"!!!"
Yemu froze for a moment, then frowned deeply. Confusion was written all over his face as he looked at Shiki and asked unhappily, "Shiki-san, what do you mean? You're thinking of helping your opponent grow stronger in the middle of a life-and-death duel? Isn't that looking down on me a little too much?"
Shiki gave Yemu an arrogant glance. His fists clenched, and his expression was wild and unrestrained.
"Shihahaha… Don't misunderstand. Just like the battle earlier, everything I've done isn't mercy, and it isn't because I look down on you. I just want to see whether you really have the kind of miraculous power you claim this so-called Child of Destiny has."
"Is that so? Then what's your conclusion?"
Yemu asked, his brow still furrowed.
"My conclusion?"
Shiki suddenly laughed.
"Shihahaha… At least for now, I'm willing to acknowledge your strength, brat. But if you think you can change this world with your current level, you're still far from enough. Even if you quickly master Conqueror's Haki coating next, just like you mastered Armament Haki internal destruction earlier, and gain the qualifications to become a king of this world, it still won't be enough."
Yemu became interested. Since the opportunity was rare, he asked curiously, "Is that so? Now I'm really curious, Shiki-san. Among all the people you've seen on this sea, just how strong was the strongest one?"
"The strongest one?"
Shiki's expression sank into memory, and he slowly spoke a name.
"Without a doubt, that man Rocks."
That answer did not surprise Yemu, but he was still curious.
"Rocks? Just how strong was he?"
Perhaps only an answer from someone as powerful as Shiki had any real value.
Shiki thought for a moment.
"Maybe only Roger and Garp at their peak could compare to him."
At this point, Shiki clenched his fists unwillingly and vented, "That man's strength can't be described in words. When you fought Rocks, it didn't feel like you were fighting a human at all."
"???"
Seeing the confusion in Yemu's eyes, Shiki grinned.
"That feeling is impossible to explain. Only when you truly face an enemy of that level, or step into that level yourself, can you understand it. That overwhelming power, the kind that feels completely unbeatable, is enough to drive a person to despair. It is power beyond the understanding of this sea."
At this point, Shiki's mood suddenly shifted, and he asked Yemu, "By the way, brat, you told me your name has a D too, right? Then can you tell me what D actually means? Why does Rocks have D in his name? Why does Roger have D in his name? Why does Garp have D in his name too? What exactly is D?!"
To be honest, Yemu wanted to know the answer to that question as well, but unfortunately, he did not have one.
"Sorry, I don't know either. Although I do know many things, I really don't know about D. But maybe, roughly speaking, only those who bear the name of D are qualified to become the Child of Destiny."
Shiki sighed toward the sky, gazing at the rising full moon.
"So that really is how it is? When I was young, after I was defeated by Rocks and joined the Rocks Pirates, I always thought I could surpass Rocks one day… until I challenged him again and again and failed again and again. Later, Rocks died, and then I met those two bastards, Garp and Roger. Those two were ridiculously strong too. I originally thought they had no connection, but after I left Impel Down and read the newspaper, I found out that bastard Roger's full name was actually Gol D. Roger. All three of those bastards have D in their names. And now I've met you too. Wait, that Child of Destiny you mentioned wouldn't happen to have D in his name too, would he?"
"Well…"
Yemu did not say it outright, but Shiki already understood.
His emotions began to change rapidly, from calm to anger and unwillingness. He spread his arms wide and roared at the sea.
"So that's how it is. That's why I hate this world. That's why I hate this fate."
"When the heir to a nation's throne is decided from the moment of birth, that nation is destined to rot and decay in the near future. The world is the same."
"The Celestial Dragons are like that. The D clan is like that. Rocks was like that. Roger was like that. Garp is like that too. Before them, it feels as if the value of everyone else's birth is only to become their stepping stone."
"They may truly be remarkable, but are the rest of us really inferior to them?"
"In this world, on this sea, there will only ever be one gold medalist. But those who win silver or bronze, do you really think they gave less than the one who won gold?"
"Don't joke with me. The pain I've suffered, the hardships I've endured, and the things I've sacrificed are no less than Rocks or Roger."
"So why is it that only they become true kings?"
"If it happened once or twice, fine… but now…"
"That is why I hate this world. I will plunge this world into war, and in that chaos, I will utterly destroy this fate."
"Shihahaha…"
By this point, Shiki had fallen into complete madness as he stared at Yemu.
"So don't think my wager is mercy toward you. I simply hate this world and this kind of fate. And only by killing you, someone who has also stepped into the realm of kings, can I prove that killing you has meaning. Weaklings aren't even worth killing!"
Shiki's voice echoed across the calm sea. At that moment, it was as if his opponent was not only Yemu, but the entire sea and the world he despised.
And at that moment, after fully understanding what Shiki truly thought, Yemu was deeply shaken.
Declaring war on this world?
Even Yemu, who considered himself bold enough, had never thought of challenging the world itself.
As expected of a legendary great pirate, a true great man.
Shiki the Golden Lion.
"No problem."
Yemu's gaze became completely serious.
"I accept your wager. In the country and world I build in the future, I will never allow such a fate to be written again."
"Good. Then, as the stake, I'll teach you what Conqueror's Haki coating truly is."
Shiki's spirits instantly rose, and his Conqueror's Haki erupted with them.
"Boom!"
In an instant, the once-calm sea began to churn violently. Wild winds howled across the ocean, and dark clouds appeared from nowhere, gradually covering the full moon. On the sea that had lost its moonlight, only purple lightning coiled and flickered, illuminating the world from time to time and making Shiki's fierce face look like that of an evil ghost. At the same time, his hellish voice rang out.
"Come, brat. First, let me see your Conqueror's Haki!"
"As you wish!"
At that moment, a tremendous roar erupted with Yemu's body at its center. Black lightning wrapped in red burst out along with it, and a powerful aura rushed straight toward Shiki's Conqueror's Haki.
The entire sky and sea were enveloped by the two men's Conqueror's Haki.
"Boom!"
The moment they collided, the sea beneath their feet and the sky above roared fiercely like wild beasts.
"Shihahaha… Not bad Conqueror's Haki at all. But what comes next is the important part, the power known as Conqueror's Haki coating. I'll only demonstrate it once, so use your Observation Haki and sense it carefully. Once you learn this move, we'll decide the true winner."
As his words fell, Shiki once again drew the twin blades at his waist, Oto and Kogarashi.
At the same time, the Conqueror's Haki that had been pouring wildly in every direction began, under Shiki's control, to flow slowly.
***
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