The Greatest Disgrace in Marine History-Chapter 212 - 114: He Must Die

The next Shogun of Wano. A warrior adored by Roger, Whitebeard, and Kaido alike...

Kozuki Oden!!

And yet—here you are, rushing in to reclaim your wife before I've even made a move?

The cold sneer on Darren's lips deepened into something far more chilling. A faint arc of blue electricity danced between his fingers as an invisible, eerie magnetic field and biological radar spread outward in an instant.

His entire body tensed. Muscles coiled like a tiger preparing to pounce. His aura surged.

There were plenty of reasons to intercept Kozuki Oden.

First, someone like Oden—a foolish, incompetent man—had no right to a woman as captivating as Amatsuki Toki.

Second, Darren simply couldn't stand him.

Third, Toki's Devil Fruit power was far too valuable. Even if she didn't like him, keeping her close and eventually bringing her under his command would give him a powerful ace up his sleeve.

But above all else—only one reason truly mattered...

—Momonosuke must die.

"Don't worry, lady! I'll save you from this villain right now!"

Swollen like a sea monster, his face bloated into a pig's head, Kozuki Oden let out a loud cry as he suddenly drew his twin swords.

He came crashing down from above, slashing toward Darren!

One black, one white—two fearsome great swords carved twin trails through the air, slicing it silently with phantom streaks of black and white.

The pressure was immense—overwhelming.

The deadly edge radiating from those twin blades made Darren's pupils narrow sharply.

He stepped forward.

Boom!

A dull rumble echoed from the beach beneath his foot.

And then—

BOOOOM!

The sand before him collapsed in a wide radius. The sea roared upward, layer after layer of waves crashing skyward.

Using the explosive force of that step, Darren's figure launched like a meteor hurled in reverse—rocketing skyward.

Jet-black Armament Haki coated his arms in an instant. Veins bulged over rippling muscle that suddenly compressed like a spring.

He fired his fists like a pair of rocket launchers!

CLANG!

Fists met blades in a blinding clash, showering sparks across the battlefield.

BOOM—!!

A massive shockwave erupted, sweeping across the entire island. The sea boiled into waves tens of meters high.

Hurricane-force winds howled.

Tens of thousands of red lightning bolts exploded around the two combatants, filling the sky with a web of pure force.

Clouds tore apart above. The sky split open with a jagged scar.

Conqueror's Haki—clashing at full force!

The heavens changed color.

The storm swallowed all, hurling sand and stone into the air.

Amatsuki Toki gasped, breath caught in her throat. A wave of dizziness crashed over her.

Sharp shards of rock sliced through the wind like bullets—her face turned ghostly pale.

But just then, a wall of metal rose in front of her, blocking the debris. It shifted shape in an instant, forming a protective shell, catching her and carrying her safely backward for dozens of meters.

That handsome young Marine again!

Even in the midst of this furious battle, he hadn't forgotten to protect her?

Warmth surged in Toki's chest. Her cheeks flushed red.

In the raging wind, she clutched the cold, hard metal with both hands—yet deep in her heart, she felt an unprecedented sense of safety.

...

Amid the storm of thunder and lightning—

Kozuki Oden's eyes widened.

His strike—had been blocked!?

Stunned at first, his bloated, water-swollen face suddenly lit up with blazing excitement.

"Wahahahaha!! You blocked that slash? You're pretty good!!"

Darren narrowed his eyes at Oden, sneering.

"So I underestimated you after all..."

From the power of that strike and the intensity of his Conqueror's Haki, Darren quickly gauged the man's overall strength.

This version of Oden must've just set out to sea—still undergoing Whitebeard's trials, not yet part of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Far weaker than he would one day become, when facing Kaido in Wano.

And with that bloated, waterlogged form dragging him down even more...

Darren's lips twisted into a savage grin. The fists that clashed against Oden's swords shifted—into claws.

Jet-black hands locked tightly around the twin blades.

Oden froze. He tried to wrench his swords free—but to his shock, Darren's strength was monstrous. The blades didn't budge an inch!

"You're the 'Invincible' one!?"

Darren snarled, yanked the blades—

—and dragged Kozuki Oden himself straight into his grasp.

Then slammed his forehead down—

BOOM!

The headbutt, reinforced with Armament Haki, hit like a cannon. Oden shot into the earth like a missile, carving a massive crater into the beach.

A split-second later—

Darren's figure blurred downward like lightning, spinning midair in a spiraling dive. The centripetal force gathered into his upraised boot.

That black military boot descended like a battle axe toward Oden's skull!

The force, the speed, the pressure—Darren's presence roared like a demon from the underworld.

"Armament Style: Battleaxe Meteor!"

A fatal sense of dread seized Oden. Blood pouring down his face, his pupils shrank to pinpricks. In his wide eyes, that cold boot loomed ever larger.

CLANG!

In a panic, he crossed his blades to block—but the blow sent him tumbling away like a rag doll.

The boot, charged with overwhelming power and Haki, crashed down like a collapsing galaxy. The entire island trembled.

CRACK!

At the point of impact, the ground tore apart like a black serpent—massive fissures spreading to the sea. Clouds of dust surged like dragons.

Seawater gushed into the cracks—exploding into crashing waves.

The sea boiled. Ash and steam howled.

Gasping for breath, Kozuki Oden staggered to his feet, face grim but eyes blazing with fervor.

"Unbelievable! I just set sail, and I get to face a warrior like this already! Wahahahaha!!"

"I was right to leave Wano after all!"

"Remember this name—Kozuki Oden—!"

Ping!

The sharp flick of a coin cut his words short.

Oden's Observation Haki screamed a warning. His pupils shrank—his face paled.

"I'm not interested in your name."

Darren's cold voice rang out.

The wind scattered the smoke.

And in Oden's tightening field of vision, that powerful figure stood at an angle, right arm extended, fingers in mid-snap.

His eyes—ice cold.

A coin flipped lazily through the air.

And in that instant, a deathly sense of danger swallowed Oden whole.

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To be continued...