Four-Way Shock, the Comet Incident

Just then, after a strange sound effect, Vergo dragged his battered body forward. The fist he raised suddenly took on a glazed texture, then turned black with a sharp clang.

"Is that Armament Haki?" Aeneas became interested. "You can still stand?"

Sure enough, Aeneas had not perfectly unleashed the power of One-Punch Man. Otherwise, Vergo would never have been able to stand again—or might never have stood again at all.

An eight-year-old child speaking to a two-meter-tall adult in such a condescending manner was rather comical, but no one dared laugh. Instead, everyone was filled with fear of Aeneas.

"You know about Armament Haki?" Vergo was a complete mess. He could tell that the power he had sensed earlier was not Armament Haki, yet it possessed such terrifying might. That was what he found unimaginable.

Could pure physical strength really be this powerful? What kind of monster is this?

"What exactly are you?"

Vergo looked as though he had seen a ghost, but he could not retreat in the face of Aeneas!

I only awakened Haki recently. If this monster's ability comes from a Devil Fruit, then my attack should work... Vergo no longer had the strength to stop Aeneas. He could only stake everything on one final gamble!

Haki was a latent power possessed by all humans in this world. It was an innate ability, akin to "presence" and "intimidation," existing like an instinct. However, most people could not perceive this power, or were unable to unleash it even after a lifetime.

This was Haki. Haki was divided into Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki!

The three types of Haki each possessed different abilities. They were essential powers that anyone seeking to become strong had to master. What Vergo was using now was Armament Haki. By coating and wrapping himself in it, he could enhance his personal defense, creating armor invisible to the eye. It could also evolve into offensive power, allowing him to contend with Devil Fruit users and even touch the physical bodies of Logia users!

Vergo believed that Aeneas had risen from the dead through the power of a Devil Fruit, but he had no idea why it had granted him such terrifying strength!

He's only eight years old!

Why?

Vergo unleashed his potential, his entire body drenched in blood, yet his momentum was unstoppable. Aeneas still had one minute left on his One-Punch Man experience card, and he looked at Vergo with solemn respect.

"This fearlessness in the face of death is the true heart of a powerhouse!"

By experiencing Saitama's invincible state, Aeneas had also tempered his own heart. As he examined his past self, he realized that he was still far too lacking.

"In that case, I'll answer with my strongest attack!" Aeneas watched Vergo pounce at him like a beast. He took up a stance, gathered his strength, and concentrated all of it in his fist.

"Serious Punch!"

Saitama's Serious Series technique possessed world-shattering power. It could even destroy planets—but Aeneas clearly could not reach that level yet. Even so, it was still far beyond anything Vergo could withstand. Not even Vergo at his peak more than a decade later would have been able to resist it!

It was simply that absurd!

After Aeneas charged up, the punch made even the surrounding space emit a shattering sound. The explosive force traveled a thousand meters away, and the entire island of Dunkirk felt the terrifying impact.

Vergo's Armament Haki-coated fist had not even touched Aeneas before he was blasted a thousand meters away. The pedestrians and vendors along the road all looked panicked, thinking the apocalypse had arrived.

The other marines at Goldfish Port fell into complete chaos. Seeing their leader blasted away, they scattered in all directions while crying for their mothers. The apocalypse is here—what did military discipline matter now?

Aeneas's Serious Punch seemed to have gone a little too far!

The attack was about to land on the island. If the punch truly struck, the consequences would be unimaginable!

To avoid destroying the entire island, Aeneas redirected most of the impact into the sky. The clouds were blasted apart for thousands of miles, and a dazzling fist-shaped radiance streaked through the cosmos before disappearing into the depths.

"Vergo seems to have survived." Aeneas frowned. "But if I had insisted on putting all that power into Vergo, the entire island would have been buried with him."

The second injury Vergo suffered was even less severe than the first. That was because Aeneas had seriously misjudged the power of the Serious Punch, leaving him no choice but to send all the force flying into the sky.

"No! Forget the island—the entire West Blue might have been punched until its sea level dropped, and the area of the Red Line might even have doubled!"

More importantly, too many people lived on Dunkirk. Aeneas could not bring himself to slaughter so many people, so he had no choice but to disperse the force.

