Inside the cabin.
Snores rose and fell.
Rocks gulped down his liquor, while the monsters behind him remained silent.
They were all monsters, monsters born in response to this era.
If pirates before Roger had been a band of desperate outlaws who posed no threat to the world,
then before Rocks, pirates had merely been bands of marauders, with even their ambitions once burning!
Lunatics gathered together, all possessing monstrous physiques and strength.
A dense mass of ships set out from Hachinosu, heading straight for God Valley.
"The Calm Belt's ahead? Sail through it!"
No wind?
What did that matter? The Rocks Pirates had monsters to spare!
Inside the cabin, the pirates who woke first were assigned tasks.
Shane kept dozing.
The smell of sweat, snores, the reek of alcohol, wasted food everywhere, and shattered liquor bottles.
Light spilled onto his face through a porthole.
Shane had a strange impression. Was this really how life should be?
"Hey, time for everyone to get up! Kaido's here!"
A scruffy pirate named Jeff ran into the cabin, shouting.
Everyone sobered up at once.
What? Kaido!
The strongest newcomer, known as an absolute monster, an Apprentice Crew Member aboard the Rocks Pirates' main ship!
His standing was far beyond theirs!
That meant that once he passed the test, he would be a true crew member.
Most importantly, Kaido was so young. Twenty-one!
"Hey, are you lot still planning to slack off?"
"We'll be at God Valley soon! We're here to avenge our humiliation!"
Kaido's spiked club dragged along the floor, occasionally striking nails and throwing off sparks.
The pressure he exuded left every pirate trembling.
It really was time to wake up.
It was already afternoon, enough time for their stamina to recover fully.
After three enhancements from the Demon Compass, Shane's physique had reached the peak of an ordinary human's.
Yet Kaido even had to bend down to see inside the cabin.
The guy was monstrously tall!
"Is he really not a giant?"
Lock, who held a gun beside him, spoke nervously.
"I don't know, but he's terrifying. They say he belongs to a very powerful race!"
Jeff put on his eyepatch and stood, gripping his sword.
"Everyone up! Be ready to charge at any moment!"
As an Apprentice Crew Member aboard the main ship, Kaido had come specifically to deliver these orders.
Here, his word was law.
The only problem was that the cabin was too low, barely over two meters high.
It was far too cramped for Kaido.
He could not get inside even by bending over and could only stand outside the cabin door.
Despite his overwhelming presence,
one person in the corner remained seated.
The liquor bottle in his hand kept swaying.
"You have a death wish!"
Kaido neither shouted nor explained.
The Rocks Pirates were no place to look for love.
If someone disobeyed, just hit them!
If you could beat Rocks, defeat Golden Lion and Whitebeard, then you were the new captain!
Strength ruled supreme!
Even though he had yet to eat the Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Form,
(PS: Kaido escaped the laboratory at twenty-six and took King with him, suggesting he had All-Star-level strength.)
(He defeated Moria at his peak at thirty-six, suggesting strength on par with an Emperor's second-in-command, and reached the pinnacle of the Four Emperors after fighting Kozuki Oden at thirty-nine.)
(Given Kaido's talent, at twenty-one he should already have been close to the strength of the twenty-eight-year-old Jack the Drought, but without the Azure Dragon Form's extraordinary vitality.)
This strike from Kaido was still enough to kill the hundred-plus pirates inside the cabin!
The one who had not responded was Shane, whose eyes held ambition and arrogance.
They brimmed with defiance, making Kaido feel as though he were looking at himself.
The spiked club struck the cabin door, smashing it to pieces.
Wood chips rained down.
Even Kaido's waist was higher than the ceiling.
"Shave!"
Ever since waking, Shane had been pondering.
Whether it was his enhanced physique, Shave, or Finger Pistol,
they strengthened him in combination with his existing skills.
To go any further, he would also have to develop them.
There were two great prodigies of the Six Powers.
The first was Who's-Who, who, judging by the timeline, had only just been born this year.
The second was Rob Lucci, who would not be born for another ten years or so.
Shane felt that if he used the Six Powers as his Rokushiki foundation and developed them only to Who's-Who's level, he could at most settle for ruling a small corner.
The true pinnacle of the Six Powers was still Rob Lucci.
The Demon Compass's rewards provided bodily modification and enhancement, corresponding skills, and memories.
Fortunately, they did not lock him into that state, allowing Shane to advance further!
The instant Shave ended,
Shane was already in midair, his finger aimed at Kaido.
