(Oh no!)
(Was my smile too creepy?!)
KING's facial muscles locked in place.
He stared at Garp's fist — larger than a sandbag — and only two words echoed inside his skull:
I'm dead.
Before he could move, a red glint flashed in Monkey D. Garp's eyes.
He grinned.
The expression was fiercer than a Sea King sensing blood.
"Kid, don't blink."
"I'll show you the power that surpasses Devil Fruits."
The Pressure of a King
WHOOM—!!!
The air itself seemed to vanish.
A dark crimson pressure burst outward from Garp in a circular wave.
Not wind.
Not force.
Will.
This was Conqueror's Haki — the same overwhelming spiritual force that once shook the seas during the God Valley incident and broke the morale of entire pirate fleets.
The space inside the office compressed.
Loose papers ignited and scattered.
The reinforced window fractured instantly and exploded outward into glittering dust.
The wooden beams groaned under invisible pressure.
At the eye of it all —
stood KING.
Suffocation
His skull felt split open.
His lungs spasmed.
It wasn't choking.
It was as if the air had been denied permission to exist.
He could not hear.
He could not see.
He was dying.
He's really going to kill me!!
Darkness swallowed his thoughts.
System Intervention
[WARNING: Extreme Haoshoku pressure detected]
[Emergency survival response engaged]
[Unlock Haki?]
His survival instinct answered before thought could form.
Add it.
Add everything!
[All three forms of Haki unlocked]
[Remaining attribute points detected: 25920]
[All points injected into Conqueror's Haki]
Awakening
BOOM.
Not an explosion.
A release.
From deep within KING's collapsing consciousness, a dormant will erupted.
Unrefined.
Untrained.
Unpolished.
Yet impossibly pure.
A tyrant's presence born without discipline — but not without authority.
It surged outward instinctively.
Not as an attack.
As refusal.
As existence.
Clash of Kings
The two forces met.
No techniques.
No blows.
No motion.
Only will against will.
The air froze.
Then—
The roof above Sengoku's office tore apart as if peeled away by invisible hands.
Stone fragments spiraled upward.
Marineford's fortress trembled.
Corridors filled with shouting as officers struggled to remain standing.
Sengoku transformed instantly into his golden Buddha form, bracing the structure with one massive hand while gripping his hat with the other.
Outside—
The sky split.
Not blown apart.
Severed.
Clouds parted along a jagged line stretching across Marineford's horizon.
A phenomenon seen only when supreme Conqueror's Haki collide.
Garp's eyes widened.
Impossible.
This kid had never trained in Haki.
And yet—
He didn't collapse.
He answered.
Sengoku stared at the blond figure standing in the storm's eye.
KING remained bent forward, hands on his knees, breathing raggedly.
He did not roar.
He did not resist visibly.
Yet crimson lightning flickered around him — the visual manifestation of clashing kingly wills.
His golden hair hid his eyes.
But the will pouring from him refused to kneel.
"Is this… your answer, King?"
Sengoku's voice trembled.
A newcomer…
Instantly awakening Haoshoku Haki…
and resisting Garp?
Collapse
As suddenly as it erupted, the clash faded.
This was not merely spiritual strain — it devoured stamina and vitality.
KING's vision went black.
Before fear could return—
his brain shut down.
His body tipped backward.
Thump.
He landed perfectly into the shattered leather sofa Garp had been using.
Limbs spread comfortably.
His aura vanished.
Silence fell.
Two seconds later—
Huff… huff…
A calm, steady snore echoed through the wrecked office.
Silence
Wind whispered through the broken walls.
KING slept.
"Sleeping…?"
After confronting the Navy Hero's full Haoshoku.
After splitting the sky.
After wrecking the Fleet Admiral's office.
He fell asleep immediately.
The two men stared at each other.
Even a Vice Admiral would be incapacitated by that pressure.
Yet he resisted it…
and entered deep sleep like a lion resting after asserting dominance.
What composure.
What arrogance.
Garp's Laughter
Garp's stunned expression cracked.
Then—
he exploded into thunderous laughter.
"Pwahahaha!!"
He slapped the shattered floor.
"A born king! I knew it!"
"That Haoshoku! That nerve to fall asleep right in front of me!!"
"The Navy struck gold, Sengoku! HAHAHA!"
"SHUT UP, GARP!" Sengoku roared.
"All damages to my office come out of your salary!"
"Why only me?! King wrecked it too!"
"You started it!"
"…installment payments?"
Sengoku adjusted his crooked glasses and looked at the sleeping man amid the ruins.
A flicker of relief passed through his eyes.
Thank goodness.
This monster stands with the Navy.
Outside — Marineford Plaza
Thousands of Marines froze mid-step.
The Admirals stood at the front.
Moments earlier—
the clear sky had split open.
Clouds carved apart by unseen will.
The unmistakable sign of clashing Conqueror's Haki.
Borsalino lowered his usual smile.
"That… was Vice Admiral Garp's presence…"
"…but there was another."
He adjusted his sunglasses.
"How terrifying."
Kuzan exhaled slowly.
"That tyrannical will… that came from him?"
Sakazuki stared toward the shattered roof, magma heat radiating faintly from his arms.
"KING…"
He spoke the name like molten iron grinding.
Annoyance remained.
But so did acknowledgment.
A formidable figure had emerged.
And one thought settled over Marineford:
The man named KING…
…was absolutely not to be provoked.