Top-Tier Conqueror's Haki User-Ma Qiao

Rebecca stared at the massive lava beast looming over her, her small face turning deathly pale.

Her hand gripping the Long Sword trembled incessantly, but she did not retreat an inch.

As descendants of royalty facing the threat of national subjugation, if Vivi deserves a 90, Rebecca could also get an 80.

As for Kozuki Momonosuke, he'd struggle to even score 30 points.

Faced with the threat of death, Rebecca did not hesitate to choose to protect those who had hurt her.

Even if her protection was useless.

"Rebecca!"

Just as the girl was about to perish, a tiny Toy Soldier appeared out of nowhere.

Kyros used all his speed, and his small body unleashed energy beyond its limits.

He scooped his daughter up in his arms and kicked off with his one leg.

"Mr. Soldier, I cannot retreat!"

"Don't be silly, run!"

Although Kyros said that, he was, after all, just a toy with a broken leg. His leap just now had exceeded his limits, and he was already powerless to dodge the stone golem's ultimate attack.

"Hateful!"

Although Kyros possessed a fairly good Observation Haki.

But it's only just good.

Even if Katakuri were here, it would be difficult for him to dodge the Golem's ultimate attack using Observation Haki to predict its movement.

Because the distance was just too close.

The enormous rock monster drew closer and closer, and one could even see the barnacles that covered it, a result of its long-term habit of living at the mouth of a river.

This is enough to make someone with trypophobia's scalp tingle.

Just as the father and daughter, along with the villagers behind them, were sinking into despair, a figure suddenly appeared.

Don't be afraid!

"I am coming!"

"As long as we live, the tower stands!"

A ripple appeared on the ground.

A giant Green-Skinned Toad emerged from the riverbed.

On the head of the Green-Skinned Toad stood a tall and imposing young man.

The man and the toad simply shielded everyone behind them.

If they changed their clothes and dyed their hair, this scene would resemble the one where Minato Namikaze stood atop Gamabunta's head, facing the Nine-Tails to protect Konoha.

However, what used to flutter in the wind for Minato Namikaze was the Hokage robe, while what was fluttering in the wind at this moment was a long red scarf.

"A red scarf?"

Kyros and Rebecca exchanged a glance, both thinking of the recently popular legend about a savior Fox Prophecy.

In that legend, the man wearing the red scarf would save the country and become its true master.

Only...

Let's set aside Kyros and his contemporaries believed such rumors.

Even if this prophecy were true, Kyros could only imagine the image of the man in the red scarf as a great warrior, fully armored and with a red scarf tied around his neck.

But at this moment, Ma Qiao was wearing beach shorts, a floral shirt, sunglasses, and a fisherman's hat, with a Den Den Mushi hanging around his neck, looking just like any tourist you'd see in Dressrosa.

Could someone like this be a savior?

Before Kyros and the others could even think things through, the meteor-like behemoth was already upon them.

Malphite's "Unstoppable" winds caused Rebecca's long pink hair to flutter.

The atmosphere of despair spread further.

"Get out of here!"

Suddenly, Ma Qiao shouted, his eyes wide with anger.

The entire process and expressions basically recreated 80% of the famous scene where Shanks, the king of coolness, repelled the Lord of the Coast in the East Blue.

The only difference is that Shanks, the king of cool, is handsome, but he had an arm bitten off by the Lord of the Coast.

And naturally, Boss Ma couldn't possibly be hurt by Malphite, he couldn't even be touched.

After being yelled at by Ma Qiao, Malphite, who was in flight path, froze for a second. Then, as if he had seen something terrifying, he retreated in horror.

"What... what's going on?"

Rebecca asked in surprise, "This man... he just glared at me..."

"This is probably the legendary Conqueror's Haki... I never expected someone like this to appear in Dressrosa..."

The one-legged Kyros whispered, "Legend has it that only one in a million people possesses this kind of Haki. Unlike the ' Observation Haki 'Haki I taught you, the Awakening of Conqueror's Haki cannot be obtained through training; it depends solely on the user's inherent aptitude..."

Kyros, watching Malphite still running around in fear, said uncertainly, "This young man's Conqueror's Haki is so powerful that it can even intimidate such a behemoth; he's probably even stronger than that man..."

The "man" Kyros referring to was none other than Doflamingo, the only person he had ever seen with his own eyes who possessed Conqueror's Haki and who was now the ruler of Dressrosa.

However, the Conqueror's Haki displayed by Doflamingo was far less impressive to Kyros than that of Ma Qiao.

