Conqueror's Haki thundered.
Lightning roared through God Valley like crashing tides, tearing at the hearts of every survivor.
A bullet screamed from the far side of the ravine — someone fired — but the shot was lost to a Haki shockwave; the shooter collapsed before the recoil finished. Sharn's head swam; he barely dodged the bullet. Eyes burning, white vapor spilling from his mouth, internal organs burning, he nevertheless felt something else: his bloodline factor — every cell — answering the rhythm of the Valley. He did not die. He grew.
God Valley shook. Huge chunks of cliff fractured and fell. Sharn rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a falling slab the size of a warship. More stones rained down.
"Their Haki's too strong — there's nowhere to stand!" someone shouted.
"Run, or we'll all die!" cried another.
"Damn it—who still has the energy? Let's die together!" someone muttered.
The ground tore; the triple Haki clash produced tangible destruction. Cracks spread across the cliff. A colossal boulder tore free and fell like a warship. Sharn narrowly evaded with a Soru step.
In an age with no pacifists, Marines were the sea's main power. Reinforcements were crushed under Haki; what remained were only those who could withstand such pressure. Top-tier Conqueror's Haki could stamp out whole waves of reinforcements — one strike could stun elite vice admirals.
The three at the center — Rocks, Roger, and Garp — stood locked in triadic conflict. It looked balanced, but Rocks' strength drove the pressure; his wide-area, high-lethality abilities — Dark Fruit, Petrifying Fruit, and overwhelming Conqueror's Haki — made numbers meaningless.
"Such Haki will break a man's will," the flank admirals groaned. Those who rose to charge were struck senseless by Rock's dark Conqueror's roar.
Sharn gulped air. If not for the stimulants that had activated cellular vitality and for his black-dragon body, he might have blacked out. Even Kaido wavered — saved only by Big Mom's Conqueror push.
"Idiot Kaido — are you feverish? Use your Buddha shockwaves!" Big Mom snapped. Her words opened a floodgate. To resist the three kings, the battlefield erupted with layer upon layer of Buddha shockwaves defenses. Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Big Mom, Kaido, Sengoku — all blasted Conqueror's Haki back like barricades. The valley lit up; the sea rose in successive swells. From afar, the sky above God Valley was a rainbow of warring Conquerors.
"These lunatics!" Wang Zhi had to use Haki to brace himself. "We're already exhausted and now everyone's fighting."
John snored, unbothered, choosing to lie and wait.
Dragon's face tightened when he saw Kaido release his Conqueror; the young man's own dormant Conqueror stirred and formed a thin shield of protection. Kaido and Dragon glanced at Sharn — they were close in age; both had Conqueror's presence. Sharn didn't care. Fifteen-year-old Sharn felt a beast clawing to break free inside him, but something held the cage closed.
"It's suffocating! Why restrain me?" he thought. "If my heart wants to be king, the cage must break."
The Valley was a primeval forest full of prehistoric predators. The cage made him furious; the desire to break it rose into a roar.
With a single, violent cry — and the barrage of nearly ten overlapping Conqueror waves smashing at him — the cage shattered. Sharn's eyes went blood-red. The beast within fully awakened. The black dragon surged forth; this was no mere animal-form: it bore true dragon majesty.
A thunderous roar answered the valley. Sharn's body spewed a purple-black Conqueror's Haki — involuntary, raw, the first uncontrollable awakening of his Kingly Haki. He didn't yet match Dragon in power, but his aura rivaled anyone's.
He had grasped Armament Haki in rudimentary form; Observation Haki was still learning; and now Conqueror erupted inside him.
"Of course Sharn has kingly potential!" Kaido laughed, delighted. He'd always expected someone who refused to bow to fate would arise among Rocks' crew. How could such a man lack the will to claim a crown?
Big Mom's pupils contracted when she saw Sharn's Conqueror flare. "Another Conqueror," she thought. Rock's crews were a mess — not only in discipline but in ambition. More ambitious people meant more fear for the Celestials.
Whitebeard guffawed. Stusi — elated — watched from behind. "No wonder he survived my experimental tonic! Let's hope he doesn't die here," she squealed.
Zephyr smashed a chunk of rock aside with a punch. "Another threat to remove. Should've been taken out earlier," he muttered. He had seen the same kingly mark before. Dragon wasn't surprised — fate rarely wasted such a sign.
Bogard braced with his sword and Armament-coating Haki, while Sengoku took the brunt with golden shockwaves — holding the line for the others. "Why does Rocks keep finding these abnormal people?" Sengoku sighed. Marines still dreamed of raising three fearsome Admirals to guard the sea — ideally Logia types with vast reach. Reality, he thought, was cruel.
Rocks laughed, the sound cutting across the valley. "I won again! The next generation is full of unbowed kings!" he shouted. "I love reckless ambition! The more of them there are, the more the Celestials tremble."
"Come on, Sharn — catch this!" Rocks' restraints fell away; his hair streamed like shadow. Dawn approached, though the moon still held sway in parts. Sharn's Moon Lion state was about to fade and the pains of the stimulants would return — but Rocks' Conqueror struck Sharn like an injection: "Wake up — this is my ship's war to rule the world. As my crew, watch closely!"
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