"Link, that move just now—was that your strongest strike?"
High in the sky, Karina in her complete form was sprinting at full speed, carrying Link and two trussed-up bundles—Kaidō and Yamato.
Along the way, unable to calm the shock in her heart, Karina kept asking.
Sitting cross-legged atop Karina's head, Link smiled. "Ah… that move is called Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands: Toppling the Buddha. It's my strongest strike for now."
"For now?"
Catching the key phrase, Karina clicked her tongue. "So your strength can still grow?"
"Mhm. That innate energy in my body seems to be getting stronger."
Link half-joked, half-told the truth. "I have a hunch that when it hits a certain limit, my power will step into a new stage—maybe a new ability will appear."
"I see…"
Karina nodded slightly, then sighed. "That chakra energy is incredible. It's a shame I can't have it."
"The main reason you can't is that my cells are too aggressively invasive. If I transfer that energy into your body, at best you'd mutate—at worst you'd explode on the spot."
Link laughed and comforted her. "Later, I might find a way to let you all take my gene serum so your bodies won't mutate—and you'll be able to wield chakra."
"Hee-hee… then I'd better cozy up to Pudding so she helps all of us become stellar scientists."
Karina giggled, then asked, "Right—who's the horned woman like Kaidō? Will she be one of my new crewmates?"
"Kaidō's daughter. She will be."
Link mused. "But she's got a screw loose. Before I lift her 'seal,' I'll have Pudding use the Memo-Memo Fruit to wash her memories."
Yes—Link planned to brainwash Yamato.
Of the three officially acknowledged peerless beauties, the only one Link had no fondness for was Kozuki Hiyori.
In his eyes, no one in Kozuki Oden's family was normal.
All it would've taken was a nod and Roger would have stabilized the regime, yet they insisted on 'resolving' it themselves.
They lacked the ability and still threw away a god-tier opening hand and lost.
Link had no issue with Yamato idolizing such a loser, but taking herself for Kozuki Oden was a bit too dumb.
So Link would use the Memo-Memo Fruit to erase her "I'm a man" and the Oden-obsessed memories, then—without changing her personality—slightly revise things and recruit the twenty-eight-year-old white-haired queen who had mastered Conqueror's coating.
Chatting as they traveled, Karina quickly ferried Link back toward Hachinosu.
When Link descended from the sky carrying a trussed-up Kaidō, the entire Pirate Island erupted—just like when he brought down the Golden Lion.
This uproar was even louder than last time.
After all, Shiki hadn't appeared for decades; only veterans of the last era—or the one before—truly knew the Golden Lion's might, and how the Float-Float Fruit was no less fearsome than the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
In the new age, most only knew the legend.
Few had seen that power.
Kaidō, by contrast, was one of the current era's overlords, recognized as the strongest in single combat.
And now the strongest duelist had lost, dragged to Hachinosu by the new era's strongest man.
Obviously, Link would treat him as he did the Golden Lion—by taking his Devil Fruit.
That meant the Stinger Pirates would gain the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon—and the Five Emperors would revert to the Four.
After being the first to defeat an Emperor, Link would set another record: slaying an Emperor and breaking his crew.
With such feats and such strength, Link's status as the new era's strongest man—the uncrowned king—would rise again.
"Gulp…"
Staring at the much bulkier Kaidō—bearded now, unlike two years ago—Marshall D. Teach swallowed and asked nervously, "Link, are we really doing this?"
Beside the Blackbeard Pirates stood Kuzan, newly joined, eyes fixed on Link.
Even the other officers—each with a strongman's heart—felt rare fear.
In that moment, they finally grasped what Link had meant back then:
When the gap is this wide, don't seek death.
Since becoming strong themselves, they hadn't met anyone who could crush a top-tier combatant.
They'd joined Blackbeard because Teach broke the rules of the world.
Even so, Teach couldn't crush a top-tier.
But Link had defeated—and killed—top-tiers more than once.
To what level… had this man's power reached?
Teach's subtext wasn't hard to read.
He was asking whether Link truly meant to kill Kaidō.
Or rather, whether Link truly meant to break the present balance.
Five Emperors had turned the New World into a pirates' paradise, pirate arrogance at its peak.
Even the Navy shifting HQ to the New World hadn't shaken their rule.
Now Link intended to turn five back to four—meaning the pirate world would lose the "strongest creature" and an overlord power, sharply reducing the deterrence against the Navy.
And the difference between possibly uniting five Emperors versus four was massive.
If five Emperors joined hands—five top-tiers plus the likes of Benn Beckman and Boa Hancock—that'd be seven top-tiers.
Even the full might of Marine HQ couldn't match them.
So while Kaidō's death would raise Link's fame and profits, it might also deflate pirate arrogance—and break the New World's balance.
To this, Link merely smiled. "Of course. Sorry to trouble you, Teach."
Link actually appreciated the 'Teacher,' but in his plan, Kaidō had to die.
"Alright, then."
Seeing Link's resolve, Teach asked no more.
But just as he prepared to harvest the Devil Fruit, a thought struck him and he blurted, "Right—Kaidō's defense is like Charlotte Linlin's 'iron balloon.' Normal attacks won't kill him. The Tremor-Tremor's range is huge—should I move us somewhere else?"
"No need. I've got it."
Link smiled lightly and brought his palms together.
Schlick, schlick, schlick—
In an instant, countless branching wooden spikes sprouted from Kaidō's body, turning him into a hedgehog—and killing him on the spot.
Teach and Kuzan's pupils shrank. The word "Stinger" took on a deeper meaning.
A touch-to-kill ability—what was the underlying principle?
If it worked on the "strongest creature," wouldn't it also… work on them?
Link ignored their thoughts, savoring the system prompt in his mind.
"Ding! You have slain an enemy. EXP gained: 15.88%."
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