Riding on Zeus and flying above the oro jackson, Linlin extended her right hand. Ignoring everyone else, she pointed directly at Rune.
With her left hand, she casually patted an empty spot beside her on Zeus.
"Alright, don't be so stubborn. Come here, it's very warm on Zeus, you know."
Rune couldn't even manage a smile at this moment. His expression was solemn to the extreme as he secretly gathered power in his right fist, his eyes locked with Linlin's.
"Linlin! This power was born for me alone—to let me enjoy everything in this world. It is for me, and me alone, not to be split apart endlessly!"
His words caused the smile on Linlin's face to freeze. To her, such words were nothing but stinginess.
"Can I take that as a refusal?" Linlin's face instantly turned cold, her tone shifting completely.
"That's right, Linlin!" Rune admitted on the spot, his right fist already primed and ready to strike.
"Then I'll just have to tie you up, take you back, and torture you slowly!"
Tie him up? Rune was naturally unwilling. He leapt from the bow of the oro jackson, the immense impact from his feet causing the ship's front to tilt forward sharply.
Everyone on the ship nearly lost their balance.
"Is this guy really going to..." Roger stared at Rune's back, his face full of surprise: "Hit a woman!"
"Of course!" Rune directly admitted what he was about to do.
Although Linlin was currently very beautiful—a one-in-a-million existence among women—
In his eyes, she was nothing more than a monster with a body of steel.
Besides, Rune wasn't lacking for women, nor was he the type of man who couldn't walk straight when he saw one. Facing a woman who wanted to bind his freedom and dared to speak of torturing him... if he didn't hit her now, then when?
"Hey! Take it easy! Linlin is actually quite pretty!" Roger, feeling a bit of pity for the fair sex, tried to dissuade him.
As the words fell, Rune had already appeared above Zeus, right in front of Linlin. His muscles bulged with power as he swung a fist wrapped in Haoshoku directly at Linlin's face, roaring into the sky:
"I have no interest in being the father of dozens of sons and daughters! Roger!!"
Boom—! Rune threw a punch at Linlin's face without the slightest hesitation.
"Rune...!" Linlin looked at Rune in disbelief, unable to understand why a man would reject her.
Why was he unwilling to have children with her?
Clearly, as long as they cooperated long-term and laid low for a few decades, not even the strongest country in the world, Elbaf, or the World Government would be their match.
The dark red aura wrapped around Rune's fist slammed solidly into her face through the air.
Linlin's expression contorted. The intense Haoshoku continuously compressed the air, making even Zeus beneath her tremble in fear.
"Mama!" Prometheus saw Linlin being attacked and launched a massive fireball at Rune.
Just as the fireball arrived, the wave of Haoshoku on Linlin's body suddenly exploded outward.
"I like gentle, virtuous, and shy girls!!!" Seeing Linlin withstand the blow with her physical body, Rune's right arm exploded with power again as he roared: "Not to be squeezed dry by a beast with endless desires!!"
The moment the massive fireball swallowed Rune, his gaze narrowed. His Haoshoku formed a natural barrier, isolating Prometheus's attack on the outside.
The fireball exploded, creating a mass of violently burning flames in the sky. The scorching heat, like a sun, made everyone stare solemnly at the air.
At that same moment, Linlin was sent flying by Rune's punch, her body hurtling directly toward the sea.
"Mama!" Zeus recovered from the Haoshoku interference and sped toward the falling Linlin, successfully catching her.
"You can actually use Haoshoku to this extent now!" Rocks's expression was one of shock. He had clearly seen the moment Rune wrapped Haoshoku around his entire body to form a natural Haki barrier.
As Prometheus's flames dissipated, the crowd couldn't see Rune's figure at all.
Using Haoshoku to its limit could not only nullify most of an opponent's Haki attacks but also defend against Devil Fruit powers.
Of course, one could also use Haoshoku to block an opponent's Observation Haki, rendering it useless.
Rune knew all of these techniques.
While everyone was searching for Rune's figure, Roger laughed and pointed his index finger toward the sky, saying to the Rocks Pirates:
"Look above your heads, Rocks!"
The members of the Rocks Pirates looked up and saw Rune, enveloped in the aura of Haoshoku, staring down ferociously in a punching posture.
"Newgate!" Rocks gave an order to Whitebeard beside him, gesturing for him to block Rune's impending attack.
Terrifying black lightning refracted in the space around Rune's fist as he punched—the "Haki Siphon" phenomenon caused by excessive compression of Haoshoku.
"Conquerors Fist—!" Rune threw a full-power punch from above. The pressure condensed into a translucent giant fist phantom, large enough to instantly destroy the Rocks Pirates' massive galleon.
On the deck of the Rocks Pirates, Shiki broke into a cold sweat as he saw Rune's move descending:
"Hey, this is not good!"
He immediately drew his two swords, preparing to resist for his own safety.
Under that punch pressure, the Haoshoku intimidation even caused the strong magnetic field emitted by John to instantly fail.
"Making a fuss over just this level? Move aside, Shiki." Whitebeard leapt dozens of meters in one step, jumping onto the ship's top mast.
With Murakumogiri in his left hand, his right hand stimulated the Haoshoku within his body and condensed a white energy halo once more. With a sudden roar, he swung with all his might toward Rune's "Conquerors Fist" in the sky.
Boom! The moment the two forces collided, the sea and the sky suddenly split apart.
The entire surrounding ocean instantly spiraled out of control.
Thunder clashed in the air. Rune's expression was incredibly excited as he roared ferociously, his eyes sizing up Whitebeard.
