"Boss Kaido, save meee!!!"
Queen's desperate, pig-like scream echoed across Onigashima, layered with the guttural roar of his Brachiosaurus form.
He didn't know why he was humiliating himself like this—only that if he didn't beg now, he'd never get another chance. This mountain of fat wouldn't survive even a single serious beating from the monster in front of him.
Hearing Queen's panicked howl, the pirates in the distance stared in stunned disbelief, jaws dropping to the floor. Even Darren's overwhelming aura faltered for a beat, his expression twisting into something… complicated.
From the North Blue to Paradise, and from Paradise to the New World…
Over the years he had faced all manner of opponents—powerful, insane, bloodthirsty, brutal, twisted… he thought he'd seen every type the sea could offer.
But this was the first time he'd ever met someone this brazenly, shamelessly honest in their fear.
"Perfect."
A reckless grin slowly spread across Darren's lips.
He bent his knees slightly, then drove his legs into the ground with the force of a Tyrannosaurus's stomp.
BOOM!
The earth within ten meters buckled and collapsed, the ground caving inward. Using the explosive recoil, the black-haired youth launched forward like a black cannon shell, tearing through the air.
He broke the sound barrier in an instant, concentric rings of white shockwaves blooming behind him as his charge gouged a deep trench across the ruined ground.
"So fast!" Queen's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
That burst of speed—
It was almost on par with Boss Kaido's Thunder Bagua.
Silently cursing Kaido's unreliability, Queen snapped into his Hybrid Form. His mechanical arm erupted in blazing orange flame as he swung a titanic punch.
"Wedding Feast Hot Punch!"
BOOM!!
Their fists—one massive, one comparatively small—collided mid-air like a comet slamming into a planet, detonating a cataclysmic shockwave.
Dust surged high like a tidal wave of sand. Queen's eyes went bloodshot, threaded with twisting red veins as he braced himself.
"I blocked it!"
A wild grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
If I hadn't gotten used to Boss Kaido's speed from getting beaten all the time, my Observation Haki alone would never have caught that blow!
"Is that so?"
A low chuckle rumbled from in front of him.
Queen's heart lurched. His face went stiff.
"Your Haki…?!"
Crackle.
A sinister black-red aura suddenly exploded from Darren's fist.
Under Queen's wide, horrified gaze, tiny fractures began spiderwebbing across his high-tech mechanical arm—Armament-hardened metal cracking like cheap glass.
The fissures spread with a sharp, sizzling sound.
The wind whipped Darren's black hair back as he bared his teeth in a feral grin.
"Don't scream too loud now."
"Huh?" Queen blinked, stunned.
Before he could react, Darren's eyes narrowed.
The muscles in his arm swelled, cords of power writhing beneath his skin like coiled pythons. His right arm bulged, growing several times thicker in an instant.
He drove his fist forward.
"Giant's Body…"
Crack!
Queen's mechanical arm shattered on impact, exploding into a spray of twisted metal and smoking fragments.
In his frozen expression, his pupils shrank further, reflecting the enormous black fist swelling larger and larger in his vision.
Bang!!
The punch smashed into Queen's face like a falling mountain, knocking out two teeth and warping his features into a grotesque, rippling mask.
The force continued downward, dragging his head with it and driving him into the ground like a giant nail.
"Seabed Drop!"
BOOM!!
Queen's skull slammed into the earth with bone-rattling force.
At the epicenter of the impact, the ground within a one-kilometer radius heaved and split apart, torn open by the immense power.
Rubble and shattered stone erupted skyward, a storm of debris roaring upward like an inverted waterfall, clawing at the sky.
"Hiss…"
The pirates flung away by the shockwave clutched their heads and stared at the devastation in horror, gasping as one.
With a hit like that… Boss Queen has to be dead, right?
The wind gradually blew away the smoke.
They saw Queen, back in his human form, sprawled in a crater, gasping for breath, his face covered in blood.
Thud.
A heavy military boot came down on his soft belly, sinking into the flesh and sending ripples rolling across his bulk.
Queen gagged, coughing violently as blood spilled from his nose and mouth.
"You turned down my offer," Darren said, smiling down at him. "So now here's the question—should I just kill you?"
Queen's teeth ground together. "Using force to push your will on others… what kind of Marine are you?!"
"Sorry," Darren replied with a shrug, taking a slow drag on his cigar. "I'm a criminal now."
"Criminals don't follow rules."
Queen's eyes flew open wide.
He'd always thought this guy's personality and methods were a terrible fit for the Marines. But now that he was on the other side—now that Darren was truly a criminal—the pressure bearing down on Queen was suffocating.
This kind of lawless life… actually suited the madman far too well.
"Release him!"
A deep, icy voice suddenly rolled in from high above.
The distant horizon flushed red as a crimson glow slowly rose, staining the sky like fresh blood.
A black Pteranodon tore through the air, its sharp beak jerking back as a blazing orange-red beam burst from its maw.
"Imperial Marten Pride!"
"…Took you long enough," Darren muttered, arching a brow as he glanced up.
With a flick of his fingers, he snapped a metal shard into the air.
Blue arcs of electricity crackled to life around it, racing madly through the sky.
"Super Electromagnetic Cannon!"
The next instant—
A pillar of blue energy roared forth, colliding head-on with the red beam in mid-air.
BOOM!!
A massive explosion lit up the heavens, black smoke curling outward as the clashing beams blew each other apart.
"You've gone too far, Darren!"
The furious voice sliced through the swirling smoke as King reverted to human form mid-air and dove straight down, disappearing into the ground like an arrow.
Flames erupted along the length of his longsword as he slashed downward with all his strength.
Clang!!
A jet-black dragon claw clamped around the burning blade, sparks spraying in every direction.
"This is Onigashima—the Beasts Pirates' headquarters!" King growled, his entire body wrapped in darkness as he glared at Darren. "This is no place for you to run wild!"
"Oh?"
Darren grinned.
He took a slow breath, stepped back, and kept King's sword pinned with one claw.
His other hand curled into a fist, muscles coiling as he drew it back.
"Then come and stop me!" he snarled, eyes blazing with wild, unrestrained fury.
His fist hammered down onto the burning sword.
Clang!
Boom!!
An unfathomable force slammed through the blade, Haki surging along the steel like a raging tide.
King felt as if he'd been struck by a meteor. A sharp crack shot through his wrist, pain lancing up his arm.
Then his body was flung sideways like a battleship rammed at full speed, hurtling across the shattered landscape.
To be continued...