Faced with this character card, who could resist using Take Over?
Kael's body rapidly grew in size. His clothes morphed into a flowing white coat, and Murakumogiri—Whitebeard's signature weapon—appeared in his hand. Most noticeable of all, a crescent-shaped white mustache curved upward beneath his nose. His face now looked like a blend of his own and Whitebeard's.
At the same time, memories belonging to Whitebeard began to flood Kael's mind.
Whitebeard was born in the New World, on Sphinx—a poor place that couldn't afford the "Heavenly Tribute," and therefore wasn't under the World Government's protection.
Places like that always turned into hunting grounds—pirates, traffickers, anyone with teeth.
When the country collapsed, children became orphans by the dozens. Whitebeard was one of them.
So he went to sea young, lived as a pirate, later joined the Rocks Pirates… and after their collapse thirty-eight years ago, he built his own crew. Alongside Roger and Shiki, he became one of the three legendary pirates.
Unlike most pirates who thirsted for treasure or status, Whitebeard longed for only one thing:
Family.
That was why he called his crew members his sons.
From those memories, Kael realized Whitebeard knew full well that going to the Paramount War meant no return. He was old, his body failing. If he didn't go, even if the World Government did nothing, the other pirates would smell the weakness and tear his crew apart like vultures.
Ace was the son he believed could carry them forward. As long as Ace lived, the others had a future.
So Whitebeard used his own life to clear a path for his sons.
Experiencing it all through Whitebeard's eyes, Kael was shaken to his core.
Some people liked to say the title "Strongest Man in the World" was exaggerated. But the Fleet Admiral didn't question it. The Admirals didn't question it. The Four Emperors and the Seven Warlords didn't question it.
And yet there were always people who thought they knew better than all of them.
Whitebeard's title wasn't handed to him.
It was earned—punch by punch.
Kael could feel the power surging through his body. He had never felt so strong.
Clenching his fist, he felt as though he could tear the earth, split the sky, and shake the sea until it screamed.
This explosive energy… it was like a walking volcano.
He felt like a single punch could rip through space itself.
Kael's heart itched.
"Should I try it out? Just once!"
The thought rose in his mind and refused to go away. With strength like this, how could he not give it a shot?
"Hm… it's already midnight. I'll just use a tiny bit. The smallest bit…"
BZZZZ—!
Kael clenched his fist.
A faint, pale glow formed a spherical shell around it—the Gura Gura no Mi's power compressed and bound inside. Even so, the air around it visibly warped, like heat rippling over metal.
"Gently… gently…"
He threw a light punch forward.
CRACK! CRACK!
The air in front of his fist fractured like glass—fine cracks spiderwebbing outward in an instant.
Then—
BOOMMMMM!!
The world lurched.
Not just the house—Magnolia.
Floorboards shuddered. Windows rattled. Hanging lamps swung violently as if something huge had grabbed the town by the shoulders and shook.
"KYAAAHHH!"
"Earthquake!!"
"Get out—run! Run outside!!"
Lights snapped on across Magnolia like a chain reaction. Doors burst open. People flooded the streets in panic, shouting over each other as the ground continued to roll.
"…Uh-oh."
Kael immediately canceled his transformation, darted back inside, and dove under the covers like a guilty kid hiding from thunder.
So strong.
This was insane.
Even though he'd tried to control it, the backlash was still terrifying. If that was him holding back… what would a real punch do?
He quickly checked off the lower-rank character cards.
[Recycle selected character cards?]
"Yes."
[Recycle successful! Congratulations, Host! Magic Power has increased!]
Kael opened his personal status screen.
[Host: Kael Vane][Age: 19][Race: Human][Magic Power: ★★★★★☆][Magic: Take Over Magic][Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Yoriichi Tsugikuni (Gold), Toji Fushiguro (Gold), Edward Newgate (Gold), Portgas D. Ace (Purple)][Current Draw Count: 3]
"Still not at six stars? System—when does my magic power reach six stars?"
[Recycle three more purple character cards, or one more gold character card, and you'll immediately level up to six stars.]
Kael's eye twitched.
Recycle a gold? He'd have to be insane.
He'd already recycled two purple ones. Now that he had golds, most purples didn't even tempt him anymore.
He kept Ace partly because he liked him—but also because Ace was practical. Lower mana cost than a gold, but the attack power still punched above its weight. Value like that was hard to replace. Ace had basically become his go-to for missions.
"At least two more ten-pulls, huh…"
Magic power was everything. The stronger it was, the more powerful his transformations became—and the longer he could maintain them.
But the higher he climbed, the harder it became to level up.
"Gotta do more missions."
The next morning, Kael arrived at the guild.
It was packed—everyone was buzzing about the earthquake from last night.
"You felt that earthquake, right?!"
"Of course! It shook me right out of bed!"
"Same! I was having the best dream and then—BOOM—woke up like my soul got punched!"
"Scared the hell out of me. I didn't go back inside all night, just in case there was an aftershock."
"Not just you—the whole town slept outdoors!"
Kael listened quietly, muttering in his heart:
Sorry. Sorry…
"Kael, you felt it too, right?" Elfman clapped him on the shoulder.
Kael replied guiltily, "Uh… I slept like a rock. Didn't even notice."
Mirajane blinked, just a little.
Wasn't that around the time he always did his draws?
But she didn't press it. Maybe he really had just passed out—missions were tiring, after all.