Whitebeard Was Shocked-This Kid Was a Monster

The dome of the underground auction house had completely collapsed.

Edward Newgate pushed away the half of a stone pillar pressing against his shoulder. Loose rubble rolled down his broad back and crashed onto the flooded cavern floor.

He carried the massive Murakumogiri as he strode into the ruins.

His leather boot crushed a charred plank with a harsh snap. The air reeked of ozone, stinging his eyes, mixed with the scorched smell of human flesh that had been instantly carbonized.

Newgate stopped. His massive figure blocked the sliver of sunlight leaking down from the surface.

He stroked the white crescent mustache on his chin, his brows knotting into a deep frown.

In the center of the ruins not far ahead,

Rektol stood atop the remains of a mahogany platform. His bare three-year-old feet were planted firmly on the face of a mafia officer.

The officer's lower body had already turned to black ash. He had not even had time to scream.

Rektol tossed the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, covered in hard spikes, from hand to hand. A trace of lingering blue static crackled across its gray-brown skin.

"Kid." Newgate spoke, his voice echoing through the cavern like a rusty bronze bell.

He drove the hilt of Murakumogiri heavily into the tiled floor. The ground trembled.

"These people fly Rocks' flag and pay their protection fees in full every month. You came to an ally's territory and started slaughtering them. What the hell are you doing?"

Rektol stopped moving his hand.

He turned and looked at Newgate, who was several times taller than him. There was not the slightest trace of guilt in his eyes at being caught.

Rocks' allies?

In his eyes, aside from the Charlotte Family, everyone on this sea was merely a stepping stone he could crush at will.

Rektol stuffed the Magnet-Magnet Fruit into the pocket of his coarse cloth trousers. The fruit was too large, stretching the pocket until it bulged grotesquely, making him look somewhat ridiculous.

He could not be bothered to open his mouth and explain.

"Boom!"

A dull, thunderous sound exploded from Rektol's tiny chest.

The sound was not loud, but it possessed incredible penetrating power. Even the shards of broken glass nearby trembled.

Then came a second sound, and a third.

All three hearts simultaneously entered an overdrive blood-pumping state. Dark-red steam sprayed from his pores, instantly tearing through the surrounding air.

His body, originally no larger than that of a three-year-old child, erupted with the oppressive force of a primeval beast.

Newgate's eyelid twitched. The knuckles of the hand gripping Murakumogiri turned white.

That heartbeat was far too rapid. It completely defied human physiology.

Before he could think it through, Rektol moved.

His right foot slammed down on the withered corpse. The corpse's head exploded like a watermelon. Bone fragments flew everywhere.

Using the brutal recoil, Rektol transformed into a blue-tailed cannonball and shot straight toward Newgate in midair.

He loosely clenched his right hand. The free electrical charges in the air frantically converged.

Two hundred million volts of lightning compressed in his palm, instantly stretching into a deep-blue Thunder Greatsword nearly two meters long. Arcs of electricity lashed the air like whips along the blade's edge.

"Arrogant." Newgate snorted coldly.

He did not dodge. He planted his feet in a horse stance, the muscles in his waist twisting tight as steel cables. His thick arm swung Murakumogiri in a horizontal sweep to meet the lightning.

A white spherical barrier appeared around the blade. He had compressed the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to its absolute limit.

One large and one small figure collided in midair.

The Thunder Greatsword cleaved viciously into the white barrier around Murakumogiri.

"Boom—!"

There were no sparks from clashing metal, only the annihilation of pure energy.

Blinding light washed the entire underground cavern white. Immediately afterward, a visible, translucent shock wave spread outward in a ring.

The rock walls around the cavern cracked like rotten tofu. More than a dozen load-bearing pillars snapped in half and came crashing into the underground river, sending columns of water dozens of meters high.

The lightning blade in Rektol's hands let out a piercing hum.

He gritted his teeth, the faint taste of blood touching the tip of his tongue. The terrifying recoil from the Tremor-Tremor Fruit traveled along the lightning blade, making the bones in his arms crack.

A tiny split opened in the web between his thumb and forefinger. The blood that seeped out was instantly evaporated by the heat.

But he did not retreat a single step.

The three hearts in his chest pumped blood like mad. The capillaries ruptured by the shockwave reassembled and healed within a fraction of a second.

An endless stream of vitality flowed into his muscles, like an internal-combustion engine that could never run dry.

He gripped the lightning blade tightly with both hands and pressed down again against the white barrier.

Blue currents crawled up Newgate's arm along Murakumogiri's shaft like venomous snakes.

