Next Bonus, 100!!
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Kaido... is a failure?
"..." A dead silence fell over the sea. Everyone stared at Jin, utterly speechless, the words failing to form.
Before the eyes of the world, Jin had delivered a series of sharp critiques—not just about the Emperors, but to the Emperors.
He was lecturing them!!
With a perfectly calm voice, he spoke words that were anything but, his entire demeanor screaming that he was not afraid to make an enemy of them all.
The entire sea was in shock. The pirates and Marines alike could only look on in horror, thinking the same thing—this man was on another level.
These were the Emperors.
The figures who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the pirate world. And he was calling out their shortcomings.
Perhaps Jin was wrong.
But he was articulating a perspective that no ordinary person ever could.
People only ever saw the Emperors' strength—they never saw them as what they were. Human.
And as long as they were human, they had desires, emotions, and weaknesses.
What he was saying was that even beings as mighty as the Emperors had their own struggles, their own crosses to bear.
And in that realization, the awe and fear the world held for them—while not gone—lessened.
Jin was stripping away the divine aura that surrounded the Emperors.
After a moment of stunned silence, the sea erupted.
A tidal wave of astonished shouts rolled across the water.
The words Jin spoke filled countless people with a sense of admiration. He had the guts to say it.
Urusei's eyes sparkled. In the Beasts Pirates, she was known for being a hothead, always ready to mouth off to anyone, even daring to call Kaido an idiot.
But she had never seen anything like this—someone calling out the Emperors by name, challenging them to their faces with such style.
To her, he was an absolute icon.
But while she was in awe, the rest of the Beasts Pirates were seething with rage.
And they weren't the only ones.
The Red-Haired Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates...
Their faces were all grim.
They were furious.
The truth is a sharp blade, and Jin's words had cut deep, exposing the troubles and core issues of each crew.
Newgate and Linlin were old and sick. When they were gone, who would carry the banner?
Linlin had Katakuri. But who did Newgate have?
Marco? Vista? Jozu?
Which of his commanders had the presence to command the respect of an entire sea?
Ace? Teach?
They were still in the leveling-up phase. Not ready.
Shanks chased freedom, but everything he did made it look like he was trapped in a cage of his own making. He claimed to have no ambition, yet he played the mediator, became an Emperor, bet his arm on the future...
He was a contradiction.
Kaido was a powerhouse, and he was cunning—but it was the cunning of a street thug, not a true king. Rebuilding Wano's order, managing his own subordinates... he was a mess at all of it. He lacked the methods of a true monarch.
That was it.
Kaido was not a king.
One incident made that perfectly clear.
To recruit Kid and Hawkins, he had first used Apoo as an inside man, then put on a pathetic show of "jumping off a sky island."
As the World's Strongest Creature, why not just show up? Unleash the aura of a true conqueror. Submit, or die.
Kaido's style was that of someone with a max-level character who still preferred to win through underhanded tactics. He never took the high road.
It wasn't that a ruler couldn't use strategy. But to always resort to it, to always be the sneak... that would never earn him true respect.
A great nation must bear a great nation's responsibility.
And so must a great man.
"This guy is getting way too arrogant," Shanks said, his expression dark. "Let's see how he plans to clean up this mess."
Whitebeard sighed.
Linlin was seething.
Kaido was so angry his nose was practically crooked, and he let out a snort of hot air.
"GAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A wild, unrestrained laugh cut through the tension.
It was Garp.
He clutched his stomach, pointing at the Emperors, his laughter booming with pure delight. "Finally! Someone's finally peeled back the curtain on these so-called Emperors!"
Garp laughed without a shred of dignity, his smile brighter than the sun. He was overjoyed.
THAT'S MY BOY. HE TOLD THEM. HE REALLY TOLD THEM!
What were these damn Emperors anyway? When he was chasing Roger through the New World, there was no such thing. It was just another title, like the Warlords, cooked up by the higher-ups to "balance" the world.
Garp's laughter was like a knife in their ears.
"What are you so happy about, Vice Admiral Garp?" Jin asked, shooting him a sidelong glance.
Huh? What's this got to do with me?
Garp's brow furrowed. "What are you trying to say, kid?"
Kaido, who had been about to make his move, held back, eager to hear what kind of dirt Jin had on Garp.
Jin continued. "You're not doing so great yourself, are you? Stuck in the middle of the Marines, just coasting. And your family? Your son's a revolutionary, your grandson wants to be a pirate. What, is your family playing for all three sides?"
A wave of shock rippled through the crowd.
The son of the hero Garp was a revolutionary? His grandson wanted to be a pirate? Not a Marine? Who were they?
If even Garp's own family wouldn't join the Marines, what did that say about the young people who had joined because of him?
Garp was the personification of the Marines' "justice," the very image of a "just Marine" in the eyes of the people.
Jin's words, while seemingly aimed at Garp, were designed to make people question the very idea of the Marines' "justice."
He was deconstructing the entire "authority" class.
"You've gone too far, kid!" Garp roared, his face flushing with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
"I'll ask you one question," Jin said calmly. "Am I wrong? Or can you only listen to praise? Did the truth hurt your fragile little hearts?"
"That's it! I'm gonna kill him!" Garp fumed, rolling up his sleeves.
"Hey! Garp-san!"
"Stop him!"
"Vice Admiral!"
A group of Marine officers rushed forward, grabbing his legs and arms, and managed to hold him back.
Jin shook his head.
He looked out across the sea, his spirit soaring, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "You ask who the heroes are? Who decides the fate of this era?"
His voice rang out, filled with unbridled arrogance.
"There is only me!"
Everyone was stunned.
'Damn. He's hyping himself up. This guy is really something else.'
"SO ARROGANT!"
"THE NERVE!"
"WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS??"
The Emperor's crews all cursed him. He had torn them all down, only to praise himself?
"A man who is not bold in his youth is a man who has not lived," Jin declared. "And I have the strength to back up my words. Do you?"
Against an ordinary person, Jin would not have been so brazen. But these were the Emperors, the top dogs of the pirate world.
Humility was useless here. Only by being more arrogant, more powerful than them, could he earn the right to even speak to them.
In that one moment, Jin had burned his image into the minds of everyone present.
A man who dared to call out the Four Emperors and the Hero of the Marines... the entire world would tremble at his name.
Ace's eyes were sparkling.
This was it.
This was the dream he had been chasing, the dream of surpassing Roger. To stand at the center of the world and command all of it, just like Jin.
"..." Kaido could take no more.
He let out a furious roar.
His draconic form spun into the air in a spiral, his entire body wreathed in flames.
"RISING DRAGON... FLAME BAGUA!"
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