Anyone capable of grasping a combat technique like Fist Waves was, without exception, a top-tier powerhouse of the sea.
This wasn't the kind of technique you could use just because you understood the method.
Fist Waves demanded terrifying standards in Haki and overall strength. Without that foundation, knowledge meant nothing.
Judging from how smoothly Ares used it, Rocks could tell at a glance that the kid hadn't only just learned it. He had been practicing it for some time.
Rocks' thoughts turned heavy.
"I knew Ares had monstrous talent and insane learning ability… but I still underestimated him."
"He's even mastered Fist Waves to this level."
"Several attacks in a row have failed…"
"Looks like I can't keep holding back."
"In front of everyone, I need to crush this brat decisively and use him to reestablish my authority!"
While Rocks was speaking
Ares activated his "cheat" again.
Meticulous to the extreme, he sank his entire mind into observing Rocks' Conqueror's Haki coating technique.
Rocks' overwhelming strength pressed down on him like a mountain.
But under that pressure, Ares' drive burned hotter than ever.
Before this, Rocks had already taught him the method of Conqueror's coating, and Ares truly had learned it.
But he'd learned it only recently.
His control was still rough.
Whether it was the quality or quantity of the coating, he was far behind Rocks. His timing, his execution in live combat, his ability to draw it out instantly in the heat of battle… all of it was lacking.
And now
He started "stealing" again.
In his mind, the scene replayed again and again: Rocks striking with Conqueror's coating.
Ares didn't miss a single frame.
Just like back then, when he'd learned "coating" from Rocks in a shockingly short time.
Only this time…
Ares shifted his focus toward raising the quality of his coating.
How to mobilize his body's power and fuse it perfectly with Conqueror's Haki.
How to avoid internal loss and waste during the fusion.
How to control that invisible force more precisely more completely.
These were all details. All discipline.
Step by step, mile by mile. A stream becomes a river. A river becomes a sea.
Ares had long grown used to that state throwing his entire being into learning, into becoming stronger.
He even found it intoxicating.
Anything that made him stronger thrilled him.
A thrill that came from the mind.
His thoughts grew sharper, more active, more explosive.
His understanding of Conqueror's coating deepened rapidly but for now it existed only in the realm of theory.
In the end, it all came down to one thing.
Use it.
His mental study reached a bottleneck.
Ares' awareness snapped fully back into reality.
In his dragon-man form, he stood on flame clouds, his aura surging higher and higher until Conqueror's Haki flooded outward, wrapping around his entire body.
His presence became visible.
A black-red blaze.
He raised his arm.
Black-red lightning spilled off him in streaks, like a savage dragon lashing toward Rocks.
"Conqueror Great Ape King Fist!!!"
That force was like a mountain collapsing head-on.
Even Rocks didn't dare take it lightly.
He raised his own fist as well, responding in the most direct way a man could answer another man's punch.
Boom!!!
Before their fists even touched, their Conqueror's Haki collided first.
A boundless white light exploded out and swallowed heaven and earth in an instant.
Black-red lightning burst from the center and spread across the sky.
The turbulent airflow, the shockwaves, the howling gales
They shredded everything without mercy.
Whole buildings looked like they were being melted away by the white light.
Terrifying beyond words!
Beside Skull Castle, Captain John's face sank.
He drew his twin blades and roared urgently, "Everyone! Release your Armament Haki outward and block the aftershocks!"
"If you don't, you'll die the moment it hits and even Skull Castle behind us will be wiped out completely!"
With John taking the lead, the nearby Rocks Pirates members all released their Armament Haki.
A massive invisible wall formed in front of them just like Marineford, when the three Admirals used advanced Armament to block Whitebeard's shockwave.
Boom! Boom!
The invisible wall shook violently.
Everyone felt it.
That Haki barrier was like a tiny boat floating on a raging sea, ready to be capsized at any second.
