"Is this Wano Country?"
After coming ashore, everyone disembarked and began exploring this ancient island.
Only Austin stared excitedly into the distance as a red glow erupted before his eyes.
"Have they arrived?"
"Hey, Austin, where are you going?"
Seeing Austin suddenly leap onto the nearby hillside as if he were watching for something, Shanks, who was crouching nearby in a Captain's Hat and munching on chocolate, looked up and asked.
Buggy followed close behind.
Unlike Austin, he did not possess such exaggerated Observation Haki, so he could only use binoculars to observe the distance. Then, as if he had spotted something, he exclaimed—
"Captain Roger! It's the Whitebeard Pirates, on the other side of the island!!"
Roger, however, showed no major reaction upon hearing that. He merely burst into laughter.
"Good, then let's have a fight!!!"
Immediately afterward, a figure rapidly approached.
"Captain~ A samurai is charging over."
Austin spoke calmly. Unlike Buggy, he did not react too strongly. With a brief sense of the man's presence, he already knew who it was, so he was not particularly surprised.
Kozuki Oden, the King of Endurance.
A hot-blooded idiot of a samurai who had played an excellent hand terribly.
With a single move, Spear: Ghost Mimicry, Oden knocked two crew members to the ground.
Seeing this, Rayleigh and Gaban both drew their weapons, preparing to fight.
"He's as strong as the rumors say. Stop him, Rayleigh!"
"Let's do it."
"Wait, Gaban, Rayleigh!"
Roger, however, eagerly rushed past the two of them and charged forward. "Can't let you get hurt!"
"You just want to fight yourself."
Austin smiled, but his eyes remained fixed on Roger and Oden, who were about to collide.
His Observation Haki wildly enveloped the two of them. Austin did not want to miss even the slightest detail.
Roger charged forward with a grin, black-red lightning gathering around his blade.
"Divine Departure!!!"
Such exquisite control over Conqueror's Haki!
As he watched Kozuki Oden get sent flying by that slash, Austin was still savoring the Conqueror's Haki Infusion from moments ago.
Having seen it more often, he was gradually gaining a deeper understanding of the principles behind its power. It was actually similar to what Rayleigh had taught him.
Compared to unleashing Conqueror's Haki freely and indiscriminately knocking out fodder, Conqueror's Haki Infusion was more like concentrating it at a single point before unleashing even greater power.
Shanks at his peak used it in much the same way, compressing and condensing his ultimate Conqueror's Haki into black-red lightning. Even a Vice Admiral would be unable to withstand it, while even an Admiral would be weakened when facing it.
However, unlike Armament Haki, it did not possess physical form and could not be freely gathered onto any part of the body.
A year had passed. Austin looked at the black-red arcs crackling from the friction in his palm. Even now, he had only grasped the barest basics.
Everyone watched as Oden, who had been sent flying a hundred meters by one slash, finally came to a stop after crashing through countless trees.
Only Austin, Roger, and a handful of others were watching the sky. A powerful presence was rapidly approaching!
He's here, he's here!!!
Austin's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the giant-like figure approaching from afar.
An absurdly muscular body, golden hair, a white cape, and that signature crescent-shaped white beard.
The World's Strongest Man.
Edward Newgate!
He immediately charged straight toward Roger, while Roger showed no weakness either. An equally immense amount of Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his blade as he slashed directly upward.
The two blades did not even touch. They merely clashed through their Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
Black-red lightning continuously crackled between them. Apart from the two combatants, the terrifying shockwave swept everyone else off their feet.
Even the sky seemed about to split apart, its clouds cleared for miles.
Though Austin wanted to experience it up close once more, he still could not withstand that power. He could only use his monstrous strength to cling tightly to an ancient tree farther away that had not been uprooted.
As for Buggy, Shanks, and the others, Rayleigh had long since dragged them away from the battlefield.
Facing this heaven-shaking force head-on, Austin fearlessly unleashed his own Conqueror's Haki to his heart's content, attempting to control it and infuse it around himself.
"Gurararara... What an interesting brat!"
Whitebeard noticed the brat nearby who was still stubbornly resisting the shockwave, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Is he one of your crew, Roger?"
Roger burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha, that kid's a complete monster! Jealous, Newgate!"
"Hmph... My sons won't lose to anyone!"
After their usual bickering, the two held their standoff for several seconds before laughing together, planting their weapons at their sides, and formally greeting each other.
"Hahahahahahahaha~"
"Leave all your valuables behind." ×2
At the two captains' command, the two pirate crews officially began fighting.
However, no one noticed that atop a distant tree, an exceptionally skilled sniper had already raised a long rifle.
A flash of red appeared in his eyes.
"You've exposed a flaw, Marco."
"Bang—"
It was Austin, secretly firing a Black Spear.
Having just experienced the power of Conqueror's Haki Infusion, Austin felt that joining the battle to fight ordinary grunts would no longer do anything to improve his spirit.
Or rather, having just savored fine food and eaten his fill, he had no desire to chew on coarse grain anymore.
Austin could also clearly feel that ordinary battles and killing were gradually no longer capable of increasing his Conqueror's Haki.
There were now only two ways for it to grow.
First, he could allow time and age to develop him, improving his mental state, physical body, and all other qualities.
Second, he could only possibly improve by fighting Conqueror's Haki users stronger than himself.
So, for now, he picked up his old trade again.
Shooting people in the back!
As for why he did not take a shot at Whitebeard, Austin had naturally considered it. But unfortunately, no matter how many times he peered into the future, there was only one result.
Failure!
Failure!
Still failure!
Fine. It seemed he could not pick a fight with someone that strong yet.
Austin could only settle for the next best thing and turn his sights toward the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division Captain.
Phoenix, Marco.
Marco spread his wings and had just prepared to charge when a single shot shattered his pirate dreams.
His wings rapidly reverted to human form, and he fell to the ground, unable to move at all. He narrowly avoided being trampled by the companions charging out behind him.
"This is... Seastone?"
Having landed his shot, Austin did not expect to remain hidden forever. He simply revealed himself.
Leaping down from the tree, Austin slung the Black Spear over his back. A black-haired youth in military uniform stepped out from the shade beneath the trees.
He slowly drew the long sword he had seized earlier from his military belt.
"Clang—"
Jet-black Armament Haki wrapped around his arms before slowly spreading onto the blade.
On closer inspection, it even contained faint traces of black-red lightning!
Upon seeing who had arrived, the brothers of the Whitebeard Pirates were furious.
"Damn it, he actually launched a sneak attack!!!"
The Roger Pirates, on the other hand, looked utterly unsurprised.
"So it's Austin... Well, that figures. This is exactly his style."
Although Austin had revealed himself, he was clearly uninterested in the brats of the Whitebeard Pirates. Instead, he directly fixed his gaze on one person.
One of the Whitebeard Pirates' only two Conqueror's Haki users.
Kozuki Oden!
Before you continue