“What…
is that?” Leonard stared blankly at the invisible waves surrounding Nate’s fist.
Armament coating?
But the brat’s forearm was already pitch-black from Hardening.
Why would he need another layer of Armament Haki on top of that?
“That’s why I called you a frog at the bottom of a well.” Nate looked at him with almost pitying eyes.
For the vast majority of Haki users, Armament Hardening was already the limit.
It wasn’t merely because most people couldn’t go any further.
Very few even knew that higher-level Armament Haki techniques existed.
“A frog in a well?” Leonard grinned savagely.
“Arrogant little brat.
You think some fancy trick is enough to scare me?” His legs shattered the ground as he launched himself upward like a cannonball.
In the next instant, his huge body came crashing down like a meteor, both hands gripping the battle axe as he swung with terrifying force.
“Die!” Nate casually raised his left hand.
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet exploded instantly.
Rocks of every size flew outward like cannonballs as thick cracks spread across the courtyard like a giant spiderweb.
Behind them, the magnificent palace shook violently and began collapsing.
“HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!” Leonard’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as a roar of disbelief tore from his throat.
His full-power strike had been caught.
The razor-sharp edge of his Haki-coated axe was being held effortlessly in Nate’s long, slender left hand.
How could something like this be possible?
“That’s why I said…” Nate grinned freely.
“A frog at the bottom of a well could never understand how vast the world really is.” ‘I’m terrifyingly strong right now.’ Instructor Zephyr hadn’t exaggerated at all.
Nate already possessed far more Haki than an ordinary person.
The moment he mastered Flowing Armament Haki, his combat strength underwent a genuine qualitative leap.
Even learning Internal Destruction later couldn’t possibly provide another increase this dramatic.
That would merely be the finishing touch.
Once Nate could freely gather Haki from across his entire body and concentrate it wherever he wanted, both his offensive and defensive power rose tremendously.
“What bullshit!
The world isn’t that vast!” Shock and fury nearly drove Leonard out of his mind.
He released his battle axe altogether and swung a fist straight at Nate.
Armament Haki surged around Nate’s right leg.
Combined with Soru’s explosive acceleration, it propelled his entire body forward like lightning.
Leonard saw only a black blur.
Then Nate was already directly in front of him.
‘What’s with that line?’ ‘Who do you think you are, Zoro?’ “Serious Punch.” Tiny arcs of Haki lightning danced from Nate’s pitch-black right fist.
The invisible force surrounding it suddenly became violent as he threw the punch.
The air itself seemed to collapse beneath the pressure.
Before Nate’s fist even physically struck him, Leonard felt a tremendous force slam into his chest as though it intended to crush his entire body.
Leonard’s eyes widened.
A memory from four years ago suddenly surfaced.
Back then, he’d stormed through Paradise and entered the New World in unstoppable fashion.
People across the seas had called him a pirate super rookie.
Filled with ambition, Leonard had immediately set his sights on challenging the great pirate Big Mom.
He never even got to meet her.
One of that monster’s sons had annihilated the Leonard Pirates before he could reach her.
Leonard had survived only through sheer luck.
And the helplessness he’d felt back then…
It was exactly the same as now.
‘This brat—’ Nate’s fist struck his chest like a meteor.
CRACK!
Leonard’s sternum collapsed instantly, followed by his spine snapping under the force.
His back bulged outward grotesquely, almost like rubber being stretched from the inside.
BOOM!!
Leonard was launched away at such tremendous speed that ordinary people wouldn’t have even been able to follow him with their eyes.
The released Haki expanded into a devastating shockwave.
The already collapsing palace was completely pulverized in an instant, yet the blast continued forward without losing momentum.
Everything in its path was crushed.
Starting from Nate’s position, a fan-shaped corridor several hundred meters long was carved straight through the area.
“Haa…” Nate released a long breath as the Haki around his fist dispersed.
‘That punch felt even better than hitting Luna.’ After Koby’s explosive growth on Hachinosu, he’d been able to shatter the Corrupt King’s enormous stone arm with a single punch.
Nate didn’t think he was incapable of something similar now.
‘Leonard was around Tobiroppo level.’ ‘If I can crush someone like him using Haki alone, then I’ve at least stepped into Sweet Commander or All-Star territory.’ Dream projections didn’t mesh particularly well with close-quarters martial arts, but if Nate fought with absolutely everything available to him, reaching the level of an Emperor’s right-hand man shouldn’t be a problem.
Still…
‘Attacks that dump huge amounts of Haki into one massive shockwave should probably be used sparingly.’ ‘That’s just wasteful.’ …
Beyond the ruined palace—or rather, beyond what remained of the palace walls—the larger battle had only just reached its peak.
Pirates who’d received Leonard’s summons were flooding toward the area like a tide.
The Marine officers stood between them and the palace.
The good news was that the pirates hadn’t broken and fled.
They were still obeying their captain’s final order and gathering for battle.
The bad news was…
There were a lot of them.
“What was—” Rear Admiral Marcus had just cut down one of Leonard’s lower-ranking officers when he froze and stared toward the palace.
“What the hell?” The entire palace had suddenly been blown away.
And that enormous, surging force…
‘Was that Haki?’ Zephyr stood atop a nearby building.
Below him, every senior officer of the Leonard Pirates already lay scattered across the ground.
He’d only recently begun rebuilding his combat condition, but opponents at this level still couldn’t withstand even a casual punch from him.
Now, however, even the commander of the Marine Guerrilla Unit was staring toward the ruined palace in surprise.
That surprise quickly turned into a smile.
Zephyr’s lips rose higher and higher until a brilliant grin spread across his face.