Bang!
"Finger Pistol!"
With Shave's enhancement and his improved physique, Shane attacked even faster.
Kaido's spiked club had only just fallen before he counterattacked in an instant.
He simply smashed the entire cabin apart.
The ceiling broke open, and quite a few people fell through in their sleep.
"It's getting in the way! This cabin's too low!"
His body was like a solid block of steel, yet his movements were astonishingly fast.
"So strong!"
Shane had expected this.
People in later generations all thought Kaido had become a freak only after eating his fruit.
In fact, Kaido had become the Vodka Kingdom's strongest weapon of war at just ten years old!
He had joined the Rocks Pirates at fifteen and undergone another six years of tempering. It would have been strange if he were not strong.
In terms of physique, only Charlotte Linlin could surpass him.
"Shave!"
Shane's attack took only an instant, from darting in to strike to dodging away.
Kaido was faster and stronger still.
If the cabin had not been so low, Kaido would already have struck Shane with his club.
Whoosh!
A sonic boom rang through the air.
Kaido had not expected to encounter a newcomer with some skill in such an unremarkable cabin.
He was not angry. Instead, he was extraordinarily excited.
Ever since childhood, no one his age had been stronger than him!
Even when it came to Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Rocks,
Kaido had always believed he would be stronger when he reached their age!
Someone like Shane, who could trade a couple of moves with him, was already outstanding.
"You're the guy the captain noticed at Rocky Port yesterday? Tell me your name!"
Kaido saw Shane's face and recalled yesterday's scene.
He really was an ambitious fellow!
"Shane!"
Before Shane had finished speaking, the Demon Compass began spinning faster.
"Kaido!"
Kaido's eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
Seeing that Shane still had stamina left, he turned around with his spiked club.
It was too cramped here!
He could not even turn around properly. Farther inside was the Paradise cabin, specifically intended for fighting!
[Ding] [Fate Singularity activated. New choices triggered.] [Choice 1: Keep a low profile. After all, the Rocks Pirates will soon be finished-reward: Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Commoner Form.] [Choice 2: Jump into the sea and escape. Run away and lie low to avoid getting a bounty-reward: Fish-Man Race traits.] [Choice 3: Accept the challenge-reward: Sulong + Electrostatic Mastery.]
"Run, my ass! I choose 3!"
Shane still wanted to seize Devil Fruits. With so many good things at God Valley, why would he run?
Even if the sky fell, Rocks would hold it up anyway!
Sulong and Electrostatic Mastery.
They represented the Mink Tribe's two strongest methods of combat.
The first was the berserk Sulong form under a full moon.
The second was generating the body's own bioelectricity for combat.
Fish-men used water, and minks used electricity. It was a perfect fit.
"This is no place to fight, Shane!"
Kaido hoisted his spiked club onto his shoulder and kicked the cabin door to pieces.
"Then let's find somewhere suitable, Kaido!"
How could Shane refuse?
Who could refuse a challenge against a Kaido who was so mature despite his youth?
"Hahahaha! I'll pound you into a meat patty!"
Kaido let out a laugh that sounded like a fish-related onomatopoeia.
Shane had thought it was because Kaido had eaten the Fish-Fish Fruit. He had not expected him to be born that way.
Presumably, this was what they meant by a Devil Fruit's will seeking the most suitable host.
[Choice completed.]
The cabin was damaged.
Shane walked out of it, and it was so quiet that he could hear others swallowing.
With every step, his physique changed.
To possess Sulong, his body first had to undergo modification.
The Demon Compass was particularly good at that.
Electrostatic Mastery, meanwhile, was a combat Rokushiki technique of the Mink Tribe.
The combination meant that Shane's physique and Rokushiki improved further.
After so many enhancements,
his shoes had become too small to wear, so he simply threw them away.
As Kaido and Shane strode toward the Paradise cabin,
the pirates hiding behind doors finally poked their heads out to look.
Once the two were far away, cheers rang through the corridor.
"A newcomer is challenging that monster Kaido!"
"Is he crazy? Kaido could take all of us down if he went all out!"
"I really want to see him lose after overestimating himself!"
Soon.
The news spread through every cabin.
The Paradise cabin.
It stood twenty-one meters high.
The stench of blood and sweat filled the place.
It was a space aboard the Rocks Pirates' great ship set aside specifically for fighting.
The so-called Paradise was, of course, a sacred ground for battle!
When Kaido and Shane stepped inside.
They immediately drew every gaze.
Before you continue