Karmic Retribution?

"Eh? Why are they fighting?!"

Lost in thought, Oak was the last to jump down from the rocky hill. When he reached the square, he found Rocks already fighting someone—and Oak knew the other man too.

Extreme Fierce!

A figure feared across these seas. For quite some time, he had been Shiki's rival and had caused no small number of major incidents. Even Oak had heard of him back in the West Blue, frequently seeing reports about him in the newspapers.

"Gurararara!"

He happened to be standing beside Newgate. Hearing his question, Newgate explained,

"That guy wants to join us, but he first wants to test whether Rocks is qualified to be captain. He even arrogantly declared that if Rocks isn't good enough, he'll kill Rocks..."

As he said this, Newgate glanced at Shiki.

"Of course, he also plans to kill his old nemesis Shiki while he's at it, so Rocks is going to teach him a lesson!"

So that was it. Oak nodded in understanding, then turned his gaze toward the center of the square.

Look at that!

He looked at Fierce, then at himself and Kaido.

Even someone joining the crew had to test the captain first, while he and Kaido could only obediently serve as apprentices with no status at all. They could get kicked in the face whenever someone felt like it.

With that thought, he deliberately glanced at Kaido's face and found that the spot where he had been kicked was still swollen.

"What are you looking at?"

Noticing Oak's gaze, Kaido glared at him.

"Does your face still hurt?"

Oak's seemingly concerned question instantly shattered Kaido's composure.

"It hurts your #$%...!

That little bit of force didn't even count as a scratch to me!"

Kaido stubbornly talked tough while warmly greeting Oak's entire family. Yet perhaps because he cursed too fiercely and pulled at the wound on his face, Oak saw his facial muscles twitching.

So it still hurt!

Seeing how pitiful he was, Oak could not be bothered to argue over Kaido insulting his family. Instead, he focused on the two fighting in the square, determined to challenge an official crew member as soon as possible and shed his apprentice status. He could leave this worthless apprentice role with no standing whatsoever to little brother Kaido!

This was Oak's first time seeing Rocks fight. Rocks wielded a rapier named Erosion, yet the sword techniques he unleashed were like heavy hammers and artillery bombardments. The shockwaves they created could easily destroy everything around them.

The ground within a hundred-meter radius at the center of the square shattered inch by inch under that blow, and as Rocks's opponent, Fierce took it head-on.

Boom—

Under that strike, Oak saw that Fierce was not sent flying. Instead, his body bizarrely swelled several times over.

"Urouge's ability?"

Oak was deeply surprised. Fierce's abnormality reminded him of Urouge, one of the Worst Generation Supernovas from Luffy's generation in the future. Urouge's Devil Fruit ability could produce the same effect, converting damage received into size and strength. The greater the damage his body suffered, the more his body grew and the greater his strength increased. It was an incredibly overpowered ability.

Oak had once wondered whether someone who could eat both Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit and Urouge's ability could repel the damage others had suffered while absorbing it themselves, achieving infinite enhancement.

Clang—

The enlarged Fierce drew the giant axe from his back and brought it down upon Rocks. When it collided with Rocks's rapier, the powerful impact sent shockwaves surging outward, instantly throwing the entire square into chaos. Countless shattered stones rose into the air and ravaged the area.

"Worororora! Is this some kind of Devil Fruit ability? It feels even stronger than those Giants!"

Feeling the force transmitted through his hand, Rocks laughed and gave his assessment.

"But it's still a little weaker than a certain someone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Rocks abruptly increased the strength in his hands. In the next instant, Fierce's enormous body could not stop himself from retreating.

Boom—

A sword technique like a hammer blow and cannon blast struck Fierce, producing a violent explosion.

Fierce absorbed all the damage caused by those explosions, swelling even further. This time, however, not his entire body expanded, but only one part of it.

The arm gripping his axe suddenly swelled to the size of a Giant's, while the rest of his body shrank back to its original state.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With an arm comparable to that of the Giant Tribe, he gripped his giant axe and launched three consecutive chops at Rocks, forcing Rocks to focus and deal with them at full strength.

"So he's gathered all his power into his arm? He's starting to resemble the Ancient Giant Tribe!"

From the massive axe slashing toward him, Rocks felt a force he had only ever sensed from Harald.

Though Fierce was still not as strong as Harald, he had already reached a level only Ancient Giants possessed.

"He can do that too?"

Oak was equally astonished by what he saw.

Not only could Fierce expand, he could also shrink, and he could even expand only certain parts of his body. This did not look like Urouge's ability at all!

At least, Urouge could not do that in the original story. Had his ability awakened, or was this simply not the same ability as Urouge's?

Oak did not know, so he continued watching.

Over the next dozen exchanges, Rocks continued to land direct hits on Fierce, but he could not inflict any real damage. Or rather, all the damage he dealt was converted by Fierce into size and strength, causing Fierce to grow stronger and stronger as they fought.

"Gurararara, what a troublesome ability!"

Newgate, standing beside Oak, gave his evaluation. Oak nodded. An opponent who grew stronger the more you fought him was truly a headache, especially when his growth was caused by your own attacks. It was downright disgusting.

However, Fierce's opponent was Rocks, arguably the strongest man of this era. This situation certainly would not continue for long. Rocks would definitely find a way to break through it!

Sure enough, not long after Oak had that thought, Rocks finally revealed his full strength.

Oak saw Rocks leap onto Fierce's head. Black lightning suddenly burst from his body as he gripped his sword in both hands and slashed down at Fierce.

"Even a Devil Fruit ability has a limit. You can't convert damage into size and strength without end. If I want to defeat you, all I need to do is exceed your limit!"

As he spoke, all the black lightning around Rocks gathered at the tip of his sword.

The Conqueror's Haki coating made his sword technique even more powerful.

Abyssal Curse

With one slash, an incomparable might swept through the entire square, leaving Fierce nowhere to evade. He could only take head-on the strike that filled him with a sense of extreme danger.

Boom—

The result was that he was blasted away in an instant. Even when he activated his ability with all his strength, he could not convert that damage. The moment he flew back, he spat out a huge mouthful of blood.