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A brilliant light exploded.
The earth beneath them—dirt, sand, rock—was peeled back in layers. The ground was covered in a web of fine cracks.
Jin stood at the center of the explosion, unmoving, without even using Haki, and took the full force of the blow.
As the dust from the explosion settled, a crater, fifty meters in diameter and a thousand meters deep, was revealed.
Jin was hovering in the air, his shirt torn to shreds, revealing a powerful, chiseled physique.
Kuma was stunned. He had taken the full force of his attack with his bare body? The strength of this man's physique was beyond his comprehension, like something out of a legend.
Jin cracked his neck.
He felt that ordinary bullets and blades... no, even an attack from a Vice Admiral, imbued with Haki, would be useless against him now.
They couldn't even cut him.
It was an absurd thought.
But then he thought of Big Mom, Kaido, and Rocks, and he realized that he had just joined the ranks of the freaks.
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"Again..." Jin said, his voice filled with excitement. He gestured for Kuma to continue. "Use your full power. Don't worry about hurting me."
Kuma nodded.
After obtaining his second Devil Fruit and killing King Bekori, Kuma had undergone a transformation, both physical and spiritual. His combat power had increased dramatically.
He also wanted to see what he could do when he went all out.
VMMMM...
Kuma unleashed his Haki, Armament Haki coiling around his body. The ground trembled, and pebbles and sand were sent flying.
CRACK!
He moved. An invisible shockwave tore through the air, and a series of sharp explosions echoed out.
He charged forward, his massive body creating a chain of sonic booms. He raised both fists high and brought them crashing down.
Jin raised his hands and blocked the attack. Their strength met, and the immense force was channeled into the ground.
The earth shook as if in an earthquake. The sea churned, and massive waves rolled.
A huge fissure spread out between them, tearing the very island in two.
The island's volcano erupted, and lava began to flow.
With a surge of brute force, Jin threw Kuma back.
This time, he was the one on the offensive. He threw a sweeping kick, as fast as lightning, the force of the blow shattering the air.
Kuma unleashed a paw shockwave, an air-paw that exploded with enough force to obliterate a mountaintop.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sound was like rolling thunder, the aftershocks spreading out in all directions.
It was a battle of monsters.
They ignored the erupting lava and continued their fierce exchange.
Soon, the entire island was shattered, sunk by the force of their blows.
With no ground left to stand on, Jin and Kuma called a truce and returned to the demonic carrier.
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Cocoyasi Village.
Gunshots echoed.
Maya stood on the head of the white Sabertooth, her Observation Haki locked on, her shots precise, taking down a pirate with almost every bullet.
"RUN!"
"IT'S A TRAP!"
"DAMMIT! WE FELL FOR IT!"
The Krieg Pirates and their alliance had been defeated so quickly that no word of it had gotten out.
And so, for the next two days, a number of smaller pirate crews had snuck toward the island, hoping to get their hands on the golden treasure.
And it wasn't just pirates. There were also bounty hunters, and "adventurer parties" and "merchant ships" sent by various kingdoms.
Jin had anticipated this. He had left Robin, Law, the Sanji brothers, and 500 soldiers behind.
With that kind of force, they could have conquered a nation in the East Blue.
The villagers of Cocoyasi, at first nervous, were now used to it. Some of them were even placing bets on how many pirates would get shot that day.
The bolder ones had even started helping out, moving bodies and cleaning the battlefield for a small reward.
They were suddenly realizing that pirates... weren't so scary after all.
Over the next few days, Robin and the others captured another seven or eight hundred men.
The pirates from before had already been organized into a "labor camp" and were now working on building an airfield at a pre-selected site.
Kuro was the supervisor of the labor camp.
Gin was the foreman.
Each pirate was given a number and randomly assigned to a ten-man squad. They were to supervise each other. If one person escaped, the other nine would be punished.
Of course, to prevent slacking, Jin had also implemented a system of rewards and punishments. They were paid a daily wage, and those who performed well were given breaks and even alcohol. He had also promised that once their labor period was over, they would be released with their wages and could become ordinary citizens.
But those who failed to complete their tasks, who delayed the work, would be punished.
Technical specialists, like ship's doctors, cooks, and shipwrights, were given better treatment.
With this system in place, and with the bloody purge still fresh in their minds, no one dared to cause trouble.
The pirates of this world were all physically strong, much stronger than the average person.
In just two days, a mountain had been leveled, a ravine filled, and a one-kilometer runway had been built.
—————————
When Jin returned, even Nami and Carina, who didn't know him well, could tell that he was different.
He seemed... bigger.
Jin used the Earth-Earth Fruit to level and harden the soil of the runway, making it suitable for takeoff.
Then, the first pirate-version Me-262 fighter jet was moved onto the runway. Jin personally named it:
Winter Tiger-001!
And he personally climbed into the cockpit.
As a military enthusiast, how could he pass up the chance to be the first jet pilot in the world of One Piece?
Wasn't that the whole reason he'd had it built?
On Earth, it would have been impossible. But here... he had to do it.
A king's toy. A king's whim.
After a series of checks, and after reading the instruction manual, Jin started the engines.
With his learning ability and physical constitution, he had no problem handling the G-forces and thrust.
WHIRRRRRRRRR...
The turbine engines roared to life.
The technology, derived from Germa 66's jet boots, had been applied to the engines, giving them immense power.
And they ran on... electricity.
Yes, electricity.
The clues had been there all along: Judge's weapons, the clone soldiers... Germa 66 had mastered the harnessing and application of electrical energy.
Jin knew he had to adapt to the local conditions. If the jet boots worked, then there had to be a scientific reason for it. Don't ask what it was. This was a world with cloning technology.
By embracing the world's quirks, by carefully adapting its technology, he had created this electric-powered turbojet.
"Is it really going to fly?" Carina asked.
She wasn't the only one. Robin, Nami, Reiju, Law—they were all watching, filled with curiosity. A hunk of iron... flying?
The Winter Tiger-001 slowly began to move down the runway, gathering speed, faster and faster, until it lifted off the ground.
Before their wide, disbelieving eyes, it roared into the air, climbing higher and higher into the sky.
"That's..."
Kuro, Gin, and all the "laborers" who had worked on the airfield stared up in disbelief.
"It flew!"
"It worked, Law! It worked!" Wolf shouted, laughing with excitement.
Long ago, he had nearly died trying to build a flying machine. And now, he had built a better one with his own two hands. He was filled with a sense of pride and satisfaction.
The other artisans were also cheering.
Who hadn't dreamed of growing wings and flying as a child?
Jin was even more excited. It wasn't the same as building it himself, but to be able to fly a fighter jet... it was something he had never even dreamed of back home.
It was the dream of every military enthusiast.
He had done it.
Jin flew the jet in a wide circle around the Conomi Islands, then returned to the runway, completing his first successful landing.
Ai had been tracking the plane's data using radar, wireless sensors, and Observation Haki.
There would be more tests to evaluate the jet's performance.
But Jin wouldn't be a part of them. He would leave that to Wolf's team and the first batch of pilots: the Sanji brothers.
Putting aside their personalities, they had a natural talent for technology, including Reiju. They learned to fly the jet quickly.
A mischievous thought occurred to Jin. "In the future, I'll form an air force for the carrier. I'll call it... the Shock Squadron..."
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