"What insane presence..."
As the footsteps echoed, everyone without a seat—no matter how strong—eyes rolled back, consciousness fading as they collapsed.
The precision of that Conqueror's Haki control was unreal...
"Crackle—crackle—"
Vicious black-red lightning exploded across the venue. Twisted and climbed like living things with fangs bared.
Everyone's heartbeats synced to those footsteps.
This feeling of your life not being in your own hands...
"No empty seats. Everyone's showing up for me."
A relaxed, magnetic voice rang through the hall.
Those seated—drowning in pressure—all looked respectfully toward the entrance shadows by the platform.
"You've gotta be shitting me! This overwhelming terror!
This is the next generation's king? And I thought the rumors were bullshit..."
"I can barely fucking breathe. How does someone like this even exist!"
"The man who crushed an entire era by himself..."
"How the hell did the Sea Emperors survive facing this monster!"
From the entrance shadows, footsteps shaking hearts with every step, two silhouettes slowly emerged.
"That's..."
"The strongest great swordsman of the young generation, the man who could claim world's greatest, that lord's right hand—
Hawk Eyes Mihawk!"
"The other's the monster with disaster-class abilities who whips up sandstorms like breathing—
Sand Crocodile Crocodile!"
As the two figures appeared first, the owner of that final shadow walking behind them—hands in pockets—was obvious.
Everyone stood. Some had legs shaking so bad they grabbed tables to stay upright.
Even Rayleigh gave Aus face. Put down his bottle and stood slowly.
Dark red suit, wide black coat draped over his shoulders, Ace at his waist—Aus walked into the venue with an easy smile.
But despite that friendly smile—
The dark-red lightning swirling around him, born from each footstep, showed exactly how terrifying this man was.
Floor cracked under tremors. Tables groaned under impossible weight.
Aus smiled, walking between Crocodile and Mihawk. The Conqueror's lightning calmed as he surveyed the room with satisfaction. Pressed his hands down.
"Relax. Sit."
An invisible force swept through. Everyone's bodies dropped into their seats—completely out of their control.
The people on the ground—those irrelevant subordinates and bodyguards—vanished instantly.
"Is that the terrifying power of one of the strongest Paramecia fruits, the Warp-Warp Fruit?"
"Yeah... With that ultimate deterrent ability, even the most arrogant underworld kings have to bow!"
"Heard there's debate lately—which is more dangerous, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit or the Warp-Warp Fruit..."
Many underworld giants who'd never seen Aus before—after witnessing this display—mentally recalculated his threat level.
Quietly extinguished whatever schemes they'd been cooking.
Everyone sat perfectly straight.
Running the cruelest, most ruthless shady businesses—yet now they looked like good students in class, properly watching that tall figure on stage.
Didn't even dare ask where their people went.
Aus cleared his throat. Not nervous—just facing a bunch of inferiors.
Just finding his rhythm.
Beside him, Mihawk and Crocodile stood with arms crossed, curious what he'd say.
Under everyone's stares, Aus spoke slowly. Eyes steady.
"Everyone. I think...
This world shouldn't be like this."
Voice wasn't loud. But somehow carried weight. Probably because Aus was strong enough.
"Look at how you do business. Murder and theft? Backstabbing? Stirring up internal conflicts?"
"Stop wasting energy on stupid shit!"
Aus's gaze swept across. Real or imagined—everyone who'd done that kind of thing felt like Aus knew. Guiltily lowered their heads.
"Since several underworld leaders sincerely asked me to oversee things..."
Venue lights hit the eight underworld giants—including Sami and Doflamingo.
Aus's true inner circle.
"Then I'll draw some red lines for this chaotic, high-profit industry!
Cross them? You're dead. Everyone you know is dead!"
Aus went nuclear from the start. Stern voice, razor-sharp gaze—lightning even more vicious than before tore through the venue.
Except for Rayleigh and a handful of others, everyone could barely breathe. That terrifying control distributed pressure perfectly onto each person—bringing them right to their mental breaking point.
One degree more and they'd lose it.
"I know profit can make you risk your lives. So go ahead—try it!"
Domineering!
Arrogant!
Contemptuous!
As his words landed and they faced this pressure head-on, Aus's name pressed like a mountain on every giant's heart.
They understood—make one wrong move and they'd be crushed.
Different from World Government pressure. No matter how powerful, the World Government had to consider these guys who controlled half the world's markets and wealth.
Push them too far, they could manipulate markets and resources until the World Government's control destabilized.
But Aus didn't care.
With eight underworld "kings" backing him, he already was the world's biggest underworld boss. Plus he had the power to kill everyone here anytime, anywhere.
Nothing to threaten him with.
Even destroying Sabaody Archipelago or Duramos Kingdom wouldn't hurt him—
Would only piss off this king!
Then the forces and nations of whoever acted would have even their earthworms ground into paste for his rage.
No one would—no one dared—be that sacrificial lamb.
Facing Aus's rules and market distribution—while respecting everyone's original shares—everyone kept their mouths shut.
Even when Aus proposed taking a small cut of net profits, they just looked at each other nervously.
No one dared object.
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