Four Quarters Shaken, the Comet Incident

Just then, after a strange sound effect, Vergo dragged his mangled body upright. The fist he raised took on a glazed sheen, then turned black with a sharp "whoosh."

"Is that Armament Haki?" Aeneas's interest was piqued. "You can actually still stand?"

Sure enough, Aeneas had not perfectly wielded One-Punch Man's power. Otherwise, Vergo would never have been able to get back up—perhaps never again.

An eight-year-old child speaking down to a two-meter-tall adult made for a somewhat absurd scene, but no one dared laugh. Instead, they were filled with fear toward Aeneas.

"You know about Armament Haki too?" Vergo was in a miserable state. He was certain the power he had sensed earlier was not Armament Haki, yet it possessed such terrifying force. That was what he found unimaginable.

Could pure physical strength really be this powerful? What kind of Monster was this?

"Who exactly are you?"

Vergo looked as though he had seen a ghost, but he could not back down before Aeneas!

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

Haki was a latent power possessed by every human in this world. It was an innate ability, like "presence" and "intimidation," existing as naturally as instinct. However, most people could not perceive this power, or could never bring it out even throughout their entire lives.

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

The three types of Haki each possessed different abilities and were essential skills for becoming strong. What Vergo was using now was Armament Haki. Through coating and reinforcement, it enhanced one's defenses like invisible armor. It could also be transformed into offensive power, allowing one to contend against Devil Fruit users and even touch the true bodies of Logia Devil Fruit users!

Vergo believed that Aeneas's resurrection was a Devil Fruit ability, but he had no idea why it had granted him such overwhelming power!

He was clearly only eight years old!

Why?

Vergo unleashed his potential. Blood soaked his entire body, yet his momentum was unstoppable. Aeneas had only one minute left on his One-Punch Man Trial Card, and he regarded Vergo with solemn respect.

"This fearless resolve in the face of death is the heart of a true strong man!"

By experiencing Saitama's invincible state, Aeneas had also tempered his own heart. Looking back on who he had been before, he realized just how far behind he had been.

"Then I'll answer with my strongest strike!" Watching Vergo pounce like a wild beast, Aeneas assumed a stance and gathered strength, concentrating every ounce of power into his fist.

"Serious Punch!"

One-Punch Man Saitama's Serious Series skill possessed world-destroying might and could even shatter planets—but Aeneas obviously could not achieve that level yet. Even so, it was absolutely not something Vergo could contend against, not even at his peak more than a decade later!

It was just that absurd!

After Aeneas charged up his punch, even the surrounding space emitted the sound of shattering. The explosive impact spread over a thousand meters away, and all of Dunkirk Island felt the terrifying shockwave.

Vergo's Armament Haki-coated fist did not even touch Aeneas before he was blasted back over a thousand meters. Pedestrians and merchants along the way panicked, thinking the end of the world had arrived.

The other marines at Goldfish Port fell into complete chaos. Seeing their boss get sent flying, they all wailed and scattered in every direction—the end of the world was here, so to hell with military discipline!

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

The attack was about to descend upon the island. If that punch truly landed, the consequences would be unimaginable!

To avoid destroying the entire island, Aeneas redirected most of the force into the sky. Clouds were swept clear for miles, and a dazzling glow of fist force streaked through space before gradually fading in the depths of the cosmos.

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

The damage Vergo received the second time was not even as severe as the first. That was because Aeneas had drastically misjudged the power of Serious Punch, so he could only send all its force flying into the sky.

"No! Forget the island—even the sea level of the entire West Blue might have dropped from one punch, and the Red Line's area might have doubled!"

But most importantly, too many people lived on Dunkirk. Aeneas could not bring himself to slaughter so wantonly. He could only choose to release the force.

Elsewhere, Vergo, who had been sent flying by the aftershocks at the edge of the impact rather than by the punch itself, had completely begun questioning his life.

What kind of devastating blow had he just suffered?

"What kind of Monster is he?"

Vergo watched as the clouds in the sky were instantly blasted away, revealing an endless expanse of blue above him.

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

Then Vergo completely lost consciousness. His body crashed into a Marine branch building, and he was soon taken away for treatment.

What happened that day was later classified as a bizarre incident. For some reason, everyone present kept silent, and no one ever mentioned any information regarding Aeneas again.

Vergo was later transferred to Marine Headquarters, while Dunkirk returned to normal order under the Donquixote Family's rule. People gradually forgot the strange incident from that time.

Yet the entire world could see this extraordinary phenomenon.

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

Upon the enormous Moby Dick, which resembled a sea beast, stood a towering, burly man with a calm and steady presence. IV tubes were inserted into his body, and beside him rested an eight-meter-long blade named Murakumogiri, one of the legendary Supreme Grade Blades!

This man was the legendary figure said to possess the power to destroy the world: one of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!

Although the balance of power on the seas had not yet fully taken shape, there was no doubt that Whitebeard stood at the peak of this era, a great pirate as famous as the Pirate King Roger!

He had been watching his sons revel noisily at their banquet when Whitebeard suddenly fixed his gaze westward. An emperor's aura burst forth, Conqueror's Haki spanning the skies as though he had encountered an unprecedented challenge and crisis.

"In the direction of the West Blue... Has something terrifying appeared there?" Whitebeard rose to his feet. His towering figure and domineering presence showed no trace of retreat before the might caused by One-Punch Man's Serious Punch!

"Pops, what happened?"

Marco and the others did not understand what was happening. Following Whitebeard's gaze toward the distant sky, they saw the terrifying fist force shooting into the heavens, and all of them froze in shock.

The Red Line, the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

In a deep room with lavish decorations, five elderly men around a circular table abruptly raised their heads at the same moment.

"What is this?" An elderly man with a broad build frowned. "Who caused that disturbance?"

"Could it be Zunesha?" another tall, thin elder guessed. "Could Zunesha have broken free...?"

"No!" A bald elder's Shodai Kitetsu trembled faintly at his waist. He spoke in a deep voice. "This is power even more terrifying than Zunesha's. What exactly is it?"

"This world is about to undergo drastic change. Send the order: investigate this matter. It is to be classified at the highest level!"

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

Yet in one special place—the great undersea prison, Impel Down!

The sixth underground level, Infinite Hell!

Every prison cell was made of Seastone, but within a pitch-black double cell unnoticed by anyone—

A white-haired old man in red sat quietly. Though he was deep underground, he could still sense the fluctuations of power from the sky above.

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

"Redfield!"

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the cell directly opposite the old man in red. It sounded like the voice of a young man, calling out to him.

The old man in red's full name was Patrick Redfield—the Red Count, the Lone Red!

He was a terrifying great pirate who had stood on equal footing with Roger and Whitebeard by his own strength alone, yet the outside world knew nothing about him.

"So you're finally willing to speak, old man..." Patrick looked at the young man in the opposite cell, his tone filled with reverence—or rather... fear!

Who could make the Red Count afraid?

No one knew this person's origins. Serious Punch had awakened him, though only briefly.

"If it weren't for Straw Hat, this world would have long... Ah!" The man did not continue. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"The time has not yet come. Not yet!" Patrick raised his head. The layers of the great prison seemed like nothing before his gaze as he looked toward the sky. "It's not enough. This level is still not enough..."

This event was later called the "Comet Incident" in newspapers around the world—meaning a tremor from the cosmos. Most people believed it was merely an astronomical wonder. Only the truly supreme experts could sense the power contained within it!