The Sky and Earth Changed Color

King was the foremost of the Three Disasters of the Beasts Pirates, as well as their undisputed second-in-command.

In the Beasts Pirates, where strength reigned supreme.

Someone with King's status and position was undoubtedly extremely powerful.

In fact.

Through the detection function of the Hunter's Notebook, Maud had already seen the star rating of King's Devil Fruit ability before they exchanged blows. It had reached nine and a half stars.

Although the concentration of orange light in its star rating was still clearly far below that of the Four Emperors.

It had evidently reached the awakened level.

However—

King, despite being so powerful, had not lasted even a minute in front of Maud.

Maud had originally held a sliver of expectation for this battle, but now, seeing King buried deep inside the crater, he could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

He shook his head slightly.

He was an awakened Ancient Zoan ability user, yet Maud had not expected him to be so fragile.

All he could say was that abilities and techniques...

As long as they were applied properly, star ratings did not always represent everything.

Still...

Maud changed his train of thought.

Ancient Zoans differed from Logia-types and Paramecia. Their inherent advantage lay in their thick hides and tough flesh.

Therefore, one could not expect an ability awakening to bring a qualitative boost to one's strength.

Put simply...

Once an Ancient Zoan awakened, all that happened was that its user became harder to beat down.

With that thought, Maud slowly descended from the sky to the ground beneath countless bewildered and shocked gazes.

Then, he walked toward King, who was buried deep in the crater, as casually as if he were strolling through a courtyard.

The advantages of an awakened Ancient Zoan—its thick hide and tough flesh—could offset a