"Seastone..."

Hearing Daren's offhand consolation, Dragon couldn't help but show a bitter smile.

Seastone, essentially solidified sea water, has a stronger suppressive effect than the sea itself. Not only does it render Devil Fruit users unable to use their powers, it can temporarily turn them into ordinary people... In other words, it seals a Devil Fruit user's abilities.

But the degree of suppression varies from person to person. Depending on one's physical constitution, the impact Seastone has on stamina differs.

Some collapse the moment they touch it, while others can still move freely even with Seastone handcuffs on.

Those of them who came from the Marine Academy had all been trained to resist Seastone. Most could still act normally while shackled, though their combat strength would be greatly diminished.

And then there are monsters like Daren—he once fought his way out of Kaidou's dungeon while wearing Seastone cuffs. His resistance has long since been honed to the extreme. Wearing Seastone is like a joke to him.

If Daren could do that, then what about the Five Elders, who have lived for who knows how long?

Still, Dragon reconsidered and realized Daren had a point—this was at least a breakthrough.

If Seastone could seal their Devil Fruit abilities, wouldn't that effectively strip away their immortality?

Of course, getting them into Seastone shackles was another matter entirely.

But at least they now had a direction to work toward.

They'd only matured in the past few years. Thinking they could unravel secrets the World Government had guarded for eight centuries with just a few months of scheming—that was always a fantasy.

The fact that Daren had managed to use various tactics to momentarily pressure the World Government was already a miracle in itself.

"What are you planning next?"

After a moment of silence, Dragon asked gravely, "The death of the Knights of God's leader is no small matter."

He glanced at the devastated island ahead—split clean in two. His eye twitched involuntarily.

The leader of the Knights of God, two other members, three CP0 elites, and over a hundred of the World Government's best... All wiped out in less than half a day.

Dragon could already imagine the uproar this would cause in Mary Geoise.

"What can I do? Killing one Celestial Dragon or killing a hundred—what's the difference?"

Daren grinned carelessly.

Dragon twitched at the sight of Daren's roguish expression.

Of course, he didn't realize that Daren's nonchalance wasn't an act.

Back then, killing a pig like Saint Xildes had triggered an awakening of his Conqueror's Haki.

But now, after killing the "strongest" leader of the Knights of God, there hadn't been even the slightest rise in his Haki. That alone was proof—Daren no longer gave a damn about this so-called "divine bloodline."

"My injuries are serious. I'll take a few days to recover first."

Daren let out a slow breath, brushed the dust off his rear, and stood up.

A few days...

Dragon looked at the densely packed, gruesome wounds on Daren's body and his skeletal frame. He didn't even know where to begin criticizing him.

"...Why not come with me?"

He offered, "In your current state, the farther you are from the North Blue, the better. The Freedom Fighters' HQ may not be as fancy as your North Blue base, but it's a safe place to rest, and Iva's abilities could help your recovery."

"Besides, I think Kuma and Ginny would want to thank you in person."

If it had been anyone else, Dragon would never have dared bring them to the Freedom Fighters' headquarters.

But Daren was different.

This guy was the Freedom Fighters' biggest—well, debt... no, investor. And this time he'd personally shown up to save them. Dragon didn't say it out loud, but deep down, he felt immense gratitude.

"Baltigo's not a bad idea... but before that, I want to stop by Wano Country."

Daren smiled meaningfully, as if something had just come to mind.

"Wano?"

Dragon froze, confused.

"You're going to see Kaidou?"

Suspicion flickered in his eyes.

"Daren, don't tell me you're actually teaming up with Kaidou now."

"I'm serious—no matter how bad things get, you can't become a pirate. That's the bottom line!"

Daren rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"What are you even thinking?"

He pointed to his own face.

"Do I look like a pirate to you?"

Dragon studied his unruly, wicked-looking face and nodded seriously.

"You look exactly like a pirate."

Daren: "..."

He pointed at the Celestial Dragon corpses floating on the sea.

"Let the professionals handle professional work."

...

The New World, Wano Country.

On the floating island of Onigashima, even though the landmass had fused back together, the massive, jagged crack still remained—an ominous sight that sent chills down the spines of the Beasts Pirates patrolling the area.

Amid the ruins, reconstruction of the research facility was well underway.

"So you're saying Daren came to you because he wanted that new virus you just developed?"

Inside the makeshift lab, Kaidou frowned as he stared at the rows of vividly colored test tubes, then looked over at Queen, who was wearing a pair of safety goggles.

The fat man in suspenders, dressed in a white lab coat, nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, Kaidou-san! That guy Daren's completely lost it!"

"He barged in, stole my virus, and downed the whole thing without hesitation... He's trying to use the immune response triggered by the virus to put his body under enough stress to force a physical breakthrough—push himself to the next level of strength."

"He even threatened me into helping him—wants me to cook up something even stronger!"

"But how could I do that? Could I really do that?!"

Queen flailed his chubby arms in outrage.

"I'm part of the Beasts Pirates! And Rogers Daren is our sworn enemy!"

"I, Queen, would rather die than help him!"

Kaidou wasn't really listening to anything Queen said after that.

He stood there, lost in thought.

So... that brat Daren has already started hunting for the Five Elders' weak spots...

Seeing Kaidou stay silent, Queen's eyes darted around for a moment. Then, suddenly grinning, he leaned in flatteringly.

"Um, Kaidou-sama, can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?" Kaidou shot him a glance.

"My virus research hit a bit of a wall, and, uh... would you mind being my test subject?"

"Are you looking to die?" Kaidou snapped, eyes wide with rage.

Queen instantly shrank back in fear.

"...Daren was really proactive though..."

He muttered under his breath.

A second later—

A surge of thunder exploded violently, ripping through the entire temporary lab.

"Raimei Hakke!!!"

...

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