The name surfaced in Blake's mind.
He had actually touched the threshold of the Super Saiyan God. That was a true step into the divine realm, a realm entirely beyond the comprehension of mortals.
If he just took half a step further, or found some god-level entity to spar with, he could completely master that red-haired divine form. Or even the significantly stronger Super Saiyan Blue form.
Blake opened his eyes.
He didn't intentionally release the Ki within his body. But the exact moment his eyes snapped open, the air inside the tavern let out an agonizing wail under the strain.
Even the overlords of the old era like Whitebeard and Garp felt their chests being struck by a sledgehammer. Their Observation Haki was screaming warnings into their brains.
The person sitting across from them was absolutely not the usually lazy silver-haired boy. He was an ultimate calamity capable of grinding the entire planet into dust at a moment's notice.
Cold sweat dripped from Sengoku's chin onto the table. He swallowed hard.
They had just witnessed the world-ending power of Frieza and Son Goku in the Namek dungeon. Yet looking at him now... this Store Manager, who always smiled and played the merchant, was probably far more terrifying than those two monsters combined.
Makino stood behind the counter. The cleaning cloth she held slipped and fell to the floor. She didn't understand Haki or power levels, but her instincts told her that for that one second, the air around them had simply vanished, leaving her completely unable to breathe.
Blake noticed the crowd's reaction. He quickly reeled the leaking sliver of God Ki back into his body.
This was the downside of getting a new toy and not being proficient with it yet. Just leaking a tiny bit was unbearable for these top-tier One Piece natives.
"No need to be so tense." Blake picked up his glass and downed the rest of the juice in one gulp. "This juice was great. Thanks, Makino."
With those words, the suffocating pressure in the tavern receded like the tide. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as the air began to circulate once more.
Kaido wiped his brow. The Yonko, renowned as the strongest creature on land, sea, and air, realized his palms were completely slick with cold sweat. His body, reinforced by the Saiyan physique, couldn't even muster a single thought of resistance in front of Blake just now. He even had the illusion that with a single glance, Blake could wipe him from existence if he so desired.
"Wororororo..." Kaido laughed dryly, attempting to mask his embarrassment. He turned to Akainu on the other side. "Sakazuki, looking at you, seems like you scored something good."
Kaido cracked his knuckles, the joints popping. His body had just recovered, his strength had surged, and his innate belligerence was rearing its head again.
"How about we find a deserted island in the Calm Belt and exchange a few blows?" Kaido looked provocatively at the Marine Admiral.
Akainu sheathed Ryujin Jakka. He looked at Kaido expressionlessly. The aura of the Kaio-ken was still restless within him, and he, too, wanted to find a place to completely unleash this violent energy.
"Pirate," Akainu sneered coldly. "If you dare step half a foot out of this village, I don't mind letting you experience the weight of absolute justice."
Kaido's eyes grew icy. The golden aura around him shot up by a foot. "You think I'm afraid of you, Red Dog?"
Just as the two were about to throw down at the tavern entrance, Garp slammed his palm onto the table.
"You two bastards! You dare cause trouble in the Store Manager's place? You want to be strung up on the Crooked Neck Tree to dry out?!"
Garp's booming voice hit them like a thunderclap, instantly freezing the tense standoff. Kaido remembered his miserable experience of being hung from that tree as a security guard, and immediately retracted his aura, obediently taking two steps back. Akainu also turned away with a cold face.
The Marines had acquired the Kaio-ken, but he knew it still wasn't enough.
Doflamingo, meanwhile, was the most cunning of the bunch. The moment he got his hands on Bukujutsu and the basic Ki cultivation method, he secretly slipped into a corner. He was preparing to leave as quickly as possible to slowly digest his new power. Staying here was too dangerous; he could be pulverized into dust by the shockwaves of these monsters fighting at any second.
"Alright." Blake waved his hand. "If you want to fight, take it outside. Don't break the furniture in here."
Looking at these noisy natives, Blake just found it amusing. He leaned back lazily, feeling the explosive vitality in his cells. Even if he was only at the threshold of the divine realm and hadn't truly mastered the red-haired form, this body held way too many things.
The massive Chakra from the God Tree Fruit. The dimensional suppression of the Otsutsuki Clan Omnipotent Godhood. Paired with the authority of the Anemo Archon from Teyvat and the world's strongest three colors of Haki.
Now infused with the Perfect Super Saiyan Physique, these overlapping powers had triggered a qualitative change that defied common sense. It was no exaggeration to say that, despite only touching the edge, with the sheer volume of his foundations, his strength now rivaled Son Goku's newly transformed Super Saiyan God state.
If they were to go all out, it was genuinely hard to say who would live and who would die—after all, his endless arsenal of bizarre techniques couldn't be compared to a simple physical brawl.
"Store Manager." Sengoku's voice pulled Blake back from his thoughts. The Fleet Admiral was rubbing his hands together, wearing a fawning expression that was absolutely out of character.
He had just watched Sakazuki obtain a god-tier skill like the Kaio-ken. A secret art that multiplied combat power exponentially in a short time was an immense boost to the Marines' overall strength. If they could secure a batch of tickets and send the Admirals and Vice Admirals in for training... the pirates of the New World wouldn't mean sh*t. They could just flatten them entirely.
"When will the next high-tier dungeon open?" Sengoku stared at Blake, his eyes burning with fervor.
Nearby, Whitebeard slammed his drinking bowl onto the table. "Sengoku, you old bastard, save your petty scheming!"
"The Marines snatched the last high-tier dungeon and dragged my son in for free labor. This next high-tier dungeon belongs to the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Whitebeard stood up, his massive frame exuding a formidable oppressive force. The power levels of his Division Commanders were already showing a gap. Seeing Akainu and Kaido gain massive strength, he was getting anxious. The old man didn't want to see his sons treated as punching bags in the New World.
Garp, chewing on rice crackers he had swiped from somewhere, hollered at the top of his lungs, "Newgate, this is Foosha Village! This is Marine territory! First come, first served! We Marines have prepared tens of billions in military funding, just waiting to book the whole thing!"
Whitebeard gripped the hilt of Murakumogiri. "Don't try to crush me with money. The one thing my vault doesn't lack is treasure."
Seeing the two old men about to clash, looking ready to rip the tavern roof off, Blake tapped the table again.
The crisp sound silenced the tavern once more. These lawless powerhouses had formed an instinctual reverence for that tapping motion.
"Enough, stop arguing. The Namek Campaign just closed, the system needs some time to refresh." Blake picked up his glass and took a sip of plain water. "Early next month, a new Raid (Large-Scale Team Dungeon) will go live. This time, I won't limit it by faction. Whoever has the money gets to enter."
"We'll talk about the ticket prices later. Go back and get your Beri and Devil Fruits ready."
Hearing this, Sengoku and Whitebeard exchanged a look, sparks flying between their gazes.
A large-scale team dungeon. No faction limits. That clearly meant they'd be fighting for resources inside the dungeon itself.
Sengoku secretly clenched his fists, deciding to press the Five Elders for more funding the moment he returned. If those Celestial Dragons dared to withhold military funds, he'd send Sakazuki to Mary Geoise to set a few fires.
Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh. "Good, this old man will be waiting right here. Marco, go back and tell the boys to sell all the useless scrap in the hold for Beri! Early next month, we're taking the biggest piece of the pie!"
Marco acknowledged from a distance and hurriedly ran off to make the arrangements.
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