Hachinosu Harbor
The air reeked of alcohol, blood, and killing intent.
Rock had barely taken a step when dozens of pirates surrounded him.
They wore fang-like grins, and every word they spat was as disgusting as maggots crawling out of a garbage bin.
"Bastard! You must have bullied Lady Shakuyaku!!!"
"You brat, how dare you come out from behind her! Get on your knees right now!"
"This is Hachinosu! Are you tired of living?!!"
Sharp axes, long blades, iron chains, guns... every weapon was drawn.
Weapons clattered, their blades reflecting a cold, sinister gleam.
Shakuyaku wanted to speak, but she was instantly shoved back inside a protective circle by over a hundred simp pirates. "Lady Shakuyaku, don't be afraid!!!"
"We'll stand in front of you!!!"
"Anyone who dares touch Lady Shakuyaku today will die eight hundred times over!!!"
Shakuyaku: "...?"
Toritoma on the shore met Shakuyaku's eyes. Shakuyaku made a small gesture—get out of here.
Toritoma immediately understood and hurriedly turned around, shouting, "Kuja Pirates! Prepare to leave the harbor! Immediately!!!"
The Perfume Yuda turned around and rapidly withdrew.
Rock naturally saw it. He smiled. "This really is... a true pirate world."
He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the vicious-looking pirates surrounding him.
These people's minds were filled with filth, desire, malice, and cruelty.
His powerful Observation Haki clearly heard their "inner voices." "Catch him and chop him to pieces!!"
"Offer him to Rocks and maybe we'll get promoted!"
"Watch how I skin him alive!!"
Rock chuckled, his eyes turning cold. "Looks like..."
"I'll have to make some noise to 'draw' out your boss."
He raised a hand.
The sky... suddenly darkened.
The next instant—
"Rumble—!!!"
Thunder tore through the entire sky!
Then—
"Boom—!!!"
Several pillars of lightning dozens of meters wide descended vertically from ten thousand meters above!
The harbor was instantly swallowed by lightning, and the deafening blast made the entire island tremble.
Screams rose one after another. "Aaaaargh—!!!"
"It's so hot!!!"
"A Logia!! He's a Logia user!!!"
"Quick! Get the officers! Hurry!!!"
The lightning vanished in an instant.
As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, nearly every pirate in the harbor had fallen.
Some were charred black, some twitched, and some lay on their backs with white eyes, "smoking" into the sky. Their agonized cries were unbearable.
Only the area around Shakuyaku remained spotless. Not a single bolt of lightning had fallen there.
She covered her mouth, her pupils shrinking sharply. "In an instant... he cleared out the entire harbor?"
Amid the charred wreckage, Rock walked over the shattered ground, his expression full of disgust and impatience. "I really don't have even the slightest fondness for trash like you~"
"Your heads are full of filthy thoughts... just hearing your inner voices makes me want to puke."
—Just then.
"Boom—!!!"
An incomparably savage aura came howling from deep within Hachinosu, like a beast breaking free of its cage!
A massive shadow burst through the dust, crushing the ground beneath its feet, accompanied by wild laughter and an enraged roar. "Worororororo—!!!"
"Not bad, brat!! You're pretty cocky, huh?!!!"
Rock's Observation Haki had locked onto his opponent a second before he burst out of the ruins.
A dangerous smile curled at his lips. "There you are... pirate elite mob."
"Boom—!!!"
Rubble shot into the air as a nearly seven-meter-tall monster charged out with earth-shattering force!
Long black hair fell over his shoulders. His back was as broad as a mountain, his arms thicker than stone pillars, and a pair of dragon horns rose in curved arcs from his head!
He swung a huge spiked club, its passage tearing through the air like a hurricane, his killing intent utterly berserk—
"Hey!! Brat!! Tell me your name!!!"
Seeing the rampaging beast charging over, the pirates instinctively scattered, terrified of being caught in the aftermath.
Yet Rock merely lifted his eyes slightly, looking at Kaido as though he were nothing more than an insect that had jumped particularly high.
"At this point in time," he said flatly, "you're not qualified to speak to me like that."
"Crack!!!"
Lightning exploded!
Rock vanished from where he stood!
"Lightning Flash!"
The next instant.
He appeared before Kaido in lightning form, close enough to see the terror in Kaido's eyes.
Kaido's pupils abruptly contracted as he roared inwardly, Observation Haki... it didn't react at all!!!
Before he could respond, all Kaido saw was a flash of aurora.
"Boom—!!!"
Lightning Roar tore apart heaven and earth!
