One Piece: Chopping Ace Back to Foosha Village at the Start

Three days later Wayne and the crew were back aboard the Apocalypse.

The Log Pose had fully set next stop: Mock Town.

A Sudden Strike

The weather cooled as they sailed away from Alabasta. Wayne sat on the prow with an outsized fishing rod; beside him, Golia copied every move, though she kept sneaking snacks and grinning at him.

"Focus," Wayne scolded, knocking lightly on her head. "You will never hook a "

"Bite! I have a bite!" Golia squealed. The rod bowed so hard it dragged her forward.

Wayne tossed aside his own line and grabbed the rod before she went overboard. Even he felt the pull. "Big one," he muttered. Squatting low, he drove his heels into the deck. Muscle knotted across his arms. With a shout he heaved.

A fish more than two hundred meters long practically a small Sea King burst from the ocean, screaming.

"Mother of " Kuro, midway through training, froze. The entire crew stared as the colossus arced toward the deck.

"Move, unless you want the Apocalypse turned into driftwood!" Wayne roared. