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"Worororororo! You hear that? My son's challenging you lot!"
Kaido's booming laugh echoed through the sky, rolling like thunder.
The massive dragon's head lowered until his snout brushed against Dan's tiny face—drool threatening to drip down. The rough dragon scales itched against his cheek, and the boy, clearly irritated, pushed Kaido's face away with his little hand.
Then those clear black eyes swept over the two crews below—the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Hair Pirates—both sides already tense and on edge, hands on weapons, ready to clash.
The small figure hovering atop Kaido's fearsome dragon head looked completely out of place amid the killing intent filling the air.
His pink lips parted slightly, and in that soft, childish voice—sweet but unmistakably clear—he spoke.
"Oh."
Dan pointed his chubby little finger—first at Whitebeard, then at Red-Hair Shanks.
"You guys."
"And the ones on your ships."
He paused, tilting his head a little as if choosing his words carefully.
"Except for you two old geezers."
"Anyone else."
"Come out."
"And fight me."
"Four chances."
"If I lose once…"
"…we'll leave."
"…"
Among the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco, Jozu, Vista—every captain's face turned dark.
On the Red-Hair side, Benn Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux—all of them gritted their teeth.
Arrogant.
Unbearably cocky.
Just like Kaido!
"Kaido!!!"
Whitebeard's roar cracked the silence like a lightning strike.
"Is this how you raised your brat?!"
"You bring him to my ship to act tough?!"
"You think I won't kill you right here, bastard?!"
Whitebeard was livid—truly livid.
He'd seen everything in his lifetime… but to have some snot-nosed kid in split pants point at him and declare war on his entire crew—with four chances, no less?
Unforgivable. Pure humiliation!
Shanks' face had gone cold too. His hand rested on Gryphon's hilt, veins showing faintly.
"Kaido. Take your son and leave," he said, voice like ice.
"You're not welcome here."
"That earlier warning was mercy."
"Keep pushing, and I'll stop holding back."
But instead of backing off, Kaido looked even more excited.
"Wororororo! What's this? Scared already, Red-Hair? Whitebeard, old man?"
"What's wrong? Can't even handle a child's challenge?"
"Or do you just not trust your own men? Don't tell me they're so weak they can't even take on a kid!"
His words poured oil on the fire. Whitebeard and Shanks' expressions darkened.
Then—
"Captain! Let me teach that little brat a lesson!"
A figure shot forward from the Red-Hair Pirates—it was Rockstar!
He'd been the one who delivered a message to Whitebeard earlier, only to have Dan snatch it away. He'd been bitter about it ever since.
Now was his chance to redeem himself.
"Rockstar! Get back here!" Beckman barked—but too late.
Rockstar had already charged to the center of the deck, pointing at Dan floating above.
"Kid! Don't think beating two Warlords makes you hot stuff! I'll show you what a real Emperor's crew can do!"
Before his words even finished—
Dan looked at him once.
Just one calm glance.
No anger. No disdain. Just… the kind of detached curiosity you'd give an ant crossing the road.
Then, his right eye contracted.
A crimson pattern whirled to life—rotating rapidly.
"Amaterasu."
fwoosh—!
A jet-black flame appeared out of nowhere on Rockstar's shoulder.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
The scream that followed didn't even sound human.
His entire body ignited like a torch, thrashing across the deck in agony. The black fire clung to him like a curse—no matter how he rolled, slapped, or scraped, it wouldn't go out.
In fact, it burned hotter.
"Rockstar!"
The Red-Hair crew rushed forward in panic.
"Water! Bring water!"
"No good! It's not normal fire!"
"Try Armament Haki—smother it!"
"It's not working!"
"What about seastone?! Use seastone!"
"Still no effect—what the hell kind of ability is this?!"
Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and the others scrambled desperately. Buckets of water hissed into steam instantly. Clothes turned to ash. Even Haki barriers couldn't block it—the black flames seemed alive, slipping through everything to devour their comrade.
The stench of burnt flesh filled the air.
Rockstar's screams grew weaker by the second. He was barely hanging on.
"What kind of fire is that…?" Marco muttered, face pale.
As the Phoenix himself, master of flames, even he had never seen anything like it—flames so pure, so cruel, so unnatural.
"Move!" Beckman snarled, shoving others aside.
His sharp gaze locked on the burning man, and his aura exploded outward—Conqueror's Haki surging like a tidal wave toward the black fire.
Zzzzzhhh—!
At last, the arrogant black flames began to shrink, fading little by little under the crushing weight of Beckman's will.
"It's working!" Yasopp shouted.
Moments later, the fire finally died out.
Thud!
Rockstar collapsed in a smoking heap, charred black, barely breathing.
Silence fell once more.
Every eye turned to the small boy floating above—so perfect, so doll-like—and yet utterly terrifying.
One glance.
Just one glance.
And he'd nearly killed a pirate worth hundreds of millions.
No one had ever seen a power like this.
Dan's expression didn't change. His little face remained calm, almost bored.
He tilted his head slightly and said in that soft, childish tone—
"That one doesn't count."
"It was a freebie."
Everyone: "???"
A freebie?!
You almost burned him to death and call that a bonus?!
In truth, Rockstar was simply too weak. He didn't meet the system's criteria—so the attack didn't count toward the mission. Only a giveaway.
The Red-Hair Pirates' faces turned black with rage.
Especially Yasopp.
He looked at his comrade's half-dead body, then back at the boy who'd said it like it was nothing. Rage surged up his chest, hot and wild.
"You little bastard!!!"
His usual easy grin was gone. His eyes were bloodshot.
He raised his long flintlock, leveling the muzzle straight at Dan.
"You're dead!"
"Hundred-Round Burst—Silver Storm!"
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG—!!!
The rapid gunfire roared like thunder.
In an instant, over a hundred bullets infused with Armament and Conqueror's Haki blazed through the air—each one glowing with deadly light as they ripped toward Dan in a deadly storm.
Each shot carried enough force to pierce steel—and together, they formed a shimmering "bullet line," a torrent of destruction even an Emperor wouldn't take lightly.
"Dan!"
Kaido's enormous dragon eyes widened, alarm flashing within.
He knew exactly how powerful that move was.
Even with that eerie blue skeleton guarding him, Yasopp's attack was on a whole different level. It might actually break through.
But Dan didn't move.
Didn't even blink.
He just slowly raised one chubby little finger.
At the fingertip—faint violet light began to glow.
At first, it was tiny. Almost gentle.
Like a firefly flickering in the dark.
ChatGPT said:
But in the very next instant—
Vmm—!!!
A pulse of indescribable terror exploded from Dan's fingertip, shaking the air itself.
That tiny speck of purple light swelled before their eyes, spinning faster and faster as it gathered energy.
A spiral of raw power twisted into shape—dense, unstable, and filled with a sense of utter destruction.
Everyone could feel it: a crushing pressure that made their hearts pound and their lungs seize.
It was as if an invisible hand had clamped around their throats, choking the breath right out of them.
Even Whitebeard, even Shanks, even the most hardened officers on their ships—every one of them went pale.
From that small fingertip, they could sense a force strong enough to end their lives in an instant.
"Makankōsappō—!"
The childish yet commanding voice rang out from Dan's tiny mouth, a soft, innocent tone carrying the weight of an executioner's verdict.
"..."
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