Ambition

Boom!!

The moment that figure rose to his full height.

It was as though heaven and earth moved with him.

A powerful, domineering, berserk aura erupted skyward like a volcanic explosion.

For that instant.

What the prisoners present saw seemed not to be a man.

But a towering peak rising from the earth!

"It's Douglas Barrett!"

"Why hasn't he left yet?!"

"What's with that warship under his feet? Isn't it way too huge? Could it be some special warship newly developed by the Marines?"

At the harbor, Teach, Shiryu, and the others looked up as Bullet abruptly rose from his meditation.

Teach murmured, "Is he finally getting ready to leave?"

Right now, he felt deeply conflicted.

Teach wanted to go to Scorching Hell and see how Burgess and the others were doing.

But he also wanted to follow Bullet to Marineford for a look.

Perhaps, amid that chaotic battlefield, he could seize an opportunity to break free from Bullet's control.

After all, there would be plenty of top-tier fighters there.

As long as Marine Headquarters sent an admiral to hold Bullet back.

He could take the opportunity to escape.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Bullet stomp the deck and leap into the air. In an instant, he jumped dozens of meters high and landed atop the spire of Impel Down.

Everyone saw it.

"What is he going to do?" someone asked curiously.

"Who cares what he's doing?! That guy's a complete lunatic!"

"He's gone! This is our chance! We can seize that massive warship and leave!"

Watching the restless prisoners, Shiryu, a cigar clenched between his teeth, slowly placed a hand on his sword hilt.

His gaze was indifferent, cold as a blade.

The killing intent radiating from him was like the Reaper's chains, locking onto the crowded prisoners at the harbor.

The moment anyone dared board the warship, the long blade at his waist would immediately taste blood.

Standing alone atop this Undersea Prison, Bullet ignored the noisy crowd below.

He raised his head and looked at the vast, distant sky above, contemplating the road ahead.

In the past, his entire life had been a relentless pursuit of battle.

For the goal of becoming the strongest, he had fought desperately every day.

Even after being imprisoned in the sunless Impel Down for over twenty years, that goal had never changed.

It had been so before.

It was the same now.

However, after unexpectedly merging with that soul from another world.

Bullet had gained a clearer plan for his future.

First, he needed to determine where his current strength stood.

He would get the answer he wanted in Marineford, where he was headed next.

Then came the development and application of the Combine-Combine Fruit.

The specific direction was to alter and reconstruct the structures of various inorganic materials, then assemble them into powerful finishing moves suited to himself.

This would need to be developed on both macroscopic and microscopic levels.

On the macroscopic level, he would combine it with his immense reserves of Armament Haki to construct giant war machines.

But they would no longer be those oversized giants made from ordinary dirt and stone.

Such excessively bulky forms could only be used against human-wave tactics.

In the movie, Bullet had abandoned his own advantages, forcibly expending enormous amounts of Armament Haki in an excessive pursuit of sheer size and power.

As for the microscopic level.

That was a theoretical concept from Bullet's memories.

Nuclear fusion.

According to Einstein's mass-energy equation, E=mc2.

When atomic nuclei underwent fusion, part of their mass was converted into released energy.

Even a minute amount of mass could be converted into enormous energy.

In the world from his memories, the greatest energy release humanity could harness was nuclear fusion.

Its mass-energy conversion rate was only 0.7 percent.

In other words, from one kilogram of [hydrogen] undergoing nuclear fusion, only 7 grams were lost as mass.

Yet those 7 grams of mass could be converted into 6.3*10 to the 14th power joules of energy.

That was equivalent to 175 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Equivalent to the instantaneous explosion of 150,000 tons of TNT.

That was a hydrogen bomb.

If Bullet could develop his Combine-Combine Fruit to the point of controlling atomic nuclear reconstruction.

Then with a casual flick of a ball of water, he could blast the entire Marine Headquarters island into the sky.

Of course, developing an ability on such a microscopic level was still far too difficult for the current Bullet.

The little knowledge stored in his mind was nowhere near enough.

Aside from his Devil Fruit ability, he could continue strengthening himself through his physique, techniques, Haki, martial arts, and other aspects.

Although Bullet had complete confidence in his physique.

He firmly believed that, with his physical strength already at the limits of humanity, he was absolutely no weaker than Kaido, known as the strongest creature.

But when it came to pure physical defense, that foolish woman Big Mom's Steel Balloon talent seemed to be even stronger than both him and Kaido.

In terms of techniques, Bullet excelled at broad, forceful combat.

His fighting style was very similar to Kaido's.

But he did not have nearly as many finishing moves as Kaido.

As for Haki, the only thing of his that had reached the pinnacle of this world was the sheer quantity of his Armament Haki.

His Armament Haki was so abundant that it could cover an island spanning several thousand meters.

Earlier, in order to seal off Impel Down's passageways.

He had lavishly expended vast amounts of Armament Haki, covering every floor and wall on the first and second underground levels.

But even that much Armament Haki was merely a drop in the ocean compared to Bullet's total reserves.

If he wanted to become the strongest in every aspect of Haki.

Then his Armament Haki had to surpass Garp's.

His Observation Haki had to surpass Katakuri's and Red Count's.

His Conqueror's Haki had to surpass Shanks's.

On the other hand, he had even loftier goals for becoming the strongest.

But it was still too early to think about them.

First, he would raise his individual strength to the world's strongest and surpass Roger, Whitebeard, and the others.

Besides.

Having gained a new lease on life, Bullet decided to build the strongest maritime force to match the supreme strength he would possess in the future.

He might not need companions.

But he needed subordinates.

To survive on the seas of the New World, to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, he still needed people to serve him.

Furthermore, for the sake of his long-term goals.

He needed to gather large numbers of scientists and engineers to conduct the many experiments he envisioned.

He also needed vast amounts of labor to build laboratories, faction bases, and ships.

And he needed a large number of subordinates to help him collect all kinds of intelligence and resources.

He also needed enormous sums of money to support all these expenditures.

The formation of a superpowerful maritime overlord force could never be accomplished overnight.

And this Impel Down beneath his feet held over ten thousand prisoners.

There was also a large supply of Sea-Prism Stone, ready-made prison facilities.

As well as numerous mid- and high-level fighters.

This would become the first cornerstone for him, Bullet, to advance into the New World.

And the crucial opportunity to rapidly build this overlord-class force in a short time.

Lay in this Summit War!

Having sorted out his thoughts, a sharp light burst from Bullet's eyes as he slammed both hands onto the top of Impel Down.

"Then, let's begin!"

"This is where I, Douglas Barrett, will begin my ascent to the pinnacle of the world and surpass Roger!"

"Combine-Combine Fruit! Awaken!!"