The abandoned mechanical island had completely turned into a doomsday battlefield.
"Cough… cough cough…"
Aramaki knelt in the scorching ruins, green blood, plant sap, mixed with real blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
His once wild black curls were half burned away, and the green glow symbolizing his vitality had dimmed under the bombardment of lightning.
Humiliation.
Unprecedented humiliation.
As someone who aspired to become an Admiral, a Logia user who believed himself to stand at the top of the world,
He had just been beaten down like a whack-a-mole by a fat guy obsessed with "efficiency" and "bonuses," right in front of all of G-5's higher-ups.
"Unforgivable… absolutely unforgivable!!"
Aramaki suddenly raised his head. His eyes, no longer hidden behind sunglasses, were bloodshot, his pupils turned into a terrifying deep green.
"Fat bastard! You think this is over?!"
His voice became hoarse and manic, like countless trees grinding against each other.
"You don't understand… what true 'all-encompassing nature' is!!"
"The wrath of nature… must be repaid with life!!"
"Forbidden Technique: Gaia Divine Body!!!"
RUMBLE!!
At that moment, not just the island, but even the seabed around it, began to quake violently!
Aramaki's body didn't expand this time. Instead,
It rapidly turned into wood.
But not ordinary wood.
This was dark, iron-like divine timber, radiating an ancient aura.
At the same time, all plant life within several nautical miles, even seaweed beneath the ocean, withered instantly.
Their life force turned into visible green particles, flooding into Aramaki's body.
"ROOOOAR!"
He compressed into a ten-meter form.
A black, demonic entity, covered in writhing vine tendrils, with a burning green life core in his chest.
His aura… was ten times more terrifying than the previous hundred-meter giant.
"Armament Haki, Full Coverage!"
Black Haki flowed across his entire body, forming an indestructible organic armor.
"REHN!!"
His voice echoed like something from the abyss.
"I now possess the life force of this entire sea!"
"Infinite regeneration! Energy absorption! Even your lightning, I'll drain it dry!!"
"Die!!!"
WHOOSH!
He vanished.
Not teleportation but pure physical speed.
In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Rehn, claws tearing through the air toward his belly.
"Hm?"
Rehn's pupils shrank slightly.
This time, he didn't underestimate him.
ZAP!
He retreated a hundred meters,
Yet his coat was still torn open, revealing… well, a layer of Armament-coated fat.
No injury, but the green energy clinging to him was actually trying to devour his lightning.
"Oh?"
Rehn glanced down, then back at Aramaki.
For the first time, his playful expression faded.
Replaced by seriousness.
"Absorbing lightning? Infinite regen?"
He removed his monocle and carefully stored it away.
"Not bad… interesting trump card."
His eyes opened fully.
Inside them, no pupils.
Only swirling, collapsing golden plasma.
"I was planning to conserve energy."
"Big moves are expensive, you know."
"But…"
He looked at his torn clothes and snapped.
"THIS SUIT WAS HAND-SEWN BY MISS MONET!!!"
"You dare ruin it?!"
"If you want to see real power…"
"I'll show you-"
"The domain of a god!!"
"Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Awakening!"
"Electronic Universe: Superconductive Domain!!"
Hummmmm
A soft hum.
Then, reality changed.
The sky turned pure white.
Not light, but matter itself ionized into plasma.
The island… the sea… everything became a golden superconductive field.
Gravity vanished.
Sound vanished.
Only one rule remained: Electricity.
And Rehn, was its god.
"What… is this?!"
Aramaki's divine wood body began trembling uncontrollably.
His moisture, fibers, and even his Haki all destabilized under the electromagnetic field.
"My body… won't move?!"
"The air… it's lightning?!"
On the spectator ships, Shelby's wine glass shattered in his hand.
"…Awakening… this is awakening?"
Blake's grip on his sword trembled.
"This is… the steward's true power?!"
"This is… divine might…"
At the center, Rehn, now pure lightning, raised a finger.
His voice echoed directly in everyone's minds.
"You said… you'd absorb my lightning?"
"Good."
"Then I'll shove this entire universe of lightning… down your throat."
"Divine Punishment: Billion Volt Plasma Burst!!"
He pressed down.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
No escape. No defense.
Because everything, air, rock, sea,
Became the attack.
Blinding plasma beams erupted from all directions.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Aramaki screamed.
His indestructible body, was instantly carbonized.
Vaporized. Erased. Regeneration?
Cells were destroyed the moment they formed.
Absorption?
The energy simply overwhelmed him.
"No… stop… I was wrong… I was wrong!!"
His screams faded.
When the light vanished, he was back in human form.
Charred. Smoking. Barely alive.
Rehn descended.
Back to normal.
But now, no one dared look down on him.
He grabbed Aramaki by the collar.
"Hey. Wake up."
Aramaki opened his swollen eyes in terror.
"You were pretty arrogant earlier."
"Weren't you going to absorb me?"
"Weren't G-5's rules 'trash'?"
SLAP!!!
A loud smack echoed.
A tooth flew out.
"Where did your arrogance go?!"
SLAP!!!
"Did I tell you to show off?!"
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
For minutes, the sea echoed with rhythmic slaps.
And Rehn's furious shouting:
"Still showing off?!"
"Can you pay for this suit?!"
"Did you scare Kaigara?!"
"You don't like the commander rank?!"
"Still want to absorb me?! HUH?!"
Aramaki was reduced to a swollen pig's head.
Crying, trembling, begging.
"I… wrong… won't… again…"
He was truly broken.
Defeat wasn't the worst part.
Being humiliated like this in front of everyone, was worse than death.
The spectators stood silent.
Shelby covered his face.
Blake quietly noted: "Collar-grab face-slapping, essential skill."
Balge gulped.
"Never… anger Rehn…"
Finally, after over a hundred slaps, Rehn stopped.
Shook his numb hand.
"Damn… tough face."
He wiped his hands, fixed his suit, and put his monocle back on.
Instantly, back to polite gentleman mode.
He turned to the crowd and smiled.
"Apologies for the scene."
"At G-5, we believe in education through love."
"That was just… a bit of 'gentle guidance.'"
Everyone: "…"
"Alright, show's over."
"Someone take him to the infirmary."
Then his tone turned cold.
"Let this be a lesson."
"In G-5, only one person is allowed to act arrogant."
"That is, Lord Renzo."
He pointed at Aramaki.
"Anyone else tries it…"
"This is the result."
"Understood?!"
"UNDERSTOOD!!!"
Everyone shouted in unison.
Even Shelby was convinced.
Even impressed.
If the second-in-command was this terrifying…
Then the one who just sleeps all day…
How strong is he really?
Their gazes unconsciously drifted toward the distant, quiet residence.
And their awe, deepened once again.
...
30 Chapters in [email protected]/DaoistJinzu