"It's all part of his ability…"
Raymond immediately thought of a strong possibility—and the odds were high.
First, Tao Pai Pai's hand suddenly cramped.
Then, the ground beneath his foot gave way just as he tried to launch.
And finally… a perfectly timed blob of bird poop fell straight at his face from the sky.
Any one of these events alone might have seemed like a simple fluke.
But all three, one after the other, all perfectly disrupting Tao Pai Pai's rhythm and leading to him getting hit twice by attacks that shouldn't have landed?
That was way too "coincidental" to be coincidence.
One mishap might be random.
Three, back-to-back? That was something else entirely.
"You're saying… all of that was his ability?" The Akainu sub-personality finally caught on too.
"You're not unfamiliar with that kind of power, are you?" Raymond asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
"No… I'm not," Akainu replied, a bit more serious now.
Even with his usual cold attitude—and despite not caring much for Tao Pai Pai—Akainu wasn't celebrating his failure. But he wasn't sympathetic either.
He just watched, calm and indifferent.
Still, the bizarre turn of the fight had caught even his attention.
In fact, it reminded him of a very specific power from the One Piece world:
The Luck-Luck Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit used by Baccarat, one of Gild Tesoro's high-ranking officers.
Its ability? She could steal good luck from others through touch, making herself ridiculously lucky while throwing her enemies into a string of bad-luck disasters.
This guy Longshot… he hadn't even touched Tao Pai Pai, but what just happened looked a whole lot like that kind of power.
Even if it wasn't exactly the same—it had to be very similar.
"A causality-type ability…"
Raymond's thoughts were in sync with Akainu's now.
Only powers that could manipulate cause and effect could explain those "coincidences" so precisely.
The Luck-Luck Fruit, too, was a form of causal manipulation.
And against that kind of ability, unless you could overwhelm the user with brute force and end the fight instantly, you were likely to fall into a trap—or a stalemate—just like Tao Pai Pai was now.
In his rage, Tao Pai Pai (now shirtless and furious) unleashed a storm of attacks on Longshot—far more intense than anything he had shown even when facing Juggernaut.
But no matter how wild the assault, Longshot managed to dodge them just barely every time.
And not only that—he kept landing counterattacks with those damn throwing knives!
"Longshot's power," Betsy explained to Lorna and Clarice from the side, "is probability manipulation. He can shift the odds of anything in his favor. Every small chance of success becomes more likely. Every accident that could help him—suddenly happens."
"That guy is seriously overpowered. The last time I fought him, I launched my ultimate move at him… and somehow, I ended up injuring myself."
"Dr. Raymond is seriously impressive," Gambit said, half grumbling, half in awe. "Aside from Longshot being able to dodge all his attacks thanks to his ability…"
"…I'd say only Cain could take a full-power hit from Raymond and walk away. Oh wait—Lady Emma might stand a chance too."
But the White Queen shook her head.
"If his attacks are at that level, I wouldn't even get a chance to counter," she said calmly. "Unless he's completely vulnerable to telepathy… I don't think I could beat him."
"You still thinking of challenging him?" Red Devil smirked, clearly enjoying himself.
"Hmph." Gambit snorted but didn't bother trading barbs.
"Betsy," Lorna leaned in and whispered, "doesn't Clarice's brother look like he's winning?"
Clarice perked up as well, waiting to hear what Betsy thought.
Before she could respond, Juggernaut spoke up.
"No, actually—it's the opposite. If Dr. Raymond doesn't do something soon, Longshot will win for sure."
Even Red Devil—the biggest Raymond fanboy—nodded in agreement.
"Raymond looks like he's in control, but Longshot's attacks are constantly wearing him down."
"If you pay attention, you'll see that every hit Longshot lands only does small damage each time…"
"But at this point, Raymond has taken more than ten cuts and wounds already. If this keeps up, he won't be able to last much longer," Red Devil said with a sigh.
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
They weren't all top-tier fighters, but most had rich combat experience.
Even if they couldn't beat Raymond or Longshot, they could still understand what was happening.
Only Costa—who didn't have any powers—and the rookies like Lorna seemed a little confused by what was going on.
"This can't go on. Tao Pai Pai's attacks are meaningless against him."
The Akainu sub-personality finally gave his verdict.
Raymond, of course, had realized the same thing.
What Juggernaut and the others didn't know was that Tao Pai Pai's time limit was real.
Even though Raymond's base stats and power had steadily grown, when Tao Pai Pai fought at full power, he could only stay active for about 40 to 50 minutes at best.
If the fight dragged on, Raymond's body wouldn't last.
Even though only ten minutes had passed, Raymond and Akainu both knew this was going nowhere.
Longshot didn't even look tired. Meanwhile, Tao Pai Pai was clearly getting more and more battered.
In raw strength, Tao Pai Pai could easily overpower Longshot.
But this was a case of hard countering.
Tao Pai Pai's every attack was effortlessly avoided, and his dodges kept failing due to Longshot's ability. The damage was stacking up.
Even without Raymond's time limit, Tao Pai Pai would have lost eventually.
There was no point in dragging this out.
But Raymond had no intention of admitting defeat.
He still had another card to play.
Truthfully, the best counter to Longshot's power was the Itachi sub-personality.
Under Itachi's illusions, Longshot's probability manipulation would be far less effective.
But Itachi was far away in North America, helping Stephanie. Raymond didn't want to force him back just for a sparring match.
Thankfully, Itachi wasn't the only ace up his sleeve.
"Come back, Tao Pai Pai."
"Give me a bit more time—I can finish this guy off!" Tao Pai Pai growled, unwilling to quit.
"That wasn't a request."
Raymond's tone was firm.
He could've forcibly switched personalities without warning. This was just a courtesy.
Tao Pai Pai was clearly bitter, but after one final attack, he jumped back from the fight.
Longshot didn't chase him. He figured Raymond was calling it quits.
If they were ending the fight here and calling it a draw, he'd accept that. It was just a friendly sparring match after all—no need for bad blood.
But… he didn't understand Raymond.
The moment Tao Pai Pai let go of the body, Raymond's aura changed completely.
A burst of crimson flame erupted from his shoulders. His body suddenly bulked up, and beneath his skin, streams of molten heat looked like flowing magma!
Longshot's eyes widened in shock.
This wasn't just a power-up. Raymond now felt like a completely different person.
When they'd fought earlier, there had been no flames—no heat, no magma.
Now, his presence was entirely transformed.
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