"Stussy, can't you show a little dignity?! Stop clinging to Newgate!"
Flame Flower was under Flower Snake's protection.
She was grumbling about Stussy Bakkin.
Whenever danger struck, Stussy sought out Whitebeard at once.
She hid on his shoulder to escape trouble.
"Shut up! We need to look after ourselves now!"
Stussy slipped behind Shane in one smooth movement.
Whitebeard was about to face Kong!
That made the towering Shane, in his hybrid form, the best choice.
The power he had just unleashed also gave Stussy a hunch.
If the seas of the future produced any powerhouses who could rival Whitebeard in his prime,
Shane would certainly be among them!
"Your name's Shane, right? Stay away from her. She's nothing but trouble!"
Flame Flower sent a marine flying with one strike, and Shakky came personally to pick her up.
"I don't like looking after people."
Shane had no intention of letting Stussy latch onto him either.
After the Rocks Pirates disbanded,
Stussy drifted across the seas until she joined forces with Vegapunk and the others.
Later, the moment Whitebeard died, she even showed up with Whitebeard II to cash in on Newgate.
She was practically impossible to shake off.
At the height of her beauty, Stussy looked identical to her later CP0 clone.
Her bearing and strength were both exceptional.
When Shane first saw her,
his only thought was to compare her with Whitebeard.
This!
This was absurd!
Although beautiful women on these seas looked like two opposite extremes in youth and old age,
and Stussy had shrunk drastically in her old age, was this really possible?
Whitebeard stood a full six meters sixty tall!
"Shane! Don't mention that crazy woman!"
"The women from their Amazon Lily are notoriously terrifying."
"Even Shakky has something going on with Rayleigh. She might plead for him later!"
Stussy said she would not latch onto anyone.
Yet before she knew it, she was already standing beside Shane.
She held two flintlock pistols.
Bullets flew.
Marines fell from time to time, and a few beads of sweat occasionally dotted her golden hair.
One was the captain of the Kuja Pirates; the other was a beautiful scientist.
Shane's answer was to keep his distance.
Breaking through the limits of Life Return meant his Zoan stamina would only recover faster.
He fought his way toward survival.
Before he knew it, another group had gathered around him.
Battlefields lay all around.
Haki surged wildly, and bullets were deflected from time to time.
Roger's sword slashed toward Rocks, and Garp seized the opening to throw a punch into the clash!
Unlike the battle above Onigashima,
quite a few participants in this battle had reached their peak in both strength and condition.
That further proved how terrifyingly powerful Rocks was.
Shane met a punch head-on, only to find his opponent was a member of the Roger Pirates!
Boom!
The man's Haki looked powerful, but it hardly amounted to anything before Shane.
After all, Shane had a monster's body!
At a pirate crew's peak, taking Roger, Red-Haired, and Straw Hat under normal circumstances as examples,
there were usually two top fighters.
Below them were several calamity-level Emperor's Second-in-Command fighters, followed by commander-level members.
Even the Roger Pirates, at their peak before Roger was called the Pirate King,
had Roger and Rayleigh as their two top fighters.
Gaban, Oden, and Bullet were Emperor's Second-in-Command.
The strongest of the remaining crew were generally commander-level.
Shane's opponent, Sambel, was a powerful Fish-Man wielding a harpoon.
He primarily used Fish-Man martial arts and a long weapon.
"Fish-Man Karate: Three Thousand Brick Fist: Air Strike!"
Moisture gathered around Sambel's fist, combining with his Haki.
His strike erupted!
Boom! Boom!
Moisture and Haki burst out together.
Purple lightning coiled around Shane's fists as he used Finger Pistol for speed and Tempest Kick for offense.
"Purple Lightning Three Hundred Strikes!"
He punched rapidly, every blow stirring that thread within his body.
It was Armament Haki!
But even after mastering the Six Powers and awakening Life Return,
to draw out Armament Haki further,
he had to further break down his new physique, which surpassed the human body.
Only by exploring every inch to its utmost could he draw out Haki!
"As long as I keep fighting, I can do it!"
Shane traded punches with the Fish-Man Sambel, both thoroughly absorbed in the fight.
Stussy sensed the commotion.
Her face nearly twitched.
She had never expected Shane to be a battle maniac too.
