Across the boundless West Blue, a vicious-looking speedboat cut through the waves. The ferocious sea beast carved into its prow proclaimed its identity-the Happo Navy of the Flower Country.
Chinjao, the former leader, sat cross-legged at the bow with his arms folded, his burly, five-meter frame resembling an iron Buddha. The sea breeze whipped his graying beard into the air. His eyes, which had weathered countless storms, remained fixed on the approaching harbor, and his mouth spread into a somewhat savage grin.
"Hahaha!" His booming laughter echoed over the sea. "Watch closely, boys! Your 'brother-in-law' has come to the harbor to welcome us himself!"
On the harbor pier, a tall, slender figure slowly descended. Aaron Ball's black casual clothes fluttered gently in the sea breeze, and his signature short, silver-white hair gleamed like metal in the sunlight. With his hands behind his back, he stood calmly at the end of the pier, feet apart, as though awaiting a guest he had not seen in years.
"Can't keep the boy waiting!" Chinjao laughed, instantly flooding his legs with jet-black Armament Haki before launching himself with explosive force. With a crack, he forced the speedboat's bow straight into the sea, using the recoil to shoot toward the pier like a cannonball!
His hulking frame blocked out the sunlight completely, casting an enormous shadow. Chinjao hurtled toward Boer with the most savage, direct Meteor Impact!
"Dehihihi! Brat, become my grandson!" Empowered by both gravity and Haki, his five-meter body bore down with devastating force, about to punch through Boer and the entire pier together.
Boom!
Rubble flew, and dust billowed into the sky. The wooden pier shattered like paper beneath the blow. Great chunks of planking and stone flew into the air before crashing into the sea, throwing up waves several meters high. The entire pier area began slowly sinking around Chinjao's landing point.
"Oh my, oh my," Boer's voice came from midair, carrying a hint of mockery. "Instead of staying home and playing with your grandchildren, old man, why are you going around snatching people like a slave trader?" At some point, he had appeared above an open stretch of street in the distance, his black clothes completely intact.
This old fellow must be the legendary Chinjao... Boer felt a chill. In his magnetic perception, the old man's life magnetic field resembled an enormous, blazing furnace, several sizes larger than Raymont's. The amount of Haki within it was unfathomable.
"You really are terrifying, old man. Normally, I wouldn't mind having some fun with you, but right now..."
Boer's gaze sharpened, and he shouted in a low voice, "Stage two!"
His black clothes tore apart at his words, scattering into countless scraps. But this time, what covered his body was not heavy metal armor, but liquid metal that seemed alive.
As fine as nanoparticles, it swiftly climbed over his short silver-white hair and covered his entire body, finally forming a skintight black combat suit. Even his original hairstyle remained perfectly preserved, though its color had become a deeper, inky black.
"Cheap tricks!" Chinjao rose from the ruins without a scratch, the anger in his eyes only growing. "Take my Drill Nail!" He stamped down again, instantly splitting the solid ground into an enormous circular web of cracks.
His entire body shot straight toward Boer like a boulder hurled from a catapult. His now somewhat wrinkled scalp, once feared across the seas, instantly turned jet-black with Armament Haki as he rammed forward with unstoppable momentum!
Yet at that very instant, Boer vanished again. This time, his speed reached such an extreme that only a fleeting blue afterimage remained on Chinjao's retinas. By the time Chinjao missed again and smashed an innocent tavern to pieces, distorted rainbow light alternating between red and blue had already begun flickering in the sky.
Boer's black combat suit had completely transformed into a deep blue that flashed with electricity. His hair had turned azure, and even his face and pupils were covered in the same blue.
Several superconducting magnetic rings clung tightly around his chest, back, and limbs, radiating dazzling light as though gathering destructive energy.
By then, Caiyi and Boo had also reached the shore. Boo shouted, "Old man, I'll give you a hand!" Holding a large blade, Caiyi tried to persuade Boer to surrender. "Boer, come with us! You can even become the Happo Navy's next leader!" Both leaped from the ship toward the shore.
Boer gave them a cold glance and loosely curled his right hand. Electrical elements turned through the invisible magnetic field, forcibly drawn out of empty space and gathering in his hand into a roaring golden lightning dragon.
"Sunshine Gun!"
He aimed and threw in one fluid motion. The golden lightning spear struck Caiyi in an instant. Violent electrical energy pierced his body, knocking him unconscious before he could even scream. His eyes rolled back, and he fell stiffly. Excess arcs even burst through his body, scorching black marks into the ground.
