Chapter 524: Awakening!
Brett felt his mind was very sluggish. Thinking had become an extremely laborious task.
He'd even forgotten who he was, forgotten why he'd appeared here. All he could perceive was his body continuously falling while laughter emerged around him.
And within this laughter, an azure dragon appeared from somewhere.
It bared its fangs and brandished its claws. It circled and drifted around Brett unscrupulously.
A pair of scarlet eyes stared fixedly at Brett. Between sharp teeth, drool seemed to drip greedily.
It seemed to want to swallow Brett whole.
Yet Brett only stared blankly at it, still rapidly falling. He couldn't even produce any decent reaction. His thoughts had nearly stopped.
And in the outside world.
"ROAR!!"
Brett's body, which had only been lying on the ground, suddenly arched back, then sprang up like a spring, roaring skyward with an inhuman bellow.
His torso and limbs twisted at different angles. His tall body sometimes stretched even longer, sometimes became even more stocky.
"Hey hey hey, what's going on?!"
Outside the laboratory, a man walked in with surprise. "I sensed an incredible aura!"
Ryokugyu. As this man walked in, his eyes scanned around, then naturally fixed on Brett.
"Is that Brett?"
The man's eyes widened.
The other Marine Headquarters high command followed behind him.
Everyone's faces were currently written with shock, just watching Brett had left them dumbfounded.
"This is—"
Vice Admiral Garp was indeed well-traveled. He couldn't help saying heavily, "Awakening?"
"He's gone berserk."
Kizaru slowly pushed up the sunglasses on his nose. "When body and spirit can't keep up with the ability, Zoan awakeners will be devoured by the ability's consciousness."
"But it's truly hard to imagine. Not only has he not awakened yet, but Brett would actually fail awakening?" Admiral Fujitora felt quite reflective.
On this sea, the stronger someone was, the more resilient their mental will.
With Brett's strength, no matter how powerful the Devil Fruit, he should be able to handle it with ease.
How could he possibly fail awakening?
This was truly quite puzzling.
"This guy's ability is special, so naturally his awakening is also special!"
Vegapunk carefully circled around Brett, coming to the Navy's side. "From here on, it can only depend on this boy's own willpower!"
Whether he could defeat Kaido's will lodged in the Devil Fruit and successfully master his own awakening depended on what came next, Brett!
If you fail, your own will would probably be usurped by Kaido, causing a drastic personality change and becoming a second Kaido.
"ROAR!!"
The roaring monster's body gradually took shape.
His originally over-five-meter-tall form grew even taller, directly more than doubling to become a truly massive creature.
The muscles and bones throughout his body had swollen considerably. His whole body even appeared somewhat bloated. Scales and horns also became thicker and heavier. His straight waist became hunched. Sharp claws became more vicious and curved.
"Ororo! Ororo! Ororo!"
He laughed. He laughed loudly. He laughed wildly!
Laughing until all his muscles constantly moved, his eyes gradually turned, looking toward the Navy standing to one side.
Then.
Whoosh—
Wild wind blasted toward them.
"Ugh!!!"
Ryokugyu couldn't help placing both hands before his head to block that oncoming gale. "What is this terrifying oppressive feeling?!"
"Looks like we've been targeted!"
Vice Admiral Garp's brow had already furrowed.
"Prepare for battle!" He said in a low voice.
Though he'd gone berserk, Brett's power was plain to see. Absolutely not something they could face easily.
With even the slightest carelessness, their side might instead pay a heavy price!
"Lure him outside the base!"
Vice Admiral Garp said heavily. "We can't fight in here!"
"But it seems he doesn't intend to give us that time."
Kizaru said somewhat helplessly.
Because in the next second, accompanied by the gale, a towering shadow had already flashed directly before them.
"Ororo!!"
Massive claws had already risen high.
Vice Admiral Garp clenched his fist. The fist the world fearfully called the Iron Fist was now pitch black.
However, the massive claw didn't fall.
The monster's body froze.
The mental world.
Brett still stared blankly at that azure dragon circling continuously around him.
He knew what he was seeing, but his brain no longer made judgments based on feedback. All he could do was stare blankly.
Then, seemingly sensing Brett's weakness, after a period of circling, this azure dragon's mouth finally began trembling, then opened uncontrollably wide.
"ROAR!!"
The azure dragon charged head-on, directly opening its mouth wide and swallowing Brett in one bite.
"Orororororo!!"
Then this entire space was already filled with the dragon's excited laughter.
However, this excitement didn't last very long. Soon the azure dragon's midsection began swelling.
Then in the next second, accompanied by a long cry, a crimson dragon broke through from within!
Nearly identical to the azure dragon except for color, the red dragon soared through the sky, slowly turning its head back above.
During this time, the azure dragon had already recovered its original form. It roared and lunged at the red dragon.
But what greeted it was scorching flames spewed forth by the red dragon.
The azure dragon cried out in agony within the flames, but before it could escape the flames' entanglement, the red dragon had already glided over.
The red dragon's front claws directly grabbed the azure dragon's head, forcefully tearing it in two.
The azure dragon still screamed, but the red dragon's body had already released dazzling lightning, continuously destroying the azure dragon's body.
Though the azure dragon's body kept recovering, its form visibly rapidly became smaller.
Finally, the red dragon simply opened its mouth wide and, just as the azure dragon had done to it earlier, swallowed the azure dragon in one bite.
However, unlike before, this time the azure dragon couldn't break free of the red dragon's power.
This space became quiet.
After a long while, the red dragon still circling everywhere finally quieted down.
"How weak..."
Such a voice echoed through this space.
Outside.
The frozen monster's body changed again.
The powerful form began contracting. Overly swollen muscles and bones began recovering.
Teeth, claws, and horns remained sharp but were no longer unkempt.
Body and limbs became more elongated. Hair transformed into brown fur now flowing down his back like black flames.
Most critically, steam-like ribbons began extending from his back, coiling around his body and extending downward.
"Oh! This is—"
Kizaru pushed up his sunglasses.
"Awakening?"
Brett clenched his fist.