The Storm Was Coming!

That moonlit drinking session became a silent turning point.

From that day on, Chen Ye's status aboard the Moby Dick underwent an earth-shaking change.

Chen Ye gained the same rights and standing as the Division Commanders.

Even Marco, Vista, and the others no longer carried scrutiny or probing in their tone when they spoke with him. Instead, they treated him as a true companion, a younger brother they could entrust their backs to.

This change in status threw the doors wide open for Chen Ye.

He could practically "stick" to Whitebeard's side twenty-four hours a day, pounding his legs, massaging his shoulders, pouring his wine, doing the same things as before—yet no one thought he was fawning anymore.

Everyone believed this extraordinarily gifted younger brother was showing filial respect to Pops in his own way.

Only Chen Ye himself knew that he was frantically squeezing the treasure before him, the one known as "World's Strongest," at an efficiency unlike anything before!

[Analysis Progress: 65.11%...]

[Analysis Progress: 66.49%...]

[Analysis Progress: 68.03%...]

[Analysis Progress: 70.00%!]

When the number on the System Panel finally jumped to the whole number "70," Chen Ye's heart gave a heavy thump along with it.

Seventy percent!

This was a milestone number!

He could feel that he could exchange for more, and stronger, Tremor-Tremor Fruit power from the system shop at any time.

But he did not.

That day's battle had made him understand deeply that, with his current physical condition, forcing himself to use that destructive power was no different from suicide.

He would hurt the enemy by a thousand and lose eight hundred himself.

In the approaching Summit War, that kind of uncontrollable power would very likely become the death warrant that made him the first to fall.

What he needed was a steadier, stronger Trump Card that could settle everything in one blow!

When the night was deep and silent, Chen Ye sank his consciousness into the system, his gaze landing on another card pool radiating a crimson light.

[SSR Character Card Pool: "Strongest Conqueror" -- Shanks (Peak)]

[Current Analysis Progress: 40.15%!]

The analysis rate was not high, but the exclusive exchange shop had already opened.

Chen Ye's gaze slowly swept over the three options.

[A-Rank · Top-Level Conqueror's Haki Intimidation]: Costs 10% "Shanks" Analysis Progress to exchange. Can instantly release Conqueror's Haki powerful enough to intimidate an army of ten thousand, causing a devastating mental impact on those with weak wills.

[A-Rank · Godspeed Quick-Draw Technique]: Costs 10% "Shanks" Analysis Progress to exchange. An ultra-high-speed slashing technique that perfectly fuses swordsmanship and Haki; the draw is so fast it is difficult for the naked eye to discern.

[S-Rank · Divine Departure Sword Technique Insights (Fragment)]: Costs 30% "Shanks" Analysis Progress to exchange. A technique fragment containing a trace of the essence of the "Divine Departure" sword technique, allowing the host to comprehend the supreme method of coating attacks with Conqueror's Haki. Warning: This skill has extremely high requirements for the total amount and control of Conqueror's Haki. Forcible use carries a risk of backlash.

Chen Ye's breathing unconsciously grew a little hurried.

Conqueror's Haki Intimidation was a godly skill for clearing Grunts, but on a battlefield like the Summit War, where monsters ran rampant, its effect was limited.

Godspeed Quick-Draw Technique was very strong, but in the end, it was still only on the level of a "technique."

Only the last one.

[S-Rank · Divine Departure Sword Technique Insights (Fragment)]!

Coating attacks with Conqueror's Haki!

This was the true attack method of the Emperor's Domain, one that stood above ordinary Armament Haki hardening!

It was the ultimate secret that allowed Shanks, as a non-ability user, to stand among the Four Emperors!

Though it was only a fragment, it represented a broad road leading to supreme combat power!

Only...

It required a full 30% of Shanks's analysis progress.

That would almost empty out everything he had accumulated.

Moreover, this skill had extremely high requirements for the total amount and control of Haki.

"Just this alone isn't enough."

Chen Ye's gaze was terrifyingly calm.

He knew very well that although his current Armament Haki was strong, both in quantity and quality, it was still worlds apart from those top-tier powerhouses.

And he had not awakened Conqueror's Haki yet!

His physical skills and foundation were still far from enough!

He needed an even more solid base!

Chen Ye's consciousness abruptly switched back to Whitebeard's exchange shop.

He skipped over those infinitely powerful vibration abilities, his gaze locking firmly onto one basic option.

