Swain's Conqueror's Haki!

All that time had been wasted back and forth for nothing, and he never expected to come away empty-handed in the end.

The Fruit had even been eaten by someone else!

When Back saw Swain's ability, he naturally thought of this outcome, which was why he couldn't help but strike to kill him and then use this Compass to find the respawn location of the Fruit.

"I was driven to a dead end just the same; if I fail the mission, I'll die at the hands of the Celestial Dragons all the same." Back felt a chill in his heart whenever he thought of that ugly mark of the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon.

"Then what are you going to do now?" Woli asked mockingly.

Clearly, he was not moved by this routine of being "driven to a dead end."

Seeing his attitude, Back panicked inwardly as well. Oh no, he doesn't seem to have any intention of letting me go.

"Since you chose to make a move, you have to pay the corresponding price!"

"In this world, it's not a matter of who makes sense or whose situation is worse meaning they get forgiven!" Woli said with absolute certainty.

Hearing this, Back already felt despair. He couldn't even understand why, when things had reached this point, Woli still wouldn't let him go.

Yet he always measured the path to survival from the perspective of a cold-blooded assassin, never considering the warmth of human nature—that when someone's child was about to be killed, no matter what, they would never forgive the would-be murderer.

To Woli, who was nearing sixty years old, Swain was his only family... or child, left in this world.

Before the moment Back's head fell off, Woli spoke his last words to him: "In the face of absolute strength, you and I are ultimately just chess pieces of the higher-ups."

Splash!

Blood dripped as Back died after all.

He looked quite young, but he had chosen the wrong side; if he wasn't killed now, he would ultimately end up as a running dog harming the region in the future.

For a moment, Woli wanted to let him go as well, but reason eventually triumphed over sentiment.

CP0 was by no means a sheep in a greenhouse; if Back had been a marine, he definitely would have survived today.

Too bad...

Woli collected his thoughts, picked up Swain with one hand, and left the place.

By the time Swain woke up, it was already the afternoon of the third day.

If not for the injuries on his hands, he almost would have suspected he had dreamed the whole thing.

His memory still stopped at the masked man demanding he be killed; at that instant, he seemed very angry, letting out a loud roar before passing out.

Now that he appeared at home, that Signal Flare must have made Woli go there and save him.

He habitually checked his body.

Other things aside, his recovery ability was truly good; in just two days, the flesh on his body had already grown back and scabbed over, and the injury on his arm was mostly healed as well.

He faced the window and shouted, "Old man!"

Woli was fishing in the pond outside the house; this pond hadn't been there before he left, and it was probably dug sometime after his departure.

Thinking of this, Swain smiled and said, "You really have a nice hobby, thinking of digging a pond to fish."

"Otherwise what! You brat leave for months at a time, and I'm plenty bored."

"Did you expect me to catch a wild beast and teach it to read and write?"

This was a veiled scolding that Swain was worse than an animal for not coming back to check on him for so long.

It made Swain scratch his head in embarrassment.

Grandfather and grandson didn't mention the big battle from before at all, instead chatting about everyday household matters. This was because Swain knew Woli would definitely talk to him about it.

Sure enough!

Woli took the initiative to bring up the matter:

"That night intruder was a CP0 agent named Back."

Swain didn't feel surprised at all; he had already guessed it.

It was strange that Woli saw he wasn't surprised, so he simply continued, "The Fruit you ate when you were little was one the World Government... No! The Celestial Dragons wanted to reclaim."

"Ten years ago, I detested the Celestial Dragons to the core and snatched this Fruit from the hands of CP0."

"I didn't expect the consequences to be so severe at the time either. I only learned from Back later that after I brought you fleeing to this place, they even put a billion Beli bounty on my head if anyone could get information on me."

Then, he told Swain everything Back had mentioned.

After hearing this information, he digested it for quite a while before saying to Woli, "So, we're safe now?"

"That's right, the only person who knew has already been thrown into the sea by me."

Such a method made the corner of Swain's mouth twitch slightly.

"I really have Conqueror's Haki?" Swain found it rather unbelievable.

"Yes."

"At the time, I was in a rush and felt a powerful Haki being released, thinking some powerful enemy had broken onto the island again. Later, I realized it could only be you inadvertently awakening Conqueror's Haki."

After getting Woli's confirmation, Swain felt wild joy in his heart.

Even a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

Keep in mind that the Four Emperors Kaido once said: Haki is what reigns supreme over all!

To become a strong person, without Conqueror's Haki, you don't even have the qualification to get an entry ticket to the realm of the strong.

Roger, Rayleigh, Gaban, Shiki, Whitebeard, Luffy, Zoro.

As well as the current Four Emperors, the powerhouses of the New World, and even the later Worst Generation—quite a few people possessed Conqueror's Haki.

It took a one-in-a-million chance for a king to appear!

And now, Swain had already gotten this entry ticket. How could he not be happy?

At the same time, it also proved that as long as he trained diligently, the upper limit of his strength would be infinitely raised!

The most direct manifestation of this was: Conqueror's Haki Infusion.

Those who could use Haki Infusion were vastly stronger than those who could not—by more than tenfold.

This could be seen from when Luffy first challenged Kaido and was sent flying by the latter with a single club blow, left heavily injured and unable to stand.

Yet this also led to Swain feeling puzzled. Woli had taught him to use Armament Haki and basic Observation Haki.

Yet he had never mentioned Conqueror's Haki once.

Woli could naturally guess Swain's thoughts, as no one knew a son like a father.

Right then and there, he released his own Conqueror's Haki!

Swain instantly felt an aged, domineering aura that caused his breathing to stall involuntarily.

This was the first time he had felt Conqueror's Haki, making him inwardly generate a feeling of worship and an inability to rival it.

"This is Haki?!" Swain said.

Then he looked at Woli with an excited gaze.

"Yes, and the density of your Haki is the thickest and most domineering I've ever seen," Woli said.

"I didn't teach you to use it before because I was afraid you didn't have it."

"Starting today, I am going to truly teach you how to use the Three Colors of Haki!"

In the gaze Woli cast toward Swain, it was likewise filled with anticipation.

Upon hearing Woli's promise, Swain was overjoyed in his heart as well.

He silently swore to himself: I will never let my head be trampled under someone else's feet again! When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, after my flowers bloom, all other flowers die!!