“[Physique +1]”
Looking at the numbers that automatically floated up in his mind, Carlo could no longer hold back the grin stretching across his face.
An unstoppable wave of wild joy surged in his heart.
“System!
Show me my status panel!”
[Ding!]
[Attribute Panel Opened]
[Physique: 5-Star 58.383 + 1 = 59.383]
[Haki] [Observation: 6-Star 65.275] [Armament: 6-Star 68.002 + 0.2 = 68.202] [Conqueror’s: 7-Star 73.528]
[Devil Fruit: 2-Star 20.212]
[Overall Evaluation: 6-Star] [Remark: In the eyes of top-tier powerhouses, someone like you is, at best, a loli.]
Seeing his Physique attribute jump by a full point from 58.383 to 59.383, Carlo was even happier than when he had extorted ten billion Beli and a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit from Kong.
He completely ignored the system’s venomous remark.
His Physique—tempered through countless grueling sessions without significant progress for months—had finally broken through again thanks to Kaido’s swing.
And it had increased by a whole point at once!
Never underestimate a single attribute point.
Physique was the hardest attribute to raise out of all of them—harder even than Conqueror’s Haki!
It dictated his power, speed, stamina, endurance, and every physical aspect of his growth.
It also heavily influenced the quality of his Haki and his Devil Fruit development.
In Carlo’s eyes, both Kaido’s future belief that “Haki reigns supreme over all” and the manga’s emphasis on the supremacy of Devil Fruit powers were wrong.
Only the body, only one’s raw physique, truly reigned supreme above all!
It was the foundation of everything!
Over the past few years, Carlo had meticulously tempered and forged his body, hoping to break through his physical limits step by step to push his Physique to 7-Star, 8-Star, or even 9-Star.
He wanted to build an indestructible body like Kaido’s future self, or an Iron Balloon body like Charlotte Linlin’s.
However, he was ultimately just a normal human.
And humans had limits!
In the early stages, his training had caused his Physique value to soar.
But once the attribute passed 50, his progress slowed dramatically.
He had reached 50 points in Physique about a year ago.
A full year later, it had only risen by 8 points to reach 58.
In recent months, it had gained a meager 0.3 points!
That agonizingly slow crawl had nearly driven Carlo to despair.
He had begun to wonder if this was truly his limit.
Without a powerhouse physique, his future achievements would be severely capped.
He likely wouldn’t even become an Admiral before he died, let alone seek revenge against Rocks.
But Kaido’s strike had given him hope!
It proved that his physique hadn’t reached its limit at all.
He still had room to grow!
But those sessions had yielded underwhelming results.
It wasn’t because Garp and Sengoku were weaker than the current Kaido, but because they were allies.
They viewed Carlo as a junior recruit.
During spars, they subconsciously held back.
Even Garp, who was the most reckless, wouldn’t throw lethal blows at the child of a deceased Admiral.
Kaido was different.
He fought with absolute, murderous intent, aiming to pulverize Carlo.
The killing intent wrapped around his lightning-shrouded club chilled Carlo to the bone.
Perhaps it was precisely this unrestricted, full-throttle killing intent that stimulated Carlo’s biological instincts, enabling his physique to break through once more.
A single strike was worth months of agonizing training.
By comparison, the 0.2 boost in Armament Haki didn’t even register in Carlo’s mind.
All he could think about was how high he could push his Physique attribute in the upcoming battle.
Gaining a full point per hit…
This was way too profitable!
As expected of the greatest teacher in the pirate world!
“Thank you, Kaido-sensei!”
With a heart full of gratitude, Carlo bared his teeth, scrambled out of the crater, and looked with a beaming smile at the approaching Kaido.
Kaido was baffled by his smile.
Assuming Carlo was mocking him, rage immediately flared in his chest.
“Don’t get cocky, you Marine brat!!”
“My next swing will smash you into meat paste!!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the furious Kaido charged forward with his club.
His seven-meter-tall frame towered over the surrounding two-story buildings.
As he ran, he resembled a stampeding giant beast, recklessly trampling every building in his path to rubble.
The pitch-black club swung wildly down from above, aimed straight for Carlo’s head!
“Shave!” Carlo’s body flashed backward, avoiding the edge of the blow like a teleportation trick.
Right after, he stomped the ground, using Moonwalk to launch himself into the air.
Nimble as a cat, he bounced and turned sharply midair, using a dash to flash behind Kaido and drive a fist straight toward the back of Kaido’s head.
Even though taking Kaido’s previous hit had boosted his Physique by a point, Carlo had no intention of recklessly taking a second one.
Gaining strength was important, but underestimating Kaido could easily lead to disaster.
To be strong, one had to stay alive first.
If you died, everything was gone!
Carlo threw his punch, unleashing the full brunt of his 59 points of strength.
Nearly ten thousand tons of brute force burst forth.
Before the hit even landed, the back of Kaido’s head throbbed with pain.
Kaido didn’t dare take it head-on either.
Seeing Kaido’s giant palm clawing through the air, the corner of Carlo’s mouth twitched.
“Who said you can’t reach your back if your muscles are too big?”
Instead of pulling back, Carlo accelerated his punch.
Fist met palm.
“BOOM!!”
Their terrifying physical strength collided violently.
Although Kaido’s raw physical force was significantly higher than Carlo’s, his awkward angle meant he couldn’t generate full power.
Under Carlo’s strike, Kaido’s left hand was shoved right back.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Carlo threw a sweeping hook, aiming straight for Kaido’s temple.
By then, Kaido had forcibly twisted his massive torso.
The club in his right hand spun a full hundred and eighty degrees, swinging like a flail toward Carlo behind his head.
“Iron Body!
Muscle Balloon!”
Carlo took a deep breath, his pores expanding as he drew in air.
His whole body inflated like a balloon, his muscles bulging outward.
Remarkably, he bounced away Kaido’s incoming club strike.
It was an idea he had adapted from Luffy’s Gear Third in the manga.
While Carlo couldn’t stretch or compress his body like rubber, his flesh—trained to the level of Life Return—could easily handle this degree of muscle inflation.
Using his bulged muscles to bounce off Kaido’s attack once more, Carlo inhaled again, channeling the air in his body toward his right hand.
The next instant, his right fist suddenly swelled to three or four times its original size.
Wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki, it resembled a massive iron sledgehammer swinging directly at Kaido’s face.
“Muscle Armament!
Battering Ram!!”
Kaido tried to lean back to dodge it.
However, Carlo suddenly roared at the top of his lungs, “Real men never dodge a frontal assault!”
“Kaido!
You coward!
You spineless weakling!”
Kaido’s nose nearly twisted in rage.
“Bastard!!
Who are you calling spineless?!
I’m no weakling!!!”
Gritting his teeth, Kaido abandoned dodging.
He stood stock-still, staring with wide, bloodshot eyes as Carlo’s fist hurled toward his face.
“So what if I take your punch?!”
“A soft punch like yours isn’t even worth an itch—”
“BOOM!!!”