Chapter 282: Flames and Ambitions On Cake Island

The two dodged relentlessly in midair as Charlotte Linlin attacked, her power staining the sky red, casting a bright glow that lit up the entire islet.

“Big news, this is huge news!”

Morgans knew the moment Karl didn’t reject his photo request that he’d landed on the scoop of a lifetime.

He grabbed the camera hanging from his chest and quickly scanned the surrounding buildings, eyes locking onto a structure dozens of meters tall.

This building was the landmark of the shopping district—the tallest one around, about sixty meters high with ten floors, each offering different services, and the higher you went the more exclusive things became.

It even had the latest elevator technology installed, but at this moment Morgans couldn’t care less about that. He was a Devil Fruit user at Rear Admiral level — wasting time with an elevator was beneath him.

He dashed up the stairs and reached the rooftop in under a minute.

Others who noticed his move weren’t slow either, quickly following him. Soon, the rooftop was packed with people all staring toward the lab in the distance.

……

Ledfield had originally planned to return to Skypiea right after the meeting, but he hadn’t expected this chaos to unfold.

Arms folded, he eyed the fiercely battling Charlotte Linlin, then shifted his gaze to the three unfamiliar faces on the other side.

“Looks like Charlotte Linlin’s having plenty of fun. Guess I’ll let her handle Wang Zhi and Silver Axe.”

“How about you? Which one will you pick?”

From their earlier conversation, he’d figured out the two masked men must be Wang Zhi and Silver Axe.

Given the bad blood between them, Ledfield couldn’t just butt in, so he turned to the other three.

Hearing Ledfield, Karl stared at the other three as though picking his next opponent.

Two of them didn’t need any introduction — dressed in golden armor with mysterious masks, obviously members of the Holy Knights.

The last wore a white cloak with intricate embroidery on the cuffs — clearly a CP0 commander.

“Easy. I’ve always had a thing for gold. Those two in gold are mine.”

Suddenly, Karl grinned slyly. “Can you handle the other one alone?”

With everything under control, he felt free enough to crack a joke and ease the tension.

Ledfield’s strength was well known — few at his level could go toe-to-toe with him.

Maybe aside from the Five Elders, only powerhouses like Whitebeard and the Golden Lion could fight Ledfield to a draw.

And once Ledfield finished injecting that gene serum and fully awakened his Titan bloodline, in a true one-on-one, only the mysterious Im or maybe the Heavenly King might stand a chance.

According to lab data, reaching perfect Titan fusion took an incredibly long time — most wouldn’t even pull it off before dying.

Hearing Karl’s playful jab, Ledfield was annoyed. “Karl, looks like you’re underestimating me.”

“Last time was far too rushed.”

“Today, I’ll show you my real strength.”

With that he suddenly burst forward, drawing his rapier with lightning speed and lunging at Selma.

Last time, they’d barely sparred and never went all out. Back then, he hadn’t yet eaten the Mythical Zoan Vampire fruit either.

Now that he’d fully fused with the new power, his strength had skyrocketed, but he could never find the right chance to challenge Karl — it just kept slipping away.

“Finger Gun!”

Sensing the danger of the rapier, Selma snapped to attention. Her jet-black fingers struck out, and soon the two were locked in a fierce hand-to-hand battle.

Both were masters of close combat, neither giving an inch.

When two martial arts powerhouses clashed, finding a winner was always the hardest — and their battles could drag on forever.

While Karl was engrossed in watching Ledfield’s Devil Fruit powers in action—

—the Holy Knight members raised their spears at Karl. “Karl, hand over Vegapunk.”

“If not, Cake Island will never know peace again.”

“Of course, the Celestial Dragons are merciful.”

“If you’re willing to serve, maybe we’ll spare your life.”

Their arrogance was almost godlike — looking down their noses was second nature. No matter how strong someone got, few across the sea dared defy them.

But they were far from gods. Those words might intimidate ordinary folks, but not Karl — who’d dared to hunt Celestial Dragons. No way he’d give in now.

“You tell me to hand him over and I just obey? What am I, a pushover?”

“Besides, it’s not like I haven’t killed Celestial Dragons before. You think I’d ever stoop to being their lackey?”

“Or do you two actually think you can handle me by yourselves?”

“Naive. Beat me first, then we’ll talk.”

“Fire Fist!”

A roaring ball of flame shot from Karl’s right fist — quintessential Liuxing Template fire element.

Back on Ohara, Karl had thoroughly practiced every elemental skill from the Liuxing Template.

He hadn’t just improved his mastery, he’d even gained insight into their true essence.

This wasn’t something the Flare-Flare Fruit could match. Just one Fire Fist reached 3,000 degrees Celsius. Sure, it was nowhere near the sun, but—

—that kind of heat could still vaporize everything on this sea.

Nothing alive here could survive 3,000 degrees — instant evaporation was about as merciful as it got.

The burning air was visible to the naked eye. Even the bread-covered ground and chocolate forest nearby melted and charred, a thick scorched smell wafting everywhere.

Even several kilometers away, Morgans and the others felt the wave of searing heat. Their throats parched, and sweat that beaded on their skin evaporated into steam in seconds.

“What kind of attack is that?”

“Even from here we can feel it!”

Splash! Splash!

People couldn’t take the heat anymore — dozens dove straight into the rooftop pool.

Luckily the pool was fed with fresh water, giving everyone a chance to recover and keep watching the distant fight.

Suddenly, the situation changed. “What’s happening?”

“A Devil Fruit power?”

“Some kind of teleportation?”

To Karl’s shock, the fiery fist he’d launched was somehow redirected by one of the Holy Knights.

Using an unknown method, the knight sent the attack several kilometers away over the ocean.

He’d stretched out his right hand, wreathed in a mysterious deep-blue glow.

Boom!

The sea caved in, leaving a massive crater hundreds of meters wide. Clouds of steam billowed up like a mushroom cloud, and it took over ten seconds just for the ocean to refill the gap.