Chapter 274: Conqueror's Haki Enhancement: Overwhelming Body and Unrivaled Might!

As news of the Navy's arrival spread, the survivors of Water Seven finally welcomed the savior they had long awaited.

Under the escort of T-Bone, Franky, and others, they retreated toward the outskirts of Water Seven.

However.

Those several warships, silently anchored on the sea, remained mute, standing like steel behemoths amidst the waves, indifferent to the unfolding disaster.

No reinforcements arrived, no action was taken; for a moment, one might have thought them a mirage.

Walking beside the crowd, Franky swung his iron fist to beat back an IQ beast, then gazed at the distant warships, his unease growing ever stronger.

"Something's wrong; I have a bad feeling. Are those warships truly here to save us?"

"How could that be?"

Paulie shook his head, slinging an arm around Franky's shoulder, convinced the latter was overthinking it:

"Mr. Xiang Gaowen..."

"Could it be you truly haven't realized?"

"They are not the Navy at all!"

"But they protected this place; they harbor justice. In my eyes, they are the Navy."

"That is precisely the problem: the Navy, who should have become our saviors, has only appeared now."

Saying this,

Franky looked out toward the distant sea, his gaze growing increasingly uneasy:

"Even after arriving, they have taken no action whatsoever..."

"Perhaps they fear those monsters like Shiki might escape?"

"Perhaps."

Franky reluctantly nodded, yet the worry in his heart remained utterly unchecked.

He turned, intending to speak and dissuade the others.

But all that met his eyes were countless IQ beasts surging from the rear, and ordinary folk whose faces were written entirely with hope.

At this very moment,

Franky finally understood that believing in the Navy was the only thing the people here could do.

With Gao Wen and his group entangled by Shiki's faction, aside from the warships anchored on the sea, no one else remained capable of saving Water Seven and its survivors.

Franky opened his mouth, but in the end merely murmured:

"I hope I am overthinking this."

"Well~"

Paulie exhaled a cloud of smoke, then slung an arm around Franky's shoulder once more, already anticipating sharing a drink with Franky after the great battle concluded.

Having endured a disaster together, they could now rightly be called friends.

In the heart of Water Seven,

the great battle raged on.

Gao Wen's nearly ceaseless attacks left even Shiki utterly astonished.

"What are you still persisting in?!"

"You are no match for me!"

"Right now, you are like a ball, like a child who has lost a game yet refuses to admit defeat!"

Shiki unleashed his full power; his legs slashed out streaks of sword qi that forced Gao Wen back, while he manipulated the clouds filling the sky, instantly swallowing Gao Wen whole.

He nearly controlled the entire battlefield!

This overwhelming advantage made Shiki ever more excited; the hair behind him stood on end, truly granting him something of a lion king's majesty!

"Submit to me!"

"Together, we can rule this world!"

His only answer was Gao Wen, charging forth once more from the ruins like an undying, untiring monster.

Hiss!

Shiki turned his head; a silver blade-light flew past his ear, cleanly splitting the clouds gathered behind him in two.

The expression on his face turned abruptly ice-cold in that instant:

"Since you seek death, I shall see you off!"

Shiki let out a fierce shout; Haki surged around his body, his aura becoming even more formidable than before!

As the great battle progressed, he could clearly feel his former power gradually reviving through clash after clash of Conqueror's Haki.

For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though he had returned to the time when he fought Luo Jie.

A physique not yet aged, Haki still at its peak, and the fully awakened power of the Float-Float Fruit!

What excited him even more was that the man standing before him now was another who had fought his way out of the East Blue, possessing the qualities of a king!

Extremely powerful, in his twenties, already a supreme fighter capable of clashing with the strongest.

"Lion's Might – Ten Thousand Swords Mountain – Violent Torrent!"

Shiki's twin swords on his legs slashed continuously; slashes wreathed in Conqueror's Haki shot forth, converging in midair like a gale whipped up by countless sword qi, intending to devour everything they touched!

The clouds between heaven and earth, the shattered stones upon the ground—all were manipulated by Shiki in this instant, surging toward Gao Wen like a tidal wave!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions followed one after another; the buildings in the core district of Water Seven, along with countless IQ beasts, were utterly devoured by this strike of Shiki's.

Countless buildings were flattened, leaving the surroundings completely barren.

And Gao Wen, situated at the epicenter of the attack, was utterly engulfed in the first instant by the Jin Shizi's violent offensive.

The defense boosted by the combination of Battle Armor, Diamond Body, and the Red Dragon ability was breached; beneath the ruins, Gao Wen was covered in wounds, severely injured by a strike from the Jin Shizi nearing his peak.