Compared to Rocks, every time he fought Whitebeard, the pressure he felt was even more immense.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit combined with Whitebeard's innate monstrous strength was simply a perfect match. Most importantly, Whitebeard also possessed all three types of Haki... The Haoshoku impact was like a meteor crashing into the sea, the seawater squeezed by the two forces into a circular giant wall.
The clouds in the sky were torn apart, and even light was distorted and deformed in this clash.
The people on both pirate ships saw that the clouds above had split into a celestial rift. Due to the activation of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, tsunamis from the surrounding sea were already rising to blot out the sun.
"Vice-Captain Lu En!!"
The members of the Roger Pirates cried out; that was already a level of power far beyond their reach.
"No matter how many times I see you fight, I'm always shocked, Rune." Rayleigh remarked, watching the clash between Whitebeard and Rune: "You're just a pure beast."
"Hahaha!" Roger laughed towards the sky, his laughter filled with immense pride: "How about that, Rocks!"
"That's exactly why I want to win him over from you, Roger!" Rocks felt the Haoshoku pressure from above, but his gaze remained locked on Roger: "It's truly a waste of talent for such a person to stay by your side!"
"Don't chat with the enemy, Captain! The giant wave is about to crash down!"
The collision between the two lasted for several minutes before the residual shock finally dissipated.
The massive wall of seawater that blotted out the sun lost its support and crashed down toward the two pirate ships.
"Shiki!"
Seeing the clash end, Rocks suddenly swung a sword strike at Rune in the sky.
Having just used the Conquerors Fist and consumed a lot of energy, Rune hadn't even had time to catch his breath before he was hit by Rocks's sudden sword qi.
The impact of the sword qi was like a giant's warhammer, but it was kept at bay by Rune's Haoshoku barrier.
"You bastard, Gibeck!" Rune landed on the bow of the Rocks Pirates' ship, looking down arrogantly at everyone on the deck below.
Rocks held his sword and smiled disdainfully at Rune, glancing back at Shiki.
"I know!"
Shiki hurriedly slapped the deck, using the Float-Float Fruit to make the ship fly into the air to avoid the giant wave.
On the other hand, on the Roger Pirates' ship, everyone was assisting Don Quixote in turning the sails and the ship, relying on cooperation and powerful sailing skills to dash through the waves.
"Just come with me, Rune. I'm going to annihilate the Marines! And then overthrow the rule of the current World Government!" Rocks extended an invitation to Rune: "Roger isn't suitable for you."
Rune's breathing gradually became rapid. He had intended to sink them into the sea with one blow, but not only had he failed to do so, he had also consumed a large amount of Haoshoku.
He found it somewhat unbelievable. Wasn't it said that Haoshoku was an ultra-rare Haki that appeared in only one in a million people?
Looking at the current situation, he, Roger, Rocks, Whitebeard, Linlin, Rayleigh, Jabba, Shiki, and the others were all across-the-board Haoshoku users.
Trying to crush the Rocks Pirates with Haki alone was simply wishful thinking.
"As long as you come with me, I will forgive everything you did to Marlon! This grudge can be settled immediately, otherwise..."
Hearing Rocks's words, Rune immediately interrupted him: "Otherwise what?"
"I'll just have to send you all to hell!"
Faced with Rocks's proposal, Rune didn't consider it for a second. He had never intended to accept Rocks's invitation from the start, no matter how many times the other party asked.
Bang! While the two were staring each other down, a cannonball was fired from the oro jackson, which was weaving through the giant waves below.
The cannonball exploded on the left side of Rocks's ship, causing the entire vessel to sway in the air.
"Allow me to refuse again, Gibeck." Rune responded to Rocks's invitation: "Just like this cannonball, I will respond to you fiercely with my fists!"
Rocks's face darkened, his expression shrouded in shadow as he held his sword: "Then I'll just have to ask you to die, Rune. Don't take my forbearance for a game of playing pirates!"
"Forbearance?! Every time I fight, I go in with the determination to die! And you talk to me about forbearance?!" Rune suddenly flew into a rage. The blood in his body began to flow faster, and his skin started to turn dark red as he roared:
"Blood Release—!!!"
Combining the changes from the previous two releases;
The skin all over his body began to burn intensely, emitting an alarming heat.
Rune's painful screams followed. High-temperature flames erupted from both his fists and feet, and the surrounding air was severely distorted by the heat waves.
"Ah!!" The burning sensation and tearing pain in his skin made Rune roar wildly, followed by an unprecedentedly terrifying power condensing within him.
The sound of his heartbeat boomed like war drums, echoing across the entire surrounding sea.
When the transformation stopped, Rune stood bare-handed before the eyes of the Rocks Pirates.
Dark red flames burned intensely on his fists, his hair fluttered, and the flames beneath his feet were scorching the bow of the Rocks Pirates' ship.
Combining the Third Stage Release of Muscle Release and Nerve Release, he gained immense power while enduring great pain.
His whole body emitted a destructive aura of "not hesitating to burn everything of himself."
"The power I possess is only so that I alone can stand in this world!" Rune leapt, charging toward the entire Rocks Pirates crew:
"And Roger is my best friend. You are nothing but an enemy, Rocks!"
While the Third Stage Release was active, no matter what kind of damage Rune received, his body would heal at ultra-fast speeds until the energy in his body was exhausted and his body withered.
In Rune's current breath and the steam from his body, small, orange-red sparks began to mix in, as if he were burning inside.
Everything was supported by his will.
Since his debut, Rune had never treated being a "pirate" as a game. He treated every battle seriously and grew again and again through them.
"Hurry up and put away that form, Rune, you big idiot!!!" Roger shouted at Rune from the ship: "There's no need to go this far yet!"
Seeing Rune use this form, Rocks knew the negotiations had broken down and charged toward Rune with his sword.