"The power is decent."
Facing the terrifying slash coming at him, Lin Que stood still, not moving an inch.
"Is there anything stronger?"
Raising the small cross-shaped dagger in his hand, he casually swiped it forward.
Boom—!
A terrifying wave of air surged, and the slash, which was already close, instantly shattered.
The already cracked ground further collapsed, and a large amount of rubble, carried by the undiminished hurricane, blew towards Hawkeye.
"It's not a slash..."
Hawkeye's eyes narrowed, his body vanished from its spot and reappeared on an open space tens of meters away.
"Caused purely by physical prowess?"
He glanced at the severely damaged ground after being swept by the hurricane, his figure vanished again, rushing towards Lin Que.
This time, he didn't launch a long-range slash but chose a direct confrontation, intending to test the opponent's true strength.
Activating his Armament Haki, which had been trained to its peak, Hawkeye, whose aura further intensified, swung his black blade again.
Bang—!
The small cross-shaped dagger, like a toy, appeared in the path of the black blade, blocking it.
"As the World's Strongest Swordsman, you surely aren't only this strong."
With a loud bang, Hawkeye, who was still in a slashing posture in front of Lin Que, was instantly sent flying, crashing onto the ground.
Like strolling leisurely, Lin Que slowly walked towards the newly formed crater.
"Where are your trump cards? Your ultimate moves? Don't hold back, just bring them out."
"If you can't satisfy me..."
Lin Que raised the small cross-shaped dagger high: "I might actually kill you, you know~"
Boom—!
...
Hanma: "Holy crap! A hundred-meter-high slash! You're telling me this is swordsmanship?!"
Miss Kaguya: "I didn't expect that man named Hawkeye to be so strong."
Ben Zi Na: "+1, I thought the World's Strongest Swordsman Nami mentioned was just exceptionally skilled in swordsmanship. Now it seems I was too naive."
Flower Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps: "This is truly astonishing. I didn't know swordsmanship could reach such a level."
Avenger: "Although that man named Hawkeye is strong, Mr. Lin Que seems even more exaggerated."
As a master of the Tendo style, Tendo Kisara could tell that Hawkeye's swordsmanship was extremely exquisite.
Compared to him, Lin Que's attacks, on the other hand, had a beauty of returning to simplicity.
There were no techniques, only speed and strength.
Ben Zi Na: "It's normal, you just joined the group so you're not clear, Lin Que has a special ability that allows his physical fitness to continuously grow."
Ben Zi Na: "Not only that, Lin Que's physical fitness grows by a large margin; perhaps the physical fitness he gains in a few seconds is equal to your total physical fitness."
Avenger: "There's such a thing?!"
Kaguya-sama: "I didn't quite believe it the first time I heard it, but after watching his battles a few times, even if I wanted to disbelieve it, I couldn't."
Sword Princess: "So amazing…"
Ais stared intently at Hawkeye and Lin Que.
As an experienced LV.6 adventurer, her eyesight was naturally very sharp.
Besides noticing Hawkeye's exquisite swordsmanship and Lin Que's terrifying physical fitness, just like Tendo Kisara, she also noticed that Hawkeye was activating a special power.
Under the enhancement of that power, not only did his attack power increase, but his perception also became much stronger, allowing him to anticipate Lin Que's attack trajectory several times.
Looking at Hawkeye, who was gradually being forced into a desperate situation on the screen, a realization dawned on Ais.
"This is… the power of another world."
…
"It seems you're only at this level."
Lin Que calmly watched Hawkeye, who was lying on the ground in front of him.
The battle didn't last long.
Strictly speaking, it was questionable whether their exchange could even be called a battle.
Hawkeye's full-power strike had no effect, while Lin Que's casual strike could heavily injure him.
From beginning to end, their exchange was a complete one-sided crushing.
If Lin Que hadn't intentionally held back to let him perform, he would have turned into dust in the first second of the battle, just like Arlong and the others.
"What a monster."
Hawkeye, whose body felt like it was falling apart and was about to lose consciousness, forced a bitter smile.
"You're so strong, why haven't I heard of your name before?"
"That's not for you to concern yourself with."
Taking the black sword from Hawkeye's hand and twirling it a few times, Lin Que stuck it into the ground beside him.
"Right now, you are merely a loser."
Hawkeye closed his eyes: "Indeed. What are you going to do? Kill me?"
"No, that would be too wasteful."
Lin Que denied: "You have value in staying."
Hawkeye breathed a sigh of relief: "That sounds pretty good."
At least he would live.
"You'd better not be happy too soon."
Lin Que pulled out a golden card from his embrace.
This was a Laplace fragment, a gift White Yasha had bundled with his divinity.
Besides being able to identify the source of a person's power, it also served as a storage item.
The prizes Lin Que had won from participating in Gift Games over the past half-month, as well as several item-type Gifts he had bought from White Yasha, were all stored inside.
Lin Que flipped through it and pulled out a dagger emitting a red glow.
[Gift: Enslavement Dagger]
"I originally planned to use it on Boirxiusi after the auction, but I didn't expect to have to use it on you first."
Chii~!
The dagger disappeared from Lin Que's hand, shooting through Hawkeye's left chest.
As if to tear his entire being apart, an unprecedented intense pain spread from the wound, making Hawkeye let out a scream.
In his perception, invisible threads appeared on his limbs and torso, attempting to control his body.
Hawkeye unleashed his last bit of strength, trying to break free from these threads, but found it futile.
Other than causing one thread to sway slightly for half a second, it didn't cause any ripples.
A few seconds later, the threads completely formed, and the intense pain in his body slowly began to subside.
Hawkeye reached out and touched his chest, but found no wound there, only a patch of blood.
"Stand up."
Lin Que's voice came from in front, and Hawkeye subconsciously stood up.
"This is…"
Just as Hawkeye felt at a loss, Lin Que's voice came again.
"Do a somersault."
"Jump into mid-air and spin 720 degrees."
"Do a mid-air split."
"Do a rave dance in place."
…
Hawkeye: "?"
Under everyone's gaze, the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye, began his first performance.
…