Chapter 261
Charlotte Linlin's bloodshot gaze remained fixed on Hancock as the Kuja began moving Gion toward their ship.
The burst of Conqueror's Haki had been brief and directed mainly at the guards blocking their path, but Linlin had recognized it instantly.
Hancock had not merely interfered with her people; she had done so in the middle of Linlin's own territory while staring straight at her.
"BOA HANCOCK!"
Conqueror's Haki erupted from Linlin in a violent wave.
The pressure swept across the harbor toward the Kuja ship, sending weaker pirates unconscious and making several Underworld guests stumble.
Sandersonia and Marigold did not try to block it with Armament Haki.
There was nothing physical to coat themselves against.
They simply gritted their teeth, held on to Gion, and endured the weight of Linlin's will while continuing toward their ship.
Hancock stopped walking.
Her own Conqueror's Haki began to rise in answer.
Before the two women could turn Gion's rescue into another confrontation, Zaraki stepped between them.
"Enough."
His own Conqueror's Haki rolled outward.
The two waves met across the harbor.
Jagged black-red arcs flickered briefly through the air where their wills pressed against each other, while weaker spectators dropped in clusters.
The candy ground nearest Zaraki cracked under the overlapping pressure, but the sky did not split and no invisible force hurled an Emperor through the island.
Linlin's eyes narrowed.
Zaraki had used Conqueror's Haki before, but this was the first time she had felt it directly at such close range.
His will was crude compared with the refinement of veteran monsters who had spent decades mastering Haki, yet there was nothing weak about it.
Then something else leaked through.
Dark-gold arcs crawled briefly along Zaraki's shoulders and the sealed sword in his hand.
Nobody in the harbor knew what they were seeing.
It was not Armament Haki.
It was not Conqueror's Haki.
It simply carried the same strange oppressive quality that had surrounded Zaraki's sword during earlier battles.
Hancock noticed it, so did Stussy.
Neither had a name for it.
Linlin responded by pouring more force into her own Haki.
Katakuri stepped forward from the Charlotte ranks, his expression grim.
He released his own Conqueror's Haki in a separate burst, not merging it with Linlin's but adding another hostile pressure to the battlefield while using his presence to keep the weaker members of the family from panicking.
Zaraki's grin widened.
"Now this is getting better."
Behind him, Gion heard the words and nearly turned around.
Sandersonia tightened her grip.
"No."
Gion looked at her.
"Your Marine just told us to get you clear, and for once I agree with him."
"I can still fight."
"You can barely stand."
"That has never stopped Marines before."
Marigold gave her a flat look.
"That may explain a great deal about your organization."
Despite herself, Gion almost laughed.
At the center of the harbor, the pressure continued to build. Zaraki's Conqueror's Haki remained separate from the dark-gold spiritual pressure leaking from him; there was no mysterious fusion, no new system of power, and nothing inside him suddenly transformed into some higher species of Haki.
He was simply excited enough that two different parts of his strength were spilling into the same battlefield at once.
The effect was unsettling.
Linlin could understand Haki.
The other pressure was something else.
Zaraki tightened his grip on Nozarashi.
He had come for Gion.
She was moving out of the kill zone.
That meant he no longer had to divide his attention.
...
The hostile pressure hanging over the harbor did not vanish, but it finally stopped escalating.
Charlotte Linlin stood with Napoleon in one hand while Katakuri remained several paces to her side, his crimson eyes fixed on Zaraki.
Neither of them had been blown away by some impossible manifestation of will, and Zaraki had not created a new form of Conqueror's Haki above every established level on the sea.
What he had done was still enough to leave the witnesses unsettled.
His Conqueror's Haki had met Linlin's without collapsing immediately, while that unfamiliar dark-gold pressure continued to bleed from his body and sword in brief arcs that nobody could identify.
Morgans recovered first.
"WOOOOAAAH!"
He threw one wing into the air while keeping both feet firmly on the ground.
"BIG NEWS! VIEWERS AROUND THE WORLD, DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
His broadcast Den Den Mushi remained pointed toward the harbor.
"The War Demon just stood in front of Charlotte Linlin's Conqueror's Haki and refused to bend!"
Morgans' eyes gleamed with dangerous inspiration.
"And there was something else in that pressure too! Something nobody here can identify!"
He spread his wings dramatically.
"Perhaps we're witnessing a completely new kind of—"
"Don't name it," Stussy said.
Morgans stopped.
She smiled without warmth.
"Whatever ridiculous phrase you invent will be printed on a million papers before sunset."
Morgans considered that.
"Imperial Conqueror's Haki has a nice sound."
"No."
Several Underworld rulers agreed immediately.
Zaraki glanced toward the bird and snorted.
Linlin did not find any of it amusing.
"Morgans."
Her voice came out low.
The bird's feathers lifted.
"You think this is funny?"
Morgans straightened.
"I think it's news."
"You'll die for a headline?"
"NEWS IS MY LIFE!"
He thrust the Den Den Mushi higher.
"If I die after broadcasting the biggest story of the year, my editors had better put me on the front page!"
For a moment even Zaraki looked entertained.
'That bird really would do it.'
Linlin's face twisted.
Before she could decide whether killing Morgans was worth turning away from Zaraki, a secure Den Den Mushi inside Zaraki's coat began ringing.
Pururururu...
Zaraki answered.
The Oni Slayer's senior captain spoke through the connection.
"Zaraki, Marine Intelligence just confirmed Kaido has entered the nearby Totto Land waters. Lookouts from two separate ships reported his dragon form moving toward Whole Cake Island at full speed."
Zaraki's grin faded into something more focused.
"How long?"
"Less than two minutes at his current pace."
The people nearest the Den Den Mushi heard enough.
Morgans nearly swallowed his tongue.
Katakuri stepped forward.
"He's right."
Zaraki looked toward him.
Katakuri's Observation Haki remained active, but he was not searching through branching timelines or every possible future.
His Future Sight only showed him the next few seconds, and those few seconds were enough to tell him that Zaraki had no intention of immediately retreating.
"Mama's forces control the inner routes," Katakuri said. "Kaido is approaching from the sea. If you try to leave before he arrives, you still have to break through one side."
His fists tightened.
"Until then, we keep you here."
Zaraki glanced toward the Kuja ship.
Gion had reached it.
Kuja warriors were already moving her behind cover while Hancock remained near the rail, watching the battlefield with narrowed eyes.
Good.
The part that mattered most was no longer standing directly behind him.
Zaraki looked back at Linlin and Katakuri.
"Less than two minutes, huh?"
His smile returned.
Katakuri's expression hardened.
For anyone else, the warning would have sounded like a countdown to disaster.
Zaraki treated it like a promise.