"This is as far as I can take you, Captain Momonga," Gion said softly, halting before the grand doors of the Fleet Admiral's Office. A faint, almost youthful smile curved her lips, softening the cool sharpness of her usual composure. Her earlier tension had vanished—she looked lighter, brighter.
"Thank you, Commodore Gion," Momonga replied, bowing his head slightly.
As she turned and disappeared down the long corridor, he stood motionless for a moment before the door. He didn't know what awaited him inside—only that whatever it was, it would decide everything.
He exhaled slowly, balling his hand into a fist. His eyes burned with quiet resolve.
This was it. Make or break.
Knock... knock... knock...
"Enter," came a deep, commanding voice from within.
Momonga drew one last steadying breath, then pushed the door open.
...
Marineford.
In the sterile silence of the high-security ward, a faint hum filled the air.
Darkness peeled away from Darren's vision, replaced by a hazy light. A slow-spinning ceiling fan. The rhythmic drip of an IV. A white ceiling. The sharp bite of disinfectant mingled with the faint, metallic tang of blood.
He blinked, his vision slowly clearing.
Ah... a familiar scene.
A face suddenly filled his view—so close he could see every freckle. A half-eaten banana dangled from Tokikake's mouth, the peel hanging limply.
"Yo! You're awake!"
Darren's lips twitched.
Yeah... definitely familiar.
"Seriously, Tokikake," he muttered dryly, "is there ever going to be a time I wake up half-dead and don't see your face first thing?"
Tokikake swallowed the banana with a noisy gulp. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?! I came all this way to check on you, and that's how you greet me?"
He struck a ridiculous pose, sweeping his hair back. "You're just jealous of how good-looking I am, huh? Don't worry, Darren. I get it. These looks are pretty lethal."
Darren stared flatly at him.
Yeah, lethal's one word for it. If I weren't wrapped up like a mummy right now, I'd have jumped out the window the moment I saw your face.
He sighed. "You're only here for the fruit basket, aren't you?"
Tokikake turned red. "W–what?! No! I was just... helping you lighten the load!"
Darren's skeptical silence said everything.
Tokikake puffed up in indignation. "I didn't take anything else, I swear—"
Clatter.
The sound of falling objects cut him off. From beneath his Marine coat spilled a shameful bounty: fine cigars, miniature liquor bottles, luxury cigarettes, even nutritional supplements—all scattering across the floor.
Darren: ...
Tokikake: ...
"Fine," Darren muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Take whatever you want."
To be fair, the man was an incorrigible freeloader. But Darren couldn't deny—every time he'd opened his eyes after a near-fatal mission, Tokikake had been there. Same ugly mug, same stupid grin. Somehow, it was almost comforting.
"Really? Great!" Tokikake beamed. "Then I'll just, uh, take all these home later." He laughed awkwardly, fumbling to adjust the bed's crank. "Our friendship... hehehe, it's embarrassing, isn't it?"
As the bed lifted, Darren leaned back into the pillows and finally took stock of his body. His torso was wrapped in thick bandages, and fresh blood still seeped through the wound at his abdomen. Even breathing sent knives of pain through him. Cold sweat slicked his forehead, his face pale and drawn.
I really overdid it this time.
Surveying his utterly wrecked body, a bitter smile twisted Darren's lips. Now all he felt was regret.
That "Proud Lion's last roar" line had sounded epic in the moment, but damn it, the only audience had been Momonga! What a price to pay for such a hollow performance.
Just as Darren was thinking this, he instinctively checked his Personal Panel.
The moment he looked, he froze in shock.
[ Physique: 91.728 — Indestructible Body ]
[ Strength: 82.191 — Giant's Strength ]
[ Speed: 82.431 — Soru's Divine Speed ]
[ Devil Fruit Ability Development: 85.886 — Island-Covering ]
[ Armament Haki: 70.715 — Internal Destruction ]
[ Observation Haki: 74.119 — Magnetic Field Sensing ]
[ Conqueror's Haki: 75.317 ]
Darren blinked, stunned.
His physical stats had barely budged since his battle with Kaido, which made sense—at that level, every fraction of progress was a mountain to climb. Armament and Observation had crept upward a little more than expected. But the real shock lay in the last line.
Conqueror's Haki.
Five points.
A five-point leap in one battle. It was absurd. Unprecedented.
He remembered—before his clash with Golden Lion, both Armament and Conqueror's Haki had broken the 70-point threshold. He'd even unlocked Internal Destruction for Armament Haki during that final exchange. But Conqueror's... it had exploded in growth, soaring to seventy-five.
What the hell is going on?
He'd always known Conqueror's Haki was different. You could train your body, sharpen your senses, master techniques—but the King's Haki was born of will, spirit, and soul. Since awakening it after killing that Celestial Dragon, Darren hadn't found any reliable way to strengthen it—aside from clashing with other conquerors and surviving the collision of their wills.
But this? This sudden surge was beyond reason. Could it really be from that final moment—when he'd chosen not to dodge Shiki's last strike?
No... that didn't seem enough.
Then a memory flickered, clear and sharp—Golden Lion's final words, rasped through blood and fading breath.
"This... this is your true capacity."
To be continued...