After all, putting aside the lighting and special effects that Ma Qiao secretly added to himself, the fact that it could make lava behemoths flee in terror was a huge plus.

Doflamingo did not make Pica act alongside him.

Of course, calling it acting isn't entirely accurate.

Because Malphite's fear wasn't feigned.

He was truly "fearful".

Malphite's ultimate ability, "Unstoppable," is not a skill that can be freely controlled.

Because the "Unstoppable" skill cannot be adjusted in direction or canceled once used, and has a relatively long projectile trajectory, it often results in the Golem missing his ultimate.

Malphite also earned the nickname "Smart Malphite".

Even so, Malphite remains an undisputed popular champion in Bronze and Silver games, and Malphite ultimate ability is a skill that strikes fear into the hearts of countless players.

It's fair to say that a Malphite can be "smart" for an entire game.

However, if he can successfully eliminate two or three of the opponent's main forces in a crucial team fight, it will be enough to play a huge role in turning the tide of the battle.

For older, slower, lower-ranked players, dodging "Unstoppable" is an extremely difficult task.

The Malphite's ultimate ability is a very high-priority skill, granting immunity to all skill-based crowd control during its activation.

Neither the Veigar's warped space nor the robot's Rocket Grab could stop him.

But this is not absolute.

In the league, there are at least three ways to break up Malphite's big game.

First, and most simply and directly, is to defeat Malphite instantly.

This is what those Silver Warriors who always hold back their ultimate moves, afraid to initiate or counter-attack, only unleashing their full power when the enemy or themselves are low on health often do – rush in and kill.

Second, there's Bard's ultimate ability.

Bard's ultimate can indiscriminately invulnerable all units Zhonya's Hourglass. If Malphite's ultimate collided with Bard's ultimate during its flight, it would naturally be interrupted.

The third option is the one that Ma Qiao just chose.

That is to use the Shaco's Jack in the Box. The Shaco's Jack in the Box has a high priority for scaring people and can scare flying stone golems.

In a corner unseen by everyone, Ma Qiao had preemptively set up Jack in the Box, successfully defusing this earth-shattering crisis.

In the eyes of someone as knowledgeable as Kyros, it naturally became the one-in-a-million Conqueror's Haki.

Are you alright?

Ma Qiao turned around, patted Rebecca's forehead, and then, ignoring Kyros's objections, lifted her up. "What a brave toy... little girl, does it always protect you like this?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yes, that's right, Mr. Soldier is the best toy in the world!"

"A toy...?"

Ma Qiao shook his head. "I think using family members might be more appropriate?"

"Brave outsider, don't talk nonsense!"

The other villagers, still shaken, quickly warned Ma Qiao: "Treat a toy as a family member, that's a serious crime. A toy is a toy, and a human being is a human being; the two cannot be confused."

Rebecca wanted to argue for the Mr. Soldier, but he stopped her. "Rebecca, everyone's right, we... we're not family..."

"But... Mr. Soldier, you always..."

"Stop talking!"

Kyros interrupted Rebecca, pointing to the approaching Peacekeepers in the distance. "I'm leaving."

Kyros had attacked Human Traffickers, violating the law that toys cannot attack humans, and was a wanted criminal in Dressrosa.

The villagers who were repairing the riverbed might not know him, but the Peacekeeper certainly did.

Rebecca watched the Mr. Soldier recede into the distance, her eyes brimming with tears.

Kyros, too, could not suppress his grief.

My beloved family is right in front of me, yet I cannot acknowledge them...

This is not only because he has become a toy; even if one day he were to regain his human form, Kyros has no intention of acknowledging Rebecca and her father.

He felt that his lowly status had already caused trouble for Rebecca's mother, and he didn't want Rebecca to become unhappy because of him.

Ma Qiao looked at the father and daughter, who clearly cared for each other but always did some senseless and foolish things, and shook his head helplessly.

"Excuse me, toy buddy, could you wait a moment?"

For some reason, Kyros also received a direct pass to his younger brother.

Tahm Kench stuck out his tongue and curled Kyros up.

What are you going to do?

Kyros tried to struggle, but seeing that Ma Qiao seemed to have no ill intentions, he abandoned his plan to cut off Tahm Kench's tongue with his sword.

In fact, even Katakuri's mochi bullets couldn't damage Tahm Kench's tongue. If he could cut it off, Ma Qiao would reward him with a Tahm Kench French kiss on the spot.

Ma Qiao pulled out a map commonly used by tourists. "I'm a tourist visiting Dressrosa. Shouldn't you two treat me to a meal?"

"Ah?"