But he was still alive!

As long as he stood upon the land of Seven Water Capital, he would not lose!

Pale blue ley line energy poured into Gao Wen's body, repairing the damage on his surface.

Within a few breaths, Gao Wen had already fully recovered; he intended to rush out of the ruins immediately to engage the Jin Shizi, but his movement was interrupted by a sudden system notification:

"Constitution Experience +1709"

... (Omitted)

"Conqueror's Haki Experience +13345!"

【Conqueror's Haki - LV4: 12008/25000 -> Conqueror's Haki - LV5: 353/50000】

Gao Wen's motion of rising halted, his eyes shining terrifyingly bright in that moment.

In merely an instant, he felt the changes in his body; both the quantity and quality of his Conqueror's Haki had increased by over fifty percent!

The resulting boost in combat power was exceedingly obvious.

And what Gao Wen understood even more clearly was that the numerical increase was merely the foundation; what mattered more was what followed:

"Detected host's Conqueror's Haki raised to LV-5; may select one of the following branch abilities:"

"Indomitable Body, Unrivaled!"

High in the sky.

After that single strike, the Jin Shizi felt a wave of exhaustion wash over his body.

That one attack alone had drained more than half his stamina; fine beads of sweat now covered his forehead.

This was already the strongest attack he could unleash in his current state; both in scale and lethality, it approached his former peak.

Yet, whether he was willing to admit it or not.

The old wound on his head could heal, his Haki could recover, but dragged down by this already aging body, he could never again squander his power without restraint as he had twenty years ago.

"Hoo..."

Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, the Jin Shizi's gaze became incomparably stern and fierce in that moment.

"Hahahahahaha—!"

A defiant, mad, hysterical voice squeezed out from the Jin Shizi's mouth, echoing through the clouds.

Everything else paled in comparison!

Like a victorious lion king, the Jin Shizi looked down upon all of Seven Water Capital; the unwillingness he had hoarded in his heart for over twenty years was finally released!

In this moment.

Whether it was Law standing on a rooftop not far away, watching the battle, the Five Elders guarding the video Den Den Mushi and viewing the projection, or Akainu out at sea observing the entire fight, all fell into silence.

Twenty years had passed, Luo Jie was dead, Whitebeard was old; among the hegemons of their generation, only the Jin Shizi still possessed the spirit to swallow the world!

"Truly a monster through and through."

Mary Geoise.

Watching the laughing Jin Shizi on the screen, the Five Elders all displayed solemn expressions.

The come-and-go-as-one-pleases ability of the Float-Float Fruit, top-tier swordsmanship, supreme Haki; the Jin Shizi's combat power already stood at the peak of this world.

Even the World Government found dealing with him quite troublesome.

And what made them feel uneasy was the scheme the Jin Shizi had set up this time.

Big Mom, Wang Zhi, and the Jin Shizi were all monsters who survived the God Valley Incident; now that these three had joined forces again, did it mean Rocks' will was still alive?!

After all, Hachinosu Island, which Wang Zhi currently occupied, was once Rocks' old nest!

This was precisely what made even the Five Elders feel apprehensive.

The World Government's rule had continued for eight hundred years; many had truly challenged the order they constructed, but the greatest threat among them was precisely the former Rocks.

A monster so incredibly powerful that he had nearly crushed Luo Jie several times!

Saint Saturn's expression suddenly turned Solemn:

"Order Sakazuki to act; not a single one of these three can be left alive!"

"Even if we must act personally, we must keep these three within Seven Water Capital!"

"Wait—!"

A startled cry interrupted Saint Saturn's words; following the sound, he saw only Saint Mars' surprised expression.

Saint Mars cried out in shock:

"I remember what his ability is!"

"Although his bizarre form differs greatly from the Human-Beast Form of that fruit, there is no doubt that this fellow's ability is the Red Dragon."

"An ability that should have been given to a member of the God Knights back then was accidentally lost, never expecting he would obtain it."

"As long as one is in a place where ley line energy exists, a user of the Red Dragon Fruit can absorb ley line energy without limit to repair themselves."

"Under suitable battlefield conditions, it is a nearly invincible ability!"

"Red Dragon..."

Saint Warcury's expression also gradually turned Solemn in this moment:

"If I remember correctly, this is what we got from that old bastard Britannias back then..."

"Ah."

Saint Satan nodded, his gaze falling upon the ruins in the projected image.

His vision seemed to pierce through the rubble, seeing Gao Wen buried beneath the earth.

