Whitebeard's Punch, Sober Now?

What greeted Golden Lion was Ares' fierce and mighty fist.

Like a red-hot branding iron, the fist carried immense power, no less than Golden Lion's Armament Haki.

Ares' mind was foggy at the moment; he only knew to throw punches relentlessly, using a crude, improvised version of "Armament Haki."

This caused his "Variant Armament Haki" to drain more stamina, but at the same time, it was stronger than normal Armament Haki—stronger!!

Harder!

He squandered the power within his body wantonly.

That primal, savage sensation of flesh colliding with flesh brought Ares, in his drunken state, an indescribable joy.

Boom!!

Boom!!

Boom!!

Each impact rang out with a deafening roar, accompanied by a tremor that shook the earth and mountains.

Golden Lion shouted toward Whitebeard, "Whitebeard, help me subdue this guy quickly—he's drunk!"

"We can't let him keep this up!"

He truly didn't want to draw his sword; hurting Ares would be a disaster.

And with each successive collision, Golden Lion felt his arm going genuinely numb!

Hearing Golden Lion's words, Whitebeard grinned wide. "Kurarara... Let me see just how strong this little brat really is."

"Even your fists, Golden Lion, can't beat Ares!"

He tossed Cloud Piercer directly to his subordinate beside him, his legs pounding the ground with heavy thuds.

Whitebeard bellowed, "Move!!"

Golden Lion dodged in an instant.

Whitebeard leaped up, his form soaring like a bounding antelope, rising high into the air.

The muscles in his arm bulged, veins popping out!

"Ares, try to take this punch!!"

His arm pulled back, storing power, then, with the force of a thunderbolt, he threw a punch!

The very air seemed compressed under Whitebeard's fist, warping and twisting.

He descended from the sky.

And Ares, still drunk, swung a fist on pure instinct.

Boom!!!

The two massive fists collided.

Whitebeard was in the air.

Ares was on the ground.

The next second, Ares' feet smashed through the stone slabs beneath him with a loud crack, his legs sinking deep into the earth.

The slabs around his feet shattered in a perfect circle, all at once.

Fragments of stone flew into the air.

A crater over ten meters wide instantly formed around him!

Terrifying beyond measure.

And Ares felt a monstrous force slamming into his own powerful body.

In an instant, His dazed eyes cleared, and he stared in surprise at Whitebeard before him, asking, "What happened?"

"Newgate, why are you here? Wasn't I drinking with Golden Lion in the room?!"

"Drinking..."

"..."

Several black lines appeared on Whitebeard's forehead. He withdrew his fist and landed on the ground, saying, "You little brat got drunk."

"It's fine now."

This kid...

A monster!

Even though he hadn't used his full strength or ability in that punch, he'd still calculated that the boy couldn't withstand it.

But reality defied his expectations.

That single punch had only managed to sober the guy up?!

He'd seen plenty of drunks in his time, but not many who went on a rampage like Ares after getting drunk.

The most astonishing part was that this brat had actually made Shiki the Golden Lion eat a pretty big loss.

Thinking this, Whitebeard burst into loud laughter: "Next time you drink, watch your limit—this was your first time!"

"Once your tolerance improves, I'll have a proper drinking bout with you!!"

"As long as you can hold your liquor, drink as much as you want—no problem!!"

Shiki the Golden Lion flew over quickly, glaring at Ares with displeasure, and scolded: "Hey hey, Ares, you just downed seven or eight bottles of my finest vintage sake."

"That's the kind of fine sake you can't even buy with Berries!!"

"If I'd known, I'd have just given you the cheap stuff."

He was genuinely pained. He'd wanted to treat Ares well, even if the kid couldn't join his division right now.

There was always a chance later.

Shiki had also wanted to build a closer bond with Ares, so he'd gone all out.

He never expected it would just get the guy drunk.

"Sorry." Ares reached up and scratched his head, taking in the wreckage around him.

He'd probably caused quite a bit of trouble while drunk.

"Um..."

"For compensation... how many Berries would this cost around here?"

He asked a bit sheepishly, because he had no money.

The only thing he owned was the pants on his body.

He didn't even have a shirt—he'd been going bare-chested the whole time, fighting beasts in the forest, and before that, he'd always torn his clothes.

After that, he'd just stayed shirtless for two years now.

Whitebeard walked over to Ares, reached out, and patted his shoulder with a laugh: "It won't cost much. Leave this little matter to us."

"Next time we move out, you put in a bit more effort, and you can pay me back then!"

Fixing all this, plus compensation.

A few million Berries would be enough.

For Whitebeard, that kind of expense was a piece of cake.

Shiki also floated over to Ares's left and said: "This whole thing started because of me, so let me handle it."

After seeing the kid's strength, his heart was practically drooling over Ares.

That bizarre state the brat had entered while drunk had massively boosted his power.

He'd even tanked his Armament Haki head-on.

The key point: this guy was still a minor!!!

With that terrifying talent and potential, how could he not be tempted?

Whitebeard immediately shot Shiki an annoyed look and barked: "Yellow-maned lion, why don't you ask Captain John to get you some swelling medicine!"

"If you got another bump on your head to match, it'd look even better."

"Kurarara... kurarara..."

He burst into roaring laughter.

It made Shiki gnash his teeth in fury as he shot back: "I was caught off guard! Who knew this guy couldn't tell his own strength when drunk?!"

Ares gave an awkward smile but said nothing.

It seemed...

He was the one who'd hammered a bump onto Shiki's temple.

Captain John walked up then, chuckling: "This kid's alcohol tolerance still needs training. Everyone head back for now."

As for the bump on Shiki's head, he couldn't care less.

With Shiki's physique, the bump would fade on its own soon enough.

It just hurt his image while it lasted.

"Kid, what's it feel like to punch the Golden Lion?" Whitebeard slung an arm around Ares's shoulder, shooting Shiki a provocative glance.

His eyes were full of smugness and mockery.

The First Division Commander, Shiki the Golden Lion, had been hammered by a brat who'd only joined the Rocks Pirates a few days ago.

It made his lips unable to stay shut, a sleazy grin permanently plastered on his face.

Shiki watched, grinding his teeth in fury, and snarled: "White-bearded bastard, if you bring that up one more time, believe me, I'll shave off that precious mustache of yours in the middle of the night!!??"

"You dare?!"

Whitebeard glared back, immediately roaring: "If you shave my mustache, I'll pluck every last yellow hair off your body!!"

"I'll turn you into a 'bald lion' without a single strand of yellow!!"