Chapter 418: Kuina's Haki Awakening
After the second shot was dodged by Kuina, Van Augur was also slightly surprised.
"To think she could dodge my supersonic bullet? It seems this female Marine Major has considerable strength!" Van Augur muttered to himself as he took out a specially crafted bullet and loaded it into his unique long rifle, "Thousand Lands," adding, "But your fate was already decided by the heavens long ago..."
With a click, the loading was complete. Van Augur once again aimed at Kuina through the monocle on his right eye. However, after staring and aiming for a while, he actually shifted his crosshairs away from Kuina and aimed above her head instead.
Then, he gently pulled the trigger. The barrel of the Thousand Lands long rifle didn't tremble in the slightest as it fired the bullet, leaving only a faint wisp of blue smoke drifting from the muzzle.
After being fired, this bullet instantly crossed a vast distance and arrived at the warship where Kuina was stationed. Then, the bullet struck... a nail on the crossbeam of the sail above Kuina's head!
Upon hitting this nail, the bullet was immediately deflected downward, but the deflection wasn't perfectly vertical; it was slightly to the right.
The bullet fell, struck the ship's anchor to the right of Kuina's position, and bounced off again! It then collided with an iron can on the other side and ricocheted once more!
This bullet, fired by Van Augur, seemed to have eyes as it ricocheted seven or eight times off various inconspicuous spots on the warship, finally reaching... the center of Kuina's back!
Describing it takes time, but it happened in an instant. So, Van Augur's sniper shot this time, though fired from the front, ultimately struck from behind Kuina!
He had cleverly utilized the minute angles of every object on the warship, combined with specially made soft lead bullets, to accomplish this incredible sniper shot! Such sniping skill could only be described as godlike!
Every ricochet of the bullet had been calculated by Van Augur. He believed that this time, the female Marine Major on the opposing ship would no longer be able to dodge.
Because no one would expect a shot fired from the front to come from behind...
However, unfortunately for Van Augur, he couldn't have known that at the moment he pulled the trigger, Kuina had suddenly entered a strange state.
At this instant, Kuina seemed to hear many "sounds" she had never heard before!
She heard the creaking and squeezing of the deck as the ship was pressed by wind and waves, heard the sounds of some unknown creature beneath the sea surface, and even heard the pounding of her own wildly beating heart.
Kuina herself didn't understand what was happening. She felt as if everything in the world had suddenly become noisy, and the loudest sound of all came from behind her—a sound that kept shouting "Danger!"
Without a second thought, Kuina lunged forward and threw herself flat onto the deck!
The moment she fell, a high-temperature bullet grazed past her jet-black hair, snapping off a few strands. Kuina even heard the sound of her hair breaking.
She dodged it! At this critical moment, Kuina had once again evaded Van Augur's masterfully fired bullet!
However, strangely enough, just as Kuina lay flat on the deck after dodging the bullet, an unparalleled, violent headache suddenly struck her mind.
This headache came so suddenly and so intensely that it felt as if a thousand awls were stabbing into her head at once. Kuina couldn't help but roll over on the deck, screaming in pain.
Because Kuina had fallen forward, this scene coincidentally made Van Augur believe that his bullet had struck her from behind, causing her to fall. Then, seeing her writhing on the deck, he felt even more certain of this. He smiled slightly, lowered his head, and said to Teach on the deck, "Captain, it's done! I hit that female Marine. Even if she isn't dead, she'll be severely injured!"
"Zehahaha!" Teach couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. "What a pity. That female Marine Major must have been quite pretty, right? I'm a bit reluctant to be so harsh on a beauty like that, but hey, she was the one chasing us!"
Feeling that the trouble had been dealt with, Teach began to cheer up. He reached up and scratched his hairy chest, then spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the deck and asked, "Laffitte, is there an island ahead? We need to rest and resupply."
"Let me see!" Laffitte, who looked quite flamboyant and effeminate, raised his pinky finger, took off his top hat, and pulled out a Log Pose from inside. "Captain, there is indeed an island. If I remember the route correctly, it should be the Drum Island Kingdom. We can definitely resupply there!"
"Zehahaha, then it's settled! Once we're on the island, I'm going to have a good drink!" Teach laughed heartily, waved his hand, and called for Burgess to set sail.
Up on the mast, Van Augur looked back at the warship one more time. He saw that the spot where the female Marine Major had been was now surrounded by a group of Marine soldiers, who all seemed very flustered.
So, Van Augur stopped paying attention, turned his head, and looked ahead at the sea.
The Blackbeard Pirates' ship departed. Meanwhile, on the warship, the Marines were in a panic. They were all Loguetown Marines who had set sail with Smoker. Kuina, the spirited and capable Major, had always been an object of admiration for many Marines. Now, seeing Kuina in such agony, desperately clutching her head and screaming loudly, they had no idea what to do.
They all thought that Major Kuina had been hit by the enemy sniper, so they urgently called for the ship's doctor.
However, when the ship's doctor arrived, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with Kuina. There were no wounds on her body, no blood to be seen—she didn't look injured at all.
But Kuina's pained expression still frightened him. Regardless, he could only quickly have her carried into the cabin for treatment.
The ship's doctor had also come from the Loguetown Marine Base. It wasn't his fault for being inexperienced; having stayed in the East Blue all his life, he had no idea that something like Haki existed in the world.
If he had known or heard of Haki, he would have immediately recognized that Major Kuina's headache wasn't due to injury, but because her Haki was awakening!
Haki is an innate power that everyone possesses, but many people go their entire lives without awakening it. A small number of people, however, can develop their Haki through continuous training and cultivation.
But there is another way for Haki to awaken: experiencing a life-or-death moment, which has a considerable chance of triggering it.
Kuina had grown up in Shimotsuki Village, where her opponents were always her fellow disciples. Whether it was Ian or Zoro, their sparring with her could never be considered a life-or-death struggle. Later, although Kuina joined the Marines in Loguetown, because she had already eaten the Ashura Fruit that Ian had found for her, she was overwhelmingly dominant against most pirates in the East Blue. No one could pose a lethal threat to her.
However, this encounter with the Blackbeard Pirates was different. Van Augur was an extremely formidable sniper. Those he targeted usually couldn't escape. And because Kuina had ordered the cannons to fire on their pirate ship, Van Augur's previous shot had indeed been a killing blow!
Kuina had never systematically trained in physical combat, so she wasn't particularly agile. Against Van Augur's supersonic bullets, she had little resistance. The Ashura Fruit didn't grant her defensive powers either, so this shot was a truly fatal danger for Kuina.
But it was precisely under these circumstances that Kuina sensed this deadly threat, finally triggering her potential!
She heard many sounds, and these so-called "sounds" were actually the signs of Observation Haki awakening!
At that moment, Kuina's Observation Haki awakened. Perhaps there was also an element of luck involved, but relying on this awakening, Kuina managed to evade the fatal threat.
However, when a person awakens Haki for the first time, they usually experience a splitting headache, regardless of the type of Haki.
That was why Kuina was now in such agony...
She was carried below deck by the Marines for treatment, and the warship's mission to pursue the Blackbeard Pirates had to come to an end...