"So this is Wano Country?"
After landing, everyone piled off the ship and started exploring this ancient island.
Only Aus stared excitedly into the distance, red light blazing in his eyes.
"Coming?"
"Yo, Aus, where you heading?"
Seeing Aus suddenly leap onto a nearby hillside like he was watching for something, Shanks—wearing his captain's hat and crouching while munching chocolate—looked up and asked.
Buggy followed right behind.
He didn't have Aus's insane Observation Haki, so he used binoculars to scope the distance. Suddenly spotting something:
"Captain Roger! It's the Whitebeard Pirates, on the island's far side!"
Roger, hearing this, barely reacted—just burst out laughing.
"Great! Let's throw down!"
Then a figure came charging fast.
"Captain~ A samurai's rushing us."
Aus said calmly. He didn't flip out like Buggy. Quick sensing told him exactly who this was—no shocker there.
Kozuki Oden, the Boiled King.
Guy who fumbled a perfect hand—just some hot-blooded moron samurai.
Oden used one move—Gun Modoki—dropping two crew members flat.
Seeing this, Rayleigh and Gaban both drew weapons, ready to fight.
"Strong as the rumors. Stop him, Rayleigh!"
"On it."
"Hold up, Gaban, Rayleigh!"
But Roger excitedly charged past both, rushing forward: "Can't let you guys get hurt!"
"You just wanna fight."
Aus grinned, but his eyes locked on Roger and Oden about to clash.
His Observation Haki went crazy covering both fighters—Aus didn't want to miss jack shit.
Roger charged forward laughing, black-red lightning crackling on his blade.
"Divine Departure!"
Such sick Conqueror's control!
Watching Kozuki Oden get launched with one slash, Aus was still savoring that Conqueror's coating.
Having seen it tons of times, he was finally getting the principles behind Conqueror's coating power. Pretty much what Rayleigh taught him.
Compared to wild Conqueror's release that knocked out random fodder, Conqueror's coating was more like compressing it to one point, then unleashing way more power.
Peak Shanks used it the same way—ultimate Conqueror's compressed into black-red lightning. Even Vice Admirals couldn't handle it, and Admirals got weakened.
Just that this wasn't like Armament with physical form you could slap anywhere on your body.
A year had passed. Looking at the black-red sparks generated by friction in his palm, Aus had only scratched the surface.
Everyone watched Oden get launched a hundred meters, smashing through countless trees before finally stopping.
Only Aus, Roger, and a few others watched the sky—some massive presence was hauling ass their way!
Here we go!
Aus went wide-eyed, staring at that distant giant-like figure approaching.
Stupidly muscular body, golden hair, white cape, and that signature crescent white mustache.
The world's strongest man,
Edward Newgate!
He went straight for Roger, who didn't back down either. Equally massive Conqueror's wrapped his blade, slashing straight up.
The two blades didn't even touch—just competing with pure Conqueror's coating.
Black-red lightning kept sparking. Except for the fighters, the insane shockwave sent everyone flying.
The sky looked ready to rip apart, clearing clouds for miles.
Even though Aus wanted front-row seats, he still couldn't tank this power. Could only use brute strength to death-grip some distant tree that hadn't toppled.
As for Buggy, Shanks and the others, Rayleigh had already dragged them way back from the battlefield.
Facing this natural disaster, Aus fearlessly unleashed his own Conqueror's, trying to master wrapping it around himself.
"Gurararara... Interesting brat!"
Whitebeard noticed the nearby kid still hanging tough without getting blown away, lips curling up.
"One of yours, Roger?"
Roger laughed his ass off.
"Hahahaha, yeah! This kid's a total monster! Jealous, Newgate?"
"Hmph... My sons won't lose to anyone!"
After their usual shit-talking, both held the stalemate for seconds, then cracked up together and planted their weapons beside them, officially saying hello.
"Hahahahahahaha~"
"Hand over everything you got." ×2
At both captains' word, the crews officially started brawling.
But nobody noticed that in some distant tree, an excellent sniper had raised his rifle.
Red gleam flashed in his eyes.
"You showed an opening, Marco."
"Bang—"
Aus going for the cheap shot.
Having just felt Conqueror's coating power, Aus figured joining group beatdowns on small fry couldn't boost his spirit anymore.
Or rather, having tasted the good stuff, he didn't wanna chew garbage.
Plus Aus clearly sensed that gradually, regular battles and killing couldn't grow his Conqueror's anymore.
Now there were only two ways to improve:
First, let age do its thing—comprehensive mental and physical upgrades.
Second, only by facing Conqueror's users stronger than himself could he possibly progress.
So he picked up his old trade again.
Cheap shots!
As for why not snipe Whitebeard, Aus naturally thought about it. But sadly, no matter how many times he peeked at the future, only one result:
Failure!
Failure!
Still failure!
Alright, seems he couldn't mess with monsters like that yet.
Aus had to settle for second choice, targeting the Whitebeard Pirates' 1st Division Commander instead.
The Phoenix, Marco.
Marco spread his wings, just about to charge, when one shot killed his pirate dreams.
Wings quickly reverted to human form. He collapsed unable to move, nearly getting trampled by buddies charging from behind.
"This is... Seastone?"
After nailing the shot, Aus didn't expect to stay hidden forever. Just revealed himself straight up.
Jumping down from the tree, Aus slung his rifle behind him. A black-haired youth in military uniform stepped out from the tree shade.
Slowly drawing the long sword grabbed earlier from his military belt.
"Clang—"
Pitch-black Armament wrapped both arms, then slowly coated the blade.
Looking close, it even carried traces of black-red lightning!
Seeing the attacker clearly, the Whitebeard Pirates brothers went ballistic.
"Bastard, sneak attacking!"
The Roger Pirates looked totally unsurprised.
"Oh, it's Aus... Yeah, that's his style."
Though Aus showed himself, he clearly wasn't interested in the kids on Whitebeard's ship. Instead locked onto one target.
One of the Whitebeard Pirates' only two Conqueror's users,
Kozuki Oden!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
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