"Donations? What donations?"
Sengoku couldn't wait to ask, eyes burning as he stared at the messenger.
But the moment the words left his mouth, he realized he'd overreacted. Seeing the messenger's odd expression and the half-smiling gazes of those around him, Sengoku cleared his throat twice to cover the awkwardness, then quickly shifted his tone to one of official seriousness.
"Hmm, donations, right? The Member Nations are too kind. Rebuilding Marineford is supposed to be an internal matter for the Marines. It wouldn't be appropriate to casually accept donations from them..."
Tsuru rolled her eyes at his pretentious act, and Zephyr's mouth twitched in silent protest.
The messenger nodded as if having a sudden epiphany and said with admiration,
"I see. Admiral Sengoku truly is a role model for all Marines... I'll go refuse them immediately."
He turned to leave.
"Wait..."
Sengoku's expression shifted, and he blurted out instinctively.
"Ahem, on second thought, since this is the Member Nations showing their goodwill, it wouldn't be right to reject them so casually... Wouldn't you agree, Fleet Admiral Kong?"
He turned to Kong with a slightly embarrassed look.
Kong's mouth twitched before he turned his face away in silence.
Sengoku: ...
Everyone: ...
...
While Sengoku and the others were figuring out how to accept military aid while still maintaining Marine dignity, over on Daren's side...
Yakigashi Island.
Daren put away the Den Den Mushi fitted with windproof goggles. With a casual flick of his hand, the Cursed Sword Enma transformed into a streak of black light and flew back to him.
Just as he was about to head back, Daren suddenly frowned. But then, the corner of his mouth curled into an intrigued smile.
"I thought Linlin would be the one to come after me... but it's you?"
He slowly turned around, eyes settling on the ruins of Fukkura Town in the distance.
Amid the scorched rubble, a tall figure loomed within the billowing black smoke.
"You destroy Fukkura Town, kill so many of my brothers, and think you can just walk away alive?"
Amid heavy, deliberate footsteps, a spiked black boot emerged from the smoke.
Next came a pair of long legs in black leather pants.
His upper body was bare, muscles bulging, covered in blood-red tattoos.
Short dark red hair, a large scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face.
Eyes bloodshot and filled with an indescribable fury and murderous intent, locked dead on Daren.
Carrying a trident in one hand, the young man stepped from the sea of flames, radiating a powerful, lethal aura.
"Are you sure you can stop me, First Mate of the Big Mom Pirates... Charlotte Katakuri?"
Daren spoke with a faint smile, though a flicker of genuine excitement flashed deep in his gaze.
If that crazy woman Big Mom wasn't coming herself, he didn't mind a fight with Katakuri.
He hadn't forgotten—this imposing guy in front of him ranked just below Kaidou on the charts.
A freak with virtually no weaknesses in the original storyline. Someone who had pushed Observation Haki to the level of future sight. He just might be useful in Daren's training.
After all, his own Observation Haki had only just awakened. It was the weakest among his abilities.
The only question was—had this Katakuri, who looked barely twenty, already mastered the future-sight level of Observation Haki?
"That's not a question of 'if.'"
Charlotte Katakuri suddenly lifted his head, eyes flashing with a terrifying killing intent. He gripped his trident tightly.
He stepped forward.
Boom!!
The air exploded as Katakuri hurled the trident "Mogura" with full force, sending it screaming through the air toward Daren.
"I must kill you... and use your corpse to mourn my brothers!!"
Backed by superhuman strength, the trident pierced the air, flying so fast it ripped shockwaves into the atmosphere.
In an instant, it was almost upon him.
Szzzt... szzzt...
Streams of blue electricity crackled across Daren's body, vanishing into the void.
Boom!
The trident halted mid-air, just five centimeters from his face—blocked by some invisible force.
The violent gust trailing behind it whipped Daren's hair and cape into a frenzy, kicking up a cloud of dust around him.
Electricity danced along the trident's surface, its shaft trembling wildly.
A defiant grin suddenly broke across the Vice Admiral's face.
"You really are the spawn of that lunatic Linlin. Just your raw strength alone is already impressive... But if this is all you've got, you're still nowhere near avenging your brothers."
"Shut up!!"
As if provoked, Katakuri snapped coldly and vanished from his spot with a sharp burst of speed.
In the next instant, he reappeared right in front of Daren, his fist wrapped in black-and-red Armament Haki, swinging down hard toward Daren's face.
Daren grinned savagely and met the attack head-on with a punch of his own.
Bang!!
The two collided in midair with meteor-like force, their black fists slamming together and unleashing a storm of power.
Purple-red lightning crackled outward from the point of impact, ripping across the battlefield. The ground split and crumbled beneath them, and a hellish gale swept across several kilometers.
A head-on clash of Conqueror's Haki!
Crack!
A subtle fracture echoed from Katakuri's arm.
He let out a stifled grunt, his right foot stepping back, a serious gleam flashing through his eyes.
This guy's strength... was insane!
It felt like the same crushing pressure he got from Big Mom herself!
"If you want to kill me, that's still not enough, Katakuri."
Daren bared his teeth in a smirk.
"Damn it!"
Katakuri cursed under his breath, his eyes narrowing sharply.
He reached out and grabbed the trident Mogura still suspended in the air. In an instant, his entire right arm morphed into a white mass of mochi, coiling around the weapon's shaft as he drove it fiercely toward Daren's abdomen.
The mochi spun and twisted rapidly, turning the trident into a spiraling lance that tore through the air like a dragon.
"Mochi Tsuki!"
Daren's expression didn't change. He extended his left hand calmly.
His three fingers turned pitch black as he unleashed Ryusoken with flawless control, seizing the high-speed, rotating trident mid-flight.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew as metal screeched against hardened Haki, lighting up Katakuri's murderous expression and the amused smirk curling at the corner of Daren's mouth.
"Honestly, a bit underwhelming."
Daren's right hand suddenly lunged for Katakuri's face—but instead of warm flesh, he felt something soft and sticky.
Half of Katakuri's face had transformed into writhing mochi, and his lone visible eye glowed with an eerie red light.
This is...
Daren frowned at first, then suddenly, realization struck—his eyes lit up.
Observation Haki... future sight!
He'd used Observation Haki to foresee Daren's move and preemptively altered his body into mochi... replicating a Logia-like effect through sheer instinct and precision!
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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