[Thirty Minutes Later, Kuri]
The sky above Kuri was clear as a polished jade, not a cloud to be seen, and the warm sunlight gently bathed the vast land.
However, amidst this extreme tranquility and clarity, Rosse's figure appeared without any warning in the high sky over Kuri.
With his appearance, the originally azure firmament seemed to be stirred in an instant by some kind of invisible force. The weather suddenly changed, and the entire sky became Rosse's backdrop.
As long as anyone raised their head, their gaze would focus upon Rosse. His aura alone was dazzling enough to make the entire sky lose its color.
Rosse merely stood in the air, wearing a neat white suit, both hands in his pockets, with the corner of his lips drawing a faint, elusive smile as he gazed down on everything below.
Below, in Kuri City, the originally peaceful crowd was instantly ignited by this unbelievable sight.
"Look quickly! Is that a man or a ghost up in the sky?"
"A man? Impossible! He's actually standing that high up!"
"My god… what kind of monster is that?"
"Quick, go inform Lord Kin'emon!!"
Frightened screams, chaotic murmurings, and the sound of hurried footsteps merged into a huge disturbance, like ripples spreading rapidly after a stone was thrown into a pond, tightening everyone's heartstrings.
———
At the same time, inside the Kozuki residence—
Kin'emon and the other retainers had long been drawn by the aberration in the sky. Their eyes locked onto that white figure, their expressions tense and solemn.
"This way of showing up… isn't it way too arrogant!", Raizo frowned, clearly displeased.
That attitude of looking down on everything made him really want to punch the guy down from the sky, though he didn't actually have a method to attack something in the sky.
While everyone was still shocked by Rosse's sudden arrival and his suffocating composure—
BOOOOM!!!
A blast like the heavens being torn apart suddenly exploded in the sky several thousand meters up.
That was not thunder, but the extreme release of some kind of invisible force brought to its very limit.
In an instant, an endless, overwhelming Conqueror's Haki poured out of Rosse's body like a mountain flood.
Centered on him, it swept out in all directions.
"T-this is too insane…"
Retainer Kikunojo clenched her teeth, veins bulging, her legs trembling uncontrollably. She used every ounce of strength just to barely support her body, preventing herself from being forced to her knees under this overwhelming pressure.
Her horrified eyes were fixed upon that figure in the sky that had become the very center of heaven and earth.
Inside the Kozuki residence, everyone else wasn't much better than him.
Those with slightly weaker strength were already pale and kneeling on the ground. As for the ordinary maidservants and retainers, they couldn't bear it at all, they were crushed directly to the floor as if under a giant boulder, limbs limp, faces written with utter terror and despair.
"So strong… It's not just our residence. The entire Oden Castle, no, the entire Kuri, is under this guy's Haki!"
Ashura Doji's voice was hoarse and trembling. In those normally firm and unyielding eyes, there now surged a deep, unmistakable fear.
He could clearly feel that this Haki was crushing the will of every living being in Kuri in a domineering and tyrannical manner, with no distinction.
They had seen Conqueror's Haki before.
But Conqueror's Haki at this level, they had never even heard of it.
His Observation Haki could feel clearly that Rosse's Conqueror's Haki didn't just cover the Kozuki residence. The entire Oden Castle, and even all of Kuri, were within his range.
And Rosse's Conqueror's Haki was controlled with terrifying precision.
Normal Conqueror's Haki would make the strong tremble and cause the weak to faint.
But Rosse's Conqueror's Haki treated all beings equally.
He allowed no one to faint, but from the top retainers down to ordinary people of Kuri, every single one of them had to bow and prostrate themselves to welcome his arrival.
"No wonder Lord Oden wants to avoid battle… what a tyrannical way of appearing," Kin'emon gritted his teeth, veins bulging. He desperately tried to straighten his back, yet under this invisible pressure that felt able to crush bones, all struggle seemed so powerless.
His knees trembled, sweat slid down from his temples, but he still barely managed to maintain a bent posture rather than kneeling. This was the last bit of dignity he held as a retainer.
However, in stark contrast to these retainers who were almost unable to stand, was Kozuki Toki, standing beneath the eaves beside them.
Kozuki Toki knew well the state the retainers were in outside. That kind of ultimate painful struggle, she had seen it many times on the sea.
What made her entire body turn cold and choke with fear was, she couldn't feel Rosse's Conqueror's Haki at all.
Was she strong enough? No, it was impossible.
Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki could instantly make her faint.
And Oden had admitted himself that Rosse's Conqueror's Haki surpassed even Whitebeard's.
Yet this Haki covered all of Kuri, she alone was unaffected. How was that possible?
Kozuki Toki lightly bit her red lips, lifting her head with a complicated expression, looking up through a gap beneath the eaves at that figure in the sky like a god.
She didn't want to be given special treatment, because special treatment meant she was only a step away from the abyss.
BOOM!!!
Standing in the air, Rosse finally took his first step since his appearance.
Clearly, he merely tread on the void lightly and unhurriedly, yet that step sounded like a great bell exploding beside their ears, like a giant god beating a drum, heavy and clear as it exploded in the heart of every single person in Kuri.
That sound was not air trembling, it was as if it struck straight into their very souls, chilling them to the bone.
With just one step, everyone could clearly feel the overwhelming pressure of that endless Conqueror's Haki rising even higher, weighing down again like a mountain.
The backs of Kin'emon and the other retainers had already been bent to the limit. At this moment they felt as though struck by a giant hammer, involuntarily bending even lower, their bodies shaking, almost unable to hold themselves up.
BOOM! BOOM!
Rosse stepped forward one step at a time, leisurely strolling in the sky, elegant and calm.
Yet each step he took crossed several dozen meters, and with an unbelievable speed he drew closer to the Kozuki residence below.
Each step was like the footstep of Death, ringing the death knell for all.
And as Rosse drew closer, the Conqueror's Haki surrounding him became even more intense, filling the whole of Oden Castle.
That invisible pressure gradually turned into a tangible suffocating feeling. Even the air seemed to solidify, making it hard to breathe. Even thinking became slow.
That white figure walking through the sky was no longer just a man in the eyes of the people, but like a god descending from the heavens, carrying irresistible authority and strength, scattering despair with every step.
That supreme image was, in a way that penetrated to the bones, slowly carving itself deeply into the hearts of all, an imprint that would never fade.
[T/N: This whole chapter was MC aura farming. But remember, first impression does matter.]
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