“Excellent, Nate!” He’d always been confident in Nate.
Even so, Zephyr had assumed the boy would need a difficult battle before finally breaking through.
Apparently…
He’d underestimated Nate yet again.
“Was that him?” Doll kicked several pirates away and couldn’t hide the amazement in her eyes.
‘So he succeeded?’ ‘He mastered Advanced Armament Haki?’ How long had it even been?
‘What a monster.’ At least all that ridiculous effort hadn’t gone to waste.
“Perfect opening!” A pirate suddenly charged from the side and swung his sword.
Doll frowned.
‘Can’t you see I’m busy being impressed here?’ “Sound Soul Impact!” The pirate immediately flew backward, crashing through several of his companions.
Doll didn’t even have time to catch her breath before more pirates surged forward.
“Don’t be scared!
There are only a few of them!” “Kill them!” If nothing else, the Leonard Pirates were remarkably stubborn.
“There are still this many?” A relaxed voice drifted across the battlefield.
Doll looked back.
Nate was standing casually atop what remained of the palace wall, holding a huge man whose body had gone completely limp like a pile of mud.
“Instructor Zephyr.” Nate casually tossed Leonard onto the ground.
“You guys are pretty slow.” Leonard was already dead.
Nate had gotten a little too excited after his breakthrough and put far too much strength into that punch.
It was honestly somewhat unfortunate.
Leonard had been a Tobiroppo-level fighter.
Given the chance, Nate might have been able to develop him into another useful hub.
“I didn’t expect you to finish that quickly either.” Zephyr’s smile remained bright.
“In that case, I’ll leave this side to you too, Nate.” He gave Nate a meaningful look.
“Use that technique.
With your current strength, you should be able to finish them all at once, right?” “Being too exceptional really does create extra work.” Nate’s drooping eyelids gradually lifted, his normally unfocused eyes sharpening.
‘Is this the burden geniuses are forced to bear?’ Buzz!
An invisible pressure erupted from Nate like a massive tidal wave and swept across the pirate horde.
In an instant, large numbers of pirates collapsed with foam spilling from their mouths.
The tiny minority who barely managed to remain conscious still lost all strength in their bodies and crumpled helplessly to the ground.
Within moments, several thousand pirates had effectively lost the ability to fight.
Nate nodded in satisfaction.
‘Luffy knocked out fifty thousand people at once on Fish-Man Island.’ ‘If I couldn’t even handle a few thousand, that would be embarrassing.’ “This is…” Doll stared blankly at Nate.
“Conqueror’s Haki?” ‘This guy…’ …
Some time later, all five massive Marine warships had docked along the shore.
Marine soldiers rapidly disembarked and began arresting the incapacitated pirates.
The only problem was the sheer number of prisoners.
By the time they finished, the detention holds at the bottoms of all five warships were completely packed.
“Hey, Nate!” Binz approached him excitedly near the shoreline.
“Did you really defeat Black Axe Leonard by yourself?” Nate was currently experimenting with gathering Haki into different parts of his body.
Mastering Flowing Armament Haki didn’t mean his training was finished.
Faster.
More efficient.
More powerful.
There was still plenty to improve.
“He was just some pirate.” Nate spared enough attention to answer Binz.
“Was he supposed to be difficult?” “You bastard!” Binz burst out laughing.
“That’s amazing!
He was a huge pirate with a bounty over five hundred million Berries!” “Nate…” Ain, who had come over with Binz, suddenly spoke.
Nate looked toward her.
“Over there.” Ain raised her hand and pointed into the distance.
Nate followed her finger.
Behind the ruined walls stood several thin, filthy elderly people dressed in rags, cautiously peeking toward the Marines.
The moment they noticed Nate looking at them, fear appeared across their faces.
They immediately ran away.
“They’re citizens of this country, right?” Binz frowned.
“We rescued them, didn’t we?
Couldn’t they at least say thank you?” “Not us, Binz.” Nate answered calmly.
“Mostly me.” “Then everyone else.” “You were watching.” “Hey!” Binz nearly exploded.
Nate quietly looked away.
He could completely understand those people’s reaction.
For citizens of nations outside the World Government, the Marines could sometimes be even more frightening than pirates.
There were probably still tens of thousands of people living on this island.
Nate briefly considered bringing them into the Dream World.
There was no doubt they would be unable to resist the happiness it offered.
But after thinking about it, he abandoned the idea.
The reason was simple.
This country was already finished.
The Leonard Pirates were gone, but countless other hyenas would inevitably swarm in once they smelled weakness.
And Nate had no spare force capable of protecting the island indefinitely.
He couldn’t constantly watch this place and descend through someone’s consciousness whenever trouble appeared.
‘If I did that, I might as well stop doing everything else and spend my life cleaning up after this country.’ Besides, Ruens was far too close to territory actually controlled by the World Government.
‘Better to wait for Luna’s operation.’ Regardless, once every pirate had been arrested, the five Marine warships gradually pulled away from the island.
“Hey!
Nate!
Look!” Binz suddenly shouted.
“Hm?” Nate glanced back in surprise.
The island was already growing distant.
Yet the shoreline was now densely packed with people.
They were too far away for their voices to reach the ships, but their actions were unmistakable.
Some were bowing.
Some were waving.
Others were shouting something toward the departing fleet.
“Hahahaha!” Binz laughed loudly.
“They all came to see us off!” He grinned.
“So this is how heroes get treated?” ‘Heroes, huh?’ The corner of Nate’s mouth rose slightly.
“Like I said, Binz.” “This has nothing to do with you.” Then Nate turned his gaze back toward the sea.
‘Marine Nate is supposed to become a great hero, after all.’ … …