[A-Rank Top-Level Armament Haki]: Costs 20% "Edward Newgate" Analysis Rate to exchange. Forcefully raises the host's current Armament Haki to world-class levels in both strength and total volume.

This was it!

This was Chen Ye's all-or-nothing gamble!

Nearly a month of accumulation, all staked at once!

If he lost the gamble, then in the coming Summit War, he would have no room left to improve.

But if he won...

Chen Ye's fists suddenly clenched in the darkness.

His knuckles gave off faint cracks from the excessive force.

He hesitated no longer.

"System!"

Chen Ye let out a low roar in his heart.

"Consume 20% 'Edward Newgate' Analysis Rate to exchange for [A-Rank Top-Level Armament Haki]!"

"Consume 30% 'Shanks' Analysis Rate to exchange for [S-Rank Divine Departure Sword Technique Insights]!"

"All of it! Now! Exchange!"

[Command confirmed!]

[Exchange in progress...]

Boom!!!

An unprecedented, terrifying surge of heat exploded through Chen Ye's Limbs and Bones in an instant!

If the feeling of awakening Haki before had been like thin streams flowing into his body, Then this moment was a roaring torrent of steel, trying to completely recast his body from the inside out!

Chen Ye gave a muffled groan, every bone in his body letting out an overwhelmed whine.

Beneath his skin, it was as if countless black flood dragons were swimming madly. That was Armament Haki undergoing a brutal transformation and ascension!

His body was like a piece of stubborn iron being hammered over and over. Amid extreme pain, its density and toughness were skyrocketing by geometric multiples!

Just as he was about to be burst apart by this power, another force, entirely different yet equally domineering and peerless, surged into his mind.

It was not simple energy.

It was a memory.

A stretch of swordsmanship insight belonging to "Red Hair" Shanks!

Chen Ye's consciousness seemed to be pulled into a strange space.

He "saw" a sword.

An utterly ordinary Western sword—"Gryphon."

He "saw" a hand grip that sword.

The next second.

An invisible King's Pressure, like an ancient beast awakening, erupted from that hand with a crash!

Black-red lightning, like snakes, instantly coiled around the entire blade!

There was no earth-shattering move.

No world-destroying special effect.

That sword simply, plainly, swung forward.

Hiss—!

Space was cut open.

It was not the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's violent "shattering," but a far more condensed, far sharper "severing," as if even the laws themselves could be cut in two with a single stroke!

Chen Ye's mind and spirit were completely stolen away by the grace of that sword strike.

So this is... the essence of "Divine Departure"?

So this is... the power of an Emperor, one who wraps Conqueror's Haki Infusion around himself!

No one knew how long had passed.

When Chen Ye opened his eyes again, the sky outside the window was already faintly bright.

He slowly raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, then clenched it fiercely.

Buzz!

The air let out a faint wail.

A layer of Armament Haki deeper than the night instantly covered his fist.

Chen Ye could clearly feel that the total amount of Haki inside his body was more than ten times greater than before!

And what made his heart surge even more was that he could sense, deep within that pure Armament Haki, another power lying hidden—one even nobler, even more domineering, the power of a King.

As long as his Thought Moved...

Chen Ye slowly closed his eyes and tried to draw upon the power that belonged to "Divine Avoidance."

A thread of black-red lightning flashed across his fingertip and vanished.

"Still no good..."

Chen Ye opened his eyes and murmured to himself.

"I still can't wrap it around my attacks skillfully. I can only let out an insignificant trace."

No rush. There was absolutely no rush!

He had already obtained the key and pushed open the door.

All that remained was the process of becoming familiar with the world beyond it.

He stood, pushed open the cabin door, and walked onto the deck.

The early-morning sea breeze carried a faint salty chill.

The deck was packed with Crew Members busy with all sorts of tasks.

Chen Ye walked to the bow and saw Marco and Jozu.

"Brother Marco."

"It's Chen Ye."

Marco turned back, the bloodshot veins in his eyes clearly visible.

"Is there any news of Ace?" Chen Ye asked softly.

Marco was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"Ever since he last sent word that he was tracking Teach's trail, there hasn't been any contact at all."

"The Den Den Mushi won't connect either."

The air seemed to freeze.

Though no one said it aloud, every Division Commander had an Ominous Premonition in their hearts.

Something had happened.

Something must have happened to Ace.

Chen Ye asked no more.

He knew better than anyone what would happen next.

He simply turned around and, like everyone else, gazed out at that endless, surging sea that foretold the coming storm.

The Summit War was about to begin!