"This isn't the place for Conqueror's Haki! Ordinary men can't withstand it!"
The Marine colonel at the West Blue branch was nearly in tears, locked in a losing struggle against Moly.
Her Push–Push Fruit had turned the battlefield into a nightmare—every shove of her shovel warped the ground like clay.
And on top of that, Sanjuan Wolf was rampaging, throwing food crates and Marines around like toys.
Most of the troops were busy just trying to restrain the two giants; none had strength left to attack.
Behind them stood Sharn and Kaido.
"Wugorororo!"
Kaido laughed wildly, feeding on chaos.
He still wielded the same crude iron rod he'd picked up after the escape, but his killing aura made it feel like a divine weapon.
He swore that once this battle was over, he'd forge a weapon worthy of him—preferably a kanabō mad
Ce of Seastone.
On the seas, no material was tougher.
Ordinary blades broke too easily, and even famed swords didn't interest him unless they were Supreme Grade Blades—especially the ones tempered black through Armament Haki.
"Let's get started!" Kaido roared, ignoring the Marines charging behind him.
If he wanted to defeat Dragon quickly, there was no time to waste.
He'd taken a few punches from Garp back at God Valley—but Dragon wasn't his father.
"My opponent isn't you," Dragon said evenly, arms folded, Conqueror's Haki crackling through the air.
His gaze was fixed on Sharn—the one who had actually spoken to him, the one closest to his age.
He remembered: at God Valley, Sharn had released a fleeting surge of kingly will.
Even for an instant, that awakening meant potential—a seed that would one day split the heavens.
"So you're looking down on me, brat?" Kaido's grin widened.
He wrapped his iron club in Armament Haki that coiled around it like black serpents.
"Your new captain is about to get angry," Dragon warned.
The wind lifted his long hair, his cloak snapping like a pirate flag.
Captain?
Kaido froze.
Hearing himself called Sharn's subordinate ignited instant rage.
"Don't you dare lump me under anyone! I'm Kaido!"
Muscles bulged, veins popped.
His face elongated; scales spread across his skin; a pair of dragon horns tore free.
In the space of a heartbeat, Kaido transformed into a sky-devouring Azure Dragon, riding a swirl of flame-clouds.
His vast body blotted out the sun above the Marine base, filling men with equal parts terror and awe.
"What is that—a giant sea serpent with claws?!"
Sanjuan Wolf, nose running, dropped the Marine he'd been holding and reached up curiously.
"Wolf, you silly child! Don't touch dangerous things, you oaf!"
Moly hurled her shovel, turning the port itself into a rising ramp of stone that blocked his hand.
Though over a hundred meters tall, Wolf was still an adolescent among giants—a clumsy, hungry teenager.
"Moly-senpai's too strict! I just wanted a bite!" he whined.
He never realized how close he'd been to death.
The instant Moly's wall stopped his reach, smoke gushed from Kaido's throat.
A deep rumble—
"Heat Breath!"
Flame burst from the dragon's jaws, a torrent that scorched the harbor and painted the sky orange.
Even the veteran Marines froze in awe.
They'd fought many strong foes in West Blue, yet none had ever unleashed power like this—something beyond human comprehension.
Outside the Grand Line, Devil Fruit users were rare; monsters like this were the stuff of myth.
"Is that the apprentice from the Rocks Pirates? How could we ever fight such legends?"
"Shut up! Headquarters forbids us from speaking that name!"
"Maybe, but you can't erase the truth—if even an apprentice is this strong, what about the real officers?"
No one who hadn't seen God Valley could imagine the horror of that war—Marines and pirates dying by the thousands, only for Rocks to unleash a vortex of darkness that swallowed fleets whole.
When the storm ended, most corpses had turned to stone; many were never found.
The survivors still haunted the Navy's nightmares.
Headquarters had ordered global recruitment drives just to prepare for the remnants of the Rocks Pirates scattered across the seas.
"Dragon Breath!"
Dragon raised his arms.
He didn't become elemental, but a violent gale spiraled from his body.
Winds howled, waves and buildings ripping free of the ground.
The hurricane slammed into Kaido's fire breath—the collision extinguished the flames in an instant.
Wind versus fire.
Opposing elements roared against each other.
Kaido narrowed his eyes.
So the Marine prodigy who'd once relied on the Six Powers had eaten a Devil Fruit after all.
"A Logia… the Wind Fruit? Hah! Wind's my element too!"
He dove toward the ground, coiling his body to spin into a killing spiral that would tear Dragon apart—
—but before he could strike, the air trembled.
From the pier came a pulse, deep and thunderous.
Sharn hadn't moved all battle.
Now the beast within him finally stirred.
"My will won't be caged. Like the Black Dragon inside me—it must soar free!"
He stepped forward.
The planks beneath his boots cracked apart.
A pressure surged outward—greater than Armament Haki, deeper than mere killing intent.
It was spirit. Ambition. The refusal to bow to anyone.
Across the vast ocean, there was only one name for that power—
Conqueror's Haki.
For the first time, Sharn released it of his own will.
His aura burst forth in dark-violet waves, swirling around him like living flame.
Above him, Kaido's Azure Dragon form blotted out the sky.
Behind him, Moly and Wolf held off thousands of Marines amid gunfire and chaos.
Ahead stood Dragon, with the unconscious delinquent Moria sprawled behind him.
And between them, two kings—and one awakening monster.
Click!
Somewhere on a distant warship, a hidden journalist pressed a camera's shutter.
No one knew how these reporters appeared wherever history happened; they just did—like the Den-Den Mushi, they were everywhere.
As the flash froze the moment in time, Kaido's voice boomed from above:
"Oi, you bastard—using me as your backdrop?! Sharn!"
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