The giant octopus Sea King was enraged.
One of its colossal tentacles had been severed in a single strike.
Pain lanced through its body.
Then came humiliation.
A tiny human had wounded it.
Worse, that same human had casually announced his intention to eat it.
The insult was unbearable.
The sea exploded into motion.
Beneath the surface, dozens of massive tentacles churned through the water, whipping the ocean into a frenzy.
Waves surged outward in every direction.
Nearby Sea Kings immediately fled.
Even predators had instincts.
And every instinct was screaming that something dangerous was about to happen.
The giant octopus attacked.
WHOOSH!
A tentacle crashed down from above.
Then another.
And another.
The assault escalated into a relentless storm.
Each strike carried enough force to shatter massive boulders and pulverize the coastline.
The beach vanished beneath a rain of destruction.
Sand, stone, and seawater erupted into the air.
Yet in the middle of the chaos, Rowan barely moved.
Observation Haki flowed outward like an invisible tide.
Every twitch of muscle.
Every shift in water pressure.
Every subtle movement of the creature’s enormous body.
Nothing escaped his perception.
To Rowan, the attacks felt slow.
Predictable.
A single step carried him out of danger.
A slight tilt of his shoulders avoided another strike.
A small shift of weight let a tentacle crash harmlessly past him.
Each movement was economical.
Effortless.
The giant octopus unleashed enough force to level the shoreline, yet it couldn’t touch him.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Tentacles smashed into the earth one after another.
The coastline disappeared beneath clouds of dust and flying debris.
The octopus pressed its attack relentlessly, convinced its prey had finally been crushed beneath the barrage.
Then—
A roar split the air.
“ROOOOOOOAR!”
It wasn’t human.
It wasn’t even animal.
It was something older.
Something primal.
The roar of a predator that stood at the very peak of the food chain.
A violent shockwave burst outward.
The dust cloud detonated.
Sand and debris were swept away like leaves before a hurricane.
And for the first time, the giant octopus hesitated.
Standing where Rowan had been moments earlier was a towering silver-white beast.
The Behemoth.
More than twenty meters tall.
Its immense frame dominated the shoreline.
Silver fur gleamed beneath the sun.
Mountain-like muscles shifted beneath its hide.
Gigantic claws curved from its hands like weapons forged for gods.
The air itself seemed heavier in its presence.
The giant octopus suddenly understood something.
It wasn’t the hunter.
It was the prey.
It had wandered into another monster’s territory.
And it was far too late to leave.
The Behemoth moved.
CRASH!
A massive hand shot forward and seized one of the octopus’s tentacles.
The grip tightened.
Muscles bulged.
Then Rowan pulled.
The force was so overwhelming that the ocean itself seemed to groan.
TERRRRRK!
The tentacle tore free.
Not cut.
Not sliced.
Torn away through raw physical power.
The severed limb crashed onto the shoreline with the force of a collapsing building.
The giant octopus shrieked.
Before it could react, Rowan grabbed another tentacle.
Then another.
Then another.
Blood sprayed across the sea.
The water turned crimson.
Each limb was ripped apart as if it were nothing more than wet paper.
Panic finally overwhelmed the Sea King.
Food?
Who cared about food?
Survival was all that mattered now.
It tried to retreat.
To dive.
To escape back into the depths where it belonged.
Anything.
Everything.
The giant creature abandoned all thoughts of fighting and desperately sought a path to safety.
But Rowan wasn’t about to let his meal swim away.
A feral grin spread across the Behemoth’s face.
Its claws dug deep into the Sea King’s flesh.
The octopus thrashed wildly.
Towering waves erupted around its body.
The ocean raged.
The island trembled.
None of it mattered.
Rowan’s feet remained planted firmly on the earth.
Like a mountain.
Unmoving.
Unshakable.
The ground continuously fed stamina into his body.
The longer the struggle lasted, the more advantageous it became for him.
Then Rowan pulled.
Hard.
The ocean erupted.
The giant octopus was dragged bodily from the sea.
Its enormous body crashed onto the shoreline.
BOOOOOOM!
The island shook violently.
Trees swayed.
Loose rocks rolled down nearby cliffs.
The Sea King fought desperately.
Remaining tentacles wrapped around Rowan’s arm.
His torso.
His shoulders.
Anything they could reach.
It didn’t help.
The difference in strength was simply too great.
The octopus couldn’t stop him.
It couldn’t even slow him down.
A gigantic fist rose into the sky.
Then came down like a falling meteor.
BOOM!
The impact shattered the ground.
The octopus screamed.
Another punch followed.
BOOM!
Then another.
BOOM!
And another.
BOOM!
Each strike landed with catastrophic force.
Shockwaves raced across the coastline.
Cracks spread through the earth.
The island trembled beneath the relentless barrage.
The Sea King’s resistance weakened.
Its movements slowed.
Its screams grew quieter.
Until finally—
Silence.
The giant octopus stopped moving.
Dead.
A Sea King nearly a hundred meters tall had been beaten to death with bare hands.
Had anyone witnessed the scene, they would have mistaken it for the work of one of the Yonko.
For several moments, only the sound of crashing waves remained.
Then the giant beast began to shrink.
Silver fur receded.
The colossal frame diminished.
A few breaths later, Rowan stood on the shattered coastline once more in human form.
He surveyed the battlefield.
The octopus’s head had been crushed inward.
The shoreline was unrecognizable.
Cracks stretched across the landscape for hundreds of meters.
The devastation resembled the aftermath of a natural disaster.
And he had caused all of it.
Rowan folded his arms.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“I’ve come a long way.”
The difference between his current self and the prince who had washed ashore five years ago was immeasurable.
But he wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he’d reached the summit.
Not even close.
“Admiral level is still a long way off.”
His voice remained calm.
Matter-of-fact.
“The sea doesn’t care how strong you think you are.”
There was no room for complacency in this world.
Five years of relentless training had pushed him to extraordinary heights.
The Behemoth Fruit had played a massive role.
Unlike many Mythical Zoans, the Behemoth possessed no elemental abilities.
No tricks.
No shortcuts.
No flashy powers.
Everything had been invested into the basics.
Strength.
Defense.
Recovery.
Endurance.
The result was terrifying.
Even before transforming, Rowan’s physical abilities had reached a level that most fighters could never hope to achieve.
And because of Child of the Earth, he could train harder than almost anyone else.
While others exhausted themselves and rested, Rowan recovered.
Then trained again.
Day after day.
Year after year.
Five years without distraction.
Five years devoted entirely to growth.
The results spoke for themselves.
His base physical strength now rivaled the elite Vice Admirals of Marine Headquarters.
And that was only his human form.
Once he entered his Hybrid Behemoth Form, his combat power rose even further.
More importantly, he had successfully mastered both Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
Swordsmanship.
Haki.
The Behemoth.
The three pillars of his strength had finally taken shape.
Combined with his overwhelming durability and near-endless stamina in ground combat, Rowan was confident he could defeat an elite Vice Admiral in a direct confrontation.
At long last, his foundation was complete.
He turned his gaze toward the horizon.
Beyond the endless sea.
Beyond the clouds.
Toward a sky island ruled by a self-proclaimed god.
Enel.
Rowan slowly clenched his fist.
A smile appeared on his face.
“This should be enough.”
The wind tugged at his hair.
The sea stretched endlessly before him.
Five years of preparation had led to this moment.
“Time to pay Enel a visit.”
His eyes gleamed with anticipation.
The Goro Goro no Mi.
The most important piece of his future.
The Devil Fruit that would complete the first stage of his plan.
The hunt had officially begun.