Chrysanthemum Shattered

The taut string in Gion's heart quietly loosened once she confirmed that Allen had not been stabbed.

As long as it wasn't Allen who got stabbed, it had nothing to do with her who anyone else got stabbed.

Beside her, Chief Officer Tsuru removed her hand from Gion's mouth and expressionlessly turned her gaze toward Kake. Her eyes seemed to say, Let's see just how much more absurd you can get.

Kake was immersed in his excitement, but when he steadied himself slightly, he suddenly realized that the color of the clothes before him seemed wrong. He clearly remembered Allen wearing pink Patrick Star shorts, so how had they become a white cape?!

In an instant, past memories surged back like a tide—the brutal battle where his treasure had been cut. Back then, Berserker Kai and Allen had somehow switched places, and Kai had immediately been slashed several times by his own side.

Now that a similar scene had played out again, who had secretly switched places with Allen this time?

Kake's thoughts raced, and Sakazuki's face flashed through his mind, because he had been standing the closest.

The moment that thought surfaced, Kake felt his chrysanthemum tighten and his heart nearly leap out of his throat. He hurriedly comforted himself inwardly. No way. Don't scare yourself.

Feeling uneasy, Kake slowly raised his head. His gaze inadvertently met Sakazuki's murderous eyes, and in that instant, a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He was nearly scared to death on the spot.

In his panic, he instinctively yanked out the scissors embedded in Sakazuki's chrysanthemum. The scissors were smeared with blood and even clung to some yellow unidentified substance.

Sakazuki immediately let out a heart-wrenching scream that echoed through the surroundings. Upon seeing that eye-searing scene, the people present nearly vomited on the spot.

Hearing Sakazuki's scream, Kake became even more flustered and kept muttering, "Sorry, sorry, I'll put it back in right now!"

"Don't—"

Before Sakazuki could stop him, Kake forcibly shoved the bloody scissors back into Sakazuki's chrysanthemum.

"Ah!"

Another piercing scream tore through the sky. Kake trembled at the sound and hurriedly apologized, "Sorry, sorry, I'll pull it out right now!"

Sakazuki screamed in terror, "Stop!"

However, it was already too late. Kake pulled the scissors out once again.

Having his chrysanthemum tormented like this over and over again was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation for Sakazuki.

Rage burned within him as a violent force surged through his body.

"Ahhh—"

With his roar, an incomparably powerful aura erupted from his body like a raging tornado, shooting straight into the clouds. Centered on him, a fierce shockwave spread outward in all directions.

Kake, the closest to Sakazuki, bore the brunt of it and was instantly blasted away.

The wave of Mental Attack did not stop there. Soon, the commodores and rear admirals were all affected. Their eyes gradually became unfocused, their consciousness blurred, and one after another, they collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.

Witnessing this from the platform, Sengoku exclaimed in shock, "Sakazuki has awakened Conqueror's Haki!"

Chief Officer Tsuru also wore an incredulous expression. After all, she knew that Akainu had not possessed Conqueror's Haki before. It seemed that this had actually been an awakening brought about by humiliation.

Aokiji and Kizaru exchanged a glance. Though a trace of envy flashed through their eyes at Akainu's awakening of Conqueror's Haki, the moment they considered why he had awakened it, they no longer envied him. They even felt a little sympathy for him.

They would rather not have a Conqueror's Haki awakening gained by getting their chrysanthemums stabbed several times.

Allen watched everything coldly. When he saw that Akainu had actually awakened Conqueror's Haki, his gaze instantly turned hostile. He turned and glared fiercely at Kake beside him, thinking to himself, This is all thanks to this bastard. He's dead today. Even if Jesus himself comes, he won't be able to save him. I said so!

Now it depended on whether Akainu would kill him. If he did not, Allen would finish him off himself.

After his brief outburst, Akainu slowly stopped releasing Conqueror's Haki.

He advanced toward Kake step by step, the killing intent in his eyes seeming capable of freezing the very air around them.

However, when he saw Kake's crazed, incoherent appearance, his footsteps suddenly halted.

His reason returned in an instant, and a trace of doubt arose in his heart. Was Kake really at fault?

He had merely wanted to avenge himself. If there was any fault, it could only be that the enemy had been too cunning.

With that thought, Akainu slowly shifted his gaze away and turned it toward Allen, who was leisurely watching the show nearby. This was all because of that brat.

Sensing Akainu's murderous gaze, Allen knew he would have to kill Kake himself.

At that moment, Akainu's figure abruptly vanished from where he stood. Like a bolt of lightning, he charged toward Allen, his right hand swinging down with a magma fist as large as a claypot.

Seeing this, Allen did not dare slack off in the slightest. He swiftly covered his right hand in Armament Haki, black Haki gleaming across his arm like an indestructible suit of armor.

Then, without hesitation, he threw his right fist forward to meet Akainu's attack.

"Boom!"

A Loud Noise resounded through the heavens as their fists collided violently. Powerful shockwaves spread in every direction.

Allen was knocked back several meters by the impact, his slippers nearly worn through from scraping the ground.

Allen looked bewildered. Sure enough, after awakening Conqueror's Haki, Akainu had become considerably stronger than before.

If he did not use Conqueror's coating or Susanoo, he might not be able to defeat him.

Just then, Hawk Eyes's anxious shout reached Allen's ears. "You can use your ability now, right? Hurry up and take me away!"

Hearing this, Allen turned to look and saw that Hawk Eyes was already covered in quite a few superficial wounds. He nodded slightly and replied, "Hold on a little longer. Let me settle things here first!"

As soon as he spoke, a layer of spatial membrane began to emerge around Allen's body. The membrane flowed slowly and gradually wrapped around his right hand.

"Susanoo Hand!"

Allen shouted, and in an instant, black energy burst from his body and fused with the spatial membrane before gradually taking shape.

In the blink of an eye, Allen's right hand had transformed into an enormous mechanical arm that emanated a terrifying aura.

Seeing this, everyone realized that Allen was getting serious and hurriedly assumed defensive stances.

Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Kizaru immediately gave his underlings a look, signaling for them to retreat at once.

He knew full well that if they delayed even a moment longer, everyone might lose their lives.

Those lackeys were fairly quick-witted, immediately shouting, "Gol D. Allen, just you wait! Next time we meet, we'll make you pay!"

They shouted as they retreated backward in a panic.

Kizaru helplessly facepalmed. These underlings of his seemed a little too stupid. If they were leaving, they should just leave. Why were they shouting so loudly?

They had drawn everyone's attention. Were they trying to tell everyone that those belonging to Kizaru's faction were all cowardly turtle grandsons?

Seeing this, Allen rolled his eyes. These guys ran faster than dogs, yet they still had to put on an act before retreating. It made Allen very unhappy, but he still chose to ignore them. He merely waved his hand casually and said, "Got it, got it. Now get lost!"