Chapter Ninety-Two: Full Breakthrough

“Rolan—”

Having watched Rolan’s battle with Tuchi every second, Nami rushed out from the corner at the very first moment after the clash ended, hurrying toward the figure whose form was steadily returning to normal.

“Stay back!”

Gritting his teeth, Rolan forced himself to his feet. The fragments of his broken blade had all been drawn back into the system space. With one hand gripping Nara, he slowly turned to face Tuchi.

“Truly astonishing. You keep surprising me more and more.”

Tuchi lowered his head to glance at the vicious wound across his chest, and then, instead of anger, a strange smile spread across his face, as if the one injured were not himself at all.

Turning slowly, he fixed his gaze on Rolan once more and studied him again.

He had never expected that a mere colonel, someone he had thought he could toy with at will, would possess such terrifying strength and so many bizarre abilities.

Three completely different transformation forms. The power to make his stamina vanish into thin air. The ability to inflict direct damage on him. And the final form had only grown stronger as the fight dragged on.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Submit to me, and everyone aboard this ship, including you, can live. You have such strength and talent, so why cling so stubbornly to that empty, illusory word?”

“You should know, not everyone in the higher ranks of the navy truly believes in justice.”

Tuchi continued to persuade him, and as he spoke, he even glanced toward Nami in the distance. The threat in his eyes needed no explanation.

The gruesome cross-shaped wound seemed to have little effect on him. Aside from the pallor caused by excessive blood loss, there was almost no change in the rest of his condition.

Rolan remained silent, offering no answer.

Some things, once said, did not need to be said twice.

Perhaps Tuchi was right. Justice really was an empty and elusive concept, and in the eyes of some, those two words were worth less than a handful of coins.

The navy itself was a perfect example. It claimed to uphold justice, but in truth, it was more about maintaining the stability of the seas. To put it bluntly, it was about preserving the rule of the World Government, and above that, the dominion of the Celestial Dragons.

But if one were to abandon belief in justice merely because of certain people, then what had his own convictions ever meant? And what about the car accident that had sent him to this world in the first place?

“I’m simply not the same kind of person as you. Someone without conviction, someone who does not believe in justice—how could you possibly understand?”

“We may lose, but if we die, we will die standing. We will never live on our knees.”

Rolan slowly shook his head and stepped between Tuchi and Nami, Nara still in hand.

“That is a pity. With talent like yours, you could have gone much farther, seen a far wider world. Instead, you’ll only stay here and feed the sea kings.”

Tuchi shook his head. In the next instant, he struck.

Still in his armadillo-human form and supported by the Six Powers, his speed was terrifying. Even though Rolan had been prepared, even his Observation Haki could not catch Tuchi’s movements at all.

In almost a single instant, a wave of intense pain burst through Rolan’s chest, and his whole body was sent flying backward.

Having been knocked back to his original form, the gap between him and Tuchi seemed to have returned to what it had been at the start—or even worse.

“But I can’t lose—”

With a furious roar, Rolan began burning through experience cards in the system space, multiplying today’s meager experience value again and again.

He had originally planned to use those cards only after formally meeting with Sengoku, but now there was no more time to wait.

He could not die. Even if not for himself, he could not die for the navy soldiers who had fought beside him this far.

The dead could no longer be saved.

But those who were still alive, he would bring them back to Navy Headquarters. He would take them home.

“Ding. Due to your self-discipline training, Observation Haki has reached level four!”

“Ding. Due to your self-discipline training, speed has reached level six!”

“Ding. Due to your self-discipline training, strength has reached level six!”

“Ding. Due to your self-discipline training, constitution has reached level six!”

“Ding. Due to your self-discipline training, Armament Haki has reached level five!”

“Ding. Due to your self-discipline training, swordsmanship has reached level seven!”

As the series of voices rang out in his mind, Rolan finally let out a breath of relief.

Although his current attributes were not all that different from those in Yone’s form, this was the true power that belonged to him, the most fundamental power.

The various demonic forms might grant enormous boosts, but they consumed far too much.

With the increase in his constitution and strength, the injuries he had suffered earlier had not fully healed, but they were now no different from ordinary wounds.

The most important notification to Rolan was the one about swordsmanship reaching level seven. That single improvement thrilled him more than anything else.

Only at level seven did one truly become a proper master swordsman; the difference from ordinary swordsmanship was like heaven and earth.

At that moment, it was as though Rolan had entered a sudden state of enlightenment. Many things about swordsmanship became clear all at once, especially the flaws in the style he had used before, which now stood before him in unmistakable detail.

“Now, it’s my turn to counterattack!”

Rolan suddenly lifted his head. Empowered by Armament Haki, Nara slammed hard into Tuchi’s scale-covered arm, sending sparks bursting in every direction.

Under Tuchi’s stunned gaze, Rolan landed steadily on the ground, as if everything had returned to the beginning.

“How is this possible?”

Tuchi stood rooted in place, his expression shifting between dark and light. Looking at Rolan, whose presence had become utterly different from before, he began to regret not killing him outright when he had been at his weakest.

It was not that he could not still fight now. But facing Rolan, who for reasons he could not explain had almost returned to normal, he found himself unsettled.

“This is the power of justice.”

Rolan tossed out the line casually, brushing Tuchi off.

How could he ever tell anyone about the existence of the system?

Not even his master, Golden Lion, had ever heard a word of it from him.

“Prepare yourself, Tuchi. You wanted me to die here, but I will not let you return alive to Navy Headquarters.”

“As you said, not everyone at the top of the navy believes in justice. So long as you make it back alive, you will never be able to die.”

“So for the sake of the navy soldiers who gave their lives because of your selfish greed, you’d better die here!”

Rolan drew Yone’s mask from the void and slowly put it on. Amid a chorus of eerie, chilling wails, he once again transformed into Yone.

Only then did he truly feel the power contained within that form.

Swordsmanship at level seven, paired with Yone, and swordsmanship at level six, paired with Yone, were two completely different things.

Every breath, every motion, every gesture carried the essence of the blade.

“The power of justice?”

Tuchi suddenly threw back his head and laughed wildly, then bellowed, “If you had said anything else, I might have believed your nonsense. But justice? Save that for fooling children.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Tuchi moved violently.

The muscles restored by his return of life erupted in full force at that very instant. Tendons like coiling dragons bulged across his body, and his terrifying power was plainly visible to the eye.

As his muscles swelled, even the scales clinging to the surface of his skin began bursting off in pieces, leaving behind a mass of bloody flesh.

“Twin-Spiral Iron Knight—”

Tuchi roared and unleashed his strongest technique without hesitation. Even as blood sprayed from the wound in his chest, he ignored it completely.

The current Rolan made him feel dangerous.

From the beginning of the battle to now, Rolan had continually exceeded his expectations.

If this dragged on any longer, Tuchi feared he might genuinely die here.

“One-Sword Style: Cloud-Cutting Slash!”

Rolan answered with an equally loud shout, swinging out a blade that seemed calm on the surface yet carried terrifying force within it.

Tuchi had gone all out, and Rolan did not dare take it lightly. Besides, he was not yet fully used to his current power, so it was better to be cautious.

In an instant, the sword light flashed past. After a brief clash, Rolan appeared behind Tuchi and slowly sheathed his blade.

Behind him, Tuchi stared wide-eyed at the wound across his waist in disbelief, then stiffly collapsed to the ground.