The ones who reached Wang Zhi's group first were Bartholomew Kuma and the Seraph Kuma.
Yet the moment they got close, both of them staggered—weakness spreading through their bodies, nausea rising, as though their very organs were being poisoned.
"Negative Purge… Rebound."
Kuma immediately released a shock of expelled affliction, forcibly ejecting all negative status from himself.
The Seraph Kuma mimicked him, performing the same release—its artificial body responding with learned precision.
"What—?! Even curses can be repelled!?"
Wang Zhi's eyes widened in disbelief.
His Totem of Affliction could weaken even Kaido's Azure Dragon form, dragging that monster into sickness and fatigue.
Unless someone possessed an overwhelming level of Armament Haki, they couldn't fully resist.
Wang Zhi had developed his Totem Fruit to the extreme.
Even elite commanders of the Four Emperors—Calamities, Sweet Commanders—had fallen under his curse.
Only Yonko-level monsters could truly endure it.
Yet Kuma and this cloned Seraph…
Just repelled it.
A blinding pillar of lightning and flame tore across the sky—
a catastrophic Dragon's Thunder Breath.
Under the crushing combined suppression of gravity and spatial disruption, Camus Bidan—still in Pegasus Zoan form—could no longer maintain altitude.
The divine thunder carved the heavens apart.
"CAPTAIN!!!"
Camus's teeth ground so hard his gums bled.
Only at the final instant did Hiro Yule's Teleportation flicker—dragging them barely out of the path of Souta Kiryuu's annihilating strike.
Meanwhile, Amuro Rei, with all his monstrous strength, could only cling on, unable to act—raw power meant nothing when there was nowhere to use it.
From above came the roar of a dragon—
"Wang Zhi! If you're going to flee like a rat, then what qualifications did you ever have to dream of becoming an Emperor!?"
The dragon's voice carried mockery.
No wonder Wang Zhi never ascended to the throne of a Yonko.
His instinct, at the moment of crisis, was escape.
Some men are destined to watch the peak, not claim it.
"Souta Kiryuu! If you strike us down here, the World Government will celebrate!
Whitebeard will not ignore Hachinosu.
If you want this island—then I will give it to you.
Don't push things to the point of mutual destruction!"
Wang Zhi's voice was harsh, urgent.
Black markings surged across his body—
Two immense obsidian wings burst from his back as he launched himself into open air.
A black serpent totem coiled his left arm, its tail fused into his flesh.
A black dragon totem spiraled his right—alive with cold ferocity.
His lower body thickened into four colossal beast limbs, like those of a charging elephant or armored rhino.
The totem fruit fused mythic beasts, curses, and physical augmentation into one terrifying whole.
Earlier, the Ancient Sky Eagle Totem he released had flown faster than eyes could track—its talons had nearly shredded Kuma's coat.
Even with teleportation, Kuma barely escaped—proof of the eagle's ferocity.
"I don't need you to give me anything."
Souta Kiryuu's dragon form grinned coldly.
"What I want—I take."
"And don't put your hope in Whitebeard.
Even if he could get here in time…
Do you really think he would drag the Whitebeard Pirates into another pointless war—just to save you?"
Souta Kiryuu's eyes scanned the totems still writhing across Wang Zhi's flesh.
There were still more hidden.
This power was dangerous.
And impressive.
Wang Zhi had once been part of the Rocks Era of monsters.
He was the final gatekeeper to the title of Emperor.
If one could not surpass him, one had no business even dreaming of ruling the New World.
Meanwhile—on Hachinosu below—
Boa Hancock and Gecko Moria, alongside Pacifistas, Crocodile, Law, Laffitte, Capone Bege, Bartolomeo, and others—
were mercilessly crushing any pirates who dared resist.
Screams, stone-cracking petrification, and undead hordes flooded the city.
But some crews weren't resisting.
Some were kneeling.
Some were begging to join the strongest rising force of the New World:
The Souta Kiryuu Pirates.
In the sky—Wang Zhi's three main officers were forced back toward the shore, battered by the relentless assault of Souta's Six Paths.
"Kuma. Take command.
The three of them—capture all of them.
Not one escapes."
"Understood."
Kuma and the Seraph vanished in a flash-step of compressed air, descending on the battlefield like a closing trap.
"You… monster…"
Wang Zhi's expression twisted as Souta casually blasted apart the Sky Eagle Totem, forcing the black-winged entity to collapse back into his shoulder.
The pressure he felt now—
was greater than the one he once felt before Red-Haired Shanks.
And Souta Kiryuu was still growing.
The totems on Wang Zhi's shoulders writhed again.
The eagle rose—eyes sharp enough to pierce the soul—hovering above him like a guardian beast.
Souta's dragon eyes shone with anticipation.
"Come on.
Show me everything those totems of yours can do."
His words were calm—yet the air crackled with coming devastation.
Because Souta himself possessed far more than a single mythical power:
the venomous bloodline mutations,
the transparent body,
the giant strength,
the bone-armor demon form,
the kappa regenerative physiology,
the monk-god size expansion,
the ancient druid life-weave,
the phoenix-rooted rebirth cycle…
Wang Zhi's totems were absurd.
But Souta Kiryuu's dragon lineage was worse.
"These totems… will not save me."
Wang Zhi said quietly—no denial left.
Souta's Haki was overwhelming.
His presence was crushing.
Victory was a dream evaporating into smoke.
On Wang Zhi's right palm burned a flaming totem—
On the back of his hand crackled lightning.
On his left palm—the sickness totem.
On the back—falling rain.
"Fire. Lightning. Weakness. Water…
You can inflict illness…
and even summon elements?"
Souta Kiryuu's eyes lit with genuine interest.
If such power could be expanded—
Storm totems.
Sun totems.
Life and death totems.
A living arsenal of living symbols.
It was broken.
The only limit now was—
how many people still believed in those totems.
If the ancient tribal tribes of the world had not been exterminated by the World Government,
Wang Zhi's power might have been far more terrifying.
But without believers—
without worship—
even the most perfect totem was hollow.
Against ordinary pirates, Wang Zhi was overwhelming.
Against Souta Kiryuu, a rising Emperor of the Sea—
It meant nothing.
...
Hey everyone! Want to read ahead and unlock up to 100 early-access chapters? 📖Plus, enjoy even more exclusive novels! Join my Patreon now and dive into the adventure!
patreon.com/Rawink00