On the fifth day after defeating the Cass Pirates, the Oro Jackson sailed into a treacherous stretch of sea known as the Whirlpool Graveyard.
The surface here was riddled with whirlpools of all sizes.
The small ones were no bigger than a bathtub.
The large ones spanned over a hundred meters across and could drag an entire ship straight down to the seafloor.
The sky was forever overcast. Thunderclouds rolled low overhead, and from time to time lightning speared down, striking the sea with blinding flashes.
"Hold her steady! Hard to port!"
"Avoid that big whirlpool!"
Rayleigh gripped the wheel with both hands, golden hair whipping in the wind.
Shanks and several veteran crew members strained to adjust the sails.
Bullet stood at the prow, his thick arms wrapped around the anchor cables under the figurehead, using his weight and strength to help steady the ship.
In moments like this, his power was the best ballast they could have asked for.
"The New World really does not pull its punches."
Roger laughed heartily. He was not holding onto anything at all, yet his legs alone kept him rock solid on the wildly pitching deck.
Just then, an urgent alarm rang out from the lookout.
"Dead ahead!"
"Port side, nine o'clock!"
"Five ships... no, six!"
"It is a pirate fleet!"
Everyone felt their hearts tighten.
For a crew to keep a fleet together in seas and weather like this... they were definitely not ordinary pirates.
Rayleigh lifted his telescope in a smooth motion. After a few seconds, his voice turned grave.
"It is Mad Shark Doro's crew."
"Bounty, two hundred thirty million berries. Zoan, Shark Shark Fruit, Model: Megalodon."
"This guy is a notorious raider, specializes in ambushing passing ships in waters like these."
Bullet released the cable and walked toward the side of the ship.
Through the curtain of rain, he could see six black warships skirting along the edge of the whirlpool field, each one armed with a metal ram prow.
The flagship was a three masted warship a full hundred meters long, its sails painted with a blood red shark sigil.
"They are using the whirlpools as cover."
Shanks tightened his grip on his sword hilt.
"What do we do?"
Roger stroked his beard and grinned.
"We are the Roger Pirates, remember."
Before he even finished speaking, the enemy fleet opened fire.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Dozens of cannonballs tore through the rain toward them.
Rayleigh yanked the wheel hard. The Oro Jackson heeled over, sliding past the incoming barrage at a slant.
"Return fire!"
Roger drew Ace from his waist, pointing the blade forward.
The two sides plunged into a cannon duel.
But the Roger crew soon fell into a disadvantage.
The enemy had more ships, more guns, and in seas this chaotic, the Oro Jackson's maneuverability was heavily compromised.
Bullet watched the six enemy ships closing in... then lifted his gaze to the thunderclouds roiling overhead.
A thought stirred in him.
Against Cass, he had only shown a fraction of Nidhogg's power.
Now before him were six ships, at least five hundred enemies.
Perfect to test the upper limit of his black dragon's strength.
"Captain."
Bullet turned to Roger.
"Leave this to me."
Roger raised an eyebrow.
"Six ships. Think you can handle that?"
"I just need a slightly bigger warm up."
Bullet began unbuttoning his shirt.
"And I have some new ideas I want to test."
Rayleigh shot him a questioning look.
Bullet answered with a small nod that said trust me.
Doro's fleet had closed to within three hundred meters now.
On the flagship, a massive brute with a mouthful of jagged saw like teeth stood at the bow. That was Mad Shark Doro.
Through the loudspeaker Den Den Mushi, his mad laughter rolled across the stormy sea.
"Roger!"
"Today is your last day alive!"
"Once I gut you, I am going after Whitebeard next!"
"Hahahaha!"
Bullet walked to the base of the Oro Jackson's mainmast, the tallest point on the ship.
He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
This time, he had no intention of holding back.
The black core deep near his heart began to pound with brutal force.
A surge of energy, far greater than anything he had called on before, erupted from the core and flooded into his limbs and bones.
On the surface of his skin, black scales began to pour out like a rising tide.
His bones thundered as they shifted and expanded. Bullet's body swelled larger and larger.
His height shot past ten meters, then twenty, then thirty... and it was still climbing.
His spine stretched. New vertebrae pushed out into a thick dragon tail.
At his shoulder blades, two masses of black energy pulsed and condensed, rapidly becoming solid.
The crew of the Oro Jackson held their breath.
They had seen Bullet's full beast form before.
But this time... was different.
Sixty meters.
Eighty.
One hundred.
By the time Bullet opened his eyes again, he was no longer standing on the ship.
His sheer size had cast the Oro Jackson completely into shadow.
Full beast form, Nidhogg... complete version.
Three hundred meters from head to tail, wingspan reaching a staggering four hundred meters.
The dragon wings that slowly unfurled overhead were no longer just outlines of power. They were fully physical, flesh and scale and bone.
Black spines jutted from the wing bones. Tough, leathery membranes stretched between them, their edges sharp as blades.
The dragon's head was even more terrifying than before.
All six twisted horns had grown to their full length, forming a pitch black crown.
In the depths of his crimson slit pupils, something like molten lava flowed.
The jaws parted, revealing rows of interlocking fangs.
And the pressure he gave off...
It was not just dragon might anymore.
It was a territorial oppression laced with the budding form of Conqueror's Haki.
Centered on the black dragon, the air within a thousand meter radius grew thick and heavy.
Raindrops evaporated as they neared him. The sea itself sagged inward beneath his presence.
The insane laughter on Doro's fleet died in an instant.
The pirates who had been screaming to slaughter the Roger crew were suddenly speechless.
They craned their necks back, staring up at the black dragon that blocked out half the sky, minds gone blank.
"W... what kind of monster is that..."
One pirate muttered, his flintlock slipping from numb fingers.
Even Doro's face twisted.
As a Zoan user, he could feel that crushing difference in the level of their lives more clearly than anyone.
His shark form was nightmare fuel for ordinary men.
But compared to this dragon, he was a pond minnow facing a titan of the deep.
"F... fire! All cannons! Aim at it!"
Doro screamed.
Terror boiled over into madness.
All the cannons on the six ships swung as one. Hundreds of barrels flashed.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
A storm of cannonballs roared toward the black dragon in the sky.
Bullet did not even bother to evade.
He spread his wings wide and let loose a roar that shook the heavens.
-------------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters: patreon .com / ElvenKing20