"In other words, this fellow possesses a certain degree of immortality; coupled with his current combat power sufficient to contend with the Jin Shizi, directly eliminating him to eradicate future troubles has become nearly impossible..."

"Even if we personally make a move, we might be able to repel him, but capturing or killing him will be very difficult to achieve."

"Things have become troublesome; how do we handle this now? Should the Demon-Slaying Order continue to be executed?"

Saint Mars, standing nearby, knitted his brows tightly, thinking more than the others:

"That fellow Kuzan is also in Water Seven right now, obviously targeting the commoners there; if the Demon-Slaying Order continues, that fellow might truly end up standing completely on the side opposite to ours."

"Which means."

"After this incident, there will be two more unstable factors at the Yonko level on the seas!"

"No!"

"If the Jin Shizi is still alive, then that makes..."

"Three!"

Saint Nusjuro gripped the long blade in his hand, his expression shifting between gloom and brightness; although the Guanshi Zhengzong in Gao Wen's hand reminded him of certain unpleasant memories, having ruled the world for many years, he gradually calmed down at this moment:

"Let's ask That Person for instructions; you have no objections, do you?!"

"None!"

"Agreed!"

A few minutes earlier.

Water Seven.

Law stood at the peak of a nearby building; although he was far enough away to avoid being caught up in the Jin Shizi's attack,

the power before him, like a god striking out and flattening half the city in an instant, still made him feel an indescribable fear from the depths of his soul.

"This is... the Jin Shizi?!"

"This fellow, this fellow, this fellow..."

Law's hands trembled initially; his body had gone limp from fear, and he barely managed to stand upright without collapsing by leaning on the long blade in his hand.

Yet the scene before his eyes had been etched into the bottom of his heart like a nightmare.

"How on earth am I supposed to defeat this kind of fellow?!"

Originally, Roubo Luqi's nearly paranoid confidence in Gao Wen had stirred a trace of inappropriate expectation within his heart.

He expected that the Jin Shizi was also just a human, expected that he might suffer defeat, or even just show the slightest hint of decline.

But now.

Even Gao Wen, who in his heart and in Roubo Luqi's heart had already become so powerful as to be unbeatable, was so powerless against the Jin Shizi.

Suppressed by the Jin Shizi from start to finish, heavily wounded time and again, until now completely fallen.

"Bepo..."

Law murmured.

Recalling his companions' fate and realizing he might never gain enough strength in his lifetime to avenge them, Law at this moment didn't even know what meaning remained in his living.

The belief supporting him perhaps consisted only of the will mentioned by the Jin Shizi: to kill Donquixote Doflamingo and avenge Rosinante.

As for the Jin Shizi...

He no longer dared to think about it.

Yet at this very moment.

An aura that made Law's scalp go numb emanated from beneath the ruins.

He felt the building beneath his feet trembling slightly, as if even it had generated an emotion named fear at this moment.

"That fellow... didn't die?"

Law found it hard to believe; like a man grabbing a lifebuoy after falling into water, he clung to that last sliver of hope tightly, very tightly:

"He hasn't lost yet!"

At this very moment.

He realized that the person who least wished for Gao Wen's defeat was actually himself, the enemy.

If he could witness the Jin Shizi's finale, he would be willing to die right here!

Boom!

The earth began to tremble at this moment, and the smile on the Jin Shizi's face high in the sky froze instantly.

"So it's not over yet?!"

The Jin Shizi lowered his gaze to look below; before even seeing Gao Wen's figure, a Conqueror's Haki far stronger than before surged up from underground toward the sky.

Yet it was not an ordinary eruption of Conqueror's Haki spreading outward in a sphere; instead, it condensed into a single stream, charging directly at him high in the sky!

"Interesting!"

"Too interesting!"

"Knight Gao Wen, I acknowledge you!"

"Hahahahaha—!"

"You are qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with that fellow Luo Jie; in this boring era, only you still hold some interest!"

The same overwhelming aura erupted from the Jin Shizi, colliding head-on with Gao Wen's aura that had surged toward the heavens.

Crack—crack—crack—!

Crimson lightning flickered through the void, splitting the sky evenly in two as both forces strained against each other.

After several breaths.

Both auras shattered simultaneously; the shockwave surged outward, blasting away the rubble covering Gao Wen and clearing a battlefield for the two.

At this moment, whether Gao Wen and the Jin Shizi locked in combat, or the onlookers Luo, Red Dog, and the Five Elders, all knew this was the final battle!

"Now it begins."

"Second round!"

(End of Chapter)