One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

"Enemies?"

The voice of the man in the black robe showed no fluctuation. "To actually let the enemies infiltrate, what a bunch of useless fools."

Sage flexed his fingers, and a series of cracking bone sounds erupted from his body. He twisted his neck and revealed a sinister smile: "Soon, I will turn you into waste as well."

It was bad enough that this black-robed man made him take the blame; the main issue was that he hadn't gained a single benefit from the bounty! How could he endure this?

Everything this guy had stolen must be returned!

Bang! Without a second thought, the black-robed man attacked directly. His wide cloak suddenly lifted, accompanied by a sound of air being sliced, and he swiftly struck towards Sage.

Engaging in physical combat?

Sage loved this kind of opponent.

He didn't dodge; instead, he charged forward with a punch aimed at the object that had emerged from the cloak.

As long as he made contact, his Big Dipper Fist would definitely... "Iron Block!"

The moment his fist made contact, Sage's expression changed, and he immediately retracted his hand, firmly planting his feet and shouting loudly.

Boom! The protrusion from the cloak slammed into Sage, producing a heavy, dull sound from the impact.

Sage caught the attack, pressed his hand against the protrusion, and quickly leaned forward, his legs moving like the wind, executing a half-turn before delivering a kick aimed at the black-robed man's head.

Clang! The immense force was far greater than that of the five-meter-tall black-robed man. With just one kick, he sent the black-robed man bending sideways, clearly unable to withstand the power.

However, the sound from the kick and the sensation from the punch were peculiar.

A strange noise emanated from the black-robed man, and another protrusion rose from his chest, emitting a bright light. Boom! A cannonball shot out from the cloak, striking Sage and sending his body flying backward, exploding upon impact and creating a large dent in the ground, accompanied by a cloud of smoke.

"Sage!"

Lily raised her hand to deflect the flying debris, exclaiming as she pointed her slender sword at the black-robed man.

"Storm Foot: Chaos!"

Just as she made her move, a voice emerged from the smoke, and a series of light blue slashes blew away the smoke, chaotically attacking.

As the smoke cleared, Sage walked out, brushing off the dust from his clothes.

Thanks to the Iron Block, he could withstand the cannonball.

On the other hand, the black-robed man was completely unable to evade Lily's slashes, which tore through his black cloak. Beneath the cut, a metallic sheen was revealed, and under the barrage of slashes, the cloak was shredded into pieces.

"Steel?!" Lily exclaimed in surprise.

What appeared before them was not a large figure, but a five-meter-tall steel robot.

This steel robot had no head, only a body resembling an iron can, with a footprint indentation on its upper part.

Below it was something resembling a track, which could change height with its extension and retraction. Its long arms had wheels at the elbow joints, and at the front were enormous steel fists.

From the abdomen of this iron can-like body extended a thick cannon barrel.

"Robot!!"

Paru, still fighting against the pirates, had his eyes light up. He glanced at the iron shield hanging on him and then at the towering robot, filled with envy and admiration.

Who wouldn't like a giant steel man?

"I knew it was just a hunk of iron; the feel is all wrong." Sage sneered, "Hiding and showing off, let me take you apart!"

Whoosh! Sage pushed off the ground and instantly vanished from his spot, reappearing beneath the steel man, right in front of its cannon barrel.

Bang! With just one punch, Sage left a fist imprint on the cannon barrel, twisting it out of shape. After the punch, his fist slid down to the robot's abdomen, delivering a powerful blow that left a deep indentation.

The steel man's arms spread wide, its massive metal fingers coming together forcefully, trying to crush Sage.

"Too slow!"

Sage bent his knees and jumped upward, dodging the steel man's hands. At the same time, he pressed one hand against the giant metal finger, using that force to stab his leg into one of the arm's elbow wheels.

Bang! Crack!

The dull sound mixed with a grating noise as the wheel violently shook and fell off from the elbow, along with the dismembered half-arm.

"Bring it on!"

Sage continued his assault, using the metal finger he was holding to spin around, delivering a kick like a whip to the elbow of the other arm.

The metal arm was kicked into a groove, and after a brief shake, the wheel and the front half of the arm fell off.

With just two kicks, Sage had rendered the steel man's arms useless.

This thing, as steel, was certainly not weak, but in Sage's eyes, it was far too slow.

