The laughter didn't stop.
It carried across the island, cutting through the returning noise of battle as if it had always belonged there, as if everything else had only been background to it. At the center of the distorted ground, he stood, shoulders shaking slightly as the sound tore out of him without restraint.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—"
For a moment, he didn't move—not out of hesitation, but because nothing in him felt the need to.
His hand rose to his face almost absentmindedly, fingers pressing into his cheek as if to ground himself. Instead, it gave way beneath the pressure. His skin stretched to the side, not tearing, not resisting, but bending as though it no longer followed the same rules it had moments ago.
"…what—"
He tried to speak, but the word came out wrong. His mouth didn't quite form it properly, the shape shifting slightly as he spoke, his voice bending along with it in a way that made no sense.
He froze for a fraction of a second.
Then the laughter came back harder.
"HAHA—no way—HAHAHAHA—"
His grip tightened as he pulled at his face again, this time deliberately, watching as it stretched further before snapping cleanly back into place the moment he let go.
"…this isn't—HAHA—this isn't possible…"
The words broke apart under his laughter, unable to hold together against the feeling rising through him.
He drew in a breath, slower now, deeper, his chest expanding fully before he let it out again. There was no resistance. No pressure pushing back. No weight anchoring him to the ground.
Everything felt effortless.
Not lighter.
Freer.
A short distance away, a group of Marines had managed to pull themselves upright again, though none of them advanced. Their movements had slowed without them meaning to, their grips tightening and loosening around their weapons as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing.
"…who is that…?" one of them asked, his voice low, uncertain.
No one answered.
A pirate nearby took a step back, then another, his expression tightening as instinct overrode whatever intention had brought him forward moments ago.
"That's not normal…"
The words came out under his breath, but others heard them. It didn't matter. No one moved closer.
At the center of it, he didn't notice.
"HAHAHAHA—"
His foot shifted forward, pressing into the ground.
It bent beneath him.
Not cracking, not breaking—yielding.
He leaned into it instinctively, pushing down harder.
The ground pushed back.
The motion lifted him slightly, just enough for him to feel it, before he dropped again. The moment his foot made contact, the force spread outward in a ripple that bent the terrain around him before snapping it back into place.
A Marine who had just regained his footing lost it immediately, thrown sideways as the ground shifted beneath him. Another tried to brace himself and failed, dropping hard to one knee as his balance disappeared. A pirate staggered backward, arms flaring out as he fought to stay upright.
"WHAT IS THIS—"
The shout broke apart as another smaller ripple followed.
He laughed again, louder this time.
"…this is insane…"
His hand lifted once more, fingers spreading slowly, not reaching for anything in particular but moving as if testing something he couldn't see. The air shifted with it—subtle, but enough to disrupt movement nearby.
A weapon slipped from someone's grasp, clattering uselessly against the ground.
Another man froze completely, unable to take the next step forward as his body refused to follow through.
He stepped forward again.
The ground bent beneath him, then returned, as if it were responding instead of resisting.
Another step followed.
Each movement felt wrong.
Each movement felt perfect.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—"
The battlefield didn't remain frozen. Marines began to reposition, slower now, more deliberate, their formation breaking without command. Pirates spread out instead of closing in, creating distance instinctively, their earlier aggression replaced by something far less controlled.
Uncertainty.
Because no one knew what he was.
And no one was willing to be the first to find out.
He didn't look at them.
Not yet.
Instead, his gaze lifted toward the sky.
The fracture remained, stretching above him, unstable and unmended.
"…I did that…?"
It didn't sound like doubt.
It sounded like realization.
His grin widened.
"HAHAHAHA—"
Nothing was stopping him.
Not the ground.
Not the air.
Not the world itself.
For the first time—
there was no limit.
And everything on that island had already begun to understand it.