"Isn't there anyone who fights a little more gently? He's as violent as Kaido!"
"Keep dreaming! You just want everyone to do whatever you say!"
Even while fighting, Flame Flower did not forget to mock her old friend.
Before her words had faded,
Kaido crashed into the ground, gouging out a huge crater beside Shane.
He stood up, having already returned to his human body.
"You lost to Bogard?"
Shane blocked Sambel with a punch.
Seeing Kaido appear, Sambel switched to gripping his harpoon, preparing to hold them both off.
"How could I? It's barely been any time!"
Kaido rose to his feet, his face dark.
"Did you know? Devil Fruits can awaken!"
"And Zoans in particular gain a certain trait."
"Incomparably powerful vitality! You might not feel it now."
"But once you awaken, your recovery will become unbelievably fast."
"That bastard Saint Saturn of the Five Elders is an awakened Zoan!"
Upon hearing Kaido's words,
Shane immediately understood what he meant.
Without Rocks suppressing him with the Dark-Dark Fruit, Saint Saturn was still Saint Saturn!
At the site of the battle,
Saturn, one of the Five Elders,
Saint Saturn opened his eyes in astonishment.
Over a hundred pirates surrounded and attacked him as he lay on the ground.
But no matter how they slashed or shot him,
the wounds on his body healed even faster.
"Rocks! Rocks!"
"This feeling of being on the verge of death is unbearable!"
"The Dark-Dark Fruit should never have existed in this world!"
A mass of black light appeared beneath Saint Saturn.
He kept breathing.
The six-pointed star resembled a magic circle.
A cruel light appeared in his eyes.
Everyone he fixed his gaze on, marine or pirate, froze in place.
Bang!
The instant fear arose,
they all exploded into bloody mist!
A magic circle capable of short-range teleportation!
A demonic aura that froze others in place!
A terrifying gaze that killed with a glare!
Recovery powerful enough to heal wounds in an instant!
Saint Saturn's entire body trembled in his Ushi-Oni Form.
It was not fear, but rage!
After following Imu for so long, ever since he had been granted this long life,
this was the first time he had suffered such grievous injuries!
Without that blasphemer Rocks, without the Dark-Dark Fruit that weakened Devil Fruit abilities,
he, a member of the Five Elders, would never have lost!
"Rocks must die! God Valley must be destroyed!"
"No one must ever learn of this!"
"Erase the history of this place!"
Saint Saturn rose and vanished into the six-pointed star.
When he appeared again,
he was already deep within God Valley.
Saint Garling, likewise grievously wounded after suffering Rocks's onslaught, fastened two treasure chests shut.
Holding his saber, he turned to look at the newcomer.
Two of the most powerful and exalted Celestial Dragons!
The highly anticipated victors of this hunting competition, this nation-destroying game,
had instead been grievously wounded by a pirate!
It was an utter disgrace!
If the Celestial Dragons on the Red Line learned that the kings in their eyes had lost to the King of the World,
how would they feel?
"Do the Holy Knights still have the strength to fight?"
Saint Saturn had suffered serious injuries, but he still had strength to spare.
"Of course!"
Saint Garling gritted his teeth, an elite among the Celestial Dragons' elite.
Haki coated his blade, turning it pitch-black!
"Bolo Breath!"
A long column of flame scorched the air.
An azure dragon roared into the valley.
Kaido's gaze was cold and fierce as he swiftly shifted into his hybrid form and swung his club.
"Thunder Bagua!"
The blow went straight for the nearly dead yet undying Saint Garling.
Two losers thought they could seize the chance to steal the kill?
Dream on!
"Purple Lightning Bolo Breath!"
Another blast of scorching flame.
"Who here isn't a Mythical Zoan?"
With black smoke still in his mouth, Shane shifted into his Hybrid Form.
His fangs clamped down, and he swallowed a piece of roast beef.
"A bunch of brats. You really think you can take me on just because I'm wounded?"
Saint Saturn smiled sinisterly.
He thought he would make sure Shane died a horrible death, sliced to pieces!
"Don't say that. Newcomers need opportunities to grow."
Kurozumi Semimaru stepped out from behind Shane.
He crossed two fingers.
Barrier Spawned in Midair!
Before you continue