Heavenly King Rayson

At the end of the day, Ace still lacked the bearing expected of a king.

But for Rayson, Ace's choice and the coming Summit War were both extremely advantageous.

Whitebeard, the man known as the strongest in the world, was undoubtedly the banner of the pirate faction at present.

When his era came to an end, how strong could Rayson become with the faction's destiny trait—ultimate gold? He was filled with anticipation.

Besides, Rayson was determined to obtain Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

The gap between a top-tier Devil Fruit and an ordinary one was even greater than the difference between a human and a pig.

That old claim from an age starved of information—"There are no useless fruits, only useless users"—had long been utterly shattered by the facts revealed later in the story.

The upper limit of a Devil Fruit ability's strength had been clearly determined from the very beginning.

A fruit's power ultimately depended on the fruit itself, at most being limited by its user's stamina and physique. After all, activating an ability consumed the host's energy.

The fact that Sabo could display combat strength equal to, or even beyond, Ace's after eating the Flame-Flame Fruit was the best proof.

But for any fruit user, the upper limit they could reach through the fruit alone was determined the moment they ate it. Their later growth depended on training their Haki and physical techniques.

Once eaten, a powerful Devil Fruit could directly grant someone strength with a guaranteed Seven Warlords-level baseline.

Whitebeard was called the man with the power to destroy the world entirely because of the divine might of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Rayson had no intention of letting Blackbeard seize that supreme fruit.

No matter what, Rayson had to take part in the Summit War.

Starting now, he had to rapidly grow stronger so he could plunder exceptionally rich spoils in that world-shaking battle.

A resolute gleam flashed through Rayson's eyes.

"But Rayson, when you said you wanted to stand above the heavens just now... that was seriously cool! 'Heavenly King' Rayson... Hehehe! That's such an awesome nickname!" Luffy shouted. At this point, he still did not understand the true meaning of Conqueror's Haki. Compared to that, he was far more interested in Rayson's declaration.

"The Pirate King's right-hand man, the one known as the Pirate King's Right Arm, is nicknamed the 'Dark King.' Since your goal is to become the Pirate King, I think 'Heavenly King' suits me pretty well as your partner," Rayson explained with a smile.

It was not as if Rayson was deliberately chasing something so juvenile. This was his first appearance on the world's stage.

Everyone knew that in the world of the Pirate King, the World Economy News Paper's cameras were everywhere.

Naturally, Rayson wanted a rather cool nickname.

Otherwise, who knew what bizarre epithet those Navy bastards would stick on him in the future?

Rayson's method of choosing a nickname was simple. Silvers Rayleigh, the Pirate King's right-hand man, was known as the "Dark King."

And among the three Ancient Weapons in the world of the Pirate King were the "Dark King," the "Sea King," and the "Heavenly King."

The "Dark King" was already taken by Rayleigh, while the "Sea King" belonged to someone else.

That only left the "Heavenly King." It sounded pretty good.

His bold statement about standing above the heavens in the future also served as the perfect explanation for the origin of that nickname.

Besides, this was also an experiment for Rayson.

＞[Detected an increase in bond with equipment target~ Trait equipment progress increased~]

A line of system text appeared in the air, bringing a faint smile to Rayson's face.

Just as expected.

"So that's how it is! Heavenly King, that nickname is seriously cool! Hehehe!" After hearing Rayson's explanation of the nickname, Luffy beamed.

Becoming the Pirate King was Luffy's sole goal in setting out to sea. As his first partner, Rayson's strong support for his dream naturally made Luffy sincerely happy.

＞[Detected an increase in bond with equipment target~ Trait equipment progress increased~]

Seeing the system prompt that only he could witness, Rayson's gaze flickered.

Just as I thought. There is a way to speed up the progress of this trait equipment.

A bond, huh? It fit the underlying logic of this world perfectly.

Noticing that the progress bar for "Extraordinary Physique (deep purple)" had surged forward, while "Sun God (ultimate gold)" had finally begun to inch forward as well, Rayson could not help smiling knowingly.

Choosing the title "Heavenly King" was not merely to match the tone of the Pirate King world and satisfy Rayson's obsession with being cool from his previous life.

More importantly, using this as an excuse to explain the nickname was one way for Rayson to test the speed of trait equipment.

Luffy's dream was to become the Pirate King, and Rayson's words naturally deepened the connection between them.

Since Luffy was the target of the trait equipment, Rayson needed to test whether growing closer to him could accelerate the process.

Now, it seemed that this tactic had indeed worked.

Heh, that somewhat juvenile speech had not gone to waste after all.

Rayson raised his head and swept his gaze across the sky, but found no sign of a news bird.

However, in the world of the Pirate King, news birds were practically everywhere. Rayson had not awakened Observation Haki yet, so he could not have tracked their precise whereabouts anyway.

But whether his name would spread across the seas would become clear when the next news report came out.

After all, Morgans, the president of the World Economy News Paper, definitely understood the significance of Conqueror's Haki.

Although many people complained in the later parts of the original story that Conqueror's Haki was everywhere in the New World, if one counted carefully, fewer than twenty people in the entire work were confirmed to possess it.

And these powerhouses had not even been active in the same era.

Possessing Conqueror's Haki unquestionably meant one had the potential to become a king.

Because awakening Conqueror's Haki basically indicated that one could easily comprehend Observation Haki and Armament Haki, while ensuring they could train their Haki to an impressive level.

In other words, simply awakening Conqueror's Haki meant the host was born with a ticket guaranteeing Seven Warlords-level strength.

The East Blue had produced a talent capable of awakening Conqueror's Haki. That news was definitely enough for Morgans to make a huge fuss over.

Besides, now that he had joined up and was protected by Luffy's sky-piercing background—special trait—Rayson did not need to worry too much about drawing the pursuit of unmatched top powerhouses or Navy Admirals before his wings had fully grown.

Therefore, there was no need for Rayson to deliberately keep a low profile now.

The "bearing" or "spirit" mentioned in the original work was most likely the core factor determining the strength of one's Haki. So for a powerhouse seeking to climb to the summit, being timid, submissive, or retreating in forbearance would probably have the opposite effect.

Just look at Blackbeard. Before obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit, he had lain low aboard Whitebeard's ship for over twenty years. Because he had played the coward for too long, even his kingly spirit had been worn away. At one point, he had even considered muddling through the rest of his life on Whitebeard's ship.

In the Pirate King's power system, pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger would often turn false into true, leaving you to become a real pig in the end.

Only by establishing a fearsome reputation and using the blood of other powerhouses as whetstones could one stand at the pinnacle of this world.