Gradually, Jack completed his transformation.
His already massive body became even more imposing. He now stood nearly ten meters tall, with a body length approaching twenty meters. A mammoth that had long gone extinct now stood vividly before Renji.
"ROOOAR!"
A thunderous bellow burst from Jack's mouth. The sound resembled the cry of a bull, but sharper and far more terrifying.
Seeing this, Renji raised an eyebrow slightly. "With a body this huge, no wonder your ship is built so large."
The Mammoth Pirates had roughly the same number of crew members as Renji's Fourth Division, about a hundred people. Yet their ship was far larger than ordinary pirate ships. It was even larger than many warships.
Renji glanced around and quickly understood.
This ship had been designed to withstand Jack's rampages. A larger ship meant more space for movement and more storage. But it also meant more work for the crew to maintain, since the Mammoth Pirates did not have significantly more members despite their enormous vessel.
"Now you die."
Jack finished transforming. He lifted one massive front leg and stomped down toward Renji's head. The gigantic mammoth leg blocked out the sky above Renji, and for a moment everything around him seemed to fall into darkness.
"Heh."
Renji let out a cold laugh. His fists were coated with a thick layer of Armament Haki, and then fine cracks appeared around them. The vibration energy of the Gura Gura no Mi was compressed into a controlled range.
He aimed directly at the center of Jack's descending leg and punched.
BOOM!
Renji's fist collided with the mammoth's foot. Before the two sides could even begin comparing raw strength, Renji released the compressed Tremor-Tremor energy.
"ROOOAR!"
A painful howl erupted as Jack's enormous mammoth body staggered backward. The leg that had stomped down twisted unnaturally. Renji's punch had nearly destroyed Jack's leg.
"Well done."
Jack slowly steadied himself and shook the injured leg. From above, the massive mammoth head glared down at Renji.
The mammoth's skin and fat were incredibly thick. With the power of the Ancient Zoan fruit, Jack's defense was among the strongest in the world. Although the stomp had not been his full power, it had still been coated with Armament Haki. Even so, it had not stopped Renji's punch.
That alone showed how troublesome Renji was.
But Jack did not seem worried.
"You used your ability immediately, which means your raw strength is inferior to mine."
Renji did not deny it.
Jack was a fish-man. His racial advantage alone gave him strength far beyond ordinary humans. Combined with the power of his mammoth Devil Fruit, his physical power had reached another level. Among Yonko commanders, Jack could easily claim the title of strongest in pure strength.
[You picked up 1 Strength!]
When Jack's strength attribute entered Renji's body, his muscles trembled with power. The enhancement was even greater than the strength he had previously obtained from Edward Newgate.
'The boost is this high?'
Renji was thrilled.
He had expected fighting a Yonko commander to make him stronger, but he had not expected the results to be this impressive.
At that moment, a new idea appeared in Renji's mind.
He could use Jack to level up.
After realizing this, Renji looked at Jack again and said calmly, "It seems you're stronger than I expected, and far more valuable."
"Of course."
Jack, now towering like a colossal beast, looked down at Renji. At 1.9 meters tall, Renji was already considered somewhat short in the world of One Piece. Now he looked like nothing more than an ant beneath Jack's enormous body.
Jack had no idea about Renji's system or his ability to collect attributes. He simply assumed Renji was praising him.
His pride grew even stronger.
"I admit you have some strength, but if that's all you've got, then don't blame me when I accidentally crush you under my foot."
As he spoke, Jack lifted his left foreleg again. This time, the entire leg was coated in deep Armament Haki. The Haki rotated like a vortex along his leg.
This was advanced Armament Haki coating.
[You picked up 1 Armament Haki Insight!]
"Perfect."
After collecting the attributes dropped by Jack, Renji fully activated the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. All the vibration energy gathered into his right fist.
This time, even though Jack had fully unleashed his mammoth form, Renji had no intention of dodging.
Far away on the sea, aboard the Moby Dick, Edward Newgate sat before a Den Den Mushi projection device.
The image displayed on it showed the battle between Renji and Jack.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes slightly.
"That kid has been hiding his strength well."