Hachinosu

On Hachinosu, several division commanders looked displeased when they heard Shiki's words.

"Gurararara! Shiki's getting a little too full of himself!"

"Mamamama! You're really getting on my nerves, Shiki!"

Two voices, one male and one female, rang out after Golden Lion finished speaking, accompanied by two powerful bursts of Conqueror's Haki.

Three waves of Conqueror's Haki erupted above Hachinosu and clashed, covering the entire sky in three different colors.

Fortunately, this was Rocks's home base. Everyone here was fairly strong, and being subjected to Conqueror's Haki every so often had given them some resistance to it. No great swath of people collapsed.

"Huhahahaha! You lot really don't know when to quit!"

As a voice thick with alcohol rang out, a slightly weaker wave of Conqueror's Haki joined the fray.

Two more waves of Conqueror's Haki joined the clash immediately afterward.

Three stronger waves and three weaker ones-the six waves of Conqueror's Haki erupted wildly over Hachinosu, making the entire island and the surrounding sky tremble.

Lind, aboard Golden Lion's ship, was inevitably affected as well.

With his knowledge of the original story, Lind immediately identified the owners of those waves of Conqueror's Haki. Aside from Golden Lion, the other five had to belong to the remaining division commanders of the Rocks Pirates.

As far as Lind knew, the current division commanders of the Rocks Pirates were:

First Division Commander, Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, wielder of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, with a bounty of 1.26 billion Beli.

Second Division Commander, Golden Lion Shiki, wielder of the Float-Float Fruit, with a bounty of 1.19 billion Beli.

Third Division Commander, Charlotte Linlin, wielder of the Soul-Soul Fruit, with a bounty of 990 million Beli.

Fourth Division Commander, John, with a bounty of 760 million Beli.

Fifth Division Commander, Ochoku, with a bounty of 730 million Beli.

Sixth Division Commander, Silver Axe, with a bounty of 720 million Beli.

Watching the waves of Conqueror's Haki in the sky, Lind felt dissatisfied. After all, this was standard equipment for the strong—the ultimate tool for showing off.

Especially when several more waves of Conqueror's Haki erupted right afterward, varying in strength. These probably belonged to nameless extras who had never appeared in the original story, pirates Rocks had forcibly brought into his crew. Of course, one of them might have belonged to Kaido.

The thought that he couldn't even measure up to extras who hadn't so much as been named in the original story made Lind even more unwilling to accept it.

He took out a fruit on the spot. During his idle time aboard the ship, Lind had sacrificed Golden Lion's legs ahead of time to create this mutated fruit.

Its effect was simple: it strengthened and guided his will and emotions, helping him awaken Conqueror's Haki.

There was no helping it. For someone like Lind, who liked both lying low and cutting loose, who played it safe but loved showing off, awakening Conqueror's Haki on his own required everything to fall perfectly into place.

And now was an excellent opportunity. With so many waves of Conqueror's Haki clashing over Hachinosu, he could get a proper feel for it, while this rare spectacle had stirred his emotions to their peak.

All he needed now was a trigger.

"It's here!"

Sensing a wave of Conqueror's Haki even stronger than those of Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and the others, Lind swallowed the fruit without hesitation.

As he swallowed it, Lind felt his reason plummet, and his frustration erupted.

Above all, spurred by Rocks's will to dominate everything, Lind's longing to truly control his own destiny and live unfettered caused his own Conqueror's Haki to fully awaken.

A wave of Conqueror's Haki carrying a will for freedom and an unfettered life erupted, joining the others in the sky.

Perhaps because of the immense mental strength his telekinesis had given him, Lind's Conqueror's Haki reached a considerable level of power on its very first eruption.

Although Lind was still far from proficient in using or controlling Conqueror's Haki, its strength was already only a little below that of John, Silver Axe, and Ochoku.

And that was enough. Lind was very satisfied with the results. Sacrificing Golden Lion's legs decades ahead of time had not been in vain.

With Rocks and Lind joining in, this clash of Conqueror's Haki approached its end!

"Huhahahaha! You bastards! All of you, knock it off!"

At Rocks's thunderous shout, the deep crimson Haki he released instantly grew even stronger, suppressing everyone else's Haki outright!

Under that pressure, John, Ochoku, and Silver Axe briefly tangled with Rocks's Haki before withdrawing their own Conqueror's Haki.

Newgate, Shiki, and Linlin had wanted to push a little further, but seeing everyone else stop, they did not continue either.

"Huhahahaha! Shiki, you certainly put on quite a show today!"

After withdrawing his Conqueror's Haki, Rocks's first target was Shiki, today's shameless show-off. He gave him a cool, measured warning.

"Jihahahaha! To quote my brother Lind, when you're sailing the seas, aside from reputation and strength, what matters most is making an impression. A great pirate has to make an entrance worthy of his name!"

"Well? Wasn't that one hell of an entrance?"

"When the time comes, we can each do our own bit and take my Flying Fleet to Marineford together! We'll knock the Marines down a peg and show the whole world who the true stars of these seas are!"

Shiki ignored Rocks's warning outright and loudly began selling him on his grand vision.

Clearly, Shiki's words were exactly what these pirates wanted to hear. Not only Rocks, but Newgate, Linlin, and the others beside him were sorely tempted as well.

Whitebeard was even thinking about how he could show off in front of Sengoku.

A brilliant strategist? If I pull something like Shiki's stunt, Sengoku will look like nothing but an uncultured brute.

Hearing Shiki's words, Rocks quickly picked up on the key detail: the name Lind.

He recalled the flashy lines he had heard during his earlier call with Shiki. What Shiki had just said sounded far too similar in style.

"Huhahahaha! Shiki, Lind is that swordsman outside your ship who said, 'One dance astounds the four seas; another shakes the sun and moon,' isn't he?" Rocks raised an eyebrow, a hint of pleasure in his voice.

"That unfamiliar wave of Conqueror's Haki from your ship just now must have been his too. To think you really did recruit someone strong."

"Gurararara! 'One dance astounds the four seas; another shakes the sun and moon'—he sounds like a powerful swordsman just from that! Shiki, hurry up and take us to meet this brother Lind!"

A rough voice rang out, carrying a hint of excitement.

After hearing Rocks's words, Whitebeard stopped thinking about how to show off in front of Sengoku.

The Lind they spoke of had caught his interest. Such bold words were right up his alley, especially since the success of his own plan would depend on this brother Lind.

"Mamamama! That's right! He certainly sounds like a strong, handsome young man!"

Charlotte Linlin and the others beside him nodded in agreement, eager to meet Lind.

After all, Conqueror's Haki did not lie. Combined with those bold words, it had already painted the image of a powerful swordsman in their minds.

"That's right. He must be an incredibly strong swordsman. My sword is already itching for a fight!" John, a swordsman himself, openly expressed his desire to spar with his new crewmate.

Lind, up in the sky, heard their conversation too. After all, pirates did all their talking at a shout. As the conversation shifted, his emotions rose and fell along with it.

Their praise put Lind under just a teensy mountain of pressure. After all, he knew his own limits. Right now, he was only a telekinetic who played around with flying swords, not some mighty swordsman.