Red Hair Boards! A Taotie Feast of the Two Emperors Duel!

The crisis vanished into thin air.

The surrounding division commanders looked at one another. In the end, they could only shrug helplessly, their gazes toward Chen Ye shifting from scrutiny and wariness to a complicated mix of astonishment and amused exasperation.

"Haki Cultivation Theory?"

Vista sheathed his beloved sword, walked over to Chen Ye, and lightly tapped his shoulder with the scabbard, his face full of amusement.

"Just how is that brain of yours wired, kid?"

"Hehe, Commander Vista, it's all because Pops is so mighty and extraordinary!"

Chen Ye immediately put on an honest, admiring expression and cupped his hands toward Whitebeard, his flattery practically shaking the heavens.

"Being able to bask in Pops's Haki is my greatest honor!"

"Gurarararara!"

Whitebeard was clearly extremely pleased with this newly accepted son of his, letting out another hearty burst of laughter.

The Moby Dick was once again filled with cheerful laughter and the warmth of family.

However, this hard-won peace lasted less than half an hour.

"Straight ahead! Ten o'clock! A ship is rapidly approaching!"

From the lookout tower, the crew member on watch suddenly let out a shrill cry, his voice filled with unimaginable horror.

"The figurehead is... it's a Red Dragon Head!"

This iconic feature instantly froze every smile on deck.

Marco's expression darkened with a swish. In a single stride, he rushed to the rail and looked in that direction.

Within the distant sea fog, a distinctively styled single-masted sailboat was cutting through the waves. Its ferocious Red Dragon Head looked like a monstrous beast awakened from myth, giving off a heart-pounding aura.

The Red Force.

"Red Hair..."

Marco spoke the name that represented another pinnacle in the New World.

The atmosphere aboard ship instantly plunged from harmonious joy to Freezing Point.

At almost the same moment, an intangible, formless presence that seemed to possess tangible weight swept over them like a tsunami.

It was neither killing intent nor pressure, but a pure qualification to Reign Over the World.

Conqueror's Haki!

"Argh..."

"My head... it hurts..."

The New Crew Members who had only recently joined the Whitebeard Pirates did not even have time to scream under the impact of that presence. Their eyes rolled back, foam spilled from their mouths, and they collapsed in swathes like wheat cut down by a scythe.

Even some battle-hardened Old Crew Members felt tightness in their chests and shortness of breath. They had to grit their teeth and exert all their strength just to remain standing, beads of cold sweat the size of beans seeping from their foreheads.

Under the shroud of that Haki, the Moby Dick's hull let out overwhelmed creaks, as though it would be crushed to pieces by that Invisible Force the next second.

After the dragon-headed ship steadily pulled alongside the Moby Dick, a figure leaped down from it.

He wore a casual white shirt beneath a black cloak, with a Western sword at his waist. Three striking scars over his left eye added a touch of ferocity to his appearance.

He was the freest man on these seas, one of the Four Emperors who reigned over the New World—"Red Hair" Shanks.

Carrying a huge Sake Gourd, each step he took upon the Moby Dick's deck made that terrifying Conqueror's Haki grow more solid.

"Hey, hey, seriously? You're giving my sons such a show of force the moment you arrive, Shanks?"

Whitebeard remained seated on his personal throne without even rising. He merely turned his head slightly, his low voice carrying clearly throughout the entire ship.

"Sorry, Whitebeard."

Shanks stopped walking. There was a trace of apology on his face, but his Haki did not lessen in the slightest.

"I was only clearing out some trash."

He raised the Sake Gourd in his hand.

"This is good liquor I brought from the West Blue. Want a taste?"

"Gurarararara..."

Whitebeard grinned. An Old Crew Member beside him immediately stepped forward and handed him a Wine Bowl as large as a bucket.

Shanks filled it with wine, then got straight to the point.

"I came because of Ace."

