The King

"Before we begin, I have to make this clear. To be honest, at your current age, a power like Haki is still a little too early for you. But since you've already made the request, and Roger has agreed to it, I'll tell you as much as I can about what I know from here on out. Whether you can awaken this power in the future, however, will depend on you."

"I understand."

Ye Mu naturally understood that.

Rayleigh continued.

"What we call Haki is a power possessed by every person in this world. This power is extremely complex. Perception, will, presence, and so on are all parts of it. It's just that the vast majority of people are unable to draw out and use this power."

"If you want to learn Haki, you must first understand Haki. Haki is divided into three types: Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and finally, Conqueror's Haki, which is said to be possessed only by a chosen one among millions."

"But no matter which kind of Haki it is, if you want to master it, you need the same kind of power. That is unwavering strength."

"Unwavering strength!?"

Ye Mu seemed to understand what those words meant, but he could not quite be sure.

Rayleigh understood that too, so he did not say much more. Instead, he raised one hand, his expression suddenly changing as he said to Ye Mu.

"Come on. Attack me with everything you've got!"

"!!!"

Ye Mu froze, but then grew excited. Although he was still young, being able to exchange blows with Dark King Rayleigh and test his own strength was absolutely something he could not ask for more.

"Then I won't hold back."

Ye Mu clenched his fists tightly. He knew that even if he went all out, he could not possibly be Rayleigh's match, so he had no hesitation at all and mobilized the strongest power within his body.

At that moment, everyone present sensed the rising power inside Ye Mu through the Observation Haki within them.

The crew members who had accepted Ye Mu and Enel only out of trust in their captain finally realized that these two children—at least this red-haired kid—were absolutely no ordinary people.

In particular, Bullet, the battle maniac interested only in strength, looked seriously at this kid for the first time.

Because even he had to admit that the presence and power this kid displayed at his age were no less than his own back then.

Bang...

The sound of air bursting rang out, and visible ripples shook through the air. Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Mu's body vanished from where he stood as if flickering away.

At that moment, the distance between Ye Mu and Rayleigh was less than ten meters. With the speed Ye Mu unleashed at full power, he needed only one second to arrive in front of Rayleigh and strike his body.

That was what Ye Mu had thought too, but just then, Rayleigh's expression changed before his eyes, his gaze turning sharp.

In an instant, an indescribably terrifying presence, like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting apart, surged toward Ye Mu.

At that moment, one second instantly became incomparably long. Time seemed to freeze, and Ye Mu felt that his body could not move at all.

This inability to move was not because his body had been restrained by power, but because of an enormous sense of helplessness.

At that moment, Ye Mu felt as though he were a lone boat drifting on the waves. Faced with the might of nature, with the raging storm of the sea, he completely lost the will to resist.

Rayleigh clearly had not done anything, yet he pressed down on him like a great mountain, leaving him unable to move at all.

This gap is just too huge...

There's no way I can ever catch up...

No matter how I train, it won't be any use...

At that moment, countless terrifyingly negative thoughts kept surfacing from Ye Mu's heart, bit by bit stealing away all the strength from his body and his mind.

But Ye Mu was not broken by this. Instead, in the depths of his heart, another inconceivable power swiftly surged up and utterly swallowed those negative thoughts and emotions.

So that's how it is...

This is too interesting...

So this world is actually this vast...

This power...

I want to have it too...

No...

It's not enough. It's nowhere near enough... This power is still too weak...

If I want to conquer the world, power like this is nowhere near enough...

I want more... More power...

In an instant, like a volcano erupting, a huge and terrifying power exploded from the depths of Ye Mu's heart and swept across all of Upper Yard.

At that moment, whether it was the members of the Roger Pirates, Gan Fall and God's Guard of God's Island, or Enel, they all sensed that terrifying presence.

The air fell still at that moment.

The members of the Roger Pirates were dumbstruck, the food and wine in their hands spilling all over the ground. Among the apprentice crew members led by Shanks, the weaker ones, such as Buggy and Inuarashi, rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot. Only Shanks and Enel were struggling to hold on, while Gan Fall and God's Guard had long since foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground.

The wild beasts across all of God's Island also became agitated in an instant...

"Hey, hey... You've gotta be kidding me. That was Conqueror's Haki, right..."

"What kind of joke is this... That presence had my back covered in cold sweat."

"How old is this kid? He actually awakened Conqueror's Haki..."

"Who exactly is this kid..."

Roger's mouth had fallen open in disbelief too. He glanced at Rayleigh, wine cup still raised in his hand, forgotten.

Rayleigh was just as shocked, and a few drops of cold sweat even slipped uncontrollably down his forehead.

"Looks like I overdid it..."

Originally, he had only wanted to test Ye Mu's spirit, to let him experience the essence of Haki—what it meant to possess strength without the slightest doubt!

But because Ye Mu had shown such calmness and maturity, an ordinary test would have had no effect. On top of that, there was the power he had displayed just now. So Rayleigh had boldly unleashed his own Conqueror's Haki.

But he had never imagined that, under the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki, Ye Mu would directly awaken his own.

That terrifying pressure made even Rayleigh, who was right beside him, feel his heart tighten...

"This... this..."

For a moment, even Rayleigh didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, Roger spoke up. After draining the fine wine in his hand in one gulp, he burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha, this really is too interesting. The world of the future is getting more and more exciting..."

"Come on, everyone! For little brother Ye Mu's Conqueror's Haki, let's sing our hearts out and drink to our fill..."

"Cheers..."

Swept up by Roger's mood, everyone in the Roger Pirates laughed as well and raised their cups.

"Cheers..."

"Cheers..."

"Cheers..."

As for Ye Mu, the guest of honor at the banquet, he had already passed out and knew nothing about any of this...

Three days later, the Roger Pirates found what they had been looking for. Seen off by everyone, they followed the sea of clouds and left Sky Island.

At the edge of the sea of clouds, Ye Mu and Enel stood there, gazing into the distance at the disappearing Roger Pirates.

This time, he had definitely gained a great deal.

Not only had he learned the method of training Haki, he had also awakened Conqueror's Haki.

Finally, Rayleigh had even given him a copy of his own swordsmanship training insights and one of the fifty Skillful Grade swords: Lion Maru.

He truly had no idea how he was supposed to repay this kindness.

After the figures of the Roger Pirates completely disappeared into the sea of clouds, Ye Mu sighed and said to Enel, "Let's go back. For the next few years, we'll have to work even harder!"

During these three days spent with the Roger Pirates, Enel had also fully felt the charm of pirates, so he couldn't help asking, "In the future, will we have our own pirate crew too?"

"Of course we will..."

"Will we have companions even more outstanding than the people in the Roger Pirates?"

"Isn't that obvious..."