Aside from the first punch where Sage was a bit careless, mistaking it for a slightly larger person, and having taken a punch with the Iron Block, as well as being hit by a cannonball to confirm it wasn't human, this thing had no chance of hitting him.

It only looked massive; in terms of actual combat power, it was completely inferior to Lily's ghostly father.

After all, as the front half of the arm fell off, the steel man raised its upper arm, extending two swords from its elbow. Whether it was due to losing some weight or for other reasons, the speed of those two swords falling was noticeably faster, and in the blink of an eye, they struck Sage's body.

"Iron Block."

Clang! The sword tips lodged into Sage's shoulders. He looked up at the hunk of iron and smirked, "Just a hunk of iron."

Smack! He extended both hands and swiftly struck the sword blades, shattering them with a single punch. Then he leaped high, spreading his arms wide, and with a powerful fist, he drew a fan-shaped punch shadow on both sides, striking the steel man's body.

"Big Dipper Hundred Cracks Fist!"

Boom boom boom!!

Sage's fists transformed into countless strikes, accurately hitting the steel body as he descended. With each punch, a deep indentation was left behind.

Until Sage's feet landed, his punches finished, he turned around and no longer looked at the steel man but said to the approaching Akin: "Take the ship; this ship is mine."

"Sage, it's still moving!" Lily shouted.

The steel man, covered in countless fist imprints, paused for a moment, then swung its forearms down like two massive iron rods.

"No."

Sage said lightly, "It's already dead."

Crack!!

At that instant when the steel man moved, it suddenly tilted to the side, and two thick arms fell off from the shoulders, crashing to the ground.

Then, screws from its body burst out like springs, disassembling its body into segments, and its towering form collapsed with a loud crash, turning into a pile of iron wreckage.

His Big Dipper Hundred Cracks Fist was not just for hitting human bodies; this fist technique also contained the power of 'hard fists.' Besides the soft fist secret technique of Fist Four, it also had the hard fist of Rao, capable of crushing steel and breaking rocks.

Though it was called the Big Dipper Hundred Cracks Fist, it was actually the Big Dipper Luo Cracks Fist. After all, the opponent had no flesh, just a pile of iron, so he could only destroy it violently.

With such power, how could he survive on the sea? "Cough, cough, cough!"

Suddenly, a crisp cough echoed from within the iron wreckage, causing Sage to frown and turn to look.

He saw a small girl in a one-piece worker's suit crawling out from the wreckage, looking no more than ten years old, with a face dotted with freckles, continuously coughing.

A little girl? The little girl bared her teeth at him and shouted, "I won't let you steal the ship!"

She quickly pulled out something resembling a microphone and shouted into it: "Don't come to check, send support!"

As she spoke, she forcefully pressed a button on the back of the microphone, and several steel cables suddenly descended from above the ship's frame, directly hooking onto the bottom of the ship, lifting the black ship upward.

"Hmm?"

Just as Sage was about to move, the little girl suddenly pulled out a tool hammer. Not knowing what she was tinkering with, the hammer's handle rapidly extended, the tail of the hammer became pointed, and the hammerhead expanded outward, transforming into a long hammer.

"Power Impact!"

The little girl slammed the hammer against the bottom of the ship. The massive ship, which had been slowly rising, suddenly shot up as if an inexplicable force had been applied, disappearing into the cave.

As the ship vanished, the little girl swung the long hammer down hard onto the ground, the speed so fast it almost became an afterimage.

Boom!!

As the hammerhead struck the ground, the earth cracked open, with chunks either sinking or flying up, splitting into countless pieces and kicking up a large cloud of dust.

"Ugh."

Lily raised her hand to shield her face, her pupils contracting as she stared intently at the dust cloud.

As the dust settled, seawater spread between them and the little girl, separating them.

"Is her power really that great?" Lily murmured.

"Not really."

Sage shook his head. Having studied the human body to the extreme, he could tell that the little girl had no hidden power; she was just an ordinary girl, looking about nine or ten years old.

However, that inexplicable force was not fake; the hammer's swing and the ship's ascent were all infused with a strange power. Sage looked at the little girl and asked, "Are you an ability user?"

"Hehe!"

The little girl stood on a small piece of land, one hand gripping the long hammer while the other rubbed her little nose, proudly saying, "I'm a 'Power User' who ate the 'Move-Move Fruit.' I can apply force to any object. The ship has already been sent up; now you can't steal it!"