The crowd gradually dispersed.
Akainu walked out the tavern doors. His dark red suit was in tatters, but his steps were steadier than ever. The seed of the Kaio-ken had already taken root within him. He urgently needed to find a sturdy place to fully master that berserk power.
Doberman and Onigumo, the two Vice Admirals who had reaped benefits from the low-tier dungeons, quickly hurried over.
"Admiral Sakazuki, do you need to return to base for medical treatment?" Doberman asked, looking at the varying depths of wounds on Akainu's body with trepidation.
Akainu shook his head. "Don't mind these flesh wounds. Head to the Calm Belt. Find a deserted island with no living people. I need to test a new power."
The two Vice Admirals didn't dare ask more and immediately went to arrange a warship.
Kaido didn't linger at the tavern entrance either. He hoisted the broken Hassaikai onto his shoulder and transformed directly into a massive Azure Dragon, soaring into the sky.
But he didn't fly back to the Beasts Pirates' new base. Instead, he headed toward the deeper waters of the sea. His mind was entirely consumed by the insane mechanic of the Saiyan physique—breaking through via near-death experiences.
He was going to find some sufficiently powerful Sea Kings. Preferably ones that could beat him half to death. As long as he didn't die, his strength would just keep multiplying. This kind of perk, getting stronger by taking a beating, was simply tailor-made for him.
Doflamingo had already hidden far away. Walking on air, he darted through the clouds using his newly acquired Bukujutsu. His speed was so fast even he found it unbelievable. While he hadn't obtained some heaven-defying physique or explosive skill, with this mobility, his capital for staying alive in the future battle royale had drastically increased.
On the streets of Foosha Village.
Luffy sat by an apple stand, watching the blue dragon fly away into the sky with eager eyes.
"Ace, that big guy Kaido seems to have gotten stronger again," Luffy mumbled vaguely, taking a bite of an apple.
Ace sat on a wooden crate, hands behind his head. "So what? Once we scrape together enough money for a ticket and take a spin in that dungeon thing, we'll definitely be stronger than him."
Ever since witnessing that exaggerated battle on Namek, the worldviews of these brats had been completely reconstructed. What was the Pirate King anyway? Being able to blow up a planet with one punch—that was true romance.
At the edge of the East Blue, past the violent currents, lay a sea of absolute silence.
The Calm Belt.
There wasn't a single breeze here. Even the rolling of the waves seemed slowed down countless times over. Massive Sea Kings lurked in the depths; they were the true masters of these waters.
But today, this dead silence was completely shattered.
A barren, desolate island stood completely isolated on the sea's surface.
At the center of the island.
Marine Admiral Sakazuki stood there bare-chested. His Justice coat, the symbol of the highest military might, had been casually tossed onto a distant reef.
Right now, he looked like an active volcano on the verge of erupting. It wasn't because of his Mag-Mag Fruit abilities. It was due to the extreme, violent energy rhythm radiating from within his body.
The hard rock bed beneath his feet was silently flaking away. The black stones grew scorched and brittle at a visible rate, turning to fine dust before being blown away by the heat waves emanating from his body.
This wasn't natural high temperature. It was the destructive force generated by extreme compression and combustion of life force.
A dark red aura clung to the surface of his skin like dancing flames. This was the divine skill he had traded his life for in the Namek dungeon.
The Kaio-ken.
A few nautical miles away from the deserted island, a massive Marine Headquarters warship lay anchored. The deck was crowded with heavily armed Marine officers.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood at the very front. He held a pair of high-powered binoculars, the lenses focused directly on the man at the center of the island.
Sengoku's breathing grew heavy. He could clearly see the warped air around Sakazuki. That was a high-density energy field displacing normal physical space.
"That aura..." Sengoku lowered his binoculars, his knuckles turning white from his tight grip. He had spent most of his life in the Marines. He had seen the darkness of Rocks, the Conqueror's Haki of Roger, the tremors of Whitebeard. But he swore he had never seen this kind of high-dimensional energy produced purely by pushing the physical body.
"It doesn't even look like something a human could output." Sengoku's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice carrying a dryness he hadn't noticed himself.
Vice Admiral Doberman, standing nearby, had beads of sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead. Even from this distance, just feeling the aftershocks made his chest feel tight. It was like an invisible hand was squeezing his heart.
At the center of the deserted island.
Sakazuki kept his eyes closed, feeling the "Ki" within him that felt like a runaway mustang. He had completely restrained his Mag-Mag Fruit abilities. Right now, he was purely driving the potential of the Saiyan system hidden within his flesh.
Even without that godforsaken transformation physique, this Kaio-ken was enough to let him shatter the common sense restrictions of the One Piece world.
"Times Two..." Sakazuki muttered, his voice as raspy as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
His eyes snapped open. The normally clear whites of his eyes were now bloodshot, his pupils radiating a terrifying crimson hue.
The burden of Kaio-ken Times Two was actually quite strenuous for the highest-ranking Marine combatant. His Admiral-tier muscle fibers and blood vessels were enduring double the strain. Pain surged wildly through his nerve endings directly into his brain.
But he was thoroughly dissatisfied.
"At this level..." Sakazuki gritted his teeth, the muscles on his cheeks bulging prominently. "At this level, how can I execute absolute justice!"
The image of Frieza casually destroying a planet on Namek flashed through his mind. The image of the Saiyan named Son Goku effortlessly crushing energy spheres barehanded flashed. And more vividly, the image of the silver-haired Store Manager in the Foosha Village tavern, exuding despair-inducing pressure while simply holding a glass of juice.
Having witnessed the true heavens, how could he endure continuing to wallow in the mud?
"It's still not enough." A low, beastly growl rolled from Sakazuki's throat.
He crossed his arms over his chest, executing a fiercely forceful downward press. Every muscle in his body emitted an agonizing, breaking hum in that instant.
"Times Three..."
"Kaio-ken!"
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed above the Calm Belt. This sea, devoid of even a single breeze, had monstrous waves whipped up by this violently generated airstream out of thin air.
The dark red aura clinging to Sakazuki's body flared as if doused in a massive vat of gasoline. The aura abruptly spiked several meters, piercing straight into the sky. The entire barren island shook violently under the heavy pressure of this energy field, the outer rocks collapsing en masse and plunging into the ocean.
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