Instantly, Whitebeard's body underwent a startling transformation.
Amidst the shocked exclamations of the crowd, an intense, pure white light erupted from his body and his massive form began to uncontrollably ascend into the sky, as if lifted by an unseen hand.
"Ron, boy, what's going on?!" he boomed, equally surprised.
The air itself seemed to be drawn into him, rushing towards his body in a great vortex.
His very skin began to turn translucent, as if he were being unmade and remade from countless tiny points of shimmering, divine light.
He felt a powerful, alien energy surging within him, a force that seemed to want to tear him apart, yet he felt no fear; only an indescribable, exhilarating anticipation.
Ron, too, was puzzled.
This had never happened before.
His mind raced, desperately trying to analyze the phenomenon.
A mutation? he thought, a cold knot of dread tightening in his stomach.
"Captain, you don't need to worry!" Ron called out, his voice a reassuring anchor in the chaos.
"It's just a small mutation! Everything is under control!"
Hearing Ron's confident words, Whitebeard's tense heart finally relaxed a little.
Just then, the light intensified and the crew's gasps of awe turned into shouts of pure shock.
Behind Whitebeard's head, a second, fully formed face was slowly emerging from the light.
"That... what is that!"
"A-A second Pops?!"
"Hiss... No, wait, there's another one!"
"Look, it's coming out again! And another one!"
"Wait, Pops' hair... it's turned blonde! Is this... a return to his prime?!"
Ron stared, completely awestruck.
One head, but eight distinct faces, each facing a different direction.
And from his back, six new, powerful arms had sprouted, giving him eight in total.
He looked like a divine Asura from an ancient legend.
Each of the eight faces wore a different, powerful expression: Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Contemplation, Grief, Fear, Surprise, and Resentment.
Eight-Faced Asura, Ron thought, a shiver running down his spine.
One face, one life.
As the light finally dissipated, Whitebeard hovered there, a truly shocking and majestic sight.
"Gurarararara!" His laugh now seemed to come from eight directions at once.
"Ron, my son, I can feel it. A vigorous, boundless vitality is flooding my body. Maybe," he said, a half-joking tone in his voice.
"Dying once really won't kill me now."
He then noticed the new faces and arms, a look of profound curiosity spreading across his main face.
"Pops," Ace asked, his voice filled with a child's wonder, "what kind of mutation is this?"
"Well," Whitebeard explained, his voice booming with a newfound, godlike resonance.
"The fruit is still the Snake-Snake Fruit, but the form has changed. It has mutated into the Mythical Zoan: Eight-Faced Asura Form!" He flexed his eight arms, then frowned as he realized he only held one weapon.
"Thunder Blades!" he whispered.
As soon as he spoke, the Murakumogiri in his hand flashed, and countless bolts of lightning gathered from all directions, condensing into seven brand-new, crackling Thunder Blades, perfect replicas of his legendary bisento.
The crew was no longer just shocked; they were utterly speechless.
Their Pops was too awesome.
No, this wasn't awesome; this was super awesome, an unnatural level of power that defied all logic.
Whitebeard turned his eight faces toward Ron, a profound gratitude shining in all sixteen of his eyes.
"Ron, my son," he vowed, his voice a thundering promise that echoed across the skies.
"Now I'll go get you that three hundred billion Belly, so you can have your own Enchantment!"
Seeing Whitebeard preparing to charge off to Wano, Ace was the first to react, his anxiety palpable as he hurried forward.
"Wait, Pops! I'm coming with you!"
"And me!" Kingdew roared, stepping forward as his body began to expand and grow, transforming in a whirlwind of scales and muscle until he was a colossal, hundred-meter-long crimson dragon.
"Pops, I have all of Kaido's abilities! As long as we don't face him head-on, I can at least guarantee our escape! I know I can help!"
Inspired by his courage, the other new dragon commanders quickly followed suit, soaring into the air and transforming into a storm of draconic forms that coiled and danced through the sky, unleashing deafening, defiant roars.
"Pops, let us go with you and turn that whole island upside down!" one commander shouted, his voice filled with a fiery battle spirit.
"Three hundred billion?" another joked, his draconic laughter booming across the clouds.
"I bet that bastard Kaido's got at least six hundred billion stashed away!"
Jozu's body began to radiate a brilliant, golden light, shining like the brightest beacon in the sky.
With a confident, predatory grin, he declared.
"Heh, Pops, you've gotta let me come this time! The Beasts Pirates' All-Stars, their Flying Six... we'll send every last one of them to the afterlife!"
Whitebeard gazed at the magnificent, terrifying spectacle of the dragons soaring through the sky and the light god standing among them.
A swell of pride filled his heart.
This level of combat power... it was top-tier even across the entire World.
What reason did he have to worry?
"Gurararara! Alright, my sons!" Whitebeard's voice boomed like thunder across the heavens as his own body transformed into a leading streak of pure lightning.
"Let's go take down Kaido together!"
In that tense, exhilarating moment, Ron didn't hesitate.
He leaped onto the head of the massive crimson dragon, his lab coat whipping in the wind.
Turning to the startled commander, he said firmly.
"Kingdew, I'm counting on you. I'm coming along."
"V-Vice-Captain Ron... you're coming too?" the dragon stammered, his massive eye wide with shock and concern.
"Perhaps it's best if you don't go. Staying here would be the safest option..."
Ron just chuckled, his voice lighthearted but carrying an undeniable, sharp logic.
"With all of you combatants heading out to fight Kaido," he replied, "how the hell is this place safe anymore?"
Kingdew was left speechless.
Before he could formulate a response, Jozu appeared in a flash of golden light, standing beside Ron with unwavering determination.
"Hah, don't worry, Kingdew! I'll step in if it counts!" he assured him.
Looking at the resolute expressions of his two commanders, Kingdew finally relented with a draconic nod.
"Alright, let's move out!" Squard roared from his green dragon form, Ace and Marco perched atop his head.
ROOOOOOOAR!!!!!!!!
Nine dragons and a streak of golden light soared through the skies before suddenly diving back down toward the Blue Sea.
Standing atop the lead dragon's head, Ron felt the fierce gales rushing against his face, stirring countless emotions within him.
He recalled when he first arrived in this world—a complete novice who would have been torn to shreds by this power.
Now, in just a few short months, he stood at the forefront of a force that could challenge an Emperor.
The transformation felt almost unreal, like a dream.
As the crimson dragon shot through the clouds with lightning speed, they arrived high above the Blue Sea.
Far below, the super-disaster tsunami was closing in, casting a shadow of absolute panic.
At the same time, the Straw Hat Pirates were desperately fleeing the incoming tsunami, their tiny ship an insignificant speck against the terrifying spectacle.
From their great height, it was impossible to see the small ship, but down on the waves, its crew was facing their final moments.
The raging tsunami, like an enraged beast, finally and mercilessly swallowed the Going merry in its massive, watery maw.
"We're done for! There's no escaping this!" Usopp shrieked, his voice filled with utter despair.
"Help! Help! I don't want to die yet!" Chopper wailed, his eyes wide with horror at the colossal wave that blotted out the sky.
However, at this critical moment, their captain, Monkey D. Luffy, burst into a wild, joyous laugh, his eyes gleaming with a manic excitement.
"Adventure! Now this is what I call an adventure! Shishishishishi!"