"Gura-ra-ra! Creed, brat!"
While the Creed was still seven or eight hundred meters from the Moby Dick, that booming laugh rolled across the sea—the unmistakable voice of Whitebeard.
Standing at the prow, Creed narrowed his eyes.
Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) — Future Sight.
It was his first meeting with Whitebeard; he didn't want to commit a single discourtesy, so he triggered the ability. With his Kenbunshoku Haki advanced to SSSS-level, using Future Sight no longer drained him like before—though peering farther ahead still devoured stamina at a terrifying rate. For him, with his super regeneration, it hardly mattered…
As his Future Sight unfolded, the actions Whitebeard would take next had already played out in Creed's mind.
Very well—come, then.
A soft hum—"ong!"—bloomed on all sides. An immense, invisible pressure crashed down, a force that also battered the spirit. Of everyone present, only Redfield stood unshaken before it. Ain's face blanched, but she held her ground. Robin, Brook, and Perona had to stumble back several steps. Falkor, perched on Ain's shoulder, bared its teeth, ready to retaliate—until Ain pressed it down. Even the giant bat quivered in the lingering shockwaves, nearly scared witless.
Fortunately, the force was aimed at Creed alone. Robin and the others merely felt the pressure without taking harm. Even so, they were reminded—again—of the gulf between them and their captain.
In the next heartbeat, darkness seemed to fall; it was as if the sky itself caved in. Clouds rolled like a siege upon a city; endless celestial fire and lightning poured down, every lick of thunder and flame locking onto Creed.
"Ah—!"
Robin and the rest were shell-shocked; even Ain lost her composure.
"What a monstrous Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)… as expected of Whitebeard!"
Redfield's expression tightened. This was Haoshoku Haki amplified into a brutal psychic assault. If the edge of it shook them so badly, what kind of pressure was Creed bearing at the very center?
Then—
A dragon's roar split the heavens.
From Creed's body surged the phantom of an eastern divine dragon. With a vigorous cry, it coiled upward to meet the storm of thunder and flame, claws rending, fangs bared—soaring to the sky, sundering the void, seizing the world.
Boom!
One thunderous detonation set every ear ringing—and suddenly the world turned clear again. The vast sky was bright and open; those battering clouds and bolts, that spectral dragon—everything was gone, as if a grand illusion had blown away.
Except… the clouds that had been lounging across the blue—no, the clouds for a hundred li around—had been swept clean, repelled to the horizon. Sunlight poured down in blazing sheets, warming every back. No wonder everyone felt the world turn bright as crystal.
"So this is Four Emperor-level Haoshoku Haki…?"
Ain whispered, shock giving way to yearning. When would she grow this strong—strong enough to be a true pillar at Creed's side?
"Gurara-ra-ra-ra! Good! Worthy of the Fifth Emperor!"
The laugh rolled again. On the Moby Dick's prow stood a giant of more than six meters, cords of muscle standing out, a headscarf tied above a crescent-curved moustache. Scars latticed his bare chest; a white coat hung from his shoulders—heroic to the core. Yet at his side stood two tall IV stands, tubes threaded into his arms, medicines dripping into his veins, blunting that invincible aura.
As in the tale—by this point in time, Whitebeard's body was failing.
Creed folded his arms and offered a salute from afar. "Junior Creed pays his respects, Newgate-senpai."
"Come aboard and drink. And you—Redfield—been a long time. Didn't expect you to look this young. Makes an old man jealous."
Whitebeard waved them on, his gaze lingering on Redfield before recognition clicked. Back then they'd been of a similar age; now Redfield wore the face of a man not yet thirty. No wonder it took a few extra glances.
Creed would never waste such a chance. As soon as the ships drew close, he vaulted up onto the Moby Dick. He wanted to see whether the world's strongest man carried any SSSS-level powers he could extract.
Silently, he probed Whitebeard's stats.
[Name]: Edward Newgate (Aged and Ailing)
[Attributes]: Strength: SSSS- (SSSS); Agility: SSS+; Endurance/Defense: SSS+ (SSSS-); Willpower (Haoshoku Haki boost): SSSS- (SSSS)
[Possessed Abilities]: SSSS- (SSSS) Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki); SSSS- (SSSS) Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki); SSSS- Naginata-zan (naginata slash); SSSS- Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki); SSS+ Taijutsu (martial arts)…
[Devil Fruit/Special]: Gura Gura no Mi (Tremor-Tremor Fruit) — fully awakened
[Composite Power]: SSSS ~ SSSS+
Creed's eyes narrowed. Even weakened by age and illness, Whitebeard still sat between SSSS and SSSS+ overall—below Big Mom at his worst, touching Kaido at his best? More startling, his attributes held three SSSS-level entries, and his abilities four SSSS-level entries—several of which had been straight SSSS at his peak.
If Whitebeard were in his prime… Creed suspected he'd be beyond SSSS entirely.
Did a realm exist above SSSS in this world's power system? Five S's… or something like "divine" class?
And the Gura Gura no Mi—fully awakened. Then the stages of Devil Fruit awakening should total three: initial awakening, complete awakening, and full awakening.
For an instant, Creed felt adrift. He'd thought he'd already crested this world's summit, but Whitebeard's spread hinted at a fearsome height above SSSS. Perhaps Whitebeard himself held the answer.
Before that—he opened the system and targeted Whitebeard's Haoshoku Haki.
Creed's Haoshoku Haki still lagged at SSS+—his lone shortboard among the three colors. Time to fill it.
"Ding! Target: Edward Newgate. Extracting SSSS-level Haoshoku Haki… Extraction complete. Host's Haoshoku Haki has advanced from SSS+ to SSSS."
Because it was an SSSS-level power, the process took only two or three minutes—barely a pause in the banter and clink of cups on deck.
(End of Chapter)
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