"The Prince Consort wants to learn how to infuse Conqueror's Haki?"
Every All-Star and Flying Six member stared, certain they'd misheard.
Luo Xing rarely revealed his strength; even Kaido himself had never truly gauged his limits.
After all, Luo Xing's philosophy was simple: why fight if someone else can do it for you?
He was an inventor, not a berserker—and inventors preferred creation to destruction.
Still, when it came to his own power, Luo Xing was a perfectionist.
He might avoid brawls, but weakness was never an option.
If anything, he intended to reach the highest tier of this world's hierarchy.
That was why he had come to Kaido—to master Conqueror's Haki coating.
Kaido's massive frame trembled slightly.
"You've already awakened the Conqueror's Haki?"
Luo Xing nodded once.
Gasps rippled through the hall—King, Queen, Jack, Who's Who, and Page One all drew sharp breaths.
Conqueror's Haki was rare even in the New World.
Not even King, born of the near-mythic Lunarian race, possessed it.
Within the Beasts Pirates, only Kaido and his daughter Yamato had ever awakened it.
No one had imagined that quiet, calculating Luo Xing—the man forever tinkering in his lab—would carry that same royal will.
Then Kaido's astonishment turned into roaring laughter.
"Good! Good! Good!"
When his laughter died down, the look he gave Luo Xing had changed—no longer that of a wary father-in-law, but of a man seeing his heir.
Until now, Kaido had never truly considered passing his throne to Luo Xing.
He respected his son-in-law's inventions, yes—but without the Conqueror's Haki, Luo Xing could never stand among the world's kings.
That was why Kaido had tolerated Yamato's rebellion: at least she bore the will of a monarch.
But now?
Luo Xing had awakened it too—and his intellect, temperament, and value to the crew far surpassed Yamato's.
Kaido spoke without restraint, his voice full of pride.
"Luo Xing, you may not rely on a Devil Fruit or those monster cells, and you seldom show your hand—but I've always known you were training. Your Haki alone can rival King's or Queen's."
"Remember—Haki, not Devil Fruits, defines true strength. Roger had no fruit, yet he ruled the seas. Among all forms of Haki, Conqueror's Haki is supreme. Only by mastering its infusion can you claim the right to fight for the throne of this ocean!"
He clapped Luo Xing's shoulder, the giant's grin almost paternal.
"You have my word. I'll teach you everything I know about Conqueror's Haki coating!"
For once, Luo Xing was moved.
For all his brutality, Kaido was fiercely loyal to those he valued—especially his family.
Luo Xing bowed.
"I won't disappoint you, Father-in-law."
Kaido bellowed a laugh that shook the rafters.
Around them, the Beasts Pirates could only stare—stunned to realize that from this day forward, their true successor might not be Yamato… but Luo Xing himself.
Kaido kept his word.
He revealed every detail of Conqueror's Haki infusion—how to let one's will flow through the weapon, how to make the air itself recoil.
Luo Xing learned with quiet focus.
He knew a quicker way—two swings of Kaido's kanabo to his head might awaken the ability instantly—but he chose the slower path.
Some dignity must remain, he thought.
Alone, he entered the Time-Dilation Gravity Chamber, drew the sword Enma from its sheath, and began his training.
Inside that room, a single day equaled a month outside.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the New World
On a distant naval warship, Sakazuki the Red Dog sat in bored silence.
Since he'd obliterated the Beasts Pirates' ship with a single blow, no one had dared target the Heavenly Tribute again.
"Once this escort's done, I'm heading back to Headquarters," he muttered.
Guard duty was beneath an Admiral of his stature.
Suddenly, a frantic ensign ran across the deck.
"Admiral Sakazuki, sir! Bad news!"
The Admiral's eyes lit up.
"Finally. What is it—pirates attacking us?"
"Y-yes, sir! Well… not us, exactly. A distant naval base is under attack!"
Sakazuki's expression darkened.
"Which foolhardy crew dares this? I'm still in the New World!"
"It's… it's the Beasts Pirates, sir. Their commander is the one they call Jack the Drought!"
Sakazuki froze, disbelief flickering into fury.
"Impossible! Jack's already dead! I saw his ship sink myself!"
He remembered clearly: one volcanic fist, a sea of fire, the ship torn apart—and Jack plunging into the ocean.
A Devil Fruit user falling into the sea had only one ending.
The ensign held out a transponder snail.
"We don't understand it either, sir, but here's the live feed from the base!"
Sakazuki snatched the snail, pressed it to his ear—and his pupils contracted.
On the tiny screen, a mammoth was tearing through a naval fortress.
He recognized that form instantly.
And when the beast shifted back into its humanoid shape, Sakazuki's scowl faltered.
There stood Jack, very much alive—no scars, no machinery, not even a trace of injury.
"How…?"
Jack's lungs had been burned away—Sakazuki's magma had ensured that.
No one should have been able to heal that kind of damage.
Yet here Jack was, whole again, smashing battleships like nothing had happened.
For the first time in years, Admiral Akainu felt a chill of disbelief.
This defies reason, he thought. Just what kind of power did that madman Kaido's crew discover…?
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