Meanwhile, Vergo, who had been sent flying by the aftershock at the edge of the impact rather than struck directly by the punch, had completely begun to doubt his life.

What kind of blow to my life did I just suffer?

"What kind of monster is he?"

Vergo watched as the clouds in the sky were instantly blasted away, revealing a clear blue sky stretching for thousands of miles.

"Has my hamburger still not arrived...?"

Then Vergo completely lost consciousness. His body crashed into the buildings of the marine branch and was soon taken away for treatment.

The events of that day were later classified as a strange incident. For some reason, everyone present was ordered to keep silent, and no one ever mentioned anything concerning Aeneas again.

Vergo was later transferred to Marine Headquarters. Under the rule of the Donquixote Family, Dunkirk gradually returned to normal, and people slowly forgot the strange incident.

However, the entire world could see this celestial phenomenon.

The second half of the Grand Line, the New World.

On the enormous ship Moby Dick, which resembled a sea monster, sat a burly, imposing man with a calm aura and an infusion tube running into his body. Beside him stood an eight-meter-long sword called Murakumogiri, one of the legendary Twelve Supreme Grade Blades!

This man was the legendary figure known as the "man with the power to destroy the world," one of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard—Edward Newgate!

Although the balance of power on the seas had yet to fully solidify, there was no doubt that Whitebeard stood at the peak of this era. He was a great pirate as renowned as the Pirate King, Roger!

He had been watching his sons hold a noisy banquet aboard the ship, but Whitebeard suddenly focused on the west. An imposing kingly aura burst from him, and Conqueror's Haki stretched across the sky, as though he had encountered an unprecedented challenge and crisis.

"Something terrifying must have appeared in the direction of the West Blue, right?" Whitebeard had already risen to his feet. Facing the might created by One-Punch Man's Serious Punch, his towering body and contemptuous bearing showed no sign of retreat!

"Pops, what happened?"

Marco and the others still did not understand what was happening. Following Whitebeard's gaze toward the distant sky, they saw the terrifying fist-shaped energy soaring into the heavens, and all of them stood frozen in shock.

The Red Line, the holy land of Mary Geoise.

In a secluded room with lavish decorations, the five old men seated around the circular chamber suddenly raised their heads at the same time.

"What's going on?" one broad-built old man asked with a frown. "Who caused this commotion?"

"Could it be Zunesha?" another tall, thin old man guessed. "Could Zunesha have escaped...?"

"No!" The bald old man's Shodai Kitetsu trembled faintly at his waist. He spoke in a deep voice. "This power is even more terrifying than Zunesha's. What in the world is it?"

"This world will soon undergo drastic changes. Give the order to investigate this matter. Highest secrecy level!"

The strongest figures in the sea could all sense the terrifying might contained within the Serious Punch, but they all kept silent about it.

Yet in a special place—the great prison on the sea, Impel Down!

The sixth underground level, Infinite Hell!

The cells were uniformly reinforced with Seastone, but in a dark double cell unnoticed by anyone...

An old man in red with white hair sat quietly. Although he was deep beneath the ground, he still sensed the fluctuations of power from above.

He merely opened his eyes slightly, then closed them again, as though he did not care in the slightest.

"Redfield!"

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from the cell directly opposite the old man in red. It sounded like a young man calling to him.

The old man in red's full name was Patrick Redfield—The Lonely Red! Red the Aloof!

He was a terrifying great pirate who had stood alongside Roger and Whitebeard through his own strength, yet the outside world knew nothing about him.

"You're finally willing to say something, old man..." Patrick looked at the young man in the cell opposite him, his tone filled with reverence—or perhaps... fear!

Who could make Red the Aloof feel fear?

No one knew where this man came from. The Serious Punch had awakened him, but it had only awakened him briefly.

"If not for the 'Straw Hat,' this world would have long ago... Ah!" The man did not continue. He closed his eyes and fell back into slumber.

"The time has not yet come. Not yet!" Patrick raised his head. The layers of the great prison seemed nonexistent as he stared toward the sky. "It's not enough. This level still isn't enough..."

The event was called the "Comet Incident" in news reports around the world—a vibration from the cosmos. However, most people believed it was merely an astronomical wonder. Only the truly supreme powerhouses could sense the might contained within it!