Queen's face flushed red with grievance and frustration.
He hadn't done anything wrong!
All he did was follow Kaidou-sama's orders and make those two brats in the prison wish they were dead. He even used the latest viruses he'd developed!
Who could've predicted that the deadly viruses he worked so hard on would actually make them stronger!?
"I'll deal with you later!!"
Kaidou shot the fat man a fierce glare and roared.
His body suddenly began to change in a shocking way—his height shot up by a meter, sharp dragon horns pierced through the skin of his forehead and curled outward, and his entire body became covered in dense blue dragon scales. A thick, powerful dragon tail sprouted from his tailbone.
He had entered his dragon-man form!
As Kaidou transformed, a savage, primal, and violent aura erupted like a tide rising from a sea of corpses. He gripped his kanabō with both hands and swung it with explosive force.
Bulging muscles rippled under his skin, veins protruding.
Daren felt the sudden surge of power through the kanabō and his expression shifted slightly.
"Don't get cocky, Marine brat!!"
Kaidou snarled through gritted teeth.
Zzzzz...
Conqueror's Haki burst from his monstrous body, spiraling around the black kanabō before slamming down with a thunderous crash!
Boom!!
The blast of Haki echoed like distant thunder, and a ripple of white airwaves spread out from the impact.
Daren could no longer withstand the overwhelming force. He was smashed into the ground between the mountain ridges like a cannonball.
It was as if a small meteorite had hit—the terrain within several kilometers collapsed, leaving a massive crater in its wake. Smoke and dust surged into the sky.
Kaidou descended from above, and his immense strength crushed the already cracked ground beneath his feet, forming another deep crater.
Holding his kanabō, Hassaikai, white smoke snorted from his nostrils as he slowly approached the figure rising from the deep pit.
"I don't know what trick you used to boost your strength like this…"
"But if you think that gives you free rein on my turf, you're dead wrong, Marine brat."
Kaidou's blood-red eyes gleamed with murderous intent. Each step he took made the earth tremble, his presence overwhelming.
Black and red lightning crackled around his body, surging outward in bursts, tearing through the heavy clouds above.
"Observation Haki is just the threshold."
"A strong body, beastly strength, and overwhelming Haki... that's what lets me survive in this sea!"
Suddenly, a pitch-black military boot stepped out from the swirling dust.
A gust blew the smoke away, revealing the Vice Admiral, blood dripping from his mouth, wearing a crazed grin.
He laughed wildly, as if he couldn't even feel his injuries.
Bang!
Daren shot forward like a tiger unleashed from its cage.
In a diving attack stance, he charged head-on at the monstrous Great Pirate Kaidou—rather than retreating, he launched a daring counterattack!
"You think I don't know that!?"
Did you really think I came to Wano just to sightsee!?
Daren's injured, pale face turned flush with madness, and his boiling blood pounded in his chest with a euphoric, near-death intensity. His limbs were filled with violent energy.
It worked!
After taking Kaidou's hit head-on, Daren could clearly feel it—his physical stats, which hadn't budged from daily training, were finally changing!
Physique +0.121
Strength +0.183
Speed +0.168
Armament Haki +0.629...
At this rate, if he took a few more hits, he just might break through—he could reach Admiral-level strength!
His current base stats were already sky-high. Even the most intense training hadn't moved the needle.
He was certain that even if Queen injected him with that virus again and he endured the agony, it'd only bump his physique up by about 0.3 points.
And the more injections he took, the less effective they'd become. It wouldn't take long before they stopped working altogether.
But now? This was different!
He had finally found a way to steadily increase his strength!
Or more accurately—
He'd finally found a "Sensei" who could help him train and grow stronger in a stable, reliable way!!
Although the rate of growth wasn't exactly fast—each strike barely raised his stats by even one point—it was still a far cry from the protagonist-level cheat of "Three Strikes with Conqueror's Coating."
But Daren was already more than satisfied.
Come on, Kaidou-sensei!
Even if my bones get shattered and my teeth knocked out, I'm not ending this lesson early!
With a fierce grin, Daren burst forward at full speed, closing the distance to Kaidou in an instant.
He spread his fingers wide, then curled them.
His index and middle fingers pressed together, as did his ring and little fingers, forming a claw infused with overwhelming, destructive power.
Ryusoken...
His three-fingered dragon claw tore through the air, slashing a streak of jet-black light across the void.
Ryusoken—Dragon Claw!
That ferocious offensive, along with the madness burning in his eyes, made Kaidou pause for a split second.
He swung his kanabō upward in a wide arc, blocking the incoming black claw.
Clang!
Sparks flew. A shockwave exploded outward.
"Come on, Kaidou! If you've got the guts, kill me!!"
The sparks lit up the Vice Admiral's bloodied face, his twisted grin full of killing intent. Blood streaked from the corner of his mouth.
"You're asking for it!"
Kaidou's pupils shrank, rage surging from deep within.
Mythical Zoan power burst from his body, shaking Daren to the core and forcing him back. At the same time, his kanabō crackled with a surge of black and red lightning.
"Raimei Hakke!!"
It was a strike coated with Conqueror's Haki!
Black and red lightning instantly consumed everything in front of him. The world seemed to blur as the sheer force of the blow tore through the air itself.
Daren felt a crushing pressure even greater than before. Without hesitation, he unleashed all his Conqueror's Haki to soften the blow.
"Horai Hakke!"
Gripping tightly to the numb, bone-deep fear that came with the brush of death, he threw another punch—this time, with everything he had!
Boom!!
The blast of the shockwave roared like thunder. Kaidou's wild black hair and the Vice Admiral's snow-white cloak whipped violently in opposite directions. Lightning erupted in all directions like fireworks, tearing the clouds above into chaos.
The earth beneath them finally gave out under the sheer force. With a sharp crack, a massive crevice split open—bottomless and stretching for kilometers.
Dust clouded the air as Kaidou, enraged, swung his kanabō again!
The Armament Haki coating Daren's arms shattered inch by inch, bursting into a mist of blood.
His body was flung once more, crashing into a distant cliff face and embedding deep into the mountain rock.
The mountain rumbled violently as fractures spread across its surface. Massive boulders tumbled down the peaks, and the ground trembled.
From afar, Queen watched the scene unfold, his eye twitching as he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Kaidou-sama's gone berserk..."
"Well, that means I should be safe now."
His eyes darted around before he shifted back into his human form. With a smug smile, he casually directed his panicked subordinates to keep extinguishing the fires, lighting a cigar as he did.
"With a blow like that, even an Ancient Zoan like me would be done for... Tsk, tsk, tsk. That Marine's a goner—what the hell!?"
Queen's eyes suddenly went wide, his jaw practically hitting the ground as the cigar hung frozen in midair.
A blood-soaked figure burst out of the rock wall, charging straight at Kaidou again like a madman with no regard for his life!
"What the hell is going on!?"