Although the world of pirates had no official ranking system, Shanks and the others immediately understood what Luffy meant.
And that realization made the two of them stare at Luffy with even more shock, their eyes locked on his face, which seemed to say "This is normal. Nothing to be surprised about."
They had a mouthful of old blood stifled in their chests, unsure whether it should be spat onto Luffy's face!
They knew Luffy's age—and today, he still hadn't turned eighteen.
Not even halfway there.
Both had once been members of the Roger Pirates; they were no naive rookies.
They had seen geniuses before—those truly extraordinary ones.
On Roger's ship, such beings were not uncommon.
Yet…
The sudden surge of power Luffy had just unleashed was something even these two experienced middle-aged men could hardly withstand.
With their perspective, they could tell at once that this kind of aura was not something anyone could produce.
At least Shanks knew—his own Conqueror's Haki could not reach that level!
Moreover…
What Luffy had released just now was pure vitality—blood energy, not even using Haki!
Faced with their stunned gazes, Luffy simply smiled, not explaining anything.
But unseen by Shanks, he quietly opened the interface in his mind, checking his crewmates' stats one by one.
Truthfully, he was just as bewildered.
Yet he had to act as if he controlled everything.
After all…
In front of Shanks, the Devil Fruit user with an impeccable reputation, I must maintain face!
If he lost face now, he'd owe Shanks a favor for life!
He quickly scrolled past a few crewmates' panels.
Then, Koby's stats appeared before Luffy.
At that moment, Luffy finally understood where the sudden burst of power had come from.
The panel read:
[Koby]
Stamina: 22050
Strength: 21400
Agility: 21600
Mental Power: 21800
Even Luffy, mentally prepared, had his brain short-circuit for a moment.
He was completely speechless.
No wonder he had suddenly surged with so much strength!
Apparently, Koby's stats were even more absurd!
Over twenty thousand average in each attribute—four stats totaling over eighty thousand points!
Luffy really wanted to shake off Shanks and Buggy and ask Koby straight up:
Where in the world did you steal all these attribute points from?
Twenty thousand!
By Luffy's estimation, this likely broke the limits of strength in the pirate world.
With the feedback from Koby's stats, Luffy could now clearly sense that Whitebeard in his prime probably had attributes roughly on par with this!
Luffy now felt that with a single punch, even a Marine Admiral could be instantly defeated.
Add the X Gloves attack bonus…
Nothing in this world could hold him back!
Oh, and there's Koby!
The world's strongest man had finally appeared in the Starry Sky Pirates.
Yet… it wasn't him!
From today onward, the world's strongest man would be the Starry Sky Pirates' own servant—Koby, the boy!
And Koby was still under fifteen…
…
On the ground, the pirates who had been crushed by the terrifying aura slowly began to stand one by one.
Yet they didn't immediately tidy their disheveled clothes. Instead, they looked around at their captain, Buggy.
If before, they had any doubt that Buggy could appear on the same screen as the Four Emperors or former Shichibukai,
Now, they fully realized their captain's greatness.
He had stood under the crushing pressure unscathed.
As if nothing had happened.
The power of belief began to sprout among the Buggy Pirates.
What they would never know was that it had been Shanks' Haki shielding Buggy from that oppressive aura.
…
At Marine Headquarters, on the battlefield of Marineford,
The split island could not stop the killing atmosphere between Marines and pirates.
Under Sakazuki's orders, the Marine had finally formed an iron wall, containing all Whitebeard Pirates within the island.
Cannonballs fell like raindrops, blades clashed relentlessly.
Every second, one or more lives disappeared from the world.
After Sakazuki's failure, Marine morale had plummeted.
As a result, the battlefield situation overwhelmingly favored the Marines' opponents.
Ace and Aokiji clashed fiercely, fists and icy strikes colliding continuously.
Around them, the area had turned into a freezing inferno.
Any approaching Marine or pirate was immediately blasted away by their explosive force.
Despite struggling, Ace did not allow Aokiji the slightest opportunity to assist other Marines in peril elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Jozu and Kizaru acted with perfect coordination—Kizaru firing lasers at Jozu's diamond shield, Jozu countering with a diamond strike to shatter Kizaru's elemental body.
In no time, their battle had turned into a deadly aerial spectacle of flying dust and radiant beams, impossible for anyone to approach.
On the high platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku frowned, his mustache quivering in anger.
Seeing the Marines falling behind, his face darkened, and he spat internally:
"This Sakazuki!!"
"Truly blinded by his emotions!"
"How can he act so impulsively in such a critical war!?"
Sengoku blamed Sakazuki's behavior on provocation from Whitebeard, shaking his head in frustration.
This carefully prepared war could not be ruined by Sakazuki's rash actions.
Frustrated, Sengoku shouted to the Shichibukai who hadn't acted yet:
"You seven! You're not here to watch a show!"
…
Hearing Sengoku, Doflamingo chuckled lowly.
"Old man Sengoku can be scary when angry."
With Sengoku's shout, Doflamingo leapt into the sky.
From above, countless fine threads rained down like a shimmering waterfall in sunlight.
Each thread represented a life about to fall.
"Heh heh heh… so many corpses…"
Moria, Doflamingo's business partner, cackled darkly.
From Moria's bloated belly, shadowy figures emerged, rushing into the corpses of fallen pirates and Marines.
These were the shadow resources he had stored after developing the Shadow-Shadow Fruit—each possessing the strength of a pirate with a billion-Berries bounty.
Crocodile, having played the "hero" for some time, slowly removed his cigar and whispered:
"After this war, Vivi will probably approve the New World branch…"
A whirl of sand rose from his feet, forming a miniature tornado, spiraling around him.
It expanded, eventually enveloping Crocodile completely.
When the sand dispersed, Crocodile had vanished.
Suddenly, a pirate on the battlefield felt a surge of wild sand behind him.
Crocodile's face appeared, whispering:
"Bethel, bounty 48,000,000 Berry, once destroyed a village on Ohchi Island while drunk."
"Judgment: Justice executed!"
Poof!
A black blood hole appeared instantly on the pirate's neck.
After the sand cleared, the golden light moved to the next pirate.
Hancock's fair, long legs kicked a pirate into shattered pieces.
With her aura retracted, she gazed toward the distant sea.
Her heart stirred, a strange yet familiar feeling, making her lose the will to continue fighting.
Pushing off with her white legs, Hancock left the battlefield and returned to the Shichibukai assembly.
"Hm?"
Hawkeye, resting with his eyes closed, opened one golden-black eye, curiously glancing at Hancock.
"What are you looking at!? You perv!!"
…
Scolded and confused, Hawkeye immediately closed his eyes again.
As expected…
Contemplating swordsmanship was much easier.
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Completed version available on P@treon(.)com/Veltoria