Chapter 284: Battle at the Heart of the Lab

The ten-meter-long halberd pierced straight through his chest, pinning him firmly to the ground. Strength drained from his limbs and cold crept over his hands and feet.

Shock filled his eyes. How was this possible? His whole body was supposed to be covered in Armament Haki!

“When did this happen?”

“Cough—ah!”

Only now did he feel the searing pain radiating from his chest, like he’d been hit with a crippling debuff. His body just wouldn’t respond.

“Urgh… ah…”

He lifted his blood-soaked hands and tried to grab the halberd, wanting to pull it out, but he was completely spent. There wasn’t an ounce of strength left to remove it.

“Don’t waste your energy. Instead of struggling, maybe reflect on your past lives while you still can.”

“To die beneath this halberd is a privilege not many get.”

There was no way Karl would let him pull the halberd out.

Even if Karl was nearly drained himself, he’d never make that mistake—caution came first in everything.

He gripped the end of the halberd with one hand, twisting it fiercely back and forth.

Lightning fast, the halberd spun a full circle in front of Claire’s chest.

Shattered limbs flew. Chunks of flesh and blood splattered the pit as a gaping hole tore through his chest, organs already vanished without a trace.

Claire didn’t even have time to utter last words—he died with his mouth open mid-attack.

His eyes stared wide in death, full of bitter unwillingness.

“I expected you to have some kind of trump card, you know?”

“Do none of you World Government types ever keep a backup plan?”

Karl didn’t feel even a little bit embarrassed saying that. No matter how strong the World Government sent, they couldn’t compare to a cheat like him.

And just like that, Karl’s battle was over.

To keep his crew out of danger, he unleashed Observation Haki, sweeping across Cake Island to check every battlefield.

Seeing no major emergencies, Karl called on the Golden Light Spell, manifesting a giant golden throne in place. He shook the blood off his halberd, then stuck it in the ground.

Settling lightly on the throne, he sat back to wait patiently for things to wrap up.

“Interesting.”

What surprised Karl was that Halil had already finished his fight inside the lab.

He turned his gaze toward Halil.

Colin had just rushed into the lab with a Devil Fruit in hand when Halil spotted him.

Colin, meanwhile, hadn’t a clue.

He glanced around the small space—it couldn’t have been more than fifty square meters.

Everywhere he looked, shelves groaned under a mess of unknown materials. In fact, there were countless similar rooms in the entire lab.

Every little room had tags outside, showing what sort of experimental materials were inside.

Carefully, he crept to the door, slowly turned the handle.

Scanning the area and finding no one in sight, he slipped outside in a flash.

“Alright, I’m in. Now the most important thing is to find Vegapunk.”

He followed the long corridor, step by step, heading straight for the central lab.

He had no idea Halil was already waiting at the main entrance.

Thud, thud, thud…

Since merging with Karl’s Titan Gene, Halil’s instincts and physical prowess had soared.

Even though Colin moved as quietly as he could, every slight sound carried crisply to Halil’s ears.

Marveling at the changes in his own body, Halil couldn’t help but mutter, “Even this initial fusion made such a difference. What kind of level has Lord Karl achieved, I wonder?”

Right on the heels of that thought, a head appeared in the hallway fifty meters ahead.

“So, you’re the last guard?”

Colin stared at the fishman before him. The face was oddly familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it.

He didn’t dwell on it though—mission came first—so he broke into a run toward Halil.

After injecting the Titan Gene, Halil had changed a lot. For starters, his frame had stretched to over six meters tall.

Most of his fish-like traits had faded—no more fins, palms, or unusual skin tone—leaving him even more human-like.

But look closer, and there were still traces, the most obvious being the gills on his neck.

He rolled his fishy head from side to side.

Then bared all forty-eight razor-sharp teeth. “Didn’t expect my first fight out here to be with a Holy Knight.”

“Fishman Over-the-Shoulder Throw!”

Even though Halil was massive, he moved with crazy speed. In a blink, he vanished and reappeared right next to a stunned Colin.

He seized Colin’s left arm and, in what felt like the next instant, launched himself into the air.

Both hands gripped Colin, smashing his head down with brutal force.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Halil’s grip felt empty—Colin had triggered his Devil Fruit ability, teleporting himself to the main door.

Smack!

Just as Colin reached to open the lab’s main door, a violent force slapped him hard across the face, sending him crashing backwards.

“What the…?”

“How are you so fast?”

Colin was shocked.

He’d just crossed a distance of thirty or forty meters in barely a second, yet Halil still caught up.

He racked his brain, but couldn’t figure out how Halil managed to react so quickly.

Halil had closed the whole gap in a split second—not even making a sound.

Crack, crack!

Halil flexed his fingers, knuckles popping.

“I don’t think I need to answer that.”

“Eight-Level Fist—Crushing Elbow!”

Bang!

Colin took the blow head on, his body ricocheting wildly up and down the corridor.

Halil wasn’t about to waste a golden opportunity, hounding him by teleporting again and again.

Lucky for them, the corridor was huge—fifty meters tall and thirty meters across.

Its main purpose was to shuttle massive equipment into the lab.

Now it had become their dueling arena.

Colin managed to dodge a few hits with his teleport, but he was badly injured already.

He wasn’t great at close combat either, so up against Halil, he just couldn’t keep up.

Halil had Colin by the throat, ready to land the final blow, when all of a sudden the transponder snail in his jacket rang.

“Purururu!”

He grabbed the snail, seeing Karl’s face pop up on the screen.

Planting his right foot on Colin’s face, Halil answered the call.

“Lord Karl, the intruder in the lab has been taken care of.”

“Good. This one’s valuable—don’t kill him just yet.”

“I’m sure you’ve already experienced his ability.”

“Yes, Lord Karl.”

Halil loved battling, but he wasn’t oblivious. During the fight, he’d figured out that Colin’s Devil Fruit allowed for teleportation.

“Tie him up and keep him contained.”

“Also, don’t leave the lab—keep watch inside until further notice.”