On the other side of Demon Valley Town, deep in the mountains and forest.
Chaos crashed to the ground like a meteor, startling flocks of birds and beasts.
A small patch of forest had been flattened, forming a crater. Chaos lay in it, gazing up at the azure sky. His Golden Armor was tattered, his face deathly pale and caked with blood. He looked utterly miserable and battered.
But his eyes had never been brighter.
His Observation Haki swept the area. He detected no one following him. It was safe!
He lay in the crater, breathing in the fresh scent of soil and vegetation. After about half an hour, he finally managed to climb out, grimacing in pain, then staggered deeper into the forest.
That was what happened when you showed off too much: pain and pleasure came together.
But it was addictive.
Another hour passed. Beside a small river, Chaos washed himself and his tattered Golden Armor clean, then applied some herbal medicine and lay down on a boulder. He could clearly feel the strange power coursing through his body.
"Ha ha! Ha ha!"
Chaos couldn't stop grinning. He raised his right hand high, as though he meant to grab the sun in the sky. He had awakened.
He had awakened Armament Haki.
His means of swaggering around had grown stronger.
He'd trained hard and taken beatings every day for three years and five months, without fail, even before making his debut. Did anyone know what those three years and five months had been like for him?
He'd bottled up his vanity for three years and five months—that was long enough to have a whole child!
The fact that he hadn't developed depression was proof of his mental fortitude.
Damn it, he'd finally emerged from his cocoon today.
A future richest man was no ordinary fish in a pond. Once he mastered Armament and Observation Haki, he'd crush every enemy and become a supreme legend whom future generations could only look up to and strive to catch up with!
That was getting ahead of himself!
The sun rose and set, and in the blink of an eye, five days passed.
Sakazuki and the others had left that same day.
He'd been scowling the whole time, radiating an unmistakable "keep away" aura. Maybe all it took was a few pirates meeting his eyes. Already in a foul mood, Sakazuki had erupted, brutally crushing dozens of pirate crews.
In the end, he'd nearly leveled a tenth of Demon Valley Town.
His men had suffered heavy losses too. If Marineford hadn't called, Sakazuki might have kept fighting in Demon Valley Town indefinitely.
Deep in the mountains, a river raged past a boulder as large as a villa. Chaos stood bare-chested in front of it, his eight-pack abs well-defined and his body firm and powerfully built.
His right hand turned to gold, gleaming in the sunlight. As a surge of power spread through it, a faint black hue visibly coated his golden fist, until it became a black-and-gold fist.
Crack!
His fist clenched, veins bulging, and he punched the boulder in front of him. A tremendous impact spread through it. The point where his fist struck caved in, then cracks like centipedes appeared, until they covered the entire boulder like a shattered mirror.
A thunderous blast rang out. Chunks of rock shot away like cannonballs, splashing into the river or crashing into the ground and leaving small craters.
The entire boulder exploded.
"As expected, both my attack power and defense have increased."
Chaos looked at his black-and-gold fist. Over the past five days, he'd gained a basic grasp of Armament Haki.
He'd mastered it a little fast, but that was really the result of years of groundwork paying off. He'd spent over three years building his foundation, and his talent had improved after crossing over. It was entirely within expectations.
It wasn't just Armament Haki. Once he found the right direction, mastering the Six Powers would come naturally too.
"I wonder if Sakazuki's left Demon Valley Town yet. And what about my bounty? It should be at least a hundred million!"
Chaos was itching to know his bounty.
He'd made Sakazuki lose face five days ago. Given his hatred of evil, the bounty should've shot up by now, right?
And when he'd left, he'd named the lowest price. Surely they'd understood what he meant!
Gold scattered across the ground floated up, forming a ten-meter-long sword that hovered in midair. Chaos stood on its pommel and flew toward Demon Valley Town, filled with anticipation.
Demon Valley Town was still the same as ever. The battle five days ago hadn't affected anything. It was business as usual.
"Hey! Look at that!"
"Holy crap, that giant sword looks like it's made of gold!"
"Talk about showing off!"
"There's someone standing on the pommel!"
"No need to look. It's that bastard, the Golden Emperor."
"He's the only one that high-profile who'd attract so much hatred."
Pirates streamed along the streets, looking up at the sky. Almost all of them pictured the same punchable figure, then cursed and went back to whatever they'd been doing.
The longer they looked, the more their anger inexplicably flared.
They were only making themselves mad. It wasn't worth it!
"Captain, a golden sword that big has to be worth at least three billion berries."
Unlike the pirates who knew the Golden Emperor, the new pirate crews that had arrived on the island over the past five days all looked up with greedy eyes.
"Don't rush in. He's flaunting himself so brazenly, but all the pirates in Demon Valley Town are doing is cursing him. Something's off!"
"Let's see how things play out first!"
Quite a few pirates were smart enough to realize something was wrong.
So they held back.
But plenty of others were blinded by greed and followed after the Giant Golden Sword.
"What idiots!"
Many pirates watched the new arrivals chase after it with disdain.
If the Golden Emperor were that easy to kill, they'd have already hacked him to death.
When he reached the site of the old Tropical Grand Hotel, he found a five-story building standing there. It was made of wood!
It looked quite luxurious and elegant, too.
That smoking owner sure worked fast!
The Giant Golden Sword descended, hovering three feet above the street and blocking out the sunlight.
More pirates scowled at Chaos, their eyes filled with irritation as they silently cursed him.
Just seeing this guy made them angry.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out without warning, startling the pirates nearby.
Chaos tilted his head slightly toward the shooter. More than twenty greedy pirates with vicious expressions were staring fixedly at the Giant Golden Sword beneath him.
"Kid, we're taking your gold!"
"Our captain has a bounty of fifteen million!"
The twenty-odd pirates were incredibly arrogant, more than ten guns trained on Chaos.
What idiots!
They were dead.
The pirates nearby looked at the twenty-odd men as if they were brainless.
Even Chaos was taken aback for a moment. Then his expression began to darken.
"You don't know who I am?"
Some part of Chaos still hoped they did.
"Who cares who you are? If you don't want to die, do as you're told!"
Chaos's eyes turned dangerous in an instant.
These people didn't know who he was?
Unforgivable!
The Giant Golden Sword shuddered, instantly splitting into more than twenty golden spears. They shot toward the pirates, each one taking aim at the men.
The street erupted with explosions.
When the screams and pleas for mercy finally stopped, all twenty-odd pirates were pinned to the ground. The air filled with a nauseating stench of blood.
They were wiped out in an instant!
Not one escaped!
"Anyone who comes out to clean this up can have this lump of gold. Just don't mess up the street!"
All the gold melded together to form three Golden Warriors. Chaos casually waved his hand, and a fist-sized lump of gold rolled onto the ground.
Then, in a foul mood, he went into the Tropical Grand Hotel.
A handful of people appeared from who knew where and took the lump of gold. They quickly cleaned up the entire scene, and everything returned to normal.
They even filled in the craters left by the golden spears.
Anyone could tell they were a professional cleanup crew...
Before you continue