Marco Revealed a Weakness!

"Is this Wano Country?"

After landing, everyone disembarked and began to explore the ancient island.

Only Austin looked into the distance with excitement, a red light bursting before his eyes.

"They're here?"

"Hey, Austin, where are you going?"

Seeing Austin suddenly leap up onto a nearby hillside as if observing something, Shanks, wearing a captain's hat and squatting nearby while chewing chocolate, looked up and asked.

Buggy followed closely behind.

He didn't have Austin's exaggerated Observation Haki and had to use binoculars to scan the distance. Suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something.

"Captain Roger! It's the Whitebeard Pirates, on the other side of the island!!"

In contrast, Roger didn't react much to this. He just laughed heartily.

"Alright, then let's have a fight!!!"

Immediately after, a figure rapidly approached.

"Captain, a samurai is charging over."

Austin said calmly. He didn't react as dramatically as Buggy; a quick scan told him who it was. There wasn't much surprise.

It was the King of Endurance, Kozuki Oden.

A foolish samurai who only knows passion, having ruined a good hand.

Oden knocked two crew members to the ground with a single move, Spear: Ghost Mimicry.

Seeing this, Rayleigh and Gaban drew their weapons, ready to fight.

"He's as strong as the rumors say. Stop him, Rayleigh!"

"So be it."

"Wait a moment, Gaban, Rayleigh!"

Roger, however, with an excited expression, rushed past them. "I can't let you get hurt!"

"Actually, you just want to fight yourself."

Austin smiled, but his eyes were fixed on Roger and Oden, who were about to collide.

His Observation Haki frantically enveloped them both. Austin didn't want to miss a single detail.

Roger charged forward with a smile, black and red lightning gathering on his blade.

"Divine Departure!!!"

Such exquisite control of Conqueror's Haki!

Watching Kozuki Oden get cleaved and sent flying, Austin was still savoring the Conqueror's Haki Infusion he had just witnessed.

Having seen it many times, he was gradually able to deeply understand the principle behind Conqueror's Haki Infusion. It was similar to what Rayleigh had taught him.

Compared to the unrestrained release of Conqueror's Haki that indiscriminately stunned grunts, Conqueror's Haki Infusion was more like concentrating it to a single point, unleashing even greater power.

Shanks in his prime likely used it similarly, concentrating extreme Conqueror's Haki into black and red lightning. Even Vice Admirals would be overwhelmed, and Admirals would be weakened.

However, it wasn't like Armament Haki, which had a physical form and could be concentrated anywhere on the body at will.

A year had passed. Austin looked at the black and red arcs of electricity generated by friction on his palm. He had only grasped a fraction of its essence.

Everyone watched as Oden, sent flying a hundred meters by a single blow, crashed through countless trees before finally stopping.

Only Austin and a few others, like Roger, were watching the sky. A powerful aura was rapidly approaching!

Here they come!!!

Austin's eyes widened, staring intently at the colossal figure approaching from the distance.

An exaggeratedly muscular body, golden hair, a white cape, and the iconic crescent-shaped white beard.

The World's Strongest Man, Edward Newgate!

He went straight for Roger as soon as he arrived. The latter was not to be outdone, wrapping his blade in an immense amount of Conqueror's Haki and slashing upwards.

The two blades didn't even touch; they were simply clashing with Conqueror's Haki.

Black and red lightning continuously sparked. Aside from the combatants, terrifying air currents knocked everyone else over.

The sky itself seemed to tear apart, and the clouds for miles were cleared away.

Even Austin, wanting to experience it up close again, couldn't withstand the power. He could only use his monstrous strength to firmly grip a distant ancient tree that hadn't been uprooted.

As for Buggy, Shanks, and the others, Rayleigh had already grabbed them and pulled them far away from the battle site.

Austin, facing this world-shattering power directly, also fearlessly unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, attempting to coat himself with it.

"Ula-la-la... Interesting brat!"

Whitebeard noticed the kid nearby who was still resisting being blown away. The corners of his mouth curled up.

"Is he from your crew? Roger."

Roger burst into laughter, "Hahaha, yes, this kid is a complete monster! Jealous, Newgate!"

"Hmph... My sons won't lose to anyone!"

After a brief, friendly spat, the two men held their positions for a few seconds before bursting into laughter again. They placed their weapons beside them, formally greeting each other, "Hahahahahahaha~"

"Leave all your belongings behind." x2

With a command from the two captains, their respective pirate crews officially began to battle.

However, no one noticed that in a distant tree, an excellent sniper had already raised his long spear, A hint of red light appeared in his eyes, "He's exposed, Marco."

"Bang—"

It was Austin, who had secretly fired a sneak attack.

Having just experienced the power of Conqueror's Haki Infusion, Austin felt that joining the fray to fight the grunts would no longer contribute to his growth.

Or rather, he had tasted the finest delicacies and was no longer interested in rough fare.

Moreover, Austin clearly sensed that ordinary battles and slaughter could no longer increase his Conqueror's Haki.

Now, there were only two ways for it to grow:

One was to let his age develop naturally, improving all aspects of his mental and physical qualities.

The other was to fight only against users of Conqueror's Haki who were stronger than himself.

Therefore, he picked up his old trade once more, Sneak attacks!

As for why he didn't sneak attack Whitebeard, Austin had certainly considered it, but unfortunately, no matter how many times he peered into the future, the result was always the same:

Failure!

Failure!

And more failure!

Alright, it seemed he couldn't provoke such a strong individual yet.

Austin could only settle for the next best thing and aimed his sights on the first division captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, The Phoenix, Marco.

Marco spread his wings, and just as he was about to charge, his pirate dream was shattered by a single shot.

His wings quickly retracted back into human form, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to move an inch. He narrowly avoided being trampled by his comrades rushing out from behind.

"Is this... Seastone?"

Austin, having landed his shot, didn't expect to remain hidden indefinitely, so he revealed himself.

He leaped down from the tree, his Black Gun slung across his back. A young man with shoulder-length black hair emerged from the shade of the trees.

He slowly drew the long sword he had previously captured from his military belt.

"Clang—"

Pitch-black Armament Haki enveloped his arms before slowly transferring to the blade.

Upon closer inspection, it even crackled with wisps of black and red lightning!

Seeing who had appeared, the brothers of the Whitebeard Pirates were furious, "Damn it, a sneak attack!!!"

The members of the Roger Pirates, on the other hand, looked unsurprised.

"So it's Austin... But it's understandable, that's just his style."

Although Austin had revealed himself, he clearly wasn't interested in the younglings of the Whitebeard Pirates. Instead, his gaze locked onto one person, One of the two Conqueror's Haki users in the Whitebeard Pirates, Kozuki Oden!