"Brother!" Boo's face changed in alarm. Before his cry had finished, Boer had already pointed one hand at the sky.
"Lightning Strike!"
A thick bolt of lightning fell from the sky at his command, striking Boo precisely. Another major fighter of the Happo Navy collapsed, convulsing in the lightning, unable to fight.
That was the scene Chinjao saw when he walked out of the shattered tavern's ruins. His pupils contracted sharply, and fury burned in his eyes.
"Relax. I'm just letting them sleep for a while." Boer shook his arm, his tone calm. "Let's pick up the pace, old man. I have other guests to receive."
"You damned brat! You really piss me off!" Chinjao roared in fury. Jet-black Armament Haki covered his entire body like a tide, making his already burly frame look even more terrifying. "I'll smash you to pieces!"
Boer's speed, however, was clearly superior.
"Godspeed."
Boer's figure almost stretched into a blue line. The instant Chinjao swung his fist, Boer's own fists, blazing with dazzling electricity, had already struck his chest, left ribs, and back in rapid succession.
Then his left leg rose high and slammed down on Chinjao's crown, carrying the terrifying force of magnetic acceleration. At two meters tall, Boer darted nimbly around the five-meter Chinjao like a swimming dragon.
Magnetic acceleration, electrical impacts, and the formidable force of his own punches poured furiously into Chinjao's body. Blue lightning struck dazzling red sparks from Chinjao's Armament Haki-covered frame.
"Too fast, too fast!" Chinjao was both shocked and furious. He discovered that not only could he not keep up with Boer's speed, but the Armament Haki covering his body was also being consumed at an alarming rate. "Can you only fly around like a fly? Do you dare face me head-on?"
"Hmph. Who's afraid of you?" Boer hovered five meters from Chinjao and rolled his neck. "Come on, old man. If you lose, go home and look after the kids! You can help me warm up while you're at it!"
"Stop looking down on me!" Chinjao poured all his Haki into the crown of his head, his pride and joy. Though Garp had flattened the point that once struck fear across the seas with a single punch, its remaining power still could not be underestimated. "Happo Navy secret art-Drill Dragon Drill Nail!"
Chinjao's body began spinning rapidly. Powerful currents of air formed a vortex around him, sweeping up rubble and wood splinters from the ground. This was a strike into which he poured everything, vowing to utterly crush this brat who did not know his limits.
The superconducting magnetic ring on Boer's right hand frantically drew in electrical energy. Blinding lightning enveloped his entire right hand, crackling with explosive reports.
"Thunder Fist!"
His body accelerated through the magnetic field as well, becoming a streak of blue lightning that shot straight toward the spinning Chinjao!
Boom!!!
The two terrifying forces collided violently in midair, erupting with a deafening roar.
A shock wave spread outward from the point of impact, shattering every window in the nearby buildings and whipping the sea into waves several meters high.
The blue lightning around Boer's right hand flickered between bright and dim in the collision, while the powerful current pierced straight through Chinjao's Armament Haki defense. It coursed down from his head, through his internal organs, all the way to the soles of his feet.
Chinjao's rotation was forcibly halted. His body stiffened in midair for an instant before he crashed heavily to the ground in an utterly undignified position, his eyes rolled back and his legs twitching involuntarily.
Boer slowly landed, breathing slightly hard. The high-intensity battle had taken a considerable toll on him as well.
Just then, the "little suns" in his magnetic perception finally reached the harbor. One aura was languid yet unfathomable, another as sharp as a drawn famous sword, and another filled with violence and ferocity. The last belonged to his familiar old friend, Raymont.
Four figures slowly entered the ruined battlefield from different directions.
Marine Vice Admiral Borsalino, code name "Kizaru," wore sunglasses and a yellow pinstriped suit.
Marine Rear Admiral Gion, code name "Momousagi," was tall and slender, with the famous sword Kompira at her waist.
Marine Vice Admiral Onigumo wore an icy expression, his hair splaying outward like spider legs.
And the last was Raymont, Rear Admiral of the Marine 101st Branch, who had reached a secret agreement with Boer not long ago.
Kizaru surveyed the devastated battlefield, his gaze lingering briefly on the unconscious Chinjao, then spoke in his distinctive, unhurried drawl:
"How frightening~ To think the former leader of the Happo Navy would be beaten like this... It seems we arrived just in time~"
Boer drew a deep breath. The lightning around him gradually subsided, but the superconducting magnetic rings still glowed faintly. He knew the real test was only just beginning.
Before you continue