The pinnacle of pirates! Beginning as a trainee in Roger's crew

"What's that..."

At Ozz's words, Shamrock froze for a moment.

Could it be?

But that shouldn't be possible!

The technology to feed a Devil Fruit to a weapon was something even the Holy Land had only recently developed, and powerful fruits were still extremely rare.

How could Ozz possibly possess such a weapon?

Ozz slowly pulled on his gloves, then reached out into thin air.

A pitch-black weapon appeared in his hand.

It looked like a gun, but its shape was oddly elongated, long enough that it might as well be called a staff or a club.

That was no coincidence. Ozz had specifically requested it to be made this way.

A good sniper, after all, must also be a good baseball player.

"That gun... it doesn't seem like it ate a Devil Fruit."

After examining it closely, Shamrock came to his own conclusion.

He could tell it was a gun. Considering Ozz's codename "Black Gun," that was obvious. But what he couldn't quite grasp was Ozz's intention.

Trying to fight from a distance to avoid the awakened Cerberus's brutal reach?

That would be a cautious and reasonable approach.

"Honestly, this is the first time I've used this gun in actual combat. I hope it doesn't let me down."

With a thought, custom-made bullets loaded themselves into the chamber.

Ozz raised the weapon to eye level, aiming straight for Shamrock's left shoulder.

Then, slowly, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!!

The terrifying recoil surged through his hands, then his arms, and finally down into the ground.

If Ozz hadn't teleported slightly to redistribute the force, his feet would've carved a trench a meter deep into the earth.

And that was just the physical force of the gun alone.

"So fast!!"

The bullet was practically instant, arriving before Shamrock could even flinch.

"But a weapon like that alone isn't enough to shake me!"

Dark smoke coiled up from Shamrock's blade. From it, a savage dog's head snarled and lunged forward.

The bullet was shredded midair by the blade and swallowed whole.

Crunch. Crunch...

Even though the bullet was far tougher than steel, in the mouth of an awakened Mythical Zoan beast, it was still nothing more than a brittle snack.

"I never intended to kite you anyway. You'd never accept a win like that."

Sure, awakened Mythical Zoan weapons gave a significant edge in battle. But Ozz wasn't planning to counter with some tricked-out Devil Fruit power of his own.

When had Ozz ever been sneaky?

He always fought fair and square. That was his brand of strength.

As the fight reached a fever pitch, the Five Elders and Garling, watching from the sidelines, couldn't look away.

Though they had high hopes for Shamrock, the moment Ozz drew his gun...

"This is bad. He's using the gun."

Saint Vochuli narrowed his eyes at Ozz's aim, sensing the convergence of Conqueror's Haki, advanced Armament Haki, and the power of foresight.

Sweat beaded on their foreheads.

"This move once injured Akainu, a future admiral candidate, with ease."

"We analyzed it thoroughly, but to this day, there's still no clear countermeasure."

This was the threat Ozz posed.

As long as that move remained unstoppable, the World Government had no real leverage to flip the table on him.

"If Ozz wanted to, the fight would already be over. No matter how powerful Shamrock's weapon is, it wouldn't matter."

"That's why we never expected this fight to have much suspense."

Garling said nothing, his gaze locked on the field, brow furrowed in thought.

Could Observation Killer techniques bypass this move?

What if the opponent sensed the disturbance in Observation Haki and then teleported at random to avoid it?

That… was possible.

After all, not sensing anything at all could itself be a kind of detection.

Anti-Observation?

Seeing Shamrock's confident expression, Garling could only sigh. If he had even a sliver of hope earlier thanks to the awakened Zoan weapon, that hope was now dashed.

Inborn advantage, how do you fight that?

But Ozz wasn't planning to end it so easily.

After all, this was Shanks's twin brother. Family should settle things cleanly.

He'd said he'd win fair and square, and he meant it.

Wrapping both Conqueror's and Armament Haki around his bullets, Ozz fired off another volley at Shamrock.

The interference from Haki made it impossible to close the distance directly or teleport past that blade.

But it did force Shamrock to focus all his attention on defense.

Even he couldn't afford to take a single hit. A bullet like that would leave a gaping hole.

"That kind of attack won't take me down!"

Shamrock's eyes gleamed with resolve, the strength of the Figarland bloodline behind them. He slashed out, deflecting the flashbang-like Haki bullets one after another.

"Trying to go head-to-head?"

Garling, the seasoned warrior, saw through it clearly. Ozz's figure was steadily drawing closer.

Cover fire was pinning Shamrock down, leaving him no room to react. He wanted to get into close quarters again.

But unless he could bypass the Cerberus's attack radius, even if Ozz had the upper hand in Haki and strength, he still might not be able to bring Shamrock down.

"What's your plan?"

Ozz's tone was calm, his figure flickering like a ghost among the black and red bullets.

"Shamrock, you're too reliant on Devil Fruit powers."

At that, the entire field froze.

The Five Elders: "???"

Garling: "..."

The Knights: "(O_O) You cheeky bastard."

Sure, Shamrock did borrow external powers.

But coming from you, with your born-to-win, borderline broken Devil Fruit power, who the hell are you to talk?!

Ozz held his black gun differently now, not like a sniper, but...

Like a club.

Exactly.

He gripped it like a bat, barrel in his hand, buttstock facing outward.

Your sword may have eaten a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit and become a monster.

But my gun? It's made of Seastone.

So what are you going to do about that?

Answer me, Shamrock!

Lightning surged across Ozz's body. Thunder crackled as black Conqueror's Haki coiled around the buttstock.

"Shamrock!!!"

"Ozz!!!"

Seeing Ozz charging in, Shamrock's fiery red mane billowed. His own Conqueror's Haki exploded forth in defiance.

But Ozz didn't intend to play nice.

"King's Thunder Bagua!!"

Both hands gripped the weapon. With monstrous strength, he swung it straight down at Shamrock's sword, challenging the ferocious Cerberus head-on.

And in that instant,

Shamrock's pupils blew wide. He suddenly realized something.

The Cerberus...

Was shrinking?

"Seastone?!"