On the stone-paved path of the port, electric arcs crackled and darted everywhere, while scorching heatwaves carrying the salty scent of the sea rushed into their faces.
Kaido, standing right at the front, bore the brunt of it, his messy long hair standing on end from the electricity.
“Brat!
You’re not qualified to make me use honorifics with you!”
Kaido swung the kanabō in his hand, wrapped in Armament Haki, and smashed it fiercely toward Charlotte Rector’s head.
But that giant lightning tiger moved even faster than him, and a dazzling silver-white light instantly filled Kaido’s vision.
“Bang!!!”
The giant lightning tiger’s paw slammed solidly onto the top of Kaido’s head.
Violent lightning instantly pierced through his entire body, causing his muscles to twitch uncontrollably under the stimulation of the current.
Kaido was both shocked and enraged in his heart; his Observation Haki hadn’t sensed the attack at all, and nothing was left before his eyes except a dazzling, blinding silver-white light.
The sound of thunder shook the entire port, and the shockwave generated by the thunderstorm swept outward in all directions, kicking up dust all over the sky.
The electric arcs darting across the ground crawled around, and a few pirates who wanted to come forward to help had their legs numbed by electricity the moment they lifted their feet.
Within a ten-meter radius around Kaido, it completely turned into a churning ocean of lightning.
When the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, the pirates finally saw the scene in the middle clearly—Kaido’s entire head was deeply embedded in the ground, and the stone slabs around his head had been melted by the high temperature, coagulating into dark red magma.
Fragmented lightning was still continuously darting across his body, and his body twitched from time to time.
The kanabō in his hand had long since rolled to the side, and the whole person looked like an ostrich with its head buried in the ground.
“Th-This is impossible…”
The port instantly fell into a dead silence.
The pirates who had originally gathered around to watch the commotion all widened their eyes, their chins almost dropping to their insteps.
“Th-That’s Kaido!!”
“A newcomer even Big Mom thinks highly of was actually taken down by him…
in a single move?”
Those who could sit in the position of an officer in the Rocks Pirates had only one standard—being strong enough.
Although Kaido was still just an apprentice in the crew, his strength was already able to suppress the vast majority of pirates on the island, belonging to the very top tier.
Such a powerful Kaido was actually one-shot by the young man in front of them?
A pirate felt like he was dreaming, and pinched his companion’s thigh hard.
Hearing the familiar scream, he dared to confirm that everything in front of him was real.
“Mamamama…
Rector, you’ve already arrived?
Who is this fellow with his head buried in the ground?”
Familiar laughter drifted over from the depths of the island along the street, and Big Mom’s tall figure slowly appeared at the entrance of the port.
She curiously glanced at Kaido, who had his head buried not far away, and her gaze swept across the surrounding crowd.
Her invisible aura pressed down so hard that the pirates present even lightened their breathing.
What shocked everyone even more was that Linlin actually called him Rector.
A pirate in the crowd hurriedly pulled out a stack of wanted posters he was carrying in his arms, rummaging through them flusteredly.
“Found it!
He is Big Mom’s eldest son, the pirate who fought to a draw with Marine Vice Admiral Black Arm Zephyr!”
His trembling voice immediately attracted the attention of everyone around.
When the crowd looked at Rector again, their eyes had changed from initial fear to awe.
“Hey!
You didn’t see wrong, did you?
Black Arm Zephyr is a man with strength on par with the officers!”
A pirate looked incredulous; Rector looked simply too young, so young that they couldn’t possibly associate him with that.
At their age, they were still playing with mud at home!
“It’s real!
It looks exactly like the photo on the wanted poster!”
That pirate held the wanted poster high up, and the people around saw the portrait on it clearly, instinctively taking steps backward.
Those who had just thought of coming forward to help ran faster than rabbits.
Everyone was terrified of being held a grudge against by Rector.
For those pirates on the ground who still retained consciousness, there was only boundless fear left in their hearts; having provoked a powerhouse of this level, the outcome could well be imagined.
“Lady Linlin!
Th-That one with his head buried is Lord Kaido!”
A pirate rubbed his hands and stepped forward, his face piled with a flattering smile.
He was scheming in his heart that if he could get connected with Rector, he could soar to success in the future.
Now was precisely a good opportunity to pledge loyalty!
