In the distance, Page One's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in shock.
"What an awesome transformation!"
"Wait, is that Good?"
"Good's a Devil Fruit user?"
He had known Good for so many years, yet he had never realized Good was a Devil Fruit user too. He felt as though his best buddy had betrayed him.
Wait, could it be SMILE?
Remembering how many Artificial Devil Fruits Good had eaten, Page One figured they might have awakened his power. He couldn't help screaming inwardly, Holy shit!
How can anyone be that lucky?!
"So what if you've awakened a power? I'm an Ancient Zoan, the strongest kind of Zoan! There's no way I'd lose to a fake!"
"Roar!"
The Spinosaurus threw back his head and roared. His thick legs drove him forward as he charged at Good like a rampaging tank.
"Here he comes."
Good shifted his gaze toward the Spinosaurus charging from a hundred meters away. Rather than avoiding the brunt of the attack, he laughed and went straight to meet him!
His walk became a sprint!
The man and the dinosaur rapidly closed in on each other!
When the distance shrank to less than ten meters, Good suddenly leaped. His explosive strength sent him straight into the air, and he raised both arms high before smashing them down like a warhammer!
So fast!
Page One's gaze flicked upward. Before he could react, his head abruptly sank, and his chin slammed into the ground!
Boom!!!
The ground shattered for dozens of meters around the Spinosaurus, sending countless chunks of rock flying into the sky.
An enormous cloud of dust billowed upward!
"Such tremendous power! Who was that?!"
Inside Skull Castle, the resting officers' expressions changed as they turned toward the disturbance. They didn't know what had happened, but they could feel the shock waves from that last blow.
Powerful!
Whoosh!
The sound of beating wings rang out as a flaming pterosaur flew toward the battlefield!
Behind the mountain, in the center of an enormous crater.
Page One had returned to human form. His trembling arms braced against the ground, but several attempts to get up ended in failure.
Drip! Drip!
Blood kept dripping onto the ground.
"Don't push yourself."
A familiar voice reached his ears.
Bastard!
Page One clawed at the ground, refusing to accept defeat.
An Ancient Zoan's greatest strength was its unimaginable toughness. No matter how badly he was injured, he could get back up.
Yet he had been defeated in a single blow!
Something similar had happened just over a month ago, making this defeat hard for the proud young man to swallow.
"Look."
Good crouched and poked Page One, who still seemed intent on struggling. Amused, he said, "You're only fourteen. You're already incredibly strong!"
"I'm fifteen!"
Page One gritted his teeth as he corrected him.
In most parts of the world, fifteen counted as an adult, so he didn't need Good's pity.
"..."
Good didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
What difference does one year make?
After catching his breath for a while, Page One finally recovered a little. His injuries weren't that severe. The blow to his head had simply left him temporarily unable to control his body.
"Next time, I'll definitely win!"
"Not happening."
Good grinned.
Go easy on him? As if!
The Beasts Pirates weren't one big, loving family. Pirates killing each other to climb the ranks was commonplace.
To earn respect, he had to show off a little. Keeping his head down and yielding would only make others look down on him-and make him an easier target for bullies.
Besides, he would only keep getting stronger!
Groudon was a true divine beast. In its Primal form, it could even create continents with its bare hands, making it stronger than even the finest Mythical Zoans. Its only drawback was the enormous amount of natural energy it needed.
What's a mere Ancient Zoan compared to that?
"It's still not enough!"
Good thought back to his transformation.
It had looked impressive, as though he were wearing crimson armor, but most of his body had still been human. It was equivalent to a Devil Fruit's hybrid form.
He preferred being armed to the teeth!
Unfortunately, Groudon was still too little. Its power wasn't enough to let him transform completely. It would probably have to evolve again before he could achieve a true Groudon form.
The problem was the little fellow's appetite.
"Where am I supposed to find Devil Fruits?"
Good had quite a headache over that.
He had learned from the little fellow that the quickest way to help it evolve was to absorb natural energy.
Ideally, a meteorite would tear open the earth and unleash an eruption of natural energy. That would let it quickly evolve into its strongest Primal form, where even creating continents with its bare hands would be no problem.
But a disaster on that scale would destroy the world along with it.
Ordinary food contained natural energy too, but the amount was tiny. Evolving through meals alone would take years at the very least.
In this world, if anything contained vast amounts of Nature Power, it could only be the miraculous Devil Fruits.
The SMILE fruits he had eaten before contained concentrated Nature Power, but they were imitations, after all. Their quality was too poor to help Groudon beyond its infancy.
As a true divine beast, its energy requirements for evolution were incomparable to an ordinary Pokémon's. Still, each evolution would increase its strength tenfold or even a hundredfold. There were advantages and disadvantages.
"I'll take it slow."
Good stretched and stopped dwelling on all that.
In just three or four months, he had gone from a nobody to someone who could hold his own against the Flying Six. Complaining now would be pushing his luck.
"Someone's coming. Let's go."
Figures kept appearing in the direction of Skull Castle.
Good took a few steps, then looked back at Ulti, who was standing frozen in place. He raised an eyebrow. "Ulti, we should head back."
"Ah, right!"
Ulti finally snapped out of it and hurried over to jog beside Good, staring at him in utter shock.
Is this guy really Good?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
My little underling Good can't possibly be this strong!
Her thoughts were written all over her face.
For quite a while as they walked, Ulti kept switching from Good's left side to his right, sneaking looks at him. Her curiosity was like a cat scratching away inside her.
She had even forgotten her injured brother.
At last, the girl couldn't hold back. Pretending not to care, she asked, "Good, you seem a whole lot stronger, huh?"
"I've been training lately. I really have gotten a lot stronger."
Good admitted it calmly.
Ulti's heart lurched.
She didn't know what had happened, but her little underling had suddenly grown much stronger. If he surpassed her someday, how would she bully him anymore?
No, I have to train harder too!
The girl said the opposite of what she was thinking.
"Oh, then keep working hard!"
"Thanks. I'll work twice as hard."
Good nodded with a smile.
Heh, now you know how strong I am.
"Hmm?"
Good glanced aside and noticed Page One secretly poking him.
The two exchanged knowing looks.
Brother-in-law, you've earned my approval!
Brother-in-law?
That's right, brother-in-law!
*...*
Good stole a glance at Ulti and took a deep breath, then shot Page One a fierce glare.
I treat you like my own little brother, and this is how you repay me?
*...*
Page One guiltily averted his gaze. But when he imagined a wonderful future without his sister tormenting him, he immediately stared back with determination.
Quit pretending! Everyone knows you've liked my sister for years. From now on, you're my brother-in-law!
*...*
A certain "president of the Ulti fan club" fell silent.
Ulti leaned over, question marks practically floating above her head as she watched Good and her brother making faces at each other.
"What are you two doing?"
"None of your business!"
The two answered in unison.
The men are talking. Women, step aside!
Chapter 27: Establishing authority!
With the expedition approaching, the Beasts Pirates' forces scattered abroad gathered on Onigashima. Warships filled the port, and the island was as lively as it was during the annual Fire Festival.
A crowd packed the center of the Castle plaza.
On a makeshift fighting platform, two pirates battled fiercely.
"Gahahaha! Kill him!"
Before you continue