The Opportunity for Emission

The principal immediately chimed in from the side, his tone tempting:

"Stussy, this is a rare opportunity! This mission may be arduous, but if you complete it brilliantly and render great service, entering the ranks of CP0 in the future won't be impossible! You have to understand, that's a height countless agents can never reach in their entire lives!"

Stussy fell silent. Turmoil raged within her. The red-light district... she knew all too well what kind of place that was.

In this world, the bosses who controlled the underground sex trade were often their own biggest draw. That meant if she accepted this mission, she might have to personally... The thought made her stomach churn.

Both her principles and reason screamed for her to refuse. Yet the three letters CP0 were like a beam of light piercing through the gloom in her heart.

Joining CP0 meant greater authority, getting closer to the World Government's core of power, and also meant... being better able to protect and assist Doctor Vegapunk. The genius who had created her, whom she regarded as her "father."

For the doctor... That voice rose again in the depths of her heart, urging her on with a trace of desperation.

Just as Joseph's brows faintly furrowed beneath his mask, clearly growing impatient with the wait, Stussy took a deep breath. As if she had exhausted all her strength, she suppressed the choking sensation in her throat and answered in the steadiest voice she could manage:

"I... agree. I accept this mission."

"Good. A wise choice."

Joseph's voice remained utterly flat, as though he had expected this outcome all along.

"Come with me. Don't keep the higher-ups waiting too long."

Having said that, he turned without hesitation and strode outside, with no intention of waiting for her.

Stussy bit her lower lip, nearly biting through her red lips. She glanced at the principal, who gave her a look that said, "Do your best."

She hesitated no longer. With somewhat stiff steps, she quickly followed that white figure.

Night had already deepened. Cold, pure moonlight spilled across the path leading to the harbor. The surroundings were silent, with only the footsteps of the two of them echoing. Stussy lowered her head and watched her elongated, swaying shadow under the moonlight, her heart icy as she faced the future with confusion and fear.

Suddenly, an air cannon materialized out of nowhere in the empty space ahead, tearing through the air as it blasted fiercely toward the white figure walking in front.

A red glint flashed in Joseph's eyes beneath his mask as Observation Haki activated. At the critical moment, his body twisted at an incredible angle, narrowly evading the deadly strike.

The solidified air cannon grazed the hem of his clothes and slammed viciously into an auxiliary building behind him.

"Boom—!"

The deafening explosion rang out as brick and stone fragments shot skyward. Half the affected building instantly collapsed, and terrified screams and cries from the students sounded from within.

Joseph steadied himself. His powerful Observation Haki spread swiftly like spilled mercury, instantly locking onto a concealed presence in midair.

He snorted coldly and used the exquisite technique of Geppo, repeatedly kicking the air beneath his feet with booming bangs as his body shot skyward like a rocket.

Joseph's figure left several afterimages in the air. Taking advantage of the bizarre extra joint possessed by the Longarm Tribe, his arms moved like boneless whips, tracing unpredictable paths through the air and changing direction repeatedly as he closed in on the figure veiled by darkness.

His fingertips became coated in Armament Haki, and his razor-sharp Shigan shot out like a raging storm.

The attacker hidden in the darkness had clearly not expected his opponent to react so swiftly or attack so strangely. He tried to evade, only to find every route of retreat around him sealed off by those twisting, ever-changing Shigan strikes.

I can only take it head-on!

The thought flashed through the attacker's mind as the muscles in both his arms instantly bulged like steel, crossing before him to block.

"Bang bang bang bang—!"

Dull sounds of flesh colliding exploded one after another in midair. Rings of invisible shockwaves spread outward from where the two clashed, blowing away the surrounding smoke and dust.

The attacker's formidable physique, capable of withstanding ordinary cannon fire, proved as fragile as paper before this Shigan wrapped in Armament Haki!

The clothing on both arms instantly burst into butterfly-like fragments. At every point of impact, his skin and muscles erupted into clouds of blood mist, and the distinct crack of breaking bones could even be heard!