“You’re saying this thing is Kaido?”
Big Mom pointed at Kaido, whose butt was sticking up on the ground, and glanced at the electric arcs darting across his body.
She didn’t even need to think to know that Rector had done it.
“Mama, I’ve brought everything you wanted.”
Hearing Rector’s voice in the distance, Zeus slowly descended from the air, revealing the bulging large bundle on its back.
Saliva hung from the corners of Big Mom’s mouth.
She had already smelled the aroma of the desserts long ago, and reached into the bundle to pull out a packaged cake, tearing open the packaging and stuffing it straight into her mouth.
“Come with Mama, I’ll introduce a few people to you.”
Big Mom placed Rector on her shoulder and strode toward Skull Rock in the center of Hachinosu.
Zeus followed behind her, and their figures slowly disappeared at the end of the port’s street.
The remaining pirates at the port looked at the more than thirty people lying on the ground with the gaze of looking at fools.
Told you to be arrogant, now you’ve kicked a titanium alloy steel plate, haven’t you!
The complexions of the few people on the ground who still had consciousness instantly turned pale, and fear crawled all over their faces.
Some even just slowly woke up, but upon hearing Rector’s identity again, they were scared fainted right back out.
Without even securing an officer position yet, they had first offended someone of officer level; could they still leave this place alive?
“I almost forgot about you people.
Go to hell!”
Rector’s indifferent voice drifted over from afar, and a clone condensed from lightning landed in front of the thirty-plus pirates.
Over thirty hair-thin bolts of lightning darted out from his fingertips, piercing precisely into each person’s brain and heart.
The next second, the eyes of the thirty-plus people instantly lost their luster, and their life auras quickly dissipated.
Only after everyone’s heartbeat stopped did the lightning clone dissipate.
This scene made the surrounding pirates panic in their hearts.
Rector was even more ruthless than they had expected; when he said he would strike, he struck, leaving no leeway at all.
The exact same thought popped up in everyone’s mind: absolutely never provoke Rector, otherwise there would only be a dead end.
Rector sat on Big Mom’s shoulder, his gaze calm and waveless.
Since they dared to provoke him, there was no reason to spare their lives.
Being merciful to an enemy was being cruel to oneself.
Big Mom naturally also noticed the commotion behind her, but she didn’t care in the slightest.
In the world of pirates, the strong are supreme.
When the weak offend the strong, death is the best ending.
As for Kaido, who was buried in the ground, no one dared to step forward and take him to find a doctor.
Big Mom was the only officer who looked favorably upon Kaido, but now Kaido had offended her son.
If anyone went up to treat Kaido’s injuries and angered Rector, it wouldn’t be worth it.
With the potential Rector had displayed, he would sooner or later grow into an officer of Newgate’s level.
Inside the skull banquet hall of Hachinosu, candlelight spread in circles along the walls, and the air was mixed with the scents of strong liquor, roast meat, and tobacco, while boisterous laughter and cursing rose and fell one after another.
But when Rector’s gaze swept across the hall, an invisible sense of oppression quietly spread out, and the surrounding din lowered by a few notches.
“Ara, is this your son, Linlin?”
“He’s quite cute, isn’t he.”
The woman speaking had light golden, large wavy curly hair, her slender arms resting on the bar counter, and her eyes carried curiosity as she looked Rector up and down.
Looking at the brightly beautiful Gloriosa in front of him, thinking about how decades later, this 1.9-meter-tall gorgeous beauty would turn into a little old woman under one meter tall, Rector couldn’t help but complain inwardly.
(A photo of Gloriosa when she was young!)
Oda really has a wicked sense of humor!
Rector jumped down from Big Mom’s shoulder and landed steadily on the bar counter.
Buckin nearby immediately leaned over, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
“Little brother, are you interested in doing something interesting with big sister?”
Rector smiled slightly and said, “Then are you interested in cooperating with me?
I can give you treasures.”
He looked at Buckin, scheming in his heart—this was experimental material delivered right to his doorstep.
First, draw some blood and send it over to Vegapunk; it could just happen to serve as the first batch of experimental samples for the embryo system.
Hearing the calculations hidden in Rector’s words, Buckin was stunned for a moment.
Where was this the kind of thoughts a six-year-old child should have?
He actually dared to target this old lady.
What a truly interesting brat.