The purple arcs of electricity crawling over Darren's skin made every hair on Dragon's body stand on end. His muscles tightened on instinct.
Are you kidding me?!
When this man entered Magnetic Field Rotation, his bloodlust became almost impossible to restrain.
And now they were in a sealed room. No one else around. Just the two of them.
A chill slid down Dragon's spine.
"Relax," Darren snapped, irritation cutting through his voice. "Do I look like I'm about to lose control?"
This guy doesn't trust me at all.
And even if I did lose control, what could he do about it?
Even if I unleashed the full force of Magnetic Field Rotation… with my current strength, killing Dragon wouldn't be impossible.
The thought surfaced, and Darren understood—instantly—why Dragon looked like he'd just swallowed ice.
Because when he fully released Magnetic Field Rotation, the state was, in a word, horrifying.
Dragon watched him warily. Only after confirming that Darren's eyes still held their usual clear, sharp intensity—burning with ambition for power, beauty, and wealth—did he finally loosen up and let out a long breath.
"Y-you… you can control Magnetic Field Rotation at low frequency now?" Dragon asked, curiosity flaring despite himself.
Darren exhaled a slow stream of smoke and nodded. "More or less. I still get the occasional urge to destroy and kill… but Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Rotation is easier to control than I expected."
Maybe that's because I've already experienced Overclocked Magnetic Field Rotation twice, he thought. My control must have improved.
As the idea formed, Darren subconsciously activated his "Perception" ability. A clean, familiar display surfaced in his mind:
Physique: 99.295 (Indestructible Body) Strength: 96.387 (Giant's Body) Speed: 91.837 (Thunder Armor) Devil Fruit: 92.420 (Magnetic Field Rotation) Armament Haki: 88.952 (External Eruption) Observation Haki: 88.982 (Magnetic Field Sensing) Conqueror's Haki: 89.999 (Substance Influence)
His Devil Fruit Ability Development had risen by nearly 0.5 points since Awakening—exactly as he'd suspected.
And over the past two days, as he experimented with using Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Rotation to assist training, both Strength and Speed had climbed by roughly 0.01.
It looked small on paper.
For Darren, it was phenomenal.
Two days.
A 0.01 increase in Strength. A 0.01 increase in Speed.
If he could maintain Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Rotation consistently, that meant an average gain of 0.005 per day.
In one hundred days, that was 0.5.
And if he had two full years to train—like Luffy in the original story—then Strength and Speed could each rise by nearly 4 points.
Just like his Indestructible Physique, that kind of growth would push him toward the very top of the seas.
By then, even in a normal state, he'd have combat power comparable to his current full-power burst of Magnetic Field Rotation.
Even better, this steady improvement didn't demand cellular apoptosis or a shortened lifespan as the price.
In other words, he had found a way to pry open his body's genetic limits—and potentially turn those gains into stable, permanent growth.
"…You actually pulled it off," Dragon murmured, awe thick in his voice as he stared at the black-haired youth in front of him—who seemed, somehow, to be forcing himself to remain composed.
Queen—the overalls-wearing fatso—had warned them: even at low frequency, Magnetic Field Rotation meant pain and torment beyond what ordinary people could endure. One of the reasons users so often "went berserk" was because they couldn't withstand the agony and ended up venting their madness on the world just to escape it.
Yet Darren was sitting there, talking to him, not even flinching.
This is a true monster, Dragon thought, exhaling softly.
Once, he—along with Sakazuki, Darren, Borsalino, Kuzan—had all been called "monsters" within the Marines, far beyond their peers.
But looking at Darren now, it was obvious he'd already stepped out of that circle and left the rest far behind.
On will alone, Dragon was certain Darren would one day surpass even his grandfather in mastery of Conqueror's Haki.
"What about you?" Darren finally let out a stale breath, clearly easing out of his training state. He wiped the sweat that had gathered on his brow without him noticing and turned to Dragon. "What's with the gloomy look?"
Dragon's gaze slid away. "I… uh… did some training too," he mumbled.
Darren's eyes brightened with amusement. "Don't tell me you went to fight Kaido. And got beaten up."
Dragon's face flushed a violent red. He clenched his teeth. "That bastard cheated! I finally broke through his Indestructible Body and left a scratch, but it healed within a minute!"
Darren gave a dry chuckle. Kaido had only recently awakened his Devil Fruit ability and probably hadn't fully grasped the black flame clouds yet. If he had, an awakened Zoan-type's regenerative power would've erased that wound much faster.
"Don't worry," Darren said. "I bet Kaido would be thrilled to accept your challenge again now."
Dragon froze, disbelief twisting his expression. "You mean… he's been using me for training too?"
Darren grinned, shameless. "Exactly."
Dragon stared, speechless. He opened his mouth to fire back—
When a Den Den Mushi ringtone suddenly echoed from Darren's pocket.
Purupuru, purupuru…
Darren pulled it out and answered. A husky, magnetic female voice purred through the speaker.
"Where are you? I want to see you."
Dragon: ???
His eyes blew wide. He stared at Darren like he'd been struck.
He'd met Toki before. That was definitely not her voice.
And more importantly—Dragon knew exactly who it belonged to.
The Queen of the Pleasure District, infamous throughout the New World. The woman who'd driven countless men mad, to the point of spending themselves into ruin.
Stussy.
What's with this intimate tone and suggestive phrasing?!
To be continued...