BOOM—!
The moment Kai released it, a tidal wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward.
It swept across the sea in a five-hundred-meter radius—upward into the sky, down into the water, and in every direction.
Kai stood at the center of it all—
the core of a sphere of pressure that crushed everything within range.
This Conqueror's Haki was terrifying.
Compared to what he had a year ago, it was on a completely different level—stronger by countless times.
Kai hadn't even landed on the pirate ship yet.
He used Conqueror's Haki first—
to clear the field.
He didn't feel like listening to "trash" screeching in his ears.
"Too many eyesores."
"Fine…"
"Then I'll erase the small fry first."
"A bunch of fodder isn't worthy of making noise in front of me."
He narrowed his eyes, already decided.
A power beyond reason surged through his limbs.
Hnnng—!
The air itself seemed to compress.
Then—
BOOOOM—!!
A vast, crushing spiritual pressure erupted from Kai like an invisible storm.
A formless aura, like an endless tidal wave, expanded outward from his body and swallowed the entire area.
Conqueror's Haki.
A world-shaking burst, rolling forward inch by inch—
carrying the will to grind all things into dust.
In a single instant—
it covered the entire battlefield.
On the pirate ship below…
Weevil, Miss Bakkin, and over a hundred pirates all felt it.
"Mom… who is that?"
Weevil tilted his head, a string of snot hanging from his nose, staring blankly at the child walking through the sky while gripping his massive naginata.
"He's an enemy," Miss Bakkin snapped, eyes cold with killing intent.
"An enemy we're going to kill."
"Weevil. Listen to Mommy…"
"In a moment—kill him."
"Kill all those Marines."
She had already decided: a child bold enough to come alone was nothing but a corpse waiting to cool.
How dare he challenge them by himself?
Today, those Marines would die.
"Navy really is worthless…"
"Sending a five-year-old to deal with us?"
"Who are they looking down on?"
"You think a five-year-old can act wild over my head?"
"I'll make you pay for it!"
Miss Bakkin glared up at Kai, waiting for him to drop.
Weevil lacked aerial combat ability—like many top fighters who never bothered mastering the sky.
"Kill him, Weevil," she repeated sharply.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll kill him."
Weevil nodded, his eyes turning savage.
The pirates around them were fearless.
Because they knew Weevil's strength.
"With Boss Weevil here, these Marines are finished."
"In this sea, besides Admirals, who can shake our Boss Weevil?"
The pirates laughed—
right up until Kai's will hit them.
High above, Kai stared down coldly.
"Fodder."
"Time to leave the stage."
Under his gaze—
the scene changed instantly.
The moment Conqueror's Haki washed over the deck—
the hundred-plus pirates had their consciousness crushed.
In the blink of an eye, they foamed at the mouth, their eyes rolled back, and their bodies collapsed.
THUD. THUD. THUD—!
One after another—
they dropped like cut wheat.
In less than a heartbeat, every pirate on deck was down.
If their chests hadn't been faintly rising, you'd think they were dead.
Fast.
Too fast.
It all happened in one instant—before anyone could even react.
The entire ship fell into dead silence.
Oppressive.
Unnatural.
The noise vanished, replaced by eerie stillness.
Bodies lay strewn everywhere—slumped across the deck like broken dolls.
On the entire pirate ship—
only two people remained conscious:
Weevil.
And Miss Bakkin.
That alone proved Miss Bakkin wasn't "simple."
Maybe her combat strength wasn't high—
but her willpower was far beyond ordinary pirates.
Otherwise, she never would've stayed awake under that Haki.
The ship was a grave.
A hundred-plus pirates—wiped out instantly.
Total annihilation.
Not one exception.
And Kai's Conqueror's Haki wasn't the same as a year ago.
He had already reached the threshold where it was close—very close—to affecting the physical world itself.
Not quite there yet.
But he was near.
Close enough that, given time, he believed he could do what Red-Haired Shanks did—crack ships with sheer will.
The only pity was—
Kai still hadn't mastered Conqueror's Coating.
But even without it—
his strength was already terrifying.
Using Conqueror's Haki to erase fodder like this was effortless.
Miss Bakkin finally snapped out of her shock.
Her wrinkled, ugly face twisted as her eyes darted around the deck.
When she saw the pirates collapsed everywhere—
she froze.
"Th-this…"
"How is that possible?!"
A hundred-plus men—gone in a single exchange.
Crushed without a fight.
Miss Bakkin's body began trembling uncontrollably.
Her throat went dry.
"That presence…"
"Don't tell me…"
"Conqueror's Haki?!"
Her eyes widened.
In her youth, she had once been a member of the Rocks Pirates.
She wasn't famous. She wasn't strong. She was nobody.
But her experience—her knowledge—was not something ordinary pirates could compare to.
Back then, her ship had been filled with monsters:
Rocks D. Xebec.
Whitebeard.
Kaido.
Charlotte Linlin.
Each one a terror capable of shaking the world.
She had been a small fry among giants—
but she had felt that power before.
That familiar, dreadful pressure.
Since the Rocks Pirates fell apart, she hadn't experienced it again for many years.
Yet today—
in the first half of the Grand Line—
she felt it again.
And this Conqueror's Haki…
was absurdly strong.
Not the level of someone who had just awakened it.
This was the level of someone who had refined it.
Mastered it.
"Who…?"
"In the first half of the Grand Line…"
"In this weak sea—who could have Conqueror's Haki like this?!"
"It shouldn't exist…"
She swallowed hard, mind turning to chaos.
Then, slowly, with a dawning horror—
she raised her head.
And stared at the small figure walking through the sky.
Her pupils shook.
"Don't tell me…"
"It's him?!"
"The one who released that Conqueror's Haki…"
"…is that five-year-old?!"
"No!"
"I must be insane!"
"A five-year-old with Conqueror's Haki is already unheard of—"
"but this level?!"
"This makes no sense!"
"What is going on?!"
For the first time, Miss Bakkin lost control completely.
Fear—real fear—spread across her face as she looked at Kai.
Her worldview cracked.
Shattered.
After a long moment, she forced herself to accept reality.
Her lips trembled.
Her voice came out hoarse, full of disbelief.
"This kid…"
"What kind of monster… is he?!"
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