"Kaidou-sama, help me!"
The shrill, gut-wrenching scream rang out like a pig being slaughtered, mixed with the deep, resonant roar of the Ancient Zoan Brachiosaurus. It echoed across all of Onigashima.
Queen didn't know why he screamed so shamefully—but he knew that if he didn't, he probably wouldn't get another chance.
All the fat on his body probably wasn't even enough to last through one proper beating from the monster in front of him!
"..."
Hearing Queen's roar, the pirates in the distance were dumbfounded, jaws dropping to the ground.
Even Daren himself paused slightly, his gaze turning odd.
From the North Blue to Paradise, from Paradise to the New World...
Over the years, he had faced countless opponents—powerful, insane, bloodthirsty, cruel, bizarre. But this was the first time he'd encountered someone quite so... "honest" as this fat man in suspenders.
"Very good."
A bold, unrestrained smile tugged at the corners of Daren's lips.
As his body lowered slightly, his legs stomped the earth like a Tyrannosaurus.
BOOM!
The ground within ten meters instantly collapsed.
Using that overwhelming recoil, the black-haired youth turned into a vicious, sharp shadow and shot forward like a launched shell.
Explosions of white sonic booms rippled in his wake—his speed broke the sound barrier in an instant. The compressed air pressure even carved a long, deep groove into the ground beneath him.
"So fast!"
Queen's pupils contracted.
The speed Daren just showed was frighteningly close to Kaidou-sama's Raimei Hakke!
While cursing Kaidou's unreliability in his heart, Queen quickly shifted into his human-beast form.
His mechanical arms ignited with orange flame as he threw out a full-powered punch!
"Bridal Grapper!"
BOOM!
A huge and a smaller fist collided midair, detonating a massive shockwave like a comet slamming into the earth.
A tidal wave of dust rose from the ground, but Queen's bloodshot eyes were filled with hope.
"I blocked it!"
His eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but grin smugly.
If it weren't for all those beatings he'd taken from Kaidou-sama, he'd never have been able to keep up with this kind of explosive speed.
No way his Observation Haki alone could've handled it!
"Is that so?"
A low chuckle came from directly ahead.
Queen froze.
And then, sensing something, his expression suddenly changed.
"Your Haki?!"
Zzzzz—
Black and red Haki suddenly surged from Daren's fist.
Before Queen's bulging eyes, he watched in horror as long, fine cracks spread across his mechanical arm—despite it being reinforced with high-tech materials and Armament Haki.
The wind tossed Daren's black hair wildly.
From just a step away, Daren grinned menacingly at Queen and said,
"Try not to scream too loud."
"Huh?"
Queen blinked.
Before he could react, Daren's eyes sharpened.
The muscles in his arm suddenly bulged—thick cords of muscle writhing like giant serpents beneath his skin.
His entire right arm swelled several times its normal size.
He threw a devastating punch.
"Giant's Body..."
CRACK!
Queen's high-tech mechanical arm shattered completely—blasting into fragments across the air.
In that frozen instant, Queen's tightly contracted pupils reflected the image of a massive, dark fist rapidly expanding toward his face.
BANG!
The blow hit like a sledgehammer—
Two teeth shattered on impact. His whole face distorted like ripples in a pond.
And then—
All that force was suddenly redirected down, driven like thunder straight into the earth.
"Blue Hole!"
BOOM!!
Queen's skull slammed into the solid ground in brutal fashion.
The overwhelming impact left his pupils glazed and unfocused.
At the center where Daren's fist landed, the ground within a one-kilometer radius cracked and collapsed—sending up an avalanche of debris.
Dust and rubble surged skyward like a tidal wave.
"Hiss!!"
The pirates blasted away by the shockwave clutched their heads, eyes fixed on the terrifying scene, collectively sucking in a sharp breath.
With an attack that brutal, there's no way Queen survived that!
The fierce wind blew the smoke and dust aside.
What they saw was Queen, back in his human form, lying in the rubble, face covered in blood and gasping heavily for air.
With a loud thud, a heavy military boot suddenly stomped down on his soft belly, sending ripples through the flesh with a squelching duang.
Queen gasped, then broke into a violent coughing fit, blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
"You rejected my offer. Should I just kill you now?"
Daren looked down at Queen from above, smiling pleasantly.
Queen gritted his teeth.
"You call yourself a Marine using brute force like this!?"
"Sorry—I'm a criminal now."
Daren took a slow drag of his cigar and shrugged.
"And criminals don't follow the rules."
Queen's eyes widened.
He had always known this guy's personality and style were a poor fit for the Marines, but now that he had truly fallen into the path of a criminal, the sheer sense of menace he exuded was overwhelming!
This lawless life of crime... suited this lunatic all too well!
"—Let him go!"
A deep, chilling voice suddenly rang out from the sky.
The gloomy clouds above began to glow with a reddish hue, then blazed brighter and brighter, lighting up the entire sky.
A black Pteranodon streaked through the heavens. As its sharp head reared back, it unleashed a blazing orange-red laser beam!
"Tempuraudon!"
"…Took you long enough."
Daren looked up, raising an eyebrow.
With a flick of his fingers, a shard of metal shot away, and in that instant, arcs of blue electricity surged through the surrounding void.
"Super Railgun!"
In the next moment—
A burst of blue energy exploded out, colliding midair with the red laser!
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the sky, smoke and shockwaves billowing outward.
"You've gone too far, Daren!"
A cold voice pierced the smoke. King, now in human form, shot down from the sky, his longsword engulfed in flames as he brought it crashing down!
Clang!!
The burning blade was caught mid-swing by a pitch-black dragon claw, sparks flying everywhere on impact.
"This is Onigashima—the headquarters of the Beasts Pirates!"
Covered head to toe in black, King locked eyes with Daren and growled,
"This isn't a place where you can do as you please!"
"Oh?"
Daren grinned.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped back slightly. One hand held King's sword in place, while the other drew back, gathering power.
"Then stop me if you can!"
His eyes burned with madness.
With a roar, he drove his fist straight into King's flaming blade!
Clang!
BOOM!
An overwhelming force and surging Haki erupted from the blade, slamming into King like a thunderclap. His grip shattered, blood bursting from his palm!
It was as if he'd been hit broadside by a speeding warship—his body hurled sideways through the air.