"Ugh... aaaah!"
Tatsuki bit the tip of his tongue, the intense pain clearing his consciousness for a brief moment.
He gripped the railing of the lookout tower so tightly that his nails, driven by excessive force, embedded themselves directly into the wood, and blood flowed from between his fingers.
He looked up, staring fixedly at the three figures at the center of the battlefield.
Is this the pinnacle of the world?
Is this an Emperor-level battle?
It turns out that so-called Logias and so-called Haki don't even have the qualification to earn a second glance from these true monsters.
"Pfft—"
A mouthful of blood sprayed from Tatsuki's mouth.
His body was trembling, not out of fear, but because of... excitement.
He saw it!
He saw the path leading to becoming a truly powerful person!
Tatsuki roared frantically in his heart, using every ounce of strength to resist the will that was almost crushing him.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his vision began to blur. But he remained standing stubbornly, firmly rooted at the highest point of the lookout tower.
In the battlefield.
Roger forced back the Shiki with a sword strike. Amidst his wild laughter, he glanced at the distant dog head warship and happened to see the Marine kid who was trembling all over but still standing tall, even with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Oh?"
The corners of Roger's lips curled into an intrigued arc.
There was actually such an interesting brat on Garp's ship? Anyone who could stand under the Conqueror's Haki of the three of them was no small fry.
"Roger! You dare to get distracted while fighting me!"
Garp's iron fist, carrying destructive power, had already reached him.
"Wahahaha! Sorry, sorry!"
The battle escalated once again.
And Tatsuki, at the edge of this battlefield where gods fought, was like an ant that could be crushed by the storm at any moment, struggling to maintain his last shred of consciousness. His consciousness had already begun to sink into darkness.
Damn it... I'm reaching my limit.
Tatsuki's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and the entire world felt like it was spinning out of control.
The Conqueror's Haki shocks from those three monsters washed over his pitiful mental strength in wave after wave. If this continued, forget farming points—he would turn into a drooling idiot right there on the deck.
'System, open the interface!'
Tatsuki roared in his mind, using the last of his strength.
To hell with it! He had planned to save up for a big prize, but now it seemed if he didn't spend the money, he'd be shaken to death by the Haki of these three monsters!
A blue light screen expanded across his retina. Tatsuki's originally dazed eyes suddenly bulged wide the moment they swept over his balance.
[Violation Points: 185,200]
"?!"
For a moment, Tatsuki even thought he was hallucinating from the shocks.
If he remembered correctly, it should have only been eighty-five thousand points before, right?
Where did this extra hundred thousand come from? Did a pie fall from the sky?
'System, do you have a bug? Where did these points come from?'
The system's cold, mechanical voice rang in his head.
[Because the host altered the combat plan without authorization, causing Garp to arrive at the battlefield early, the historical process of the 'Battle of Edd War' has been interrupted. The world line has undergone a violent shift.]
'So that's it.'
Tatsuki realized the truth, followed by a surge of wild joy in his heart.
Delivering Garp early actually earned him a full hundred thousand points?
It made sense. In the original Battle of Edd War, it was Roger versus Shiki, and Roger only escaped by relying on luck. Now with Garp added as a wild card, no one knew what this battle would turn into.
Is this the sheer value of changing history?
I love it!
Now that he had resources in hand, Tatsuki's confidence instantly surged.
A huge sum of nearly two hundred thousand!
'System! Is there anything that can resist Conqueror's Haki shocks? Give me a recommendation, fast!'
The light screen flickered, and a skill popped up.
[Skill: Mental Barrier (Intermediate).]
[Can construct a barrier on the mental level, effectively resisting mental shocks and illusion-type attacks.]
[Required Violation Points: 50,000]
Fifty thousand points.
If it were before, this expense would have made Tatsuki's heart ache so much he couldn't sleep.
But now?
I'm rich!
'Exchange."
Tatsuki didn't hesitate for a second.
[Ding! Spent 50,000 Violation Points!]
[Mental Barrier (Intermediate) has been loaded.]
Buzz!
Almost instantly, Tatsuki felt an invisible wall suddenly rise within his mind, which had felt like it was about to be torn apart.
The violent, almost physical Conqueror's Haki outside was still raging, slamming against his mental defense line with dull, thundering sounds, but it could no longer shake his consciousness in the slightest.
The world became quiet.
"Phew..."
Tatsuki held onto the railing, casually wiping the cold sweat and nosebleed from his face as he shakily stood upright again.
He looked up, casting his gaze once more toward that chaotic battlefield.
The three monsters of the era were still battling each other, every collision making the sea wail.
Shiki was fighting one against two, relying on the powers of the Float-Float Fruit to maneuver nimbly in the air, holding his own against the two legends for the time being. But the fleets behind him were in a miserable state.
The shockwaves from the battle between the three were an indiscriminate natural disaster.
Giant waves, slashes, and winds swept frantically across the sea.
Some of those unlucky pirate ships were smashed by giant waves, some were sliced in half by slashes, and others were shaken to pieces by the fist winds.
The entire Edd War had already turned into a burning purgatory.
"Jihahaha! You think you can beat me like this?"
Shiki flipped in the air, dodging a heavy punch from Garp, his face showing unmasked arrogance.
"My fleet is endless, I can wear you two to death just by attrition!"
He was telling the truth.
Roger had only one ship, and Garp had only one ship.
While he had dozens!
Once these two guys fought to the point of exhaustion, the final victor could only be him, Shiki.
In the shadow of the mast, Tatsuki looked at that overbearing figure in the sky and smiled.
A large fleet?
Good.
Then I'll make your fleet your greatest burden.
However, with his current level of devil fruit development, it was still a bit taxing to completely control the weather right under the noses of powerhouses of this caliber.
In that case...
Time to pay to win!