"Sizzle!"

The hair on Newgate's forearm instantly burned away. A layer of charred dead skin peeled off, while an intense numbness spread from deep within his muscles.

Newgate froze.

This completely unreasonable monstrous strength should never have appeared in a three-year-old child.

Even more terrifying was the fact that the kid's stamina seemed bottomless. The two of them had been locked in a stalemate for more than ten seconds, yet the pressure from Rektol's sword had not weakened. Instead, it was growing stronger.

"Shatter!" Newgate growled, violently twisting his wrist.

The white barrier around Murakumogiri expanded with a boom, then completely exploded.

Crack.

The space in midair filled with fine fractures like a mirror.

The surface of Speranza Island could no longer withstand an impact of this level. A massive canyon hundreds of meters long split open through the middle.

Seawater furiously poured through the fissure, roaring loud enough to shake the heavens.

Rektol was hurled away by the savage force of the tremor.

He flipped twice in midair before landing steadily. His feet plowed two deep trenches through the rubble, the soles of his leather boots smoking from the friction.

Newgate also staggered half a step backward. The hilt of Murakumogiri scraped across the ground, throwing off a string of sparks before he regained his footing.

He shook his slightly numb right arm and looked at Rektol, who was brushing dust off himself not far away.

The underground cavern had completely collapsed. Cold seawater had risen to their ankles.

"Gurararara!"

Newgate suddenly threw back his head and burst into laughter. His laughter drowned out the roar of the seawater pouring in.

He planted Murakumogiri into a raised reef, then turned his wrist and no longer assumed an attacking stance.

"That crazy hag Linlin really gave birth to one hell of a monster."

Newgate lowered his head and looked at Rektol. Most of the killing intent had faded from his eyes, replaced by undisguised shock.

"Your stamina is monstrous, as if you never get tired. If we keep fighting, this island will sink to the bottom of the sea and feed the fish."

The battle had not ended in either side's death. Newgate did not want to fight a monster like this to the bitter end over a few dead gangsters.

Rektol brushed the mud from his trouser legs.

He could not be bothered with Newgate's exclamations. He had already obtained the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, so there was no need to waste time here.

Blue light exploded beneath his feet.

Rektol transformed into a dazzling bolt of lightning and shot straight into the sky through the hole overhead. He did not leave behind a single word of nonsense.

Newgate stood in seawater reaching his knees and stroked the white beard on his chin.

"The sea is going to become unsettled again."

Two hours later.

The coastline of Totto Land's main base appeared in view.

Rektol dispersed the lightning and landed steadily in front of the stone house.

He pushed open the door and forcibly stuffed the spike-covered Magnet-Magnet Fruit into Cracker's mouth.

He watched as his chubby little brother rolled around on the ground, gagging, after which the iron basins and rusty nails around him all floated into the air and began spinning rapidly around him.

Magneto's power was already showing its first results.

Rektol contentedly shook the saliva off his hand.

He grabbed Cracker by the back of his collar with one hand and lifted him like a chick.

"Come on. I'll take you outside for some fresh air."

Rektol pushed open the back door of the stone house and led Cracker toward the center of the camp.

He had only taken two steps when the sea breeze blew straight into his face.

It carried a cloyingly sweet smell that made him want to vomit.

Rektol stopped, his brows slowly knitting tighter.

The scene in the camp had completely changed.

The once-hard bluestone roads had been covered with a thick layer of pink cream. It felt soft beneath his feet, and syrup seeped from the impressions they left behind.

The barracks that had stored weapons and gunpowder were gone. In their place stood several colorful houses built from biscuits and chocolate.

The windows were made of hard candy, and enormous spiral lollipops had even been planted in the rooftops.

On the lawn not far away,

Perospero and several other younger brothers and sisters who had only just learned to walk were sprawled on the ground in every direction.

They clutched large handfuls of cotton candy, their mouths stuffed with colorful sweets. Sticky syrup covered their faces as they ate.

Several children giggled stupidly and rolled around in the piles of soft candy.

Even the air was filled with the soft, languid scent of caramel.

This was no pirate camp. It was practically a defenseless amusement park.

Cracker was drawn in by the sweetness and sniffed. He stretched out his chubby hand, trying to reach a piece of wafer that had fallen from the wall beside him.

Rektol stood where he was.

He slapped Cracker's hand away. The force was a little too strong, and the back of Cracker's hand instantly reddened.

The temperature around them seemed to plunge to freezing point.

Rektol stared at those foolish faces eating candy, his gaze turning icy in an instant.