"No!"
"Impossible!"
"There must be someone else!"
Oren could not accept the truth before his eyes.
Beside him, the three officers—Homa, Garson, and Grin—finally snapped out of their daze.
"B-Boss… who unleashed Conqueror's Haki just now?"
They knew the legends.
That power—
So rare. So terrifying.
Only true monsters of the sea possessed such potential.
It was called—
The Disposition of a King.
Without that disposition, no amount of training could awaken Conqueror's Haki.
That was an absolute truth.
So the question was—
Who had released it?
Who here possessed a will found in only one out of a million?
The three looked to their captain, Oren the Demon, for an answer.
But Oren stood wide-eyed, staring in horror—
Staring at a small boy no more than four years old.
They followed his gaze.
And froze.
"Th-This…!"
"No way!"
"It… it can't be, right?"
"Don't tell me the one with the King's Disposition is… that four-year-old brat?!"
"Impossible!"
Homa, with Garson and Grin, looked as if they had seen a ghost.
They were utterly dumbfounded.
"Th-That's… Conqueror's Haki!"
"A power possessed by only one in a million—a king among men!"
"How could a four-year-old child possibly wield it?!"
"This… this defies reason!"
Hearts pounded.
Minds reeled.
A four-year-old—
Who had mastered Conqueror's Haki?
What kind of concept was that?
Oren swallowed hard.
A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
His skin crawled.
His body trembled.
The infamous pirate worth sixty million Berries—
Stood pale and terrified, shattered by the truth.
"A four-year-old… with Conqueror's Haki?"
"This has to be a dream."
"How could such a monster exist in this sea?"
"Even the most gifted prodigies shouldn't be capable of that at such a young age!"
He stood stiff and silent, shaken to the core.
All around, the Demon Pirates lay unconscious, sprawled across the ground.
Oren understood at last—
Ordering his men to capture that "little brat" had been the gravest mistake of his life.
That single command—
Had destroyed the Demon Pirates.
How could they stand against a monster who possessed the Haki of Kings?
"I thought…"
"Dealing with that four-year-old would be as easy as snapping my fingers."
"I never imagined…"
"That brat actually controls Conqueror's Haki!"
"What in the world is he?!"
Oren's composure cracked and fell away.
The last hope of the Demon Pirates turned to dust.
Their fate was sealed.
He could not comprehend it.
The weakest-looking child on the field—
Was the most terrifying monster of them all.
The boy had hidden too deeply—
No. More accurately—
His youth had deceived them all.
If Oren hadn't seen it himself, he would never have believed it.
A four-year-old—
With Conqueror's Haki?
Who would believe such a thing if it spread across the seas?
At that moment, Aokiji (Kuzan)—not far away—stood frozen as well.
"That… that's…"
"Conqueror's Haki?!"
His eyes widened.
He had been ready to rush in and rescue Kai.
But it turned out—
Kai didn't need saving.
With a single burst of will—
He had taken down more than ninety-nine percent of the pirates.
Even Kuzan, one of the Marine s' strongest, was dumbstruck.
"That kid…"
"Kai actually awakened Conqueror's Haki?"
"The disposition of a king—found in only one out of a million?"
Kuzan's gaze steadied on the boy.
Then he shook his head and corrected himself:
"No… not just awakened."
"He's already mastered it."
"Awakening and mastery are two entirely different things."
"And this boy—this monster—is only four years old?"
"Four years old… and already in full control of Conqueror's Haki?"
"Damn…"
"That's beyond monstrous."
For the first time, Kuzan truly grasped why Vice Admiral Garp spoke so highly of his grandson.
Why even Garp had called him—
"The most terrifying monster on the seas."
Kuzan believed it now.
"A four-year-old who can control Conqueror's Haki…"
"That's not just rare—it's unprecedented in the history of the Grand Line."
He drew a sharp breath.
Chills ran down his spine.
For hundreds of years, among those born with the King's Disposition, no one had mastered Conqueror's Haki before the age of ten.
But today—
Kuzan had witnessed the first.
The one and only.
It shattered records.
It shattered expectations.
"Could it be," Kuzan murmured, "that Kai has just set the record for the youngest in history to control Conqueror's Haki?"
The more he thought about it, the more stunned he felt.
Now he understood.
He understood why Garp had brought his grandson on the campaign against the Demon Pirates—
And why the old man had shown not a hint of worry.
Because Kai—
Was a monster through and through.
"Four years old… controlling Conqueror's Haki."
"Such a case has never existed before."
"Kai, you've truly opened my eyes today…"
Kuzan exhaled slowly.
A wry smile tugged at his lips.
Now he understood.
Why Kai had walked out from the Marine s' protective circle so calmly—
And why he'd faced those bloodthirsty pirates head-on, without fear.
Because to him—
Those pirates were ants.
A sudden certainty struck Kuzan.
Everything—
Every step—
Had been within Kai's calculations all along.
From start to finish, the boy's expression had never wavered.
No fear.
No arrogance.
Only calm control.
"What a terrifying monster…" Kuzan whispered.
"In the end, all my worrying was a joke."
"When I tried to stop him earlier, he must've been laughing at me in his heart."
He let out a helpless chuckle.
Meanwhile, Miz stood rooted, staring at the sight before him—
Marine s sprawled unconscious across the ground.
"C-Conqueror's Haki…?" he stammered.
"A four-year-old… who's mastered Conqueror's Haki?!"
Only a few Marine s—those farther away—remained conscious.
Miz, a Headquarters Colonel, stayed standing through sheer will.
Even so, a chill worked through his soul.
"C-Colonel Miz, what… what just happened?" a trembling Marine asked.
"That…" Miz swallowed. "That's Conqueror's Haki."
"It's an overwhelming force of will that crushes weaker minds, shattering consciousness and knocking them out instantly."
"If your will isn't strong enough, you faint on the spot—just like that."
"That power belongs only to those born with the King's Disposition—one in a million."
"C-Conqueror's… Haki…"
They stared, struggling to process what they'd heard.
After a long silence, one whispered,
"Colonel Miz… he warned us, didn't he?"
"He told us to stay back… to avoid the blast."
"And we ignored him."
Miz managed a bitter smile.
Who would have believed a four-year-old could unleash Conqueror's Haki?
Even now, it defied reason.
"What a terrifying existence," Miz murmured, staring at Kai's back.
"Without a doubt… he's an unprecedented prodigy."
All around them, over three thousand pirates lay like fallen leaves.
At last, Kai lowered his gaze, satisfied.
A bright smile touched his lips.
He looked to Kuzan and spoke lightly:
"Vice Admiral Kuzan, this—"
"This is the simple method I mentioned earlier."
"Now… do you believe me?"
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