As Vir’s voice fell, a massive, blindingly brilliant slash of purple lightning erupted instantly!
The terrifying force even caused large cracks to appear in the surrounding space!
Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone, that slash disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Its speed was so fast it was almost unbelievable.
The moment slash was unleashed, it was already gone.
But… what truly left everyone in awe—
Was what it left behind.
Where the slash had passed, a massive fissure dozens of meters wide cleaved the sea in two, stretching all the way to the horizon.
At the edge of their vision, all they could see was this gaping chasm.
Several giant Sea Kings, shredded into blood mist, dyed the nearby ocean a deep crimson.
The intense lightning turned the sea into a boiling cauldron in an instant.
Countless fish began thrashing violently in the water.
But in the end, all of them floated belly-up.
In mere moments, the area surrounding the ship was covered in a blanket of dead, white-bellied fish.
Rayleigh stared at the devastation that one single slash had caused.
The shock on his face refused to fade.
Just from the state of the fish alone—
It was clear that the temperature across hundreds of meters of ocean had skyrocketed.
And that was only because the slash’s thunderous energy had dispersed upon hitting the sea.
But the rift stretching several kilometers away?
That was the true testament to the sheer power behind Vir’s attack.
What kind of slash could possibly travel that far?
And not just travel that far—it remained monstrously powerful the whole way.
Slashes don’t travel easily through water like they do through air.
Yet even so…
This guy still pulled it off.
Just what kind of monster was he?
Is there anything in this world he can’t do?
‘Wait—did he hear me earlier, when I said he might change the world?’
‘And decided that I was being too conservative?’
‘So he just had to show off?’
‘Slap me across the face and yell—’
“Change? I’ll flip the whole damn world upside down!”
‘Alright, alright, fine. I was too conservative.’
‘You win. You’re just that damn strong.’
As for the others, well—
This was the first time Vir had truly displayed his strength in front of everyone.
Aside from Rayleigh, none of them had ever seen Vir go all out before.
So of course, their shock was no less than Rayleigh’s.
Robin and Chopper needed no explanation.
They were still speculating about Vir’s strength just moments ago.
But now, after seeing that slash—
After seeing the countless dead fish and that massive rift stretching across the sea—
The shock in their hearts far surpassed even Rayleigh’s.
It was the first time they had witnessed such overwhelming might from Vir.
His power had finally taken a tangible form.
No longer just a bounty of one billion berries — but a man who could split the sea with a single sword strike.
Vir, with a slight furrow in his brow, slashing his sword in a calm, fluid motion—
That image etched itself deep into Robin and Chopper’s hearts.
Their desire to grow stronger hadn’t been crushed—it had only become more intense.
As for Yamato and Marco, two fighters whose strength hovered around the one-billion-berry benchmark—
they had originally assumed they were on par with Vir.
Marco, in particular, had even believed Vir was weaker than him.
But now, after this small demonstration,
Marco’s perspective had completely shifted.
That slash just now was no joke.
If it had hit him, even with his regenerative phoenix flames—
He would’ve been seriously injured.
No doubt about it. Absolutely.
And at that speed—
He wouldn’t have been able to dodge.
Maybe, maybe if he used Observation Haki to predict it ahead of time, he’d have a chance.
But even so, there was no denying the strength of that slash.
Power? Check.
Speed? Check.
Vir was ridiculously strong.
What Marco didn’t know was that Vir’s Observation Haki would’ve made dodging it impossible.
As for Yamato and Bonney—they honestly had no idea how strong Vir really was.
Sure, Yamato had messed around with Vir a couple of times.
But playing around was one thing. A real fight was another.
She had no true grasp of his power.
Vir had taken her to save Ace.
He had helped her remove her shackles—well, sort of.
He had helped her grow stronger.
She had no reason to fight him.
And Vir had always been busy.
It wasn’t until now—until this very moment—
that she finally understood just how powerful he truly was.
And she couldn’t help but feel a bit lucky—
Lucky she didn’t fight back too hard on the ship back then.
Otherwise…
Losing just an arm might’ve been the best-case scenario.
She could’ve ended up getting the same “treatment” as Rayleigh.
Just thinking about Rayleigh’s tragic experience gave her the chills.
The old man really had it rough…
Bonney, meanwhile, was the most “normal” of them all—
In terms of how shocked she was, anyway.
She hadn’t been at sea long in her search for Kuma.
She hadn’t run into many powerful opponents yet.
She didn’t even know how powerful people could be.
She only knew that her father could send bad guys flying in an instant.
Now, she realized—
Her own 100-million bounty wasn’t just “ten percent” of Vir’s one billion.
The gap was monstrous.
Vir… was this strong?
She’d thought, since they were all called Supernovas, their strength wouldn’t be that far apart.
But now?
It wasn’t just a gap.
It was a chasm.
If he wanted to, Vir could probably wipe out all the Supernovas in an instant.
That slash just now? It said everything.
Insane physical strength, and unrivaled medical skill.
How could someone like this have been a nobody not too long ago?
At that moment, Vir himself wasn’t all that satisfied with his slash.
Not because of the power.
But because of how much stamina it drained.
Even with the physique of Momousagi, using that technique drained nearly 70–80% of his stamina in one go.
That was super dangerous.
Losing that much energy in battle—
If the move didn’t deal heavy damage, he’d be doomed.
Still, the power was acceptable.
With triple damage amplification, lightning charge, Armament Haki infusion, and swordsmanship enhancement, this level of destruction wasn’t surprising.
The range was too far, though.
It was his first time trying it, and he lacked experience.
Too much damage was wasted.
With more practice,
he could refine it into a close-range ultimate finisher.
Charge up from miles away, then swap positions and unleash it instantly.
Follow up the slash with a Thunder Bagua infused with purple lightning.
Hmm.
That would probably hurt.
But he’d have to use it with caution.
The stamina drain was huge.
If it didn’t finish the enemy, he’d just be handing himself over.
Still—
This little combo should be enough to deal with most enemies.
So all things considered, this swordsmanship was a worthwhile pickup.
Even though he didn’t gain Conqueror’s Haki…
The boost to his combat power was very real.
All in all, acceptable.
The lightning blade in his hand slowly faded away.
Vir snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look back at Rayleigh and the others.
But while he had returned to normal—
The others hadn’t.
What met his eyes were still those stunned expressions.
Everyone’s faces were frozen like that…
“Huh? What’s wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Vir said with a completely innocent face.
—–
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