The two swords locked in midair once more.
Rolling shockwaves rippled outward, and the aftermath of their battle began to plow through the ground. Flowers, grass, and trees were crushed into powder beneath the pressure.
"By the way, Shanks, have you ever bathed in lightning?" After they separated, Yake pointed at the dark clouds overhead.
Although he could release lightning directly, combining it with natural weather required the least effort. Ever since the battle began, Yake had silently been gathering storm clouds. Once there were enough, he could easily unleash his awakening.
"Masaka?" Shanks had a bad feeling. He had nearly forgotten that Yake was a Logia Devil Fruit user.
"You can't run, Shanks! Hahaha, Thunder Hell: Doomsday Judgment!" Yake burst into laughter as he watched Shanks scramble away. With one hand clenched in the air, thunder and lightning poured down like a violent storm. This kind of large-scale AoE was Yake's favorite.
"Mmmmm..." Shanks failed to dodge in time and was struck by the dense lightning bolts. He convulsed in place for a moment, but the lightning in the sky seemed to have found its target and all came crashing down onto him at once.
A thunder bath—I dub you the strongest!
"Shanks, prepare yourself!" Tensa Zangetsu, wrapped in violet-black Haki and crackling electricity, slashed across Shanks's chest, spraying blood on the spot.
"Hey, hey, the captain looks like he got cut down. Should we go save him?" Yasopp saw Shanks's miserable state through his sniper scope.
"No. The captain's gotten serious," Benn Beckman said flatly.
"Damn it, Yake! I got struck by lightning too! My beautiful feathers!" Morgans stared at his bald, charred, foul-smelling backside.
"Yake, it seems you've grown a lot. Your strength is no weaker than mine, so I can rest easy. Since we've drawn our swords, we must stake our lives on this." Shanks's face darkened as his overwhelming Conqueror's Haki erupted violently. The strongest Conqueror's Haki was what had allowed him to dominate the New World.
"Watch out, Yake." Shanks raised Griffin one-handed. Dense violet-black energy wrapped around the blade, and the killing intent hidden within the sword sent chills down one's spine.
"That's... Conqueror's Haki Infusion? Dad said it was a technique that could only be comprehended in a battle of life and death." Yake could clearly sense that Shanks's aura had changed. Compared to before, he now resembled a savage beast ready to devour anyone in his path.
Yake clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"That power... I have to master it!" Yake stomped the ground, and a precise layer of Lightning Armor covered his body. His electromagnetic field was fully activated. He could no longer rely on his flesh to withstand attacks head-on, or he would truly be injured.
Shanks's deadly slash had arrived. Yake had already sensed it and raised his blade horizontally to block.
In their previous clashes, the two had been evenly matched. But this time, Yake was actually forced onto the defensive.
Yake roared and shoved aside Shanks's sword, flashing behind him to deliver a vicious strike.
Shanks reached back and clenched the air, then turned around and actually caught Tensa Zangetsu's tip in his hand, leaving Yake trapped between advancing and retreating.
Whoosh!
Griffin struck Yake's Lightning Armor with a metallic clang, yet still easily broke through his defense, carving a bloody wound across his chest and abdomen.
Yake quickly retreated and looked at the wound on his chest.
"That really hurts, Shanks. But I won't lose. Lightning Activation!" Yake used lightning to stimulate his body's cells and accelerate his healing. The savage wound soon became smooth and flawless again.
"Again!"
Sky God Kingdom, Angel Island.
The reporters under Morgans had already flooded into the Sky God Kingdom, taking pictures and gathering material throughout the kingdom. Whoever produced the standout report would become the newspaper's editor-in-chief.
Like a swarm of locusts, these reporters had photographed nearly every corner worth filming. They even refused to spare the residents of the Sky God Kingdom, dragging over anyone they found and nearly shoving microphones into their mouths.
"What a lively scene!" Robin stood atop the tallest building on Angel Island, overlooking everything below. Just as Yake had said, on the first day the nation was declared, reporters had come uninvited from all over the world, flooding onto Skyward Island and taking Heaven's Ladder to the nation above the clouds.
Fortunately, the City Defense Army's patrols had been strengthened in time, preventing any unrest. Once these reporters made their experiences in Skypiea public, tourists, merchants, and pirates would surely come to Skypiea in an endless stream.
"I wonder how Yake is doing." Robin murmured as she looked at the sea of clouds outside the window. In the more than two years since she had met him, Yake had left an indelible mark on her heart. Though their relationship had yet to make any breakthrough, Robin no longer minded intimate gestures between them and even felt secretly pleased by them.
Strangely, Hancock, his official girlfriend, seemed completely unaware of it. Who knew what kind of love potion Yake had given her? Then there was that little temptress Reiju, who liked provoking Yake—and sometimes Robin herself—from time to time.
Perona spent every day eating, drinking, and playing, only training occasionally. She was the most restless person aboard the ship, a princess in every sense of the word. She always claimed she wasn't afraid of what Yake might do, yet secretly obeyed his orders obediently. She was quite... tsundere?
There was no need to mention Anna. She had been abducted and made a slave at fourteen. Yake had saved her during the darkest moment of her life, so the person Anna depended on most was Yake. She regarded him as her own older brother.
Robin watched Perona and Anna playing around in the room while Reiju quietly studied a sea chart beside them. It felt like there were rather too many rivals, and she could not help cursing inwardly. It was all Yake's fault for being such a womanizer. Three were already more than enough...
At the same time.
Hancock stood in the central control room, monitoring the entire island and diligently carrying out the task Yake had entrusted to her. If there was the slightest disturbance, she would personally step in to suppress it.
"I wonder how Yake is doing now..."
A trace of unease arose in Hancock's heart.
New World, evening.
"Hey, hey, this is ridiculous. The captain and Yake are still fighting? Are they both monsters?" Lucky Roux tore into the chicken leg in his hand. He was hungry after only three minutes without food, which showed just how freakish the captain and Yake were.
"Yake's strength is absolutely no weaker than any of the Four Emperors. Their battle won't end so easily. Just wait," Benn Beckman said with certainty. If the dragon they had seen two years ago had been Yake... but could there really be such similar abilities on the sea? That was the question lingering in Benn Beckman's heart.
"Cough, cough. Shanks, are you tired? The warm-up has only just begun!" Yake grinned, spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, and watched his wounds rapidly heal. The blue-violet lightning wrapped around him had never faded.
"You brat, aren't you Kaido's illegitimate son?" Shanks was utterly speechless, nearly on the verge of collapse. He could not help asking Yake the same question again. This shameless regenerative ability was practically cast from the same mold as Kaido's.
"Funny Mud GO Pee!" Yake felt insulted.
"Funny Mud Go Pee? What does that mean?" Shanks was completely baffled and had no idea what Yake was talking about.