"So this is what a Conqueror's coating clash looks like…"
"It's like it wants to erase everything. It's too terrifying…"
"What kind of power is this?! This is the fight of the sea's absolute apex!"
"This is insane! Just the aftershock can destroy everything!"
"And we needed this many people just to barely hold it back…"
"And this isn't even the center of the battle!"
"If we were at the center… how horrifying would it be?!"
"Absurd!! This is utterly absurd!!!"
The pirates were shaken to their cores.
Like mortals staring up at towering mountain ranges, they could only feel their own insignificance.
Like a human's strength compared to the wrath of natural disasters.
The enormous commotion drew the attention of the entire Hachinosu.
With noise like that, how could anyone not notice?!
In the residential district, Wang Zhi was still searching house by house. He leapt up onto a rooftop and stared into the distance.
"Who's fighting?! Don't tell me it's Garp??"
"This far away and I can still feel how fierce and terrifying it is…"
"Is the Navy forcing their way through to find the Celestial Dragons?!"
It was too far to see clearly. All he could do was guess.
But the scale of it…
It was simply too much.
Elsewhere
Outside the prison, Shiki the Golden Lion pulled back from the inmates and turned his head sharply.
His brow furrowed. He clenched his cigar between his teeth.
"This aura…"
"It's Ares and the captain?!"
"Why the hell are they fighting?!"
He couldn't understand it but it was obviously nothing good.
Shiki narrowed his eyes, murderous light flashing inside them. He gripped his blood-stained twin swords and glared at the prisoners.
"I'll crush you trash first…"
"Then I'm going to see what the hell is happening over there!"
He stopped holding back and unleashed the full might of his Paramecia, the Float-Float Fruit.
"Lion's Might Ground Roll!!!"
The earth surged like dragons rising.
From the rolling ground, enormous stone lions formed majestic, ferocious and pounced upon the prisoners.
Back to Skull Castle.
High in the sky
Ares' body was blasted backward like an arrow released from its bow, like a meteor falling from the heavens.
In a blink, he flew hundreds of meters, then smashed into the ground with a thunderous crash.
Dust and debris erupted.
Rocks descended from the sky as well.
But he looked calm and composed.
He stared toward where Ares had fallen and said coldly, "Your learning ability is impressive… but your heat isn't there yet."
"You're the most talented person I've ever seen."
"To raise your Conqueror's coating to this level in such a short time…"
"You're truly the first."
"But you still don't understand the real power of Conqueror's Haki."
"This time…"
"I, Rocks, will beat you until you submit from the bottom of your heart!"
His body moved like a fierce tiger like a panther.
So fast the wind was left behind him.
Fast as lightning!
Rocks had no intention of stopping.
He wanted to crush Ares' will.
He wanted to defeat Ares.
Conqueror's Haki was a terrifyingly special force.
It couldn't be strengthened through ordinary training.
It only grew through spirit, will, and the fulfillment of ambition.
People often said that those who stand above others naturally possess an invisible authority.
And Rocks…
He had been captain of the Rocks Pirates for years.
His Conqueror's Haki was already approaching the human limit.
If he became the king of the world
Then his Conqueror's Haki would rise to a level no human could even comprehend.
Unimaginable.
A person's position shapes their heart.
Even though the Rocks Pirates had monsters like Whitebeard, Shiki, and Linlin many who possessed Conqueror's Haki
None of them could surpass Rocks.
Perhaps if they formed their own crews, their Conqueror's Haki would grow tremendously.
But right now
Rocks knew that if he crushed Ares today, he could shatter Ares' will.
Leave a flaw inside his conviction.
Like a heart demon.
A scar that would forever keep Ares' Conqueror's Haki below his own forever preventing it from reaching his level.
As the shockwaves faded, Captain John finally sheathed his twin blades.
Seeing Ares blasted away, he smacked his lips.
"Rocks is a mountain that can't be climbed."
"Among pirates, no one can beat him."
"Maybe…"
"Across the entire sea…"
"…no one can beat Captain Rocks."
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