The first thing Daren felt was a cool breeze brushing past him.
Distant cries of seagulls blended with the rhythmic cadence of military drills, echoing faintly in his ears.
He struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, cracking them open just enough to let in a sliver of blurry light.
His thoughts were hazy, dulled by the long coma.
Every bone in his body ached like it had been crushed. His chest burned with an unbearable, searing pain.
He lay still for a long time, barely adapting to the suffocating agony. His throat, dry as sandpaper, rasped with each breath.
He murmured hoarsely.
Yes—he was alive. He'd actually survived... survived a clash with the man who would become the Pirate King.
Flat on his back in a soft hospital bed, Daren was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, with tubes inserted in several places. His face was ghostly pale.
It hurt like hell, but he laughed—loud and freely.
Even though, at the last second, his battered, exhausted body hadn't been able to inflict any damage on Roger, he'd still managed to scrape back a little dignity. A little payback.
A cool female voice cut through the silence.
Daren turned his head stiffly toward the sound—and was met with an exceptionally beautiful face.
Wavy black hair pulled into a simple ponytail, sharp crimson eyes angled just enough to give her an air of fierce authority.
"Of course I'm happy—waking up to such a pretty face? Who wouldn't be?"
He grinned at Gion, who clearly had been sitting there for a long time keeping watch, looking a little worn out.
Gion quickly averted her gaze and gave a dismissive snort.
"If you still have the energy to talk like a pervert, you're clearly not dying anytime soon."
Daren chuckled. "Just seeing you makes me feel a whole lot better, Lieutenant Commander Gion."
The words had barely left his mouth when—
"Me too, me too! Hahaha! Daren, aren't you happy to see me?!"
A wildly unkempt face suddenly leaned in, grinning wide. In one hand, he held a half-eaten, peeled banana.
"Daren, did you know? You're practically famous in Marineford now! I mean, you're not quite as well-known as yours truly, the genius, but everyone's talking about you!"
"The Marine rising star who clashed head-on with the legendary pirate Gol D. Roger and even managed to get the better of him!"
"And that's not all—"
"Um... Lieutenant Commander Tokikake?"
Daren cut him off before he could go any further.
Tokikake blinked, then leaned closer with concern.
After everything that had happened with Byrnndi World and Roger, even if he didn't say it out loud, Tokikake had already come to fully recognize Daren.
"You feeling off? Should I get the doctor? Or are you hungry? They said you need to fast for a few days—your internal injuries were pretty bad..."
"Could you move your face back a little? You're too close."
A chunk of banana snapped off and hit the floor.
"You're just jealous I'm this handsome," Tokikake muttered bitterly, stomping off to the corner to sulk while angrily tearing open a new fruit basket.
Watching him, Daren couldn't help but laugh again.
Yeah. His mood really had lifted.
He looked back at Gion.
"This is... Marineford Headquarters?"
White walls. A ceiling fan. The scent of disinfectant and blood hung in the air. Vital sign monitors blinked softly, pulsing with steady beeps.
It was all very familiar.
"That's right. This is the military ward at headquarters. We arrived just a few hours ago."
"How long was I out?"
He fell silent, then let out a dry laugh and shook his head.
"So I almost didn't make it..."
Ever since his Physique stat had hit 60 and his body had become as tough as steel, he'd never suffered such serious injuries.
Three whole days unconscious.
"I'm still far from strong enough..." he muttered.
Against Roger's devastating slash—if he hadn't triggered Conqueror's Haki at the last moment, and if he hadn't awakened Armament Haki in time—his body alone wouldn't have been enough. He would've been cleaved in two.
More crucially, at the very instant Roger attacked, Daren had secretly used the repulsion force of the Jiki Jiki no Mi on Roger's Supreme Grade Meito, weakening the force of the slash without anyone noticing.
In hindsight, it made one thing clear—Byrnndi World, for all his destructive power, was nowhere near Roger's level in pure combat ability.
And that also shed light on how terrifying the likes of Vice Admiral Garp, Whitebeard, and Shiki must be—those who could go blow for blow with Roger for days on end.
The apex of this sea...
Daren's eyes flickered with determination.
"Hahahaha! Daren! Heard you finally woke up!"
A hearty voice rang out from the hallway.
Dragon stepped into the room with a fruit basket in hand, smiling as he pushed open the door.
"Rear Admiral Dragon!"
Gion and Tokikake—mouth still full of apple—jumped up and saluted.
Dragon waved them off.
"No need to stand on ceremony." He turned to Daren, still smiling. "How're you feeling?"
"Better," Daren said, glancing at Gion and Tokikake. Warmth stirred in his chest.
"That's good to hear. On the way back, Lieutenant Commanders Gion and Tokikake took turns watching over you. There were too many injured on board, and the ship's doctor was overwhelmed."
"As for me and the old man... well, you know we're not exactly the nurturing type."
He scratched his head awkwardly.
Truth was, Garp and Dragon had spent most of the voyage back asleep.
"I really appreciate it," Daren said sincerely.
"Glad to hear it. Rest up. The Officer Training Camp's opening ceremony is in two days. That's not an event the 'King of the North Blue' can skip. You're kind of a big deal in Marineford now."
Dragon grinned genuinely.
Then his expression shifted.
"Well, speak of the devil—here comes someone you know well... someone annoying."
Footsteps echoed from outside the room—steady, strong, precise.
Cold. Mechanical. Imposing. Just the sound of them alone felt like the ticking of some unyielding pendulum.
And then a tall, heavy presence filled the doorway. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel⁂fire.net
The man didn't speak. Didn't need to.
Just standing there, he radiated cold, ironclad authority.
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