"Three seconds are up."
Lei En's icy voice, like a death sentence being pronounced, seemed to make the temperature in the restaurant drop several degrees.
"Buzz—!"
As Lei En coated it with Armament Haki, that dead branch, which had looked so brittle it could snap with a single bend, underwent a dramatic transformation!
A pitch-black color spread across the entire branch like a living thing.
It was no longer an ordinary dead branch, but an unparalleled weapon that radiated a chilling gleam, as though it could cut through anything!
The laughter in the restaurant came to an abrupt halt.
Every member of the Krieg Pirates looked like ducks being strangled. Their mouths hung open, and their arrogant mockery turned into ghostly terror!
"Ar... Armament Haki?!"
A somewhat knowledgeable pirate screamed in shock, his voice trembling.
"What kind of joke is this?! How could a monster who has mastered Armament Haki exist in a place like the East Blue?!"
"Admiral! Watch out!"
The smile on Don Krieg's face instantly froze. For the first time, his tiny eyes showed emotions known as terror and gravity.
As a pirate who had once traveled to the Grand Line, he might not have known Haki himself, but he had personally witnessed the horror of that power!
It was an unbeatable force capable of completely erasing the advantage of Devil Fruit users!
"Damn it! Who the hell is this brat?!"
Warning bells rang wildly in Don Krieg's mind, and he no longer dared underestimate Lei En in the slightest.
Facing this monster, who looked only a little over ten yet wielded Armament Haki with such mastery, his pride as the "Overlord of the East Blue" was instantly shattered.
"Quit putting on this act! I don't believe this bullshit!"
Don Krieg forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart and roared fiercely despite his inner weakness.
He slammed a hand against the armor on his chest, and countless pitch-black launch ports instantly popped out!
"I don't care what kind of monster you are! Before my technological weapons, you'll still die!"
"Die! MH5 Poison Gas Bomb!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Dozens of small shells trailing purple flames shot from Don Krieg's armor like a swarm of bees, instantly covering every inch of space around Lei En!
The shells exploded in midair, releasing enormous clouds of purple poisonous gas that gave off a pungent, nauseating stench!
At the same time, the launchers on Don Krieg's shoulders did not stay idle. Hundreds of poisoned darts poured down like a torrential rain, sealing off every possible escape route for Lei En!
"Wahahaha! Do you see that?!"
Watching Lei En become completely engulfed by poison gas and hidden weapons, Don Krieg burst into wild laughter again.
"This is the strength of the Overlord of the East Blue! No matter how strong your Haki is, you can't stop my saturation attack!"
"Run! It's poison gas!"
The restaurant guests panicked, covering their mouths and noses as they fled toward the kitchen.
Sanji and Zeff's expressions changed as well, and they prepared to fight.
Yet Lei En, standing at the center of the poisonous storm, remained where he was without moving an inch.
There was not even the slightest trace of tension on his handsome face.
"This is what you call a saturation attack?"
Lei En curled his lip disdainfully at the flashy hidden weapons around him and the slowly drifting poisonous gas.
"Too slow. Too weak. This is practically child's play."
He slowly raised his right hand, which held the "blackened" branch, and casually flicked his wrist.
"Swish—!"
There was no earth-shaking display, nor were there any dazzling visual effects.
Only an incomparably pure, condensed, pitch-black crescent blade aura burst forth from that tiny branch!
The blade aura did not look large, only a little over a meter long.
Yet wherever it passed, space itself seemed to be torn apart!
The poisoned darts filling the air were like fragile hailstones hitting red-hot iron the instant they touched the black blade aura. They were cut in half and melted into molten metal!
The purple poison gas, enough to kill an elephant, was forcibly cleaved apart by the domineering power contained within the blade aura, rolling back to either side!
The black blade aura cut through everything in its path, unstoppable and devastating!
It instantly tore through all the poison gas and hidden weapons, then, before Don Krieg's pupils—which had suddenly shrunk from extreme terror—it struck his prized Golden Armor with perfect accuracy!
"Clang—!"
There was no deafening explosion.
Only an exceptionally crisp metallic impact, as sharp and clear as shattering glass.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
The wild laugh on Don Krieg's face completely stiffened.
He slowly lowered his head.
On the special-alloy Golden Armor he claimed was indestructible, armor even cannons could not destroy, there was now an incredibly fine yet bottomless black crack.
"Crack... crack..."
Then, like a chain reaction.
Countless cracks spread madly outward from that black fracture like a spiderweb, instantly covering the entire suit of armor!
"Bang! Crash—!"
The next second!
Don Krieg's invincible Golden Armor, which he regarded as his greatest trump card, shattered into pieces as though it were made of paper!
Countless golden fragments of armor burst outward like scattered blossoms, clattering all over the floor!
Only Don Krieg remained, dressed in a tattered bodysuit and standing foolishly in place with a blank expression.
"This... this can't be..."
Don Krieg stared blankly at his empty chest, then at the pile of armor fragments on the floor that had become scrap metal, muttering to himself.
At that moment, his mind was utterly destroyed by Lei En's unreasonable strike.
Everything he took pride in—strength, wealth, status—had been ground to dust before that utterly ordinary branch.
"Thud."
Don Krieg's legs gave out. Unable to support his massive body any longer, he collapsed onto the floor, his eyes unfocused as he completely questioned his life.
The entire Baratie once again fell into deathly silence.
The cigarette in Sanji's mouth had burned down to the filter, yet he did not notice at all.
Zeff's newly grown right leg twitched instinctively.
As they watched the calm young man holding a branch, they felt their understanding of the world being overturned once more.
Was this guy even human?!
Lei En glanced at the pile of scrap metal on the ground and casually tossed the branch, which had completed its task, into a nearby trash can.
He clapped his hands as though he had merely done something trivial.
Then he turned and looked at Kuro behind him, who had been completely dumbstruck in his butler's uniform.
Lei En pointed at Don Krieg, who lay on the ground like a lump of mud, and at his equally terrified subordinates.
"Pack them up."
Lei En's voice was not loud, but his tone allowed no refusal.
"Send them to dig coal with Buggy."
"Let him learn what true 'overlord'-class treatment is."
Before you continue