"Don't tell me that rubber brat's fruit isn't actually a Paramecia Rubber Fruit…"
"But the Devil Fruit belonging to that man himself?!"
There were very few things in this world capable of making Mihawk lose his composure.
Even death he could face calmly.
But that fruit truly exceeded the limits of his imagination.
The Zoan Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Type: Nika!
The very Devil Fruit once possessed by the man the World Government feared most.
Seeing Mihawk's shocked expression Shanks looked extremely satisfied.
"That's right."
"It's that Devil Fruit."
"Damn it!"
On Renji's ship seeing King defeated so easily Jack's face was filled with rage.
King's completely lifeless appearance made Jack think he had already died.
That only drove Jack even crazier.
"Brother Queen… and now Brother King too…"
Powerful Armament Haki erupted around Jack's body.
Spiral-like streams of aura rose violently from him.
"You bastard…"
"You deserve to die!"
As he roared Jack's fist smashed toward Renji.
"I already defeated you once before."
"You don't seriously think a few months apart makes you my opponent now, do you?"
Renji showed no mercy either.
He dismissed both the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and Glint-Glint Fruit powers.
Instead Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki exploded from his body simultaneously.
The sheer pressure of his Haki alone forced the surrounding sea backward!
"Die!"
With a furious roar Renji's fist collided directly with Jack's.
"BOOM!"
A thunderous explosion echoed across the sea.
In the haze it almost sounded like the roar of some giant sea monster.
The surrounding ocean looked as though it had been torn apart, surging violently to both sides as a gigantic crater formed!
[You picked up a portion of Devil Fruit growth experience!]
[You picked up a portion of Armament Haki comprehension experience!]
"Boom!"
Another explosion rang out.
This time Renji's arm pierced directly through Jack's chest.
A horrifying hole nearly one meter wide appeared in the center of Jack's torso.
Jack stared at the wound in disbelief.
His mouth moved but no sound came out.
His body reverted to the original Fish-Man form beneath his Human-Beast transformation then collapsed weakly to the ground.
"Splash~!"
Right at that moment the sea that had just been "split apart" by Renji's power came crashing back down.
Wave after wave roared across the battlefield.
"How is this possible?!"
"All three All-Stars… died at Renji's hands?!"
Shock.
Disbelief.
At this moment, everyone in the Beasts Pirates was stunned.
Even their movements slowed and faltered.
Taking advantage of that brief opening the Whitebeard Pirates' morale surged sky-high.
They immediately launched a fierce counterattack against the Beasts Pirates.
The battle, which had been one-sided earlier, gradually returned to an even exchange.
Renji glanced around the battlefield.
This situation was acceptable but still not enough.
The Whitebeard Pirates only managed to regain balance because their morale now surpassed the Beasts Pirates'.
However morale alone could never completely erase the gap between the two sides.
The difference of twenty thousand soldiers along with Kaido's Artificial Devil Fruit Army composed of over two hundred users still remained the deciding factor of victory.
At this point only the outcome of the commanders' battle could truly change the war.
This was already the solution Renji had thought of back when King and Jack came to ambush him.
Lightly stepping forward Renji once again soared into the sky.
Defeating King and Jack had not consumed much of his strength.
Facing Kaido was not impossible.
A sharp light flashed through Renji's eyes.
He landed directly upon the island.
"Tremor…"
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit gathered within his hand.
Renji directly aimed at Kaido's head.
"Break!"
A single punch blasted out.
Cracks formed by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit spread violently in all directions.
Dense black fractures filled the air like blades of death.
"Hm?"
At that moment Kaido had just exchanged another clash with Whitebeard.
Sensing Renji's incoming attack Kaido raised the spiked club in his hand.
Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki wrapped around it simultaneously.
"Thunder Bagua!"
With a furious roar overwhelming power condensed into the kanabo.
[You picked up a portion of Devil Fruit growth experience!]
[You picked up a portion of Armament Haki comprehension experience!]
[You picked up a portion of Conqueror's Haki comprehension experience!]
[You picked up a portion of Strength!]
[You…]
As more than ten different attributes flooded into Renji's mind his clash with Kaido had also reached its peak.
"Boom!"
This time Kaido retreated seven steps.
Renji only retreated five.
Naturally part of that advantage came from Renji's surprise attack.
But it also represented Renji's current strength.
Renji looked seriously at Kaido, but his words were directed toward Whitebeard instead.
"Old man, you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Whitebeard shook his head.
His physical condition truly was not good.
But if Kaido wanted to defeat him it still would not be easy.
"Leave this place to me."
Hearing Renji's words Whitebeard frowned slightly.
His face was filled with hesitation.
It was not because he feared Renji taking power.
Rather he was worried whether Renji could truly handle Kaido.
"You confident?"
"Of course."
Renji's response was immediate and decisive.
Hearing that Whitebeard smiled slightly.
"The waves behind always push beyond the waves ahead."
"Alright then."
"I'll go check on Marco's side."
"That old bastard Kaido's trump card is truly troublesome."
Whitebeard turned and left.
He actually entrusted the battle against Kaido to Renji!
This was Whitebeard's trust in him.
And at the same time a declaration to the world that Renji was his successor.
The future emperor of the Whitebeard Pirates and the future ruler of the entire Whitebeard territory.
"You brat…"
"You really are interesting."
Kaido glanced once at Whitebeard's departing back.
Naturally he understood Whitebeard's intentions.
After thinking for a moment a grin appeared on Kaido's face.
"How about joining my side?"
"I won't make you call me father."
"In fact, I can even step down immediately and hand the Beasts Pirates over to you."
"That's quite the tempting offer."
Hearing Kaido's words Renji took a deep breath.
The temptation truly was enormous.
But he also understood the reason behind it.
Simply put Kaido had seen his strength.
And the reason Renji's strength had been able to grow to this point was entirely because of the Whitebeard Pirates' protection.
Only because of their shelter had he been able to go from zero to one and only after that did he gain the explosive growth during Impel Down and the Summit War.
"Heh."
Renji let out a cold laugh.
"In that case…"
"Why don't you surrender instead?"
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