All the enemy ships were motionless.
Their decks were littered with unconscious pirates, sprawled in every direction. A rough count put the number at over eight hundred.
The three suicide ships, having lost control, kept sliding forward on inertia for a while, then gradually slowed to a stop ten meters from the Oro Jackson.
The fuses had gone out. The oil never ignited.
The crisis was over.
Bullet stood where he was and looked down at his hands.
On his skin, the dark golden lines were no longer still. They flowed like living things, crawling from his hands up his arms, across his shoulders, and over his chest.
He could feel it. Something inside him that had always been compressed and suppressed had finally broken free.
It was not power. Not simple energy.
It was the qualification of a king.
"Conqueror's... Haki..."
He whispered the name.
Rayleigh had told him he had the potential for Conqueror's Haki. Bullet himself had sensed that same seed in his body.
But it was only now, under the push of surging emotion and overwhelming energy, that it truly awakened.
"Radius of a thousand meters... precise target selection... not harming anyone outside the enemy."
Rayleigh's voice carried over from afar, full of stunned admiration.
"This is... top tier control."
"A normal person's Conqueror's Haki erupts uncontrollably when it awakens. And you can already tune yours to only hit those with hostile intent?"
On the Oro Jackson, the untouched crew members stared at each other.
Just now, they had felt a suffocating pressure sweep past, but none of them were affected at all.
Roger walked to the bow and looked out at the eerie scene on the water, then back at Bullet in the distance.
Suddenly, he burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Yes! This is great!"
His laughter was full of joy and satisfaction.
"Conqueror's Haki, awakened!"
"And with control on that level!"
"Kid, do you know what that means?"
His voice rolled clear across the sea.
"It means you were born to stand at the top!"
Bullet did not answer.
He was still feeling the changes inside him.
After awakening, Conqueror's Haki did not circulate like Armament or Observation.
It felt more like a "state," a "domain," a presence he could invoke at any moment.
And he could tell that his Conqueror's Haki was not quite the same as ordinary versions.
Perhaps because it had fused with Nidhogg's draconic aura.
Perhaps because he had devoured Arohan's faith power.
Either way, his Conqueror's carried the taste of "devouring" and "plunder."
Those pirates who had fainted were not just knocked out. Something more had happened.
Bullet focused and tried to "sense" through his Conqueror's Haki.
In an instant he could "see" that each unconscious pirate had an extremely fine black thread attached to them, stretching back into his own body.
Those threads were drawing out tiny wisps of "presence."
A strange concept... yet his devouring ability told him it was real.
Everyone's "existence" had a weight.
A strong man like Roger burned like a sun.
A weakling like a nameless pirate flickered like a firefly.
Bullet's release of Conqueror's just now had not only knocked them out. It had also forcibly siphoned a trace of their presence and absorbed it.
Each trace was so faint it was almost negligible, but over eight hundred of them...
[Devour: Presence (trace amount) ×823]
[Gain: Conqueror's Haki stability increased]
[Gain: Intimidation domain radius +10%]
[Warning: Excessive siphoning of others' presence may cause karmic backlash. Use with caution]
Karmic backlash?
Bullet noted the warning but did not dwell on it.
In this world where strength ruled, he would deal with karma when it came.
He started walking toward the Oro Jackson.
With every step, black ripples spread under his feet.
That was Conqueror's Haki leaking out unconsciously.
Freshly awakened, it could not yet be perfectly contained. He would need time to get used to it.
When he stepped back onto the deck, every crew member was watching him, their eyes complicated.
Shanks was the first to rush up, eyes shining.
"That move just now, that was Conqueror's Haki, right?"
"Mr. Bullet, teach me! Come on, teach me!"
"I cannot."
Bullet answered honestly.
"You are either born with it... or you are not."
Shanks froze for a second, then broke into a wide grin.
"Then I am sure I have it too!"
"Just wait, I will definitely awaken it one day and show you, Mr. Bullet!"
Rayleigh walked over and carefully checked Bullet's condition, then exhaled in relief.
"Good. Sudden as it was, your foundation is stable."
"But do not fight again for the next few days. You need time for your Conqueror's to settle and fully become part of you."
Roger clapped Bullet on the back.
"Nice work."
"You did more than save the ship. You awakened Conqueror's Haki too."
"From today on, you are a bona fide 'monster.'"
This time, the word did not sound like a joke.
It was recognition.
Bullet nodded and looked out at the enemy ships drifting in disarray.
"What are we doing with those?"
"Loot," Roger grinned.
"We fix what can be fixed, tow what can be towed."
Orders were passed. The crew scattered to work.
Bullet walked to the stern and sat down by himself.
He needed to put his thoughts in order.
Physical strengthening: 5.7%. Scale evolution: up to 0.23%.
New traits: Mental Devour Specialization and Divine Resistance.
Black core upgraded to LV.2.
And most importantly: Conqueror's Haki awakened... a variant, fused with dragon aura and devouring properties.
In a single battle, his strength had almost doubled.
This was the terror and temptation of devouring evolution.
As long as he could find "food" of high enough quality, his power would grow at an exponential rate.
But...
Bullet looked at Roger directing the cleanup of the battlefield, at Rayleigh teaching the younger hands how to tie up prisoners, at Shanks arguing with Buggy over how the spoils should be shared.
His growth was too fast.
The gap between him and this ship was widening at a frightening pace.
He touched the silver coin against his chest.
Roger had been right. He would leave someday.
But that day was not today.
Today, he wanted to stay on this ship a while longer.
The sun sank toward the west, turning the sea to gold.
The Oro Jackson, towing five enemy ships that could still sail, moved steadily onward.
A new era's tide had already begun to rise.