, the Captain was fine.
“Take care of the scene.
Search the place thoroughly and strip it of anything valuable.
As for the rest, just kill them.”
After giving his orders, Valsa was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a small pink Den Den Mushi beneath a damaged section of wall.
It was completely motionless, staring intently at Valsa.
…
“What?
The Outlaw Pirates were wiped out?
With a single punch?”
The man hung up the Den Den Mushi.
His eyes became razor-sharp.
The shadow beneath his brow obscured his expression, while the cape on his back billowed constantly in the sea breeze.
Two black characters were emblazoned across it:
JUSTICE.
“Overlord, Valsa.”
“I absolutely will not allow any pirate to commit evil upon these seas!”