"Don't underestimate him."
Sakazuki shot a sharp glance at Darren, his voice cold and unyielding.
His face remained expressionless as he looked at the blond-haired youth radiating a demonic aura not far away. Beneath the shadow of his cap, his eyes flickered with something dark and heavy.
They may have fended off Bullet's last strike, but the aching burn in his arm reminded him just how monstrous this opponent truly was.
A superhuman physique. Brutal strength. Explosive speed. And now that overwhelming Armament Haki...
This mission was far more dangerous than Sakazuki had anticipated.
Darren stepped forward, now shoulder-to-shoulder with Sakazuki.
With a small twitch of his finger, the steel hidden beneath the rubble of the ruined town rose up like coiled dragons—twisting into sharp, snaking tendrils of metal that hovered above his head, clawing at the sky.
"I've never had the habit of underestimating an enemy."
Sakazuki narrowed his eyes and asked, suddenly:
"When did you awaken Conqueror's Haki?"
Darren glanced sideways at him, noting the question but not the expression. He smiled faintly.
"Back in North Blue."
Then, he clenched his fingers into a fist.
Dozens of razor-sharp metal tendrils screamed through the air, streaking toward Douglas Bullet like a rain of steel spears, their impact shaking the earth as they slammed down one by one.
The town shook violently. Dust surged upward in thick columns, explosions lighting up the sky. The battlefield quaked beneath the assault.
Bullet's wild laugh pierced through the chaos.
Without any visible motion, his figure began weaving through the barrage at terrifying speed, leaving blurred afterimages behind him.
Steel spears capable of piercing battleship armor scraped past him one after another—but not a single one landed a hit.
"That's it? Come on! Come at me together!"
He cackled, eyes burning with twisted crimson light. Then, with a sudden stop, he reached out and grabbed one of the incoming steel spikes.
His five fingers clenched, and with a surge of Armament Haki, the hundred-meter spear exploded into thousands of fragments midair.
A flash of crimson burst through the cloud of shredded metal—Sakazuki, cloak melting into molten magma, fist blazing with infernal heat.
The temperature skyrocketed. Even the air began to warp.
"Hound Blaze Lotus!!"
With a barked command, Sakazuki hurled his arm forward. A gigantic magma dog, jaws wide and glowing red, surged forward like a blooming lotus of destruction—ready to devour Bullet whole.
"Kahahahaha!! Now that's more like it!"
Bullet didn't retreat. He stepped forward with a roar and met the attack head-on, swinging a fist wreathed in thick, dense Haki.
His punch collided with the lava beast's open jaws, holding it back. Molten rock sprayed in every direction.
Darren appeared at Bullet's flank in a flash, delivering a vicious sideways kick aimed straight at his temple.
The sunlight glinted off Darren's black Marine boots. Bullet's eyes narrowed. His massive arm shot out like a whip, fingers splayed wide.
The shockwave burst outward. He caught Darren's kick in midair. But the impact of Darren's Haki made him grunt—his body wobbling for a split second.
"Yes... this is the feeling..."
Bullet's blood-red eyes gleamed as he laughed maniacally. He pulled his knee up and aimed a brutal blow at Darren's chest.
His goal was nothing less than to be the strongest in the world.
He would never take a step back—no matter how many came at him.
Darren narrowed his eyes and met him head-on—knee for knee.
A shockwave burst from the impact.
Using the recoil, Bullet staggered back, then stomped hard enough to crack the ground. Reaching to his side, he grabbed a twisted shard of metal and launched a punch.
As he threw the blow, the scrap began to transform—wrapping around his left arm in spirals, fusing and reshaping into a massive impact cannon.
Purple-black Haki spread over the metal. Steam hissed from vents at the base like a rocket booster, vastly boosting the power of the strike.
The air collapsed around the cannon as it punched forward, spiraling into a windstorm.
The fist came down like a meteor, the pressure alone distorting the air and tearing Darren's face into a snarl from sheer wind force.
Darren crossed his arms, Haki surging over both forearms. Sparks flickered between his fingers as magnetic tension gathered.
It was like being hit head-on by a Buster Call battleship at full speed. Darren flew backward like a ragdoll, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Kahahahaha!! On the battlefield, I'M INVINCIBLE!!"
Bullet roared with laughter. His arm-cannon began to shift again, the metal folding and reshaping into a new form—a thick barrel now forming at the front.
He had eaten the Clank-Clank Fruit (Gasha Gasha no Mi)—a fusion-type Devil Fruit that allowed him to merge any object he touched with his own body, forming new weapons at will.
As long as he was on a battlefield, surrounded by wreckage—he had infinite tools for war.
A dark crimson glow gathered in the cannon's mouth.
His target: Darren, still mid-air from the last blow.
"Let's finish this—!"
But then, something made him freeze.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Darren's twisted, bloodied face... smiling.
The weapon backfired, detonating in his hands. Fire and smoke engulfed him.
Bullet staggered. Burns marked his neck and arms. His face twisted in disbelief.
Before he could react—
A fist of lava exploded before him—like a volcanic beast unchained. Furious. Unrelenting.
A real threat flared in Bullet's mind. His instincts screamed.
He activated his Haki, hardening his entire upper body. His left arm—still fused with cannon-metal—reeled back, trying to block.
More sparks crackled.
Tiny arcs of electricity danced across the cannon-metal, binding and gripping.
A strange magnetic pull distorted his motion.
He couldn't move freely.
"What is this ability!?"
Bullet's eyes widened in fury, jaw clenched tight.
He and Darren had fought together for years in North Blue. They didn't need words. One glance was enough to understand each other's plan.
This was Darren giving him an opening.
A weakness had been exposed.
Sakazuki's eyes flared with killing intent.
His magma-coated fist roared with the promise of obliteration.