A Lightning Burst shockwave condensed with the wrath of the Thunder God exploded before Rock!
Kaido's entire body was pierced head-on by the lightning cannon, and he did not even have time to scream!
"Thud!! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—!!"
His gigantic body was blasted away like a cannonball, smashing through one Hachinosu building after another!
It left behind a scorched, smoking furrow hundreds of meters long! Finally, with a boom, he crashed deep into the ruins and collapsed amid the rubble!
His whole body was charred black, residual arcs of electricity jumping across his muscles... like an enormous slab of meat seared by lightning.
The entirety of Hachinosu instantly fell deathly silent.
The pirates who had been barking moments earlier all stared with their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open. "Th-that was Kaido...!!!"
"He's the monstrous rookie Captain Rocks values so highly!!!"
"He was... one-shotted by that brat???"
"No... we didn't even see when he moved!!!"
The lightning gradually faded, leaving scorched cracks and smoke across the ground.
Rock slowly emerged from the electrical glow, clapping his hands with an amused yet helpless expression. "Kaido at this point really is such a sucker~"
As soon as he finished speaking—
"Whoosh—!!!"
A golden beam descended from the sky!
Violent sword energy tore through the air as a golden cape unfurled in midair like a roaring lion.
Rocks Pirates officer—Shiki!!!
Shiki streaked down from the sky, Oto in one hand and Kogarashi in the other, laughing arrogantly. "Hahahaha! Brat!! Looks like we've got something fun to play with today!!!"
"Lion: Senjindani!!!"
Golden light flashed as Shiki swung his blades like the wind, slashing more than a dozen times in rapid succession!
Countless enormous sword strikes ripped through the air, sweeping toward Rock with force that seemed capable of destroying the world!
Faced with such might, Rock not only did not retreat, but instead raised his head and revealed an excited smile.
"Oh?"
"Pretty interesting."
He pressed his palms together. Lightning abruptly erupted around him as Thunder surged wildly!
"Thunder Prison: Chidori!!!"
"Boom!!!"
Countless sparks gathered around Rock, turning into dozens of lightning birds that bared their claws and crackled explosively!
They let out piercing shrieks in the air and charged toward Shiki's slashes!!
The next second—
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!"
Violent explosions erupted in rapid succession!
Sword energy and lightning birds collided in midair like exploding meteor showers, shockwaves after shockwaves sweeping across the entire harbor!
At the edge of the harbor, the pirate grunts were instantly blasted several meters away!
"Arghhhh!!!"
"Help—!!!"
Shakuyaku was being buffeted so hard by the rising shockwaves that she could barely stand, and she was about to be swept into the blast zone.
At that critical moment, a graceful figure rushed over!
"Shakuyaku!! Over here!!"
Slender arms forcibly grabbed Shakuyaku and pulled her out of the explosive shockwaves!
Shakuyaku turned her head and froze. "Gloriosa?!"
Those beautiful yet dangerous eyes belonged to the former captain of the Kuja Pirates, who appeared gentle but possessed unfathomable strength.
Gloriosa elegantly flicked her hair. "Long time no see~ Shakuyaku."
As Shakuyaku stood there in shock, heavy footsteps sounded from behind them.
Charlotte Linlin's mountain-like figure emerged from the smoke and dust, still clutching an entire barrel of alcohol.
"MaMaMaMa!!! This brat is really something—!!!"
She drank while staring at the battle between lightning and sword energy in the sky, her eyes alight with excitement like a lion that had spotted its prey.
Elsewhere, amid the ruins.
Whitebeard carried a huge figure over his shoulder and dragged him out.
His body was charred black, his eyes rolled white, and smoke rose from his hair. It was Kaido, whom Rock had knocked unconscious with one slap.
Whitebeard gave him a shake, his tone unusually grave. "Hey, brat, wake up."
Kaido groaned twice, his eyelids twitching as he gritted his teeth and forced himself upright.
He looked toward the center of the harbor, at the battlefield where lightning and golden light tore through the sky, and his heart gave a violent jolt.
"That brat... actually..."
Whitebeard said quietly, "He knocked you out in one move."
Kaido's pupils shrank sharply, an unprecedented shudder racing up his spine.
He licked his lips, the burnt skin around them splitting slightly. "Damn it..."
"What kind of monster is that brat?"
Whitebeard's face darkened as he tightened his grip on Murakumogiri, his gaze fixed on the lightning-clad figure battling in the sky. "A Logia of lightning..."
At this moment, the air over Hachinosu completely boiled.
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