The excruciating pain made it impossible for Dawn to maintain the darkness ability concealing his form any longer. His figure was completely exposed beneath the moonlight.

The next second, his entire body became a shooting star, spinning as he plummeted from the sky.

"Boom!"

The ground was smashed into a cracked crater several meters wide, and smoke and dust billowed everywhere.

Blood streamed down from his nearly ruined arms, pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

Enduring pain that seemed ready to tear apart his soul, he used his uninjured legs to force himself upright, staggering out of the crater.

He raised his head. His eyes burned with flames of mingled hatred and extreme joy as he stared fixedly at CP0's Joseph, who was slowly landing before him.

The hatred was because the moment he had arrived on this island and first seen the man before him, he had recognized his identity—

This was the very CP0 agent whose hands had once been stained with his family's blood.

And it was precisely because of that sudden impact of hatred that he lost his usual calm, forgot his original goal of coming here to recruit subordinates, and launched the attack without a second thought. He had completely overlooked the grim fact that, as a CP0 agent, Joseph was highly likely to be proficient in both types of Haki, causing him to suffer a major loss the moment they clashed.

As for the joy... it was because, in that instant when he had attacked without regard for anything else, when his killing intent and desire for revenge reached their peak, he clearly felt the Conqueror's Haki within him—which he had never been able to wield freely—begin to surge violently!

Although he had awakened this power nearly a year ago, he had always had no idea how to release it outward.

Yet now, this encounter with his mortal enemy and his unwavering action toward the path of revenge seemed to have allowed him to touch that threshold!

Just as he had known in his previous life, when a certain moss-headed swordsman had stirred his Conqueror's Haki through his resolve to pursue his dream while facing a powerful enemy, Dawn's Conqueror's Haki had been stirred for a similar reason.

What was Dawn's dream? Without question, it was to overthrow this corrupt World Government and avenge every family member who had died tragically!

And taking the initiative to attack CP0, the strongest shield of the Celestial Dragons, was undoubtedly a crucial step on the path toward realizing that dream!

He even had a feeling that if he could personally kill this enemy here, he might be able to break through the shackles in one stroke and truly master the power of Conqueror's Haki Emission!

As for whether he could win, he was not worried. CP0 had only barely been strong enough to perish together with Izo twenty years later. Twenty years earlier, they could not possibly have been overwhelmingly powerful.

"Hmph. I never expected to encounter a remnant of the David Family in a place like this."

Joseph's cold voice interrupted his thoughts, carrying undisguised killing intent and... a trace of contempt.

"I truly don't know whether to call you utterly stupid or arrogantly overconfident. You don't even know how to use the most basic Haki, yet you dare attack me? You could have hidden forever like a rat, so why insist on jumping out to court death?"

Dawn was not at all surprised that his identity had been exposed. He looked eighty percent like his father, and this was not a comic-book world where face blindness was commonplace. It was perfectly normal for him to be recognized.

He bared his white teeth in a grin. Combined with the blood smeared across his face, his smile looked somewhat savage, but his gaze was incomparably resolute.

"Not knowing Haki doesn't mean I definitely can't beat someone who does. Today, I don't think I'll lose."

Haki was a power that stood above all else—there was no denying that. But there was one prerequisite: it had to be cultivated to an extremely high level.

Take Sandersonia, for example. Even after awakening Observation Haki, she still could not keep up with Gear Second Luffy's movements;

Marigold's outward Armament Haki was likewise shattered head-on by Gear Second through sheer physical strength.

These were classic examples of relying on absolute physical prowess to defeat Haki users who were not powerful enough.

Judging from the fact that Guernica died in his forties, the man before him was only in his twenties. At that age, his Armament Haki could not possibly be absurdly powerful. Not everyone was extraordinarily gifted.

Although his recklessness had cost him in their exchange just now, Dawn still believed his chances of victory were high. He did not think his current physical abilities were inferior to Gear Second.

"Sharp tongue."

Joseph snorted coldly, his killing intent spreading as though it were tangible.

"I'll show you the gap between people in this world, and what despair truly is!"

TO BE CONTINUED