Chapter 958: Chapter 584: The Golden Mist That Grants Any Wish
"Yare yare, trying to surround us, huh?"
Gatz shifted his stance again, two fingers pointing straight at Sage. "That’s absolutely impossi—"
Thud!
He hadn’t even finished when a booming shockwave erupted. Sage’s figure vanished from where he stood and, in the blink of an eye, appeared right in front of the goggle-wearing youth named Wao.
The latter’s pupils shrank. Both his hands once again flared with emerald light, but this time he didn’t swipe forward—instead, he was about to smear it onto his own body.
Smack!
Just as his hands rose, a hand clamped directly over his face and yanked him up like a rag doll.
"You think you’re faster than me?"
Sage held him up by the head. His other hand clenched into a fist and drove straight into his abdomen. With a bang, just a single punch was enough. Wao, who had still been trying to resist, immediately went limp, dangling like a puppet on a hook, swaying slightly.
This punch directly shattered all the bones in his limbs and body. Haki surged through every part of his frame, blasting through a series of Secret Holes such as Qi She, Great Chest Tendon, Battle Sore, New Shan Zhong, Upper and Lower Blood Sea—enough to paralyze the entire body.
But that Body Techniques mastery, refined to the absolute peak, still ensured this guy wouldn’t die.
"Whatever your ability is, if you don’t even have the stamina, then naturally you can’t use it."
Sage loosened his grip, letting Wao drop to the ground like a dead snake with its spine cut. The moment he released him, his figure vanished again and reappeared beside Hewitt, who had just struggled back to his feet.
As an expert well-versed in Body Techniques, Hewitt’s reaction wasn’t bad at all. The instant Sage disappeared, he had already pulled up his guard, his whole aura surging. The muscles in his arms swelled a whole size, his horse stance rooted hard into the ground as he let out a bellow.
"Not enough."
Bang!!
With that voice, Sage appeared right in front of Hewitt and smashed a fist forward. The moment his fist hit Hewitt’s crossed arms, a tremendous force exploded, accompanied by a crisp crack of bone. Hewitt’s arms were forced outward, unable to block the punch, which slammed straight into the center of his chest.
Again, with just one punch, Hewitt’s whole body shuddered. His knees buckled first, and then his entire frame went soft as he collapsed to the ground.
Whoosh!
After that punch, Sage flashed in front of the rugged burly man in women’s clothes, raising his fist. "I hate okamas!"
"Power Sword!"
Cold sweat poured down the man’s face. He clenched his teeth hard, the coy maiden posture from before vanishing in an instant. His expression turned grave as he drew his blade at lightning speed. At the instant the blade left its sheath, a chillingly sharp aura exploded forth, as if it could sever anything.
"Haki? Power? Too weak!"
Sage’s lips hooked up, as if he hadn’t even seen it. He drove his fist forward straight into that blazing edge. The massive force sent the attacking blade rebounding downward, and once again his fist hammered into the man’s chest, making him go limp and collapse.
"That Swordsmanship..."
Lily was taken aback. That swing the big man had just unleashed let her sense a vast aura, very much like a technique that condensed one’s will into a single concentrated burst. But unlike her, as a Great Sword Master, whose concentration of will was only temporary, this slash felt like it had been stored up for many years.
If that were the case, it should have become a Black Blade by now.
"So it can be done like this? Supreme King can do it, sure, but the will of Armament can’t be hidden, and it shouldn’t be possible to stockpile it. This is a different kind of method."
Lily pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "A pity. It doesn’t suit me."
That big man, in that brief instant, had revealed his true nature. He should’ve been a bold and straightforward man, yet he deliberately maintained a girlish demeanor—likely because only this way could he store his will.
Whether it was a split personality or forcibly twisting himself to such an extent... it was all a crooked path with nothing worth learning.
The key point was that even that will seemingly stored up for a very long time was nothing in front of Sage.
Forcibly altering your own character inherently weakens your will. No matter how much you stockpile, it can’t compare to those born to act wantonly, who face their own hearts head-on—the truly heroic ones.
"Your turn."
Only then did Sage turn around, looking at Gatz. "You interest me the most, but I’m very clear you’re absolutely not what I think you are, which only makes me more curious..."
"I..."
Gatz had just opened his mouth when Sage instantly appeared in front of him. Before he could move, a fist drove into his abdomen. Haki penetrated his body, wrecking his insides and leaving him lying there like a pile of sludge.
"No need for you to talk. I’ll just ask you one by one."
He kicked Gatz aside. His figure flickered, and in the next instant the other two limp bodies were sent flying and landed beside the young man named Wao, all of them kicked to the same spot.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew past, and Sage’s figure appeared before them again.
Only now that terrifying form was gone, and his flame-like white hair had returned to normal.
With his Full Form at fifty times, there just weren’t many on the seas who could withstand him. There were only a handful who could trade blows evenly with him, and these guys definitely weren’t among them.
Their aura was strong, but they hadn’t reached true peak. They were far inferior even to Ryokugyu and Fujitora, whom Sage regarded as the threshold of the top tier.
Using this form against them, they should honestly be feeling honored.
"Now, tell the truth..."
Sage lifted his leg and struck each of their backs four times in succession, shattering the Secret Hole known as "New One."
"I’ll ask, you answer, one by one, starting from the far left. Who are you, what’s your ability, and what’s your purpose for being here?"
"You bastard..."
Wao struggled to raise his head, baring his teeth in a grin. "You think I’d say... My name is Wao, a World Government specially appointed officer. I came here to get in and become a high official."
"I’m a ’Erase-Erase Fruit’ Eraser, able to erase all traces of existence. When I erase something, everyone except myself loses all memory of that existence, completely wiping it out. I came here so that no one learns anything about the Golden Mist—especially Pirates like you, a Pirate Emperor."
When he finished, his eyes widened. He tried to bite down on his tongue, but although he had the strength to speak, he had no strength at all to bite his tongue or anything like that, as if he’d been restrained.
"In front of me, you’ll speak the truth."
Sage grinned viciously. "My North Star Divine Fist isn’t some trashy technique."
This was one of the things that let him play the hands-off boss. Aside from his overwhelming force, he could never be deceived.
Sometimes he needed this ability to make those under him, the ones he suspected, speak the truth. Sometimes he didn’t...
He was a Pirate. Once he suspected someone, what truth did he still need? Just kill them.
"Erase-Erase Fruit, huh... So you were an Ability User after all. When I broke your Secret Holes before, that was erased by your ability too?" Sage asked.
Wao forced his head down, but his mouth still spoke on its own. "That’s right. When I realized something was wrong with my body, I automatically used my ability to erase it. My ability can even erase a short segment of time, which is how I managed to pull people out from your grasp."
Sage let out a cold snort and stopped looking at him, turning to the next one. "Your turn."
The one who claimed to be versed in all the Qi Gong Techniques on the seas, Hewitt, rumbled, "Carl Hewitt, yearning to reach the Divine Domain of Body Techniques. But I have to admit, you’re stronger. I’m also here for the Golden Mist, to resurrect my Kingdom. I did something stupid back then. I regret it now and just want a peaceful place to live."
Sage shifted his gaze to the next.
"Gakel, a Swordsman. I came here to seek the Golden Mist, to resurrect my wife... the girl I was impersonating. She died of illness. All these years, I’ve been speaking and acting in her habits and tone, as a memorial. I’m not certain either. I just heard the Golden Mist possesses the power to grant anyone’s wish."
"Grant any wish?"
Sage was stunned. "All this for just a legend?"
"It’s not a legend."
Gatz suddenly answered, "It’s real. My ancestors left records about it."
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