Rocks's fist had yet to touch the boulder when a web of cracks raced across its face.
An instant later it collapsed with a thunderous crash, stone shards clattering across the ground.
He turned to the others. "Did you all see it clearly?"
"Captain, could you do it once more?" Newgate's eyes shone with anticipation that could barely be contained. "When you concentrate your Conqueror's Haki, hold it a little longer this time. I want to study it."
He had found a thread to grasp at last.
After training Conqueror's Haki infusion for so long, he finally felt on the verge of breaking through. Excitement surged in his chest.
It really was not easy to master this power.
Rocks smiled, unconcerned. "Then I will show you a few more times..."
He raised his fist to demonstrate again when a voice cut in.
"Wait."
Ares stepped forward. Everyone looked at him, puzzled.
"What is it?" Rocks asked.
Ares's voice trembled with excitement. "Captain Rocks, I think I learned it. I want to try."
Rocks: "..."
Golden Lion: "..."
Whitebeard: "..."
One sentence plunged the group into collective silence.
Rocks blinked. "Ares, you really learned Conqueror's infusion?"
"I am not completely sure, but I can try," Ares said. He did not give a firm yes.
Whitebeard's mouth twitched. He still could not quite believe it. "I have trained for two and a half years and have not fully grasped it. Ares could not possibly succeed on his first attempt, could he?"
He had never stopped working at the technique.
He considered himself a monster with talent to match, yet after two and a half years he had only just reached the threshold.
And Ares, after one explanation and one demonstration,
Said he could do it?
"With Ares, anything is possible," the Golden Lion said around his cigar, casting Whitebeard a meaningful look.
Within the Rocks Pirates,
Rocks encouraged competition, nudging it toward a healthy direction.
Whitebeard had shown off his infusion progress more than once in front of Shiki, not a crushing lead but a lead all the same.
It had irked the Golden Lion to no end, and he had trained hard for infusion,
Only to find the results stubbornly disappointing.
Shiki shot Whitebeard a mischievous glance. "Feeling a little rattled now, white-bearded one?
"You used to brag in front of me. Why not try bragging in front of Ares?"
Whitebeard gave Shiki a scowl. "Be quiet. Ares's talent is incredible, but Conqueror's infusion is not something you master in a day or two.
"Let us watch first."
Rocks nodded to Ares. "Go on. I will watch your flow and point out anything off."
"All right."
Ares lifted that iron-forged arm, muscles like cast steel.
Controlling Conqueror's Haki was nothing new to him.
In his fight with Ledfield he had learned to control it with meticulous precision,
And had used Conqueror's Haki to shut down Ledfield's future sight.
Now,
The essence of infusion and his previous "Observation-kill" were similar in principle, only the handling differed.
Just now,
With Rocks's explanation and live demonstration still fresh, Ares had replayed it over and over in his mind, using that bug-like clarity of memory and soul.
Frame by frame he studied the changes in Rocks's body and fist.
He already felt eighty percent certain.
All eyes fixed on Ares's fist.
Black-red lightning flickered to life, but instead of spilling outward in a sweeping shock like a Conqueror's blast,
It thickened and thickened again, drawn and packed tight along his arm.
Ares sank all his focus into control.
Inside him, Conqueror's surged toward his fist like a tide, a volcano building pressure beneath an icy river.
He had to clamp down on that wild, domineering energy and hold it in check, refuse to let it bolt free.
Release it too early and the damage would not be enough.
Streams of overwhelming will gathered in his arm and poured into his knuckles.
Veins rose under his skin like coiled azure serpents, lending his arm a terrifying, almost feral cast.
Seeing this,
Whitebeard's eyes widened despite himself. The force Ares contained felt like an ancient beast straining at its leash, ready to tear free at any second.
"Ares, that guy...
"He really learned Conqueror's infusion..."
Newgate murmured, entranced, tiger-bright eyes never leaving Ares's fist.
He did not blink once.
The Golden Lion's grin split wide. "Jiehahaha... I knew he would. He is the kind who makes the impossible look easy.
"Now even I feel like I am no match for him."
It was not empty praise. The moment he learned Ares had defeated Vice Admiral Garp,
Shiki had already begun to think himself the lesser.
And now,
Seeing Ares take hold of Conqueror's infusion,
He felt from the bottom of his heart that he could not beat him.
Rocks said nothing. He watched every motion, felt the current of Ares's body and the gathering storm on his fist.
A glint of awe flickered in his eyes.
When the Haki amassed on Ares's knuckles reached a terrifying density and grew harder to contain,
He struck.
Black-red lightning danced.
The bottled storm roared loose, a flash flood bursting from his fist.
Boom.
The air before him seemed to detonate with a shriek.
The raging force crushed the boulder ahead to powder in an instant and scattered it on the wind.
A hot gale lashed every face present.
For a heartbeat they looked like souls snatched by underworld wardens, standing there, empty-eyed, stunned.
Hoo.
Hoo.
As the aftershock winds faded, everyone slowly came back to themselves.
Kaido whooped, unable to hold it in. "Rororo... as expected of big bro Ares. He really mastered Conqueror's infusion in one go.
"Too amazing.
"I have not even touched the threshold yet.
"Big bro Ares is the most outrageous, the strongest creature in this world."
…
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