The air temperature plunged to freezing.
Cold
so cold the hairs on everyone's arms stood up, so cold gooseflesh prickled over skin.
Silence, sharp and unnatural.
A few seconds later, the dock exploded into noise.
"A Ares is back! Zhi-yin Kun is done for!"
"Talk about bad luck bully one of Ares's boys and run right into the man himself."
"He's dead meat…"
"With Ares's strength, one slap and he's paste!"
Thunk
Drenched in sweat, Zhi-yin Kun spun, dropped to his knees, and did it in one fluid, almost… elegant motion.
Before piracy, he'd been a dancer-in-training two and a half years.
He slapped himself hard, over and over, sobbing: "Ares, I was wrong! I shouldn't have picked on Katakuri!"
Smack
"But I truly truly want to join your division, Lord Ares!"
Smack
"Please spare me!"
The self-slaps cracked like gunshots, making the onlookers' hearts jump. Ares's face stayed a mask of frost. Beside him Kaidō's killing intent bled out in waves; his expression was so dark it looked wet. His teeth ground audibly.
"Katakuri's someone Ares big brother acknowledged," Kaidō growled. "He's Sixteenth Division. Since when is it your turn to 'teach' him?"
The aura pouring off Kaidō made Kun shiver uncontrollably. He broke into a wail. "Don't kill me! I I have a Devil Fruit! An Ancient Zoan!"
With trembling hands he pulled out a black, banana-patterned fruit.
"I'll trade it for my life! If you don't kill me, it's yours!" Hope flared in his eyes. Words tumbled out: "It's the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Ancient Model: Pteranodon!"
He was trying desperately to prove the fruit's worth anything to move Ares to mercy and keep his chicken-life.
Ancient Zoans were far rarer and pricier than ordinary Zoans.
The crowd roared when they saw it.
"An Ancient Zoan rare as they come!"
"On the black market that's five hundred million at least!"
"Didn't think Kun had a treasure like that on him. If I'd known, I'd have gutted him and nicked it!"
Kaidō snatched the fruit and handed it to Ares. "Big brother Ares, how do you want to handle this? Do we let him go?"
Hope leapt higher in Kun's gaze.
Ares lifted his palm broad as a war fan and brought it down on Kun.
The blow flung him like a rag through a row of buildings.
Crashes boomed in succession.
He didn't look likely to get up. Everyone watching swallowed in unison, faces bleaching, knees knocking. The word fear wrote itself across their expressions.
Ares's brow cut a harsh line. His presence crushed the street flat.
"Listen up," he said. "Anyone who bullies my crew ends like that."
His beast's eyes swept the crowd. Wherever they passed, bodies jolted as if shocked; skin prickled as if scoured by blades. No one dared meet his gaze.
Whatever reputations they'd earned outside, however vicious they were before Ares, they were wolves bowing to the alpha.
"Kaidō," Ares said, "hold onto the fruit for now. Then get Katakuri to the medics now."
An Ancient Zoan didn't impress him much unless it was a Mythical Zoan. Still, better to have it than not; someday, when his unit recruited, it could be a worthy reward.
Kaidō strode forward and lifted the blood-soaked Katakuri into his palm, carrying him away at a careful lope.
A bellow rang from a neighboring street. "Who's making trouble on Hachinosu?! Looking to die?!"
The racket from Kun's flight had drawn Rocks Pirates over. A squad of cutthroats surged in then did a perfect about-face when they saw who it was.
"Ah. All good here…"
"Uh…"
"Great weather today. Really great."
"Just a friendly spar, right? Bit of noise, no big deal. Carry on, carry on!"
And just like that, it became an official "spar."
The man was pale. Ares back already and causing a stir on arrival, as usual. In his memory, every time Ares returned to Hachinosu, something happened.
Ares turned to Slardar. "Come on. I'll introduce you to my two big brothers."
Wang Zhi and Silver Axe had already been rushed to treatment the moment they landed.
Slardar nodded, visibly excited. "I'm looking forward to meeting the Whitebeard and Golden Lion you spoke of. I've heard they're monsters true powers of the sea."
On the way back, Kaidō had told him stories of the Rocks Pirates especially those two.
Hours later, in Hachinosu's grand hall, the division captains gathered. Tables groaned under mountains of food. Ares sat wedged between Golden Lion and Whitebeard.
"Gurararara… Ares, you've gotten stronger again. You even thrashed Garp music to my ears. Shame I didn't see it; I'd have laughed in that bastard's face." Whitebeard tipped back a bowl the size of a basin and drank deep, thoroughly pleased.
Garp was an old sparring partner; Whitebeard had often pressed him, but rarely routed him. And now this kid back from a single mission had grown terrifying again. Strong enough that Garp couldn't match him.
He smacked his lips, chuckling. "Gura ra ra… Seems you've already outpaced us old hands of the Rocks Pirates."
Ares gave his honest grin. "If I could take Garp, it's thanks to you two big brothers. I figured out a lot mid-fight."
"I've even grasped the concept behind black blades. I plan to apply that tempering method to my own body."
Golden Lion's chin shot up; past Ares, he peacocked at Whitebeard. "How's that, White-mustache? Told you I teach better. I'm the one who "
He stopped dead, face morphing, eyes bugging. "Eh ?!"
He stared at Ares. "You said… you're going to temper your body like a black blade?!"
His outburst snapped every gaze in the room to Ares. Even Big Mom's chef, Streusen, gaped. "No way. Has Ares gone mad?"
"What's going on?" Linlin frowned, not seeing why one sentence had everyone rattled.
Streusen hopped onto her table to explain. "You know what a black blade is?"
"It's when a swordsman uses Armament Haki to change a blade's internal structure so it becomes harder, tougher permanently."
Linlin leaned closer, big eyes shining. "And?"
"Ares is saying he'll 'rebuild' his muscle and bone merge them with Armament Haki."
Streusen's voice shook. The idea was… insane.
To treat living flesh like ore remelt and recombine it into a denser lattice. But then there'd be no muscle-bone-blood distinction left; if you did that to the organs heart, brain you'd die.
That was why Golden Lion had reacted so violently and why the whole room had blanched.
Linlin, once she understood, only clapped and laughed. "Mama mama… now that suits a monster like Ares!"
Whitebeard's reaction was the opposite. He jolted upright. "Ares, don't you dare. If you do that, you'll die."
"A person can't live without a heart, without a brain. Those organs aren't 'materials' you can swap around!"
His tone snapped hard. "No. You cannot try this."
Bandaged head to toe, Wang Zhi chimed in. "Ares, we know your dream is to make your body surpass the Supreme Grade blades."
"But you don't need a method that's basically suicide."
Silver Axe nodded. "Yeah. Your body's already monstrous. Stick to what you're doing and you'll be the toughest thing on the seas."
Even Rocks had watched Ares throughout, startled by the audacity of the idea.
Ares hadn't expected one line to cause such a stir. Hearing their reasons, he realized how lethal a literal approach would be.
"Got it. I won't be reckless," he said.
Golden Lion glared. "You absolutely cannot 'black-blade' your body."
Whitebeard, for once, stood shoulder to shoulder with him. "Promise us."
Ares sighed inwardly. It wasn't as if his plan was to copy the sword method exactly. Still "All right. I won't use the black-blade method on my body."
Only then did Whitebeard and Golden Lion relax.
"Enough," Rocks cut in, raising his cup. "I have an announcement."
"Kaidō now bears a Mythical Zoan and is no weaker than our other captains."
"So I've decided " He paused, letting it hang.
"I hereby name Kaidō a division captain of the Rocks Pirates."
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