If Katakuri's usual fighting style was like that of a swift and powerful cheetah—clean, efficient, and precise in hunting down his prey—then right now, he was a completely different beast.
His bloodshot eyes were laced with a web of crimson veins. He had abandoned all defense, his body radiating nothing but frenzied killing intent.
At this moment, he had only one goal.
—to tear apart the Marine who dared call himself his "father"!
"Die!!"
With eyes glowing red, Katakuri took a brutal step forward.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from sight. Like a bolt of lightning, he reappeared above Daren in a ghostlike flash.
"Chikara Mochi!!"
He punched the air.
Muso Donuts instantly condensed into an enormous mochi fist. Cloaked in Armament Haki, it turned pitch black, dense and unyielding like a falling meteor!
A violent gust of wind slammed down from above. Before the fist even hit, its crushing force had already split the ground beneath.
Daren grinned, lips curled into a wild smile.
A burst of purple lightning surged in his eyes.
Now that his Observation Haki had reached 70 points, it had awakened a new ability through synergy with his biological magnetic field sensing—Magnetic Field Induction. It worked much like the synergy between Observation Haki and the Goro Goro no Mi, amplifying perception through electromagnetic waves.
But while the Goro Goro no Mi focused on extending sensory range, the Jiki Jiki no Mi honed perception to a razor-sharp level.
If you had to compare, then thanks to the Jiki Jiki no Mi's enhancement, Daren's 70-point Observation Haki had reached at least 80 points in precision!
He could see it now...
Crystal clear!
His feet tapped the ground dozens of times in an instant. Daren's figure suddenly shifted sideways and disappeared.
Boom!!
Katakuri's punch slammed down like a collapsing mountain. The full-force strike tore through the town's ground, sending a jagged fissure radiating out from the impact point, swallowing surrounding buildings in a roaring wave of destruction.
Dozens of meters away, Daren skidded back across the ground, his feet carving long trenches into the earth. The moment he regained balance, he shot a sharp glance upward.
His body coiled like a spring wound to its limit. Then—he kicked off the ground with explosive force.
A massive crater erupted beneath his feet, and using the incredible recoil, the Vice Admiral rocketed into the sky like a cannonball.
"I'm going to kill you!!"
Katakuri roared, his voice ragged with fury.
Bloodied fists struck the air rapidly.
Muso Donuts multiplied into nine massive rings, expanding into a swarm of mochi fists that filled the sky and rained down on Daren, who was now streaking through the air.
"Kuzu Mochi!!"
Amid the storm of fists, Daren's eyes flared with surging violet lightning.
The scene before him began to shift.
The blindingly fast barrage of punches—once impossible to follow—now slowed dramatically under the precision boost from his heightened Observation Haki.
Like watching a film in slow motion, every angle and trajectory came into perfect focus.
Then came the spectacle—
The Vice Admiral's figure flickered across the sky, too fast for the naked eye to track, leaving behind a trail of afterimages.
While dodging Katakuri's barrage, he used his flight ability and Geppo to step through the air, charging straight toward his target.
"Hahahaha!! Still not enough—not even close!"
"Today, your dear old man is going to teach you a proper lesson, my son Katakuri!"
Daren let out a classic villain's cackle, deliberately provoking Katakuri to push him into unleashing more power.
In the blink of an eye, he had already closed the gap.
A Haki-clad fist came crashing forward!
But to Daren's surprise, Katakuri didn't retreat or dodge. Instead, rage burning in his eyes, he charged head-on!
He threw a punch too!
Not one conjured by a donut—
—but his own fist!
Both fists aimed straight for each other's heads!
The next second—
Daren tilted his head just slightly.
Katakuri's punch skimmed past his hair.
Bang!!
Daren's fist, however, connected cleanly with Katakuri's face.
The sheer force drove his fist deep into Katakuri's features, snapping his head back as blood burst from his nose and mouth.
If it weren't for his special Paramecia-type body, that punch would've splattered anyone else's skull like a watermelon.
Daren: ???
He didn't dodge?
No, he couldn't dodge.
Katakuri had completely lost his composure—lost control.
His Observation Haki… had failed.
No wonder Daren's own Observation Haki had stopped progressing.
He'd pushed too far. His trash talk had cracked Katakuri's mental defenses entirely.
Kids these days really are too soft. Can't even handle a little emotional damage.
Katakuri had always excelled at calm, calculated combat, dominating his enemies through future-sight and precise moves.
But once he lost his cool, even if his Conqueror's Haki and physical power spiked, his actual combat ability plummeted.
Boom!
Katakuri's body slammed into the ground, blasting out a crater hundreds of meters wide.
The earth shook violently.
Buildings collapsed, smoke and debris filled the air.
Staring at the bloodied, barely conscious Katakuri lying in the rubble, Daren hesitated.
Kill him, or let him live?
He was a Marine, and hunting pirates was his duty.
But Daren wasn't like most Marines.
He followed his own rules.
Katakuri still had a ton of potential. With the right push, he could easily reach Admiral level.
Besides, Daren hadn't fully mastered his own Observation Haki yet. If he killed Katakuri now, where else would he find a teacher this good?
"Why aren't you finishing me off, you damn Marine..."
Katakuri growled through gritted teeth, eyes regaining a flicker of clarity.
Panting heavily, he suddenly roared,
"Just kill me already!!"
The shame of falling in battle, the guilt of failing to avenge his family—it all made death feel like the only answer.
Daren glanced at him and frowned.
Seriously? Giving up already?
Still too young.
After a brief pause, he suddenly grinned.
"I can't bear to."
Katakuri's eyes widened in disbelief as Daren sighed dramatically and said with mock seriousness,
"You're my beloved son, after all... Sure, you're a bit naughty, but have you ever seen a grown-up take a kid's tantrum seriously?"
Katakuri froze.
What the—?!
He vomited a mouthful of thick, dark blood.
Staring at the Vice Admiral in utter shock, he looked like he'd just been hit by lightning.
And then—
"Mamamamama! Daren, I heard you~! So you've finally come around and agreed to be my husband?!"
A sultry, slightly hoarse voice echoed from the distant sky.
Thunderclouds swirled as massive waves formed above, a black vortex churning in the sky, with streaks of violet lightning dancing through the storm.
Daren's mouth twitched.
No hesitation.
He stepped onto Enma's black blade, magnetic fields roaring to life beneath him, and shot away in a streak of black light.
Was she kidding!?
He'd burned through a lot of stamina fighting Katakuri—there was no way he was facing that woman now.
Not that it would've mattered. Even at full strength, he wasn't taking on that lunatic.
He could fight her, sure. But it would be a pain in the ass.
Big Mom's greedy, devouring gaze always gave him the creeps.
Katakuri stared blankly at the rapidly disappearing Vice Admiral.
"I never agreed to that!!"
Daren's voice echoed faintly from the distance, full of frustration.
"Keep dreaming, Charlotte Linlin!!"