One day later.
On a pirate ship tearing across the waves at full speed, a crewman sprinted along the deck, dress shoes thudding against the planks.
He dashed up the stairs to the captain's quarters.
The door creaked open.
"Boss Chinjao," he shouted, breathless with excitement, "Hachinosu is in sight!"
"At last."
Out from the cabin strode a towering brute nearly five meters tall. A green cloak draped his shoulders, medals gleaming at the epaulets, golden tassels swaying. Most striking of all was his hammer-shaped head and the black beard spilling from his chin.
This was the 12th pillar of the Happo Navy Chinjao.
"A public execution of Celestial Dragons. The Happo Navy can't possibly sit this one out," he said, sweeping his gaze across the sea. "What a sight."
A dozen pirate ships around them were angling for the same destination, bows cutting toward Hachinosu.
"Yeah, it's my first time seeing anything like this," a crewman murmured, stunned.
Even in the waters nearby, they could make out more than ten ships of every size and shape, some with hulls as strange as sea beasts. And the port at Hachinosu
That was the real spectacle.
Rows upon rows of pirate ships were lined up like a regimented army, vanishing into the horizon.
Hundreds at least.
It boggled the mind to imagine how many pirates were already on the island.
Chinjao stepped past the deckhands and took his place at the prow. He was eager, eyes bright. "They say Blood-Hand Tengetsu Ares has the most monstrous body on the sea. I wonder if it can withstand my head drill."
"This trip to Hachinosu is for one thing to meet the strongest monster on the seas, Blood-Hand Tengetsu Ares."
Ever since he had read about Ares in the papers, he had wanted to test himself.
See for himself how tough a so-called undying monster really was.
"The boss's head drill breaks anything," his underling boasted.
"Even if that Ares fellow is harder than steel, he won't take one hit from the boss."
In this world there was no neat ladder of power. With too narrow a view and too little experience, a man could never place himself correctly.
So the seas were full of proud, unbridled pirates.
…
Hachinosu, at the port.
Katakuri held up a wanted poster. "That one is Veblen Stanley, the Slaughterer. Bounty: 120,000,000 berries."
He pointed again. "Coming off that gangplank is Brown Elro, the Torturer. Bounty: 166,000,000."
Beside Katakuri, Tengetsu Ares lounged in an oversized chair like a throne, the sea devil Slardar looming at his other side.
Ares shifted his gaze as Katakuri rattled off names, matching faces one by one.
Every one of those pirates wore the same defiant look.
Out there, they were all vicious men who thought nothing of drawing blood over a single word.
As they came ashore in batches, a small-giant of a man with boulder-hewn muscles slung a spiked club over one shoulder and barked across the pier. "Hey, you lot who just arrived, listen up."
"I'm here on behalf of my big brother, Tengetsu Ares. If anyone makes trouble on Hachinosu, I don't care who you are…"
"You die."
As he spoke, Kaido let his killing intent surge. The pressure was suffocating, pinning the newcomers in place.
Even pirates with nine-digit bounties found themselves trembling like fawns before a tiger.
Spines wilted.
The swagger on their faces vanished, and they filed into the port in obedient silence.
Wang Zhi grinned. "Kaido's method works. When Captain Rocks put us in charge of security, I was breaking my head over it."
"With this many unruly pirates, how were we supposed to keep order?"
Silver Axe nodded, pleased. "I figured we'd be patrolling all day, breaking up knife fights and brawls."
"But with Kaido doing that, the job is easy."
"Turns out he's got a head on his shoulders."
Hardly anyone dared act up anymore. On the rare occasion someone didn't get the message, a single swing of Kaido's club reduced him to paste.
The rest ran for their lives.
This latest wave shuffled through the gate, whispering.
"Scared me to death. So that's the 550,000,000-berry 'Ape Demon' Kaido. I could barely breathe."
"He's a monster. I thought my lungs would burst."
"Don't forget, the Ape Demon is just Ares's subordinate. If the underling is like that, what does that make Blood-Hand Tengetsu Ares?"
"Ares is worth 2,800,000,000. You think they hand that number out to just anyone?"
"Look, that's him sitting there. One glance and every hair on my body stood up. Terrifying."
"His muscles look like forged steel. How does a man train like that?"
