Kane spread his arms wide, his silhouette etched against the chaotic sky.
Rumble—!!!
That was the sweet, violent sound of money being well spent. A full 100,000 discipline points had vanished from his balance, and in exchange, he had gained absolute dominance over the air currents of this world. The lightning that had been drifting aimlessly through the clouds now acted like soldiers hearing a royal rallying call; the bolts converged into a terrifying pillar of white-hot electricity over 100 meters in diameter. With world-destroying power, it violently pierced the surface of the sea!
Immediately after, the ocean boiled and began to roll frantically. A massive cyclone, connecting the dark sky and the churning sea, rapidly took shape before everyone's eyes in an utterly unreasonable manner.
"What... is that thing..." A pirate from the Flying Pirates looked up at the sky in a daze, his weapon slipping from his hands.
"Not good!" Aboard the Oro Jackson, Rayleigh watched the terrifying waterspout grow thicker and larger by the second, his expression changing instantly. "Everyone! Hold onto the sails! Steady the ship!"
Though the crew of the Roger Pirates were shocked, they reacted with the speed of veterans, immediately taking their positions to battle this sudden natural disaster.
"Pwahahahaha! Roger! Looks like your luck isn't so good today!" Garp laughed heartlessly. He was suspended in mid-air using Moonwalk, watching the world-ending storm with a grin.
But Golden Lion Shiki couldn't bring himself to laugh. To his horror, he realized that the superstorm, which should have attacked everything indiscriminately, seemed to have eyes. It skillfully bypassed Garp and Roger, heading straight toward his own grand fleet to crush them!
The storm... was being controlled?! Was there actually someone on this sea who understood how to use the weather better than the "Flying Admiral" himself?!
"Who exactly is it?!"
Shiki's Observation Haki swept across the battlefield like a net, trying to find the cause of this anomaly. Garp? Impossible, that idiot only knows how to use his fists. Roger? He was occupied with Garp and had his hands full. Then who was it?!
Golden Lion's gaze swept over the lone Marine warship. Then, his eyes instantly locked on. He zeroed in on the small, almost negligible figure standing atop the lookout tower.
That Marine brat!
Despite the vast distance and the raging storm, Shiki could clearly feel that the center of all the chaotic air currents in that area—the very source of the storm—was that boy!
It was him! He was the one behind this!
"Jiehahahaha..."
Golden Lion Shiki was taken aback for a moment, then let out a laugh even more arrogant than before, though it was now filled with an icy, murderous intent.
"Interesting... truly interesting..."
"Where did this small fry come from, daring to interfere in a battlefield of kings?!"
The famous blade Kogarasu in Golden Lion's hand suddenly changed direction. He no longer paid any attention to Roger or Garp.
Killing intent, locked on!
Every hair on Kane's body stood on end in an instant. It felt as if he were being stared down by a ferocious, prehistoric beast, to the point where even his blood felt like it was freezing in his veins.
"Zanpa: Shishi Odoshi: Senkyokudani!!"
Golden Lion didn't hold back at all. He delivered a heavy backhand slash capable of cleaving an entire island in two! That was no ordinary slash; it was a golden curtain of light, 100 meters high and 1,000 meters wide. Wrapped in the Great Swordsman's top-tier Armament Haki, it ignored the gale and sliced through the storm, bearing down on the dog head warship with unavoidable speed!
If this strike landed, let alone Kane, the entire warship and the very trench beneath it would be split in two!
"Not good! Kane!!!"
On the deck, Bogard, who had just recovered from the shock of the Haoshoku, looked up and saw the golden slash descending like divine punishment. The sight scared him out of his wits. His usually calm face instantly contorted as he let out a desperate, helpless roar.
It was too fast! Too strong! There was no time for rescue!
"Kane, kid!"
In the distance, Garp's pupils shrank. Just as he was about to turn back, he was blocked by Roger's blade. "Your opponent is me, Garp!"
"Get lost!" Garp sent Roger flying with a desperate punch, but those few seconds of delay meant it was already too late! The golden slash had already crossed the 1,000 meter distance and arrived directly above the dog head warship!
Time seemed to slow down at this moment. On the lookout tower, the expanding golden death was reflected in Kane's pupils. His mind went blank.
Run? Where to? The slash covered the entire warship; there was nowhere to escape, neither in the sky nor on the sea. Block? With what? Use his recently awakened Armament Haki to challenge the slash of an Emperor-level Great Swordsman? That would be suicide!
He was going to die! This time, he really was going to die! He had only just transmigrated, just gotten the system, and just seen the hope of getting rich overnight! How could he die here?! Die at the hands of some brain-dead Golden Lion-head?!
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Kane stared intently at the golden line of death that occupied his entire field of vision, his eyes instantly becoming bloodshot and crimson.
I just spent 150,000 points! This investment hasn't even paid off yet, how can I exit the stage here?! I'm the man who's going to control the direction of this world. How can I be casually crushed like a small fry by a remnant of the old era like you?!
"Don't... look down on me!!"
"My life... is very expensive!!!"
BOOM—!!!
An invisible, dark-red wave of air erupted from Kane as the center without any warning! It was a materialized will condensed from extreme unwillingness and greed originating from the depths of his soul!
Conqueror's Haki: Awakening!
Zzzt!
Black and red lightning crackled around the lookout tower. Though immature and insignificant compared to the three kings at the center of the battlefield, it truly existed! That newly born Conqueror's Haki slammed violently into the golden slash wave!
It didn't shatter the slash. It didn't even budge it an inch. But! It caused that world-destroying golden slash to experience a pause in mid-air for less than half a second!
Just that split second of pause was enough!
Kane's body, relying entirely on survival instinct, turned into a gust of wind and narrowly brushed past the edge of the slash!
Rumble rumble rumble—!!!
The golden light swallowed everything. The entire dog head warship, along with the entire area of sea it occupied, was forcibly split in two by that slash! The seawater poured back in, forming a massive waterfall. The wreckage of the warship, amidst its groans of snapping steel, was sucked into the bottomless abyss.
The entire field was dead silent... a few seconds later.
Roger leaped back, putting distance between himself and Garp. His gaze pierced through the mist and landed on a large floating piece of wood. There, a disheveled figure was shakily standing up.
Kane's clothes were in tatters, and his left arm was dripping with blood, but he was still standing. He had survived the aftermath of that slash.
"Interesting..."
Roger grinned, revealing a smile of extreme appreciation, as the blade in his hand hummed softly.
"To survive Shiki's slash and even awaken that color of Haki in a desperate situation..."
"Garp, your Marine... has produced quite an extraordinary rookie!"
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