About three days later.
In the North Blue, in a town on a remote island.
This was an island that only a few merchant ships occasionally passed.
There was only one town on the island,
named Apple Town.
That was because its only specialty was the apples it grew in abundance.
But precisely because it had only that one specialty, it did not attract many visitors.
Still, this did not trouble the people of Apple Town.
They worked hard every day and lived honest lives. Nothing disturbed them, and an atmosphere of peace and tranquility prevailed.
In the hills behind Apple Town.
In a hillside forest that should have been deserted, someone had built a small wooden cabin near the coast.
At that moment, in a clearing not far in front of the cabin, near the coast,
a figure stood tall,
facing the sea, his mind focused.
Godzilla's defenses can easily withstand bullets.
But if I want to compete with the powers at the pinnacle of the seas, defenses that can merely stop bullets are nowhere near enough...
Arthur thought to himself.
He was carefully sensing Godzilla's power within him.
A storm of ideas swept through his mind.
"That's why I need to add Armament Haki..."
Arthur murmured,
the craggy black scales of Godzilla already naturally emerging across his body, each one like volcanic rock formed after an eruption.
They were rough and exuded a primeval aura.
Arthur had not fully entered his hybrid form at this point.
He had only manifested Godzilla's scales.
Then he carefully explored the sensation these Godzilla Scales gave him.
At the same time, he thought of the Zoan Devil Fruit Users in the original Pirate King story, whose vitality was downright monstrous.
Since their Zoan Devil Fruits could achieve such effects,
then,
with Godzilla's power, he could naturally become stronger than those Zoan Devil Fruit Users in the original story, even the Mythical Zoan users.
At that thought,
Arthur unleashed his Armament Haki.
But he did not simply use Armament Haki in the usual way.
Instead, following the scales covering his body,
he used Armament Haki to trace their shapes little by little, effectively forming another identical layer of Godzilla Scales out of Armament Haki.
Of course, this was no easy task.
Arthur failed on his first attempt.
He failed on his second attempt, too.
But after more than a full hour of practice,
he finally succeeded in covering the scales on both arms with Armament Haki.
He formed two layers of Godzilla Scales over his arms.
Arthur knew very well that Godzilla's scales possessed extraordinary defensive power, so he used Armament Haki to form another similar layer of scales.
Their defensive power
far exceeded what he could achieve by simply coating the scales with Armament Haki.
Because at that moment,
Arthur looked at his arms.
They seemed to gleam with an obsidian sheen.
Arthur knocked them together a couple of times.
Sparks flew directly from the collision.
It was like two pieces of thoroughly tempered steel striking each other.
Neither could damage the other!
At the sight, a smile immediately appeared on Arthur's face.
For now, his defenses were sufficient.
But as for offensive power...
Arthur immediately began another round of brainstorming.
Soon, he thought of Godzilla's strongest and most iconic attack-the Radiation Heat Ray, also known as Atomic Breath!
Of course, Arthur could sense the surging, seemingly limitless power within him.
He knew this power was probably Godzilla's core, as well as the source of the Radiation Heat Ray's power.
But he also knew this.
At his current level, he could probably only unleash the Radiation Heat Ray's full power by completely transforming into Godzilla.
In hybrid form,
or in a partial hybrid form,
he probably would not be able to withstand the Radiation Heat Ray's power himself.
"So, could I reduce the Radiation Heat Ray's power and manifest the power inside me in another form...?"
Arthur pondered.
A little while later, as he lowered his head in thought,
he saw the two layers of scales covering his hands.
"Could I grab the Radiation Heat Ray with my own hands?!" Arthur suddenly felt as though a light had gone on, a sense of excitement stirring within him!
The two layers of scales on his hands strengthened his defenses.
At the same time, they also increased what he could withstand.
If that was the case,
perhaps he could withstand a weakened Radiation Heat Ray.
And hold the "Radiation Heat Ray" in his hands as a weapon...
The moment Arthur thought of this possibility,
he could not help shouting inwardly, Holy shit, have I developed a lightsaber?
He recalled the lightsabers wielded by the Jedi in Star Wars.
Those lightsabers formed from extremely high-energy power felt similar, in the power they contained and were formed from, to the power generated by the Infinite Furnace within him.
Arthur acted on the idea at once.
He fully entered his half-Godzilla form.
Besides the scales covering his body, his hands turned into sharp claws, Godzilla's energy-storing dorsal plates grew from his back, and even his face changed.
Of course, he controlled the transformation so that Godzilla's tail did not grow.
Although, in his full Godzilla form,
Godzilla's tail could also serve as a weapon.
In hybrid form, however, the tail would somewhat hinder his flexibility and agility.
Next, Arthur tried unleashing the Radiation Heat Ray for the first time.
The next moment!
Arthur immediately felt the limitless power within him churning.
It seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
The dorsal plates on Arthur's back suddenly lit up with a deep blue glow.
Starting from the lowest plate, the glow slowly spread all the way to the topmost one.
At that moment, even Arthur's eyes shone with a deep blue light!
They radiated a soul-shaking pressure!
Fortunately, Arthur had not forgotten what he was doing.
With the Radiation Heat Ray on the verge of roaring forth,
he forcibly suppressed the surging power within him, redirecting the Radiation Heat Ray that should have roared from his mouth and gathering it in his hands.
He held his hands in a loose grip,
and the next moment, a deep blue flame appeared out of thin air between them.
At the sight, Arthur rejoiced inwardly!
Then he continued controlling the Radiation Heat Ray's power.
His hands moved farther and farther apart,
and the tiny flame between them expanded with the growing distance, gradually forming a long, slender beam of light!
The deep blue power
seemed to have become solid.
Arthur immediately grabbed the slender beam of light!
"From now on, I'll call you the Atomic Light Sword!"
Gazing at the lightsaber in his hand, he gave it its name, a name that would accompany him in his future battles, resounding through the skies and shaking the seas!
Just then,
a voice suddenly rang out beside the cabin.
Arthur turned to look.
The voice belonged to Alfred, who wore a dumbfounded expression.
Before you continue