"Blackbeard Teach... you should understand that man's danger better than anyone. Please give the order for Ace to return. This is not the time for those two to meet."

Shanks's tone was more serious than ever before.

Yet Whitebeard merely drained the wine in his bowl in one gulp and let out a satisfied breath.

"Gurarararara... brat, are you telling me how to do things?"

"Ace decided to hunt that Traitor himself. As my son, what's wrong with avenging the brother who was killed?"

Whitebeard slowly raised his eyelids. In those Golden Eyes flashed an authority that allowed no objection.

"No one can stop a man from heading to his own battlefield! That's the rule of us pirates!"

The atmosphere completely froze at that moment.

The smile vanished from Shanks's face as he slowly placed his hand on the hilt at his waist.

"Looks like we can't come to an agreement."

"Since even liquor can't get you, you stubborn old man, drunk..."

Shanks's eyes suddenly sharpened like blades.

"Then I'll have to use another method to sober you up!"

Before his words had even faded, he violently drew the famed sword Gryphon from his waist!

At the same time, Whitebeard grabbed the enormous naginata Murakumogiri at his side, a weapon taller than a man!

Clang—!!!

The instant blade and sword collided, not a single spark flew.

Instead, the two strongest Conqueror's Hakis in the world collided like two Stars, clashing in the most extreme and terrifying confrontation imaginable!

Visible black lightning burst from where the weapons met!

Under the impact of that power, the sky seemed like a fragile canvas, forcibly torn down the middle by Invisible Divine Power!

The thick clouds split in two, revealing the Azure Sky behind them!

The heavens had cracked!

Before that World-Ending Spectacle, every Crew Member who remained conscious—including Marco, Jozu, and Vista—felt a Soul-Deep Tremor. Even breathing became incomparably difficult.

This was a Four Emperor!

These were men standing at the pinnacle of the world. A mere clash of their wills was enough to alter the heavens!

Yet at the center of this Energy Storm, so suffocating that even the commanders could barely breathe, there was one figure who seemed utterly out of place.

Chen Ye.

He stood where he was. He was neither struggling bitterly like the others nor had he fainted outright like the newcomers.

His eyes were wide open, gleaming with an unprecedented light. It was not fear, nor shock, but nearly crazed ecstasy!

He'd struck it rich!

This time, he had really struck it rich!

In his mind, the cold System Prompt Sound had already become a dazzling waterfall!

[Warning! Warning! A Legendary Energy Field of extremely high concentration has been detected!]

[Energy Field intensity assessment: EX-Rank!]

[SSR Character Card Pool "Edward Newgate (Peak)" analysis efficiency is increasing at maximum speed!]

[Analysis progress: 36%... 38%... 40%... 42%...]

[Ding!]

[A new Legendary Target Character has been detected!]

[Target character locked: "Red Hair" Shanks (Four Emperor)!]

[Beginning analysis of target character's Peak Period Data Model...]

[SSR Character Card Pool being established...]

[Card Pool Character: "Strongest Conqueror"—Shanks (Peak)!]

[Current analysis progress: 10%... 15%... 20%... 25%... 30%!]

The natural disaster in everyone else's eyes had become Chen Ye's personal Taotie Feast!

He felt like a traveler about to die of thirst in the desert who had suddenly been thrown into a vast ocean of divine nectar. Every cell in his body was cheering and leaping with joy!

To the system, the collision of the Two Emperors' Haki was simply the finest nourishment in the world!

"Gurarararara!"

"Ohhhhhhh!"

Whitebeard and Shanks sheathed their weapons at the same time and burst into laughter, as though that world-ending strike had merely been a greeting between friends.

Chen Ye clenched his fists tightly, sensing the two rapidly climbing Percentage Numbers on the System Panel. The excitement and ambition in his heart were nearly impossible to contain.

He raised his head to look at the torn sky, a Mad Arc spreading across his lips.

Come on!

Bring it on!

As long as it can make me stronger, even if it's a god, I'll devour it for you!