Kyros hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the approaching Peacekeeping Squad and nodded. "Well then, young man, please follow me..."

Although Malphite looks incredibly powerful, he's actually all All show and no substance.

He was a hero that Ma Qiao had just recruited and then barely managed to level up to level 6.

As a level 6 hero without any equipment, Malphite is no match for East Blue Arlong.

At this level, even a powerful attack wouldn't be enough to kill Kyros and Rebecca.

But with these things, you'll never know unless you try.

When magnified, the fully-equipped Nuclear Malphite and the unequipped Malphite look equally terrifying.

However, things would be a different story if a real fight broke out.

Pica, one of Donquixote's four founding fathers (the other three being Trebol, Diamante, and Vergo), and the highest-ranking officer of the Pica Corps Pica Forces, looked at Malphite, whom he had firmly subdued, and laughed in a high-pitched voice.

He came with the local Peacekeeper to deal with the "rock giant" incident.

Prior to this, he had appeared in the nearby town primarily to investigate the recent widespread rumor about a talking Fox.

Rumors that someone would replace Doflamingo as the master of Dressrosa reached Doflamingo's ears.

As a schemer, Doflamingo sensed something unusual and sent high-ranking officers to investigate.

However, before Pica could investigate the matter thoroughly, she received rumors about the rock giant causing trouble.

The rock giant—that really intrigued him.

Devil Fruits cannot be duplicated.

Therefore, Pica knew that this suddenly appearing stone giant was either a user of a power similar to the Stone-Stone Fruit, or, like the Tontatta Tribe, some kind of rare Special Races.

In that case, perhaps I could offer him to Doflamingo.

Because his original Artificial Devil Fruit business was ruined by Ma Qiao, Doflamingo still hasn't found a Four Emperors Patron, and he feels very insecure.

Kaido's approach is blocked, Big Mom might be a good alternative.

Therefore, over the years, Doflamingo has been dedicated to searching for Special Races to send to Big Mom in order to enrich her "Harem".

However, the current Totto Land of the Universe is only missing three known races.

The Giant Tribe are too strong and too united; they're too difficult to attack.

The Lunarians is far too rare.

That's why Doflamingo never succeeded.

What he didn't know was that while your uncle was still your uncle, your Big Mom was no longer your Big Mom.

Of course, besides considering the Donquixote Family, Pica also had his own selfish motives in capturing Malphite.

As Stone-Stone Devil Fruit User, Pica can assimilate with any rock he comes into contact with, absorbing its appearance, hardness, and other properties into his own power, ultimately transforming into a massive rock giant to attack.

But in essence, Pica herself cannot turn into stone.

His true form remained flesh and blood, hidden within the rock.

This can be said to be Pica's biggest weakness all along.

But now, a living stone man had appeared before him. How could he not feel like he had found a treasure?

In Ma Qiao's original plan, Malphite was to die a heroic death.

In any case, the cost of reviving a Blank Slate 6 hero with no experience is just a drop in the ocean for the current Big Bird Consortium.

However, Pica saved Ma Qiao a lot of money.

He carefully subdued Malphite, unwilling to kill him, and instead happily took Malphite back to the Donquixote Family palace.

In the palace hall.

Malphite was bound hand and foot and thrown to the ground, his arrogance from when he was first unearthed long gone.

But he still appeared unruly.

"You also sprang from a stone, why aren't you a monkey?"

Pica was extremely envious as she listened to Malphite's deep, resonant question.

"One day, I will turn my vocal cords into stone, so that I can also produce such a deep, masculine voice!"

"What? So that's why you captured this rare and exotic beast?"

Diamante, another of the four elders of Donquixote and the murderer of Kyros's wife, Devil Fruit User, ate snacks while mocking Pica's actions.

"What do you know? Having a deep, resonant voice is my biggest dream in life!"

Because his tall, robust physique was so mismatched with his high-pitched voice, Pica suffered countless bullying attacks from a young age. This had become a deep-seated trauma for him.

"But..."

Pica added, "But you're right, this one-eyed rock man is indeed a rare and exotic creature, Mr. Dover will definitely like it, and..."

Pica scratched his head.

"This guy kept saying that Shiki was coming to wipe us all out. Do you know who Shiki is? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before..."

Diamante frowned. "I think I've heard that name before... Mr. Dover!"

Just then, Doflamingo strode in with his arrogant, pigeon-toed gait.

He stomped on Malphite's head and laughed loudly, "I think I just heard that old guy Shiki's name. Are you guys reading a history book? That kind of old thing has long been abandoned by the new era~ Fufu!"