"Do as you like! We've got to get back to the New World fast!"
Kaido snatched up the kanabō and turned on his heels. The weapon felt heavier in his hands.
Ssssh! He wrapped the club in Armament Haki as fast as he could. The giant quilt on deck — which doubled as their sail — was blown skyward by the shockwaves. Moly hugged Moria like a bolster; startled awake, she flung the kid toward the quay. Bam! Bam! Bam! Dozens of bottles shattered.
Moria woke in the tavern, sore all over and dazed. The staff had fled. He felt like he'd been run through by a mob. Outside, a pressure blast had torn roofs off; Moria muttered to himself, hiding behind a wall. "Why does this kind of fight always find me?" He slid into a shadowed alley and worked on mastering his Shadow-Shadow Fruit. If he didn't get stronger soon, he'd wind up in a sea creature's Berries. He decided to focus on controlling his own shadow first—Sharn had said: strengthen yourself before seeking glory.
Meanwhile the port fight had already erupted. Kaido hadn't expected to be matched by someone without a Devil Fruit — by Garp.
"Man, you sure pick 'em, Sharn!" Kaido grumbled, impressed and annoyed all at once.
"Give your crew room to grow—and chances to raise their bounties. That's what a captain does," Sharn replied as he traded shockwaves with Sengoku. The air he'd been compressing was running thin; the golden Buddha-light was closing the gap. Sharn snatched the remaining air into a tiny compressed sphere and whipped it toward Sengoku.
"You tired too?" Sengoku asked without switching hands — he'd been building power. "You've developed that fruit even further in a handful of days. Is that wind-power?" He was puzzled, but the answer would be obvious in the clash.
Sharn didn't answer. He kept alternating strikes — pressure blasts and compressed air against the Buddha-light — confusing Sengoku. "A Mythical Zoan that emits shockwaves — I underestimated this." Sengoku decided that after this engagement he would report upwards: any Mythical Zoan like this must be handled by the highest command. The thing was dangerous — near-natural in scope — capable of trading blows with quake-like forces.
"Enough with the underestimates," Sharn taunted. "You were passive at God Valley — and you still haven't fully developed your Haki or your fruit." He accelerated the Paw-Paw compression for one final push, sucking down the surrounding air.
Sengoku finally realized what Sharn had been doing. "You're drawing the air out!" He had stored power for a long time to land a devastating blow. Golden light poured from his other hand, turning the strike into a cataclysm.
Sharn had been waiting for this moment. "It's only until sunrise — don't underestimate the New Era!" he shouted. "Dragon Penetration! Paw Impact!"
He fused the Paw-Paw compression with violet-electric heat breath from his Black Dragon form. The resulting impact collided with Sengoku's Haki-augmented golden fist.
"Sharn's getting stronger again!" Garp observed. He wasn't the type to throw wild, open attacks — his was a blend of speed, strength and Haki-infused technique — while Sengoku was a tactical general who landed large, decisive blows. The clash lit the night; buildings crumpled; the harbor was a ruin.
Sharn paused and smirked at Garp. "Aren't you the Marine seedling who was supposed to be a good kid? How'd you become a menace?"
"Shut up! From the moment they put a bounty on you, you lost all restraint, idiot!" Garp fired rapid punches, each bearing Haki. The port degraded into a war zone; Sharn fumed inwardly — they'd come for resources and a ship, and now the Marines were wrecking the place.
Kaido grunted as a blow sent him airborne. Even his prideful strength felt trivial under the might of Admirals and war powers. Peak-of-life heroes like Garp were terrifying. Non-fruit veterans have a short window of peak power; Garp's was devastating.
Sharn's first fruit, the Mythical Zoan Black Dragon, pushed his vitality to the limit. The second, the Paw-Paw Paramecia, amplified mobility and large-area control. The third, the Devour-Devour Paramecia, let him store more life energy and reshaped his internal limits. But the Black Dragon's defenses needed high-level Armament Haki to inflict true damage — a weakness the Devour fruit helped mitigate by reinforcing his flesh and inner reserves.
With Devour in his arsenal, Sharn became a gluttonous black dragon: eat all, recombine, and grow stronger. The fourth door — the chance to obtain Fishman traits or a Mutated Exoskeleton — would make his body virtually indestructible. Sharn could wait for the perfect time.
"I'll sail the world," he declared, wiping blood from the clash with Sengoku. "I'll go everywhere, strike where I choose, and return when I want. No one will be able to hold me, stop me, or beat me."
"Had it not been for Rocks, I might have been more cautious," he added. The morning at Hachinosu—Rocks' laughter—had marked something in him. Certain wills pass like a torch.
"You bear Rocks' will! Unforgivable!" Sengoku seethed. He saw in Sharn the same bright, devouring hunger Rocks had, and younger—perhaps even more dangerous.
"No — I'll surpass him." Sharn swelled, transforming into a ravenous Black Dragon. "Wind-flame heat breath!" he roared, integrating Paw-Paw compression into a purple-electric heat breath — a new, upgraded offensive technique.
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