Chapter Eighteen: Entertaining You

Just one punch?
It was almost... no, it was an instant kill!
How could this be possible!
If his body hadn’t gone rigid from shock, Lucci would have rubbed his eyes hard to see if he was dreaming.
The monster that left several of the Navy’s new-generation elites helpless had been so effortlessly wiped out by that mysterious man. This was a fact Lucci found impossible to accept. Even someone as steadfast as he was found himself questioning reality when he saw that man annihilate their terrifying foe with a single blow.
And just who was that mysterious man who had descended from the heavens?
There was no need to ask—it was naturally Chu Yi!
Having completed his second fruit awakening, Chu Yi’s spirit and will, though still within that dark space, could sense that the six-armed Asura statue surely concealed some unknown secret.
But not long after stepping into the darkness, as the vertical pupil at the center of Chu Yi’s brow in the real world slowly opened, a purple iris began to take shape within it. Suddenly, he felt weightless, and when he opened his eyes again, his spirit and will had returned abruptly to the real world.
“What just happened? I really can’t figure it out!”
“The flaw with the Meditation Fruit is right here—training with it is always so confusing.”
“Forget it. The second awakening is done, and even in my normal form, my physical abilities have at least doubled. I’ll put aside the Meditation Fruit for now and go meet my mission target!”
After moving his body a bit in the twentyfold gravity zone, relying on Asura’s prodigious talent to swiftly memorize the changes in his body, Chu Yi only took a few minutes to master the technique for a 2,000-watt straight punch with his newly strengthened physique. Instantly, he transformed into Asura. Once again feeling his power surge, with a sense that his limit was at least a 20,000-watt straight punch, Chu Yi was brimming with confidence as he unfurled the Asura Wings and descended upon his mission target.
At that moment, stepping into the hundredfold gravity zone, it would be a lie to say Chu Yi in his Asura form felt no burden whatsoever!
Especially since he wasn’t yet fully accustomed to his new strength. Dropping in front of his target, feeling the terrifying aura radiating from them, Chu Yi was undoubtedly prepared for a bitter struggle. So, almost the instant his feet touched down, without any hesitation, he hurled a powerful Karakusa Tile Shock Fist!
Bang!
Focusing all his strength into his fist, Chu Yi boosted the Karakusa Tile Shock Fist’s power to 20,000 watts!
Next, he precisely directed that force into his enemy’s body. By the time Chu Yi had unleashed the entire 20,000 watts, he was nearly out of strength. Originally, he intended to leap back and gauge his opponent’s reaction, but just as he landed the punch, the system’s cold, emotionless voice echoed in his mind.
Ding!
“Host, special awakening mission complete. You have earned one special awakening opportunity. Would you like to proceed?”
Uh…
Just like that, it was done?

Well, although it ended rather abruptly, completed means completed.
System, use the special awakening opportunity!
Completely ignoring the stunned and motionless Lucci behind him, Chu Yi began the awakening process as if no one else existed. Just like the second awakening, Chu Yi’s physical qualities in Asura form surged once again. When the awakening ended, Chu Yi clenched his fists, feeling that, at the very least, his physical strength in Asura form now reached the level of 30,000 watts.
Thirty thousand watts—what did that mean?
It meant that Chu Yi’s physical abilities could, at this stage, barely suppress even Tiger, that monstrous fish-man!
This proved that the “Infinite Awakening System” was truly terrifying; after only three awakenings, Chu Yi’s combat power in Asura form was already equivalent to a newly awakened Navy Rear Admiral.
The only thing Chu Yi lacked now was the awakening of Haki, something that Tiger and normal Rear Admirals possessed!
If he could awaken Haki, and hone both Armament and Observation Haki to proficiency…
He wouldn’t even need Conqueror’s Haki like Hancock. With the special traits of his Fruit, Chu Yi would be able to match Luffy after two years of training as depicted in the original pirate tale!
However, awakening Haki required opportunity, and Chu Yi had no idea when his own Haki would awaken.
Still, even without this crucial stepping stone in strength, Chu Yi had other ways to compensate.
That was the additional abilities gained with each fruit awakening.
The Asura Wings from the first awakening required no further mention, and the Meditation Fruit ability from the second awakening was still under study and couldn’t be used directly in combat yet.
But after the third awakening, after his physical abilities improved, Chu Yi unexpectedly gained a mysterious insight in his mind.
As this insight deepened, a look of delight gradually appeared on Chu Yi’s face.
Lost in that profound realization, just as he was about to fully grasp it, Lucci—who had been waiting in the distance—suddenly snapped out of his daze.
In that instant, forgetting his shock, realizing that the terrifying enemy had been instantly slain by Chu Yi, Lucci noticed that the gravity on Snapper Island had miraculously disappeared. He stomped the ground ten times in quick succession, and in a flash, his figure closed the distance, appearing right in front of Chu Yi!
The high-speed movement he used was “Shave,” one of the Navy’s Six Powers!
Although Lucci’s use of “Shave” was exceptionally fast thanks to his fruit ability, Chu Yi—after his third awakening—even without Observation Haki, could easily track Lucci’s movements with his eyes alone, thanks to his monstrous physique.
In the past, facing an aggressive Lucci, even if Chu Yi used Fish-man Karate, and even with his newly enhanced physique, defeating Lucci would still have taken some effort.
So why could Chu Yi instantly annihilate an enemy that had left Lucci helpless, yet would have to struggle against Lucci himself?
The answer lay in the principle of mutual counteraction!

The target that the man at Navy Headquarters had sent Lucci to eliminate—his weaknesses were all understood by that man. So when Lucci and the others were dispatched, they were well-prepared. For example, Hammock’s Meditation Fruit could create absolute defense, perfectly protecting Lucci and the others, while Johnny’s Fruit allowed the Navy to ignore gravity, restoring their strength as much as possible in combat.
But the most important part of defeating the target wasn’t Lucci; it was Moor, the first Navy combatant to be eliminated.
Moor was also a fruit-user, his ability being the Penetration Fruit. As the name suggests, when Moor activated his ability, he could ignore external defenses and deliver force directly into the enemy’s body!
Back during training at the Navy Camp, the Penetration Fruit user Moor had always been Hammock’s nemesis. Coincidentally, the target this time—like Hammock—was someone with a “shell” on the outside but fragile within. If Hammock hadn’t been taken out by Chu Yi, with Hammock protecting Moor, Moor could have finished the target in one round using his fruit’s special property.
But a single misstep had led to total defeat!
Because Hammock had gone to pick a fight with Chu Yi…
And so,
Of all the Navy led by Lucci, only he survived!
In the end, if Chu Yi hadn’t descended from the sky and used the Karakusa Tile Shock Fist to perfectly counter Lucci’s mission target, eliminating him, then Lucci—the one who would later bring so much trouble to the Straw Hat Pirates—would have met his end here.
Now, faced with the miracle of Chu Yi instantly destroying his target, Lucci was going all out, desperate to complete the mission assigned by the man at Navy Headquarters. After using “Shave,” he prepared to thrust at Chu Yi’s chest with “Finger Pistol,” another of the Navy’s Six Powers.
But as I said before—
If this were the old Chu Yi, he might have struggled to defeat Lucci at full power.
But now?
Pausing his internal contemplation, locking onto Lucci’s charging form, Chu Yi merely smiled faintly and extended his palm.
The next second…
Bang!
As Lucci’s “Finger Pistol” attack shot forward, he suddenly felt as though an invisible barrier had risen in front of him, forcibly repelling him. Thus, before he could complete his “Finger Pistol,” Lucci was stopped cold by that barrier, tumbling to the ground in embarrassment.
As for Chu Yi, wielding the ability gained from his third awakening, it was as if he’d just found a new toy.
He looked down at the disheveled Lucci, grinned, and said with great satisfaction,
“Since you want to play, I’ll play with you!”