Barrett's pupils contracted into pinpoints.
As a pirate who once fell under a Buster Call, he understood all too well what the four Den Den Mushi in front of him represented.
Four Buster Call authorizations.
Back then, to capture him, the Navy only deployed Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, and a dozen massive warships.
But these four Den Den Mushi represented something far more terrifying.
They represented the combined will of the highest command of Marine Headquarters.
Once activated, the force that would descend was enough to effortlessly erase any nation from the map.
A rough sound squeezed out of Barrett's throat.
He stared at Renn Hawk, and in his eyes, a fire ignited. A fire called ambition.
This young Rear Admiral was without question a future pillar of Marine leadership. His words would absolutely carry weight.
But young men were always young men, full of unrealistic arrogance.
A genius was nothing until fully matured.
And yet this youngster dared to use freedom as a wager.
Then he would show him why the world called him the Demon Heir.
Today, he would walk out of Impel Down.
Magellan stepped forward and took a ring of keys from his waist.
A crisp click echoed.
The heavy Seastone cell door opened with a grinding groan.
Magellan entered the cell and used a second key to unlock the Seastone shackles binding Barrett's wrists and ankles.
The chains fell, crashing loudly against the floor.
Every legendary pirate in Infinite Hell turned to watch.
They could all feel the slaughter and screams coming from the upper levels.
But it had nothing to do with them.
They were Level 6 pirates, criminals of unforgivable magnitude.
The Marines and World Government dared not casually execute them.
Because if their powerful Devil Fruits returned to the world and found new hosts, the chaos would be even greater.
Not killing them meant eternal imprisonment.
But now…
There seemed to be a chance to leave.
All eyes focused on Renn Hawk. They wanted to see clearly.
The Marine Rear Admiral who could lay out four Buster Calls, what level of power did he possess?
Barrett rolled his wrists, bones crackling as they shifted.
He stepped out of the cell.
"Come."
"Let me see exactly how much weight the future of the Marines carries."
Barrett launched forward like a cannonball, crashing down toward Renn Hawk.
He did not use his Devil Fruit ability. He did not coat himself in Armament Haki.
With nothing but a body forged over twenty relentless years, he threw a probing punch.
"Good."
Renn Hawk stood his ground without moving.
This was exactly the kind of opponent he needed. Exactly the kind of battle he required.
He raised his right arm, fingers curling into a fist, and met Barrett's punch head on.
A ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward the moment their fists collided.
The blast of force surged in all directions, whipping the cloaks of Zoro and Sanji like storm banners.
"This..."
Magellan's pupils constricted violently, and the poison flowing behind him rippled uncontrollably.
The contempt and testing in Barrett's eyes vanished without a trace.
In its place was shock. Heavy shock.
His probing strike had been received effortlessly.
This youth…
This Marine Rear Admiral…
His physical body was no weaker than Barrett's.
"Interesting."
Barrett's battle spirit ignited completely.
Power surged as jet black Armament Haki flooded down his arm.
Renn Hawk's eyes remained calm as his own Armament erupted across his limb.
The second collision blasted out an even more violent storm of force.
Both fighters were knocked back by the recoil.
Barrett roared in excitement and surged forward again.
This time, he was completely serious.
The two figures became blurs within Infinite Hell, each collision ripping through the air with explosive shockwaves.
This was strength against strength.
Body against body.
"Hey..."
Zoro and Sanji stood watching, their expressions already filled to the brim with disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding..."
Sanji's cigarette had fallen without him realizing, his voice hollow.
"How are we supposed to catch up to that...?"
He turned sharply to look at Zoro, only to see that Zoro was trembling.
Zoro's hand gripped the hilt of Wado Ichimonji so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
It was not fear.
It was the thrill that surged from the soul when witnessing a gap that could not be crossed.
So this was Big Brother's true strength.
Clashing head on with a legendary pirate.
This was the power that stood at the pinnacle of the world.
The gap was overwhelming.
Renn Hawk's back was so far ahead it was almost beyond sight.
But precisely because of that...
Their pursuit could never stop.
Zoro felt a beast deep within his soul awaken. It opened a single eye, and in that eye burned a ferocity that looked down upon the world.
Become stronger. Become far stronger.
Strong enough to stand behind Big Brother forever and cut down everything in his way.
Magellan watched silently. Of everyone standing, he felt it most clearly.
Thanks to Hannyabal's endless chatter, he knew Renn Hawk's meteoric rise like a story recited from memory.
The young man hailed as the future of the Marines.
But from the strength Renn Hawk was displaying now…
He was only a single step away from the rank of Admiral.
No wonder Fleet Admiral Sengoku permitted him to slaughter his way through Impel Down.
Everything suddenly made sense.
With this level of combat power...
A leader of the new era, barely past twenty, already possessed strength equal to Marine Admirals.
Give him a few more years, no, not even a few years…
The fourth Admiral would soon be born.
Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino, all still in their prime.
And a new Admiral who acted with ruthless efficiency would change the balance of the seas forever.
Suddenly, Magellan's eyes widened again.
"No. That is not right."
"Rear Admiral Hawk is… improving?"
Shiryu, that bloodthirsty former chief warden, had been left for Zoro.
He was a whetstone for a swordsman.
But Barrett, once compared to Rayleigh twenty years ago, and now stronger still…
He was the sharpening stone Renn Hawk used for himself.