For pirates, favors and kindness were worthless.
Only ruthlessness and strength earned respect.
Realizing the danger of his situation, Waldo didn't hesitate.
He tore up the floor with one stomp, grabbed a handful of rubble—
and fired.
"Momo—Tenfold Buckshot!"
Facing an attack from a top-class pirate, Longinus didn't dare be careless.
He pushed his Observation Haki to its limit, body twisting fluidly with Kamie—
narrowly avoiding the stone bullets that hit like sniper rounds.
"Momo—Tenfo—"
"Flying Shigan — Rapid Volley!"
Riding on his "mount," Longinus ambushed from above,
forcing Waldo to halt his attack.
The pirate crossed his arms, covering his face in a coating of black Armament.
Naturally, Jin refused to be used like a beast of burden.
He spun midair like a giant flaming drill—
and dove straight at Waldo.
"Momo—Tenfold Speed!"
Waldo understood immediately and sneered.
His sudden burst of speed surpassed even Soru several times over.
His fist detonated forward—
aiming to crush both Jin and Longinus at once.
And Jin, in turn, chose to meet the strike head-on,
completely abandoning defense.
"Rokuōgan — Embryonic Form!"
Realizing Jin intended mutual destruction, Longinus accepted reality.
He couldn't stay on Jin's back anymore.
Before jumping away, he slammed a Rokuōgan variant straight into Jin's spine.
The massive pteranodon crashed into the ground like a meteor,
shaking Blazing Hell with earthquake-like force.
Longinus and Waldo collided in midair—
the shockwave blasting both men apart.
"Tenfold… that's your current limit?"
Longinus murmured calmly, though his heart brimmed with relief.
If Waldo could reach even thirtyfold acceleration…
this fight would be several times more terrifying.
Zoan stamina was monstrous,
and Ancient Zoans even more so.
Despite Longinus's relentless assault,
the giant pteranodon twitched—
then stood up again, shaking off the rubble.
Waldo took a slow breath, wariness thick in his eyes.
"Kids nowadays are this terrifying?
Ten years asleep and the world turned upside down!"
The pteranodon's beak clicked open and shut as Jin spat out words,
deep fear in every syllable.
"Your strength increased again…
You mean you're one of those monsters who grows stronger mid-battle?"
Longinus simply smiled without confirming.
All the better.
With Jin unknowingly vouching for him,
any future leap in strength would be easier to explain.
Waldo's expression tightened.
If this was true—
then letting the battle drag on was suicide.
"Waldo."
Jin spread his wings.
"Can your fruit's power… be used on living creatures?"
"You're trying to—"
Waldo froze, then grinned wickedly.
"I've never tested it on anyone but myself,
but in theory… it should work.
However—
everything I accelerate usually shatters into powder.
Even for a Zoan user, it's extremely dangerous."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Jin snapped.
"Just do it."
"…You really are ruthless.
You should've been a pirate."
Waldo stroked Jin's wing membrane with malicious amusement.
"If you die, don't blame me."
"Momo—Tenfold Bird!"
Jin's already-terrifying speed exploded—
his body stretching into a streak of flame.
He vanished.
Only by pushing his Observation Haki to absolute limits
could Longinus barely track the afterimage.
"So fast—
no time to dodge!"
His pupils shrank.
His body moved on instinct.
"Kamie—War Form!
Tekkai—Hundredfold Forging!"
The collision detonated.
The shockwave rippled outward with the force of a natural disaster.
Cracks webbed across all of Blazing Hell.
The floor collapsed entirely—
opening the way down to Frozen Hell.
And the ceiling leading to Starvation Hell caved in,
sending confused prisoners plummeting down like a bizarre "pirate rain."
When the dust cleared—
Longinus was nowhere to be seen,
buried somewhere beneath the ruins.
Jin was impaled head-first into the fire—
his enormous body motionless, as if dead.
"Mutual destruction, huh?"
Waldo wasn't surprised.
He sounded almost sentimental.
Two supernova-tier newcomers, destined to become giants one day—
dying here in a violent collision.
Tragic.
And also…
Delightful.
"Now that the nuisances are gone, I can finally—"
Waldo exhaled in relief—
when his peripheral vision caught sight of something familiar.
A long, sharp beak.
His eyes nearly popped out.
"Y-You're alive?!"
"Does that shock you?"
Jin growled, pulling himself free and shaking off flames.
"And that man…
he's absolutely not dead."
"True."
Waldo nodded thoughtfully.
"If even you survived—"
Jin's face darkened beneath the soot.
Waldo kept talking anyway.
"But that brat isn't a Zoan.
After that hit, he must be half-dead.
Leaving someone like him alive benefits neither of us.
Why not kill him now?"
"Idiot!"
Jin snapped.
"You're underestimating him.
If you go down there now,
he'll cling to you again—
and you'll never escape.
The noise was too big.
Yarvis's group will be here soon.
If we don't run now—
we'll never run again!"
Without waiting, Jin flapped his wings and shot up into Starvation Hell.
Waldo hesitated.
But only briefly.
He decided Jin's judgment was worth trusting—
and kicked upward into the sky as well.
And then—
BOOM—!
A violent crash echoed from below.
Waldo instinctively looked down.
There, rising from the rubble,
covered in dust—
was Longinus.
Standing.
Breathing.
Looking up at them.
Almost completely unharmed.
"…Impossible."
Waldo's eyes dilated.
Had he been frozen for ten years—
or a hundred?
How could the world change so drastically?
The move he believed lethal—
These two monsters had survived it more easily than he would.
"What kind of creatures are they…?
Ten years ago, not a single rookie of this level existed!"
Waldo suddenly remembered the other two beasts he had glimpsed upon awakening—
the blood-drenched swordsman
and the constipated-looking Devil Fruit user.
They were older than these two—
but still young.
A terrifying thought crept across Waldo's mind.
"Don't tell me…
these four are the new 'normal'—
and I'm the one who got left behind by the era…?"
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