Handing Chopper over to Nami, Orion walked up to Usopp, reached out, and patted his still-trembling shoulder. With an affirming look, he said, "You were truly brave, Usopp. Even in the face of death, you didn't abandon or give up on your comrade. Well done! You are now a qualified Marine warrior of the new era."
Upon hearing this, Usopp's crying abruptly stopped.
He then wiped the tears from his face, sprang up from the ground, stood straight as a rod, and saluted Orion with a crisp, standard military gesture.
Orion smiled and returned the salute.Then, he turned around, his gaze fixed on the distance. The smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a growing murderous intent.
"This war should come to an end now!"
Before his words faded, Orion took a sudden step forward.
Hum—
An overwhelming Conqueror's Haki erupted from Orion as its center, surging outward like an invisible tide, soaring straight into the sky.
Above the darkened heavens, black and red lightning crackled into existence, weaving together into a massive spiderweb that spread in all directions, pressing down like a storm cloud engulfing a city!
...
On a street not yet completely ravaged by the war, several blood-soaked pirate captains desperately dashed out from around a corner.
They had just narrowly avoided a casual slash from Mihawk, and before the relief of survival could even set in, they all halted in unison, their eyes lifting to the sky ahead.
The sky above them had, without warning, transformed into a mix of black and red. Vicious lightning bolts raged like furious dragons over the city, while a terrifying imposing aura, cold enough to freeze one's very soul, swept toward their street at an alarming speed.
"Is... is this... Conqueror's Haki?" the lead captain's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Damn it!" another captain beside him snapped back to reality, cursing uncontrollably. "The Fleet Admiral has no honor! Who fights like this? Throwing out his ultimate move without a second thought! Does his Conqueror's Haki cost nothing?"
As they spoke, the black-and-red sky swept over them, flashing past directly above.
In the next instant, these captains, infamous even in the New World, widened their eyes abruptly. Their bodies stiffened as if all strength and soul had been drained from them, and they toppled straight to the ground.
The lead captain, through sheer willpower, did not lose consciousness immediately after falling.
Lying on the cold cobblestones, his eyes wide open, the light in them rapidly dimmed. Gazing at the roaring Conqueror's Haki passing overhead, he forced out a few broken words.
"Monster... this Fleet Admiral... is a mon..."
Before he could finish, he completely lost consciousness, his eyes still wide and unmoving.
At the same time, this torrent of Conqueror's Haki swept through every corner of Hachinosu Island like an autumn gale scattering fallen leaves.
In the streets and alleys, pirates who were either putting up a desperate fight or fleeing for their lives fell like harvested wheat, collapsing in waves.
On another street, two pirate captains had just scrambled out of the ruins, leaping up in a desperate attempt to escape the white monster pursuing them.
However, the moment they leaped into the air, they were completely engulfed by the fleeting torrent of Conqueror's Haki.
The terror on their faces froze instantly, their bodies stiffening mid-air before plummeting to the ground one after the other like discarded sacks.
"Pirates! Don't run!"
Yamato, wielding her kanabō, charged into the street, shouting fiercely.
But the next moment, she froze in place.
The oncoming Conqueror's Haki seemed to have eyes—it split in two right before her, roaring past on either side of her body.Immediately, all the pirates fleeing before her—whether running on the ground or having just leaped into the air—collapsed soundlessly in an instant.
The street, which had been bustling with noise just a second ago, now stood eerily silent, leaving her alone in her original stance, still holding the kanabō high above her head, her expression slightly bewildered.
After a brief moment of daze, Yamato's eyes lit up with excitement as she exclaimed, "Is this the Fleet Admiral's Conqueror's Haki? So powerful! I love it!"
Without further delay, she hoisted her kanabō over her shoulder and dashed swiftly toward the direction of the skull-shaped castle at the center of Hachinosu Island.
…
At the same time.
The apprentices, locked in fierce combat with Wang Zhi's elite captains, unleashed their signature moves with exhilarating intensity.
Orion's released Conqueror's Haki reached the plaza in front of the castle just before Yamato did.
As the black and red lightning surged over their heads like a tidal wave, all the pirate captains engaged in battle with the apprentices were suddenly overwhelmed by an irresistible, suffocating pressure.
A swordsman captain, whose blade was mere inches from Zoro's neck during their intense duel, abruptly stiffened, the ferocity in his eyes replaced by blank confusion before his body went limp and he crumpled to the ground.
Another captain, who had been nimbly evading Sanji's attacks with a sneer, froze mid-smirk and toppled backward rigidly.
In the blink of an eye, the plaza was left with only the apprentices, who stood momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Franky stared in bewilderment at the two captains who had been fiercely battling him just moments before, now lying unconscious on the ground. "What's going on? Did they faint from my Super awesomeness?"
"Idiot!" Ace retorted, his lips twitching uncontrollably. "That's the Fleet Admiral's Conqueror's Haki!"
A flicker of indescribable fervor gleamed in Zoro's eyes as he grinned widely. "Conqueror's Haki! Truly a power that makes one yearn for it!"
Before the apprentices could fully process their shock, the elite captains standing behind Wang Zhi at the castle entrance began collapsing one after another like dominoes.
As the Haki swept past, only Wang Zhi and three other great pirates with bounties exceeding one billion remained standing at the castle gates.
Although these three had barely withstood the suppression of the Conqueror's Haki, they were visibly affected: their foreheads beaded with cold sweat, faces pale, and one of them even trembled uncontrollably, struggling to stay upright.
Wang Zhi, the only one completely unscathed, maintained a stoic expression as he watched those around him fall in droves, but his small eyes were filled with turbulent waves of shock.
He stared intently at the distant sky, his fists unconsciously clenching.
This level of Conqueror's Haki was something he had only witnessed once before since his days dominating the Grand Line—on the battlefield of God Valley back in the day.
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