One Punch per Sea King

The enhancement brought by devouring Sea Kings was far more intense than devouring "Amputee" Monroe.

Dimon felt his muscles burning, his strength increasing at an unimaginable rate.

"Feels amazing!"

The intense Life Energy nearly pushed Dimon into awakening Armament Haki.

This newly born Haki spilled uncontrollably from his body. Following his instincts, Dimon tried to concentrate it in his right fist.

He looked up into the distance. Kaido had already charged into the herd of Sea Kings, taking on ten alone.

There were even more than ten. More and more Sea Kings emerged from the depths of the sea.

Every one of them was enormous. Compared to them, Kaido looked no bigger than an ant.

Surrounded by a forest of monstrous flesh and blood, Dimon grinned, his blood beginning to boil.

"I'll give you a hand!"

He roared and leaped into the air, the immense recoil blasting a towering wave across the sea.

The next instant, Dimon shot out like a cannonball, closing in on a Sea King's head.

He threw a punch, and violent Armament Haki struck the target squarely.

Bang!!

It was a punch delivered almost entirely through brute arm strength. The massive Sea King saw stars from the blow, its body arching backward before crashing heavily into another Sea King.

Kaido turned back at the sight, dumbfounded.

"Didn't you say you were just an ordinary person?"

What kind of ordinary person could take down a Sea King with one punch? And he couldn't even sense any particularly powerful Haki—it was all pure physical strength?

It was simply unbelievable. This was practically on par with Charlotte Linlin's monstrous strength!

"Don't sweat the details!"

Dimon laughed heartily. This was what it felt like to be full of power.

He had devoured a pirate last night, then another Sea King today. He was feeling a little too full from all that "eating" and desperately needed an outlet.

"Wororororo! Then let's have a competition, Dimon!"

Kaido clenched both fists as he stood atop a Sea King's back. Powerful Armament Haki surged skyward like blazing flames.

The two split up, each locking onto a direction and charging into the Sea King herd.

At that moment, Dimon had no time to pay attention to Kaido. He felt like he could still eat a few more.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Dimon used his fists to forcibly knock out a Sea King, then injected it with the Elixir of Immortality and devoured it.

The second one!

Another surge of powerful Life Energy flooded into him, and Dimon felt as though his body was about to explode.

"Not enough, still not enough! I can eat more!"

One hour later.

A small wooden boat skimmed across the sea. Kaido gripped the oars in both hands, swinging them so fast they left afterimages.

"Faster, row faster! They're catching up!" Dimon lay at the stern, constantly urging him on.

Even with Kaido's physique, he was sweating and gasping for breath.

"Why don't you do it?"

"I'm covering the rear."

Dimon spread his hands, looking helpless.

They couldn't kill them all. There was simply no way to kill them all—the more Sea Kings they killed, the more appeared.

At first, there had only been a dozen or so. But as they kept fighting, the number had somehow grown to dozens.

After eating three Sea Kings, he truly couldn't eat any more. This time, he really needed some time to properly digest the massive increase in strength.

Looking back now, he saw a huge group of Sea Kings following them, baring their fangs and claws, ready to swallow both boat and men in a single bite.

Fortunately, Kaido rowed with all his might, making the little boat fly over the sea. Otherwise, an ordinary ship's speed could never have escaped their hunting range.

"Faster, a little faster." Dimon withdrew his gaze and continued urging him on. "You don't want to be eaten by Sea Kings either, right? Even though we don't age or die, being stuck in their stomachs definitely wouldn't feel good."

"Stop nagging. Why don't you do it?"

"Fine, you cover the rear."

The two quickly switched positions and took up their respective duties.

Another hour passed before the Sea Kings finally vanished from sight behind them.

Dimon let out a sigh of relief and wiped away cold sweat that did not exist. "At times like this, I'm a little jealous of Golden Lion. Flying really is great."

"Wororororo... Actually, I wanted to ask earlier—if one of our arms gets eaten, can it grow back?" Kaido asked with a grin.

"It can. That arm will break down, then regrow from the stump." Dimon smiled. "Unless it's one particular situation..."

"What's going on?"

"Your stamina and mental energy were depleted, causing you to fall unconscious. Only then did the regeneration speed become very slow."

"An ability even more troublesome than a Logia's elementalization," Kaido remarked.

Dimon surveyed the surroundings, raised his right hand, and sensed the direction of the wind.

He had devoured "Amputator" Monroe and possessed all of the latter's navigational experience. A little sailing knowledge was no challenge to him.

"There's wind here. We've already left the Calm Belt," Dimon said thoughtfully. "But where are we?"

It didn't seem to be the route they had taken before, and there was no sign of the Hell Pirates' ship nearby.

"I don't have a Log Pose. What should we do next?" Kaido spoke calmly.

"If there's no Log Pose, then we'll have to rely on luck. Maybe we'll run into some kindhearted passerby."

Dimon spread his hands, his fingers curling into claws. Then streaks of black lightning flashed, and a bottle of Wine of Eternal Life immediately appeared.

More accurately, it was not a full bottle, but less than half a bottle.

This was what remained after some had been drawn out with a syringe last night. It no longer possessed the power of eternal youth and immortality; it was simply fine wine now.

"What kind of ability is that? Are you a Paramecia User?" Kaido asked in surprise.

"This is my secret weapon."

Dimon chuckled and poured the wine into cups, just enough to fill two.

One cup each.

Kaido had no interest in pressing further. The Wine of Eternal Life before him had already stirred his excitement. He took a cup and drank deeply, letting out a satisfied sound.

"Truly fine wine!"

With good wine, nothing else mattered anymore.

The two savored the wine as they drifted across the sea, waiting for a fated encounter.

Several days later.

Kaido lay on the small boat, sleeping soundly, while Dimon leaned against the stern in boredom, gazing up at the blue sky.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Dimon's ears twitched slightly. His Observation Haki sensed a presence ahead to the right.

"Wake up, Kaido. Something's happening."

At the same time.

About a kilometer away from the small boat, a warship flying the World Government's flag was slowly sailing by.

The lookout in the crow's nest rubbed his eyes and vaguely spotted a small boat in the distance. There seemed to be people aboard it.

But in the blink of an eye, they were gone again.

"Am I seeing things? But where would a little dinghy come from in a place like this?" the lookout muttered.

Just then, the person relieving him climbed up the mast ladder from behind.

"It's noon shift change. You can go eat."

"I can finally eat!"

The lookout immediately handed over his post, not forgetting to add, "Oh, right, I just saw a small boat at the two o'clock direction."

"Got it. I'll keep an eye out."

After giving his instructions, the young lookout quickly climbed down the mast ladder. He first went to the bathroom for a shower before heading cheerfully to the dining hall.

There were only two people in the dining hall. One was huge and had a pair of horns, while the other seemed somewhat familiar.

"Who are you?"

The young lookout walked closer. Once he reached them, his expression gradually turned terrified.

"Ro... Rock...!"

Dimon slapped the man across the jaw, knocking him unconscious.

"Why are you shouting? Are you going to let people eat or not?"

As he spoke, he sat back down as though nothing had happened and continued enjoying the long-missed food.