A torrent of blood gushed from Darren and Kaido's chests, spilling to the ground like twin crimson waterfalls.
Unlike Darren's caved-in ribcage—splintered bone piercing through torn flesh—Kaido's chest and abdomen looked as if they'd been ripped apart by a dragon's claws. His ink-blue dragon scales were peeled open in jagged strips, exposing mangled muscle beneath and the faint, nauseating throb of his organs.
The two of them stood back-to-back, drenched in blood, each bearing wounds that would have killed an ordinary man ten times over.
The watching Beasts Pirates shuddered as a chill crawled down their spines.
"Using lightning to stimulate and activate your physical vitality… you really never stop surprising me, Kaido-sensei…" Darren murmured, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. Blue arcs crackled and danced across his skin, growing denser and more violent. His bloodied fingers twitched on instinct, as if fumbling to adjust to this newly mastered power.
He could feel it—clear as daylight.
As he gradually took hold of this "Lightning Activation," his body was undergoing some kind of subtle, profound transformation.
It was like a cool stream seeping into his flesh. It slipped past skin, threading into muscle, burrowing through blood vessels, brushing over organs, permeating even down to his cells—quietly pushing them past their original limits and dragging out strength he'd never been able to access before.
At the same time, within his Perception Talent, his stats began to shift in real time.
Physique: +0.003… +0.002… +0.002…
Strength: +0.004… +0.002… +0.003…
Speed: +0.008… +0.011… +0.013…
Devil Fruit Ability Development: +0.013… +0.015… +0.012…
Feeling his body grow stronger with each surge of lightning, Darren couldn't help but smile wider.
"Tell me, Kaido-sensei," he said, laughter in his voice, "how should I thank you?"
To his surprise, Kaido didn't explode in rage this time.
Instead, the dragon-man fell quiet.
He stared at his blood-slicked hands, then at Hassaikai—still wrapped in snapping black-red lightning—and let out a low, rough chuckle.
"On this entire sea," he rumbled, "only one man ever truly understood the secret behind my technique."
"Now there's a second."
Darren raised a brow. "You mean… that madwoman, Big Mom?"
"No." Kaido shook his head, his voice cold and hoarse. "Linlin has little interest in that kind of finesse."
"She's simply too strong. Born with overwhelming power. She never needed technique to compensate for anything."
"Her monster physique and strength, combined with the Soul-Soul Fruit's freakish ability… Linlin is a natural-born Pirate Overlord."
Darren didn't argue.
If there were a "Master Teacher Rankings" on this sea, Kaido would be the undisputed first place. Overalls Fatso Queen, the Gorosei's Saint Saturn—none of them were even close to being in the same league as Kaido-sensei when it came to forging monsters.
And if there were a "Talent Rankings,"
neither Darren himself, nor the "monsters" of Marine Headquarters like Sakazuki, nor even Roger or Whitebeard, could compare to that one impossible freak—Charlotte Linlin.
The title "Natural-Born Destroyer" wasn't just for show.
With her "Steel Balloon" body, that woman could crush ancient Giants with her bare hands at the age of five.
How much torture, how many life-or-death battles had Darren endured just to barely reach something approaching Big Mom's physique and strength?
Different bodies couldn't be measured with the same yardstick.
Big Mom—the "Demon God" feared by the Giants—was, without question, the greatest raw talent this world had ever produced.
"So then…" Darren pressed, "who was it?"
Kaido rasped, "Gol D. Roger."
Darren froze, eyes narrowing.
Kaido didn't elaborate. He just gave a crooked, self-mocking smile.
"You'll learn the secret behind that bastard's move soon enough."
He turned slowly. Darren followed suit.
Their gazes crashed together and locked.
Ferocious grins, thick with battle lust, spread across both their blood-smeared faces.
"Worororororo!!"
Kaido burst into wild laughter, Haki surging from his body in a roaring storm. Black-and-crimson lightning crackled and danced around him like chains of living thunder.
"Young Darren, I acknowledge you!" he bellowed.
"In this era, you're the only one besides that monster Linlin who can match me in pure physical combat!"
He stepped forward, dragon legs stamping down with such force the shattered earth groaned again. The hand gripping Hassaikai trembled—not with weakness, but with unrestrained excitement.
"Now, don't you dare disappoint me… Let's have a proper, all-out brawl!!"
"No problem at all," Darren snarled back, his eyes burning with a madness to match Kaido's.
With Lightning Activation, he could now wield the blistering speed and explosive power of Thunder Bagua at will.
Which meant…
He could erase anyone below an Admiral's level with a single blow—before they even had time to react.
Just like when Luffy faced Kaido in the original timeline—one strike, and they were done.
In the next instant—
Lightning erupted across their bodies, the arcs gathering into burning streams that tore at their inhuman flesh.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
Fueled by lightning, the Indestructible Body exploded into motion!
It was like teleportation.
From the Beasts Pirates' vantage point, the two monsters vanished. No matter how far they pushed their Observation Haki, they couldn't catch so much as a trace of an aura.
Their speed had surpassed the limits of ordinary perception.
Clang!
BOOOOM!!
Steel and dragon scales collided mid-air.
Dragon claws wreathed in crimson-black lightning met a kanabo coated in black thunder, their clash detonating a cataclysmic shockwave.
The land rippled like a storm-tossed sea.
The sky split open along a jagged seam, the island itself rocking as if it were about to be torn apart.
The two figures rampaged like gods and demons, ripping the air itself to shreds.
The real battle had finally begun.
At the same time, Darren's Perception Talent quietly updated his stats.
His Speed stat finally broke past the 90-point barrier.
The ability once known as "Soru's Divine Speed" had now transformed—evolving into "Lightning Activation," a power that represented the complete revitalization of his body.
Physique: 99.288 (Indestructible Body)
Strength: 96.158 (Giant's Body)
Speed: 91.310 (Lightning Activation)
Devil Fruit: 89.999 (Island-Covering)
Armament Haki: 86.252 (External Burst)
Observation Haki: 79.988 (Magnetic Field Sensing)
Conqueror's Haki: 89.999 (Substance Influence)
To be continued...