…
Ares ignored the chatter.
In his eyes, the weak did not warrant a second thought.
Katakuri's eyes suddenly lit. "Captain Ares, more pirates incoming. Looks like the Happo Navy."
"Their leader Chinjao's bounty is 400,000,000."
At this time in history, Chinjao's price had not yet climbed to 500 million. His clash with Garp had not happened. His head was still a razor-sharp cone.
A true hallmark.
"Four hundred million?" Ares's eyes sharpened. He glanced at the ship easing into port.
One look and he found the broad-shouldered figure on the deck.
"Not bad," Ares said with a faint smile. "But still not enough."
To his senses, Chinjao carried no scent of danger. Not even enough to stir his fighting spirit.
If they weren't at least on the level of an admiral, it was hard for Ares to care.
"That's you talking as a monster," Wang Zhi said dryly. "For the rest of us, this guy is strong. I doubt we could take him."
Silver Axe agreed. "We're not monsters. For us, Chinjao is plenty dangerous. I've heard his Armament Haki is fearsome."
"Let's hope he behaves on the island. Otherwise, only you and Kaido can put him down."
The higher the bounty, the bigger the pride.
Pirates were, by nature, a lawless bunch who hated being leashed.
As usual, Kaido stepped forward to rattle the newcomers.
This time, it didn't go quite as smoothly.
Chinjao looked up at the hulking brute before him. The man made him seem small. That back and those shoulders were two or three times his own width. Those muscles looked like stacked slabs of stone.
"You must be the Ape Demon Kaido under Ares," Chinjao called out.
Faces all around turned eager for a show.
"Now this will be good," someone whispered. "After Kaido smashed a few nine-digit pirates with one swing, nobody dared posture."
"Five-hundred-fifty million versus four hundred million. If they go at it, this won't end in one hit."
"But this is the Rocks Pirates' home ground. Make a mess here, and you won't be dealing with just Kaido."
Murmurs rose, but no one dared speak too loudly.
Besides Kaido, there were still Ares, Wang Zhi, and Silver Axe every one of them a terror.
Kaido strode forward, club on his shoulder. A beast's aura rolled off him like a storm tide.
The pressure alone made onlookers hold their breath.
"What," he growled.
"Planning to make trouble?"
"I said anyone who does that here will die."
With the last word, his Conqueror's Haki crashed down on Chinjao like a mountain.
But Chinjao's own will flared to meet it.
Invisible beasts slammed into each other, snarling without sound.
Black-red lightning crackled in the air.
"You're not the only one with the King's disposition," Chinjao said, chin high, though his eyes had grown solemn.
This was just Ares's subordinate, yet his Conqueror's Haki was this strong.
It made Chinjao's heart sink. If this man had been tamed, then Ares must be far stronger still.
At forty, Chinjao was headstrong, but not blind.
He raised his voice. "Kaido, bring out Blood-Hand Tengetsu Ares. I want to see whether his fist is tougher than my head drill."
That was why he'd come.
On any other day, he wouldn't have set foot in the Rocks Pirates' stronghold.
But times had changed.
Rocks had called the pirate world to Hachinosu. He wouldn't throw a torch into his own powder keg. Only the Government and the Marines would profit from chaos.
And Chinjao wanted to see Celestial Dragons executed.
Wang Zhi chuckled. "Ares, he's here for you."
"How about it? Give him a lesson. Show him what a real monster looks like."
Silver Axe's eyes were bright. "You learned Conqueror's infusion in a single day. None of us actually knows how strong you are now."
Ares had been terrifying before. Now he had mastered a technique that could harden strikes beyond steel.
They all wanted to know just how far had he gone.
"Yeah," Katakuri piped up. "It's been too long since we watched you fight, Captain."
The last time he had seen Ares in action was against his mother, Charlotte Linlin.
Recently he had heard that Ares beat Garp and drove off Redfield.
The stories had set the boy's blood on fire. He wanted to witness it with his own eyes.
Ares smiled. "If he actually causes trouble here, I'll step in."
That was all it took for the others' anticipation to spike.
Down at the pier, Kaido's brow arched. His voice turned cold. "Chinjao, you want to challenge my big brother Ares?"
"Pirates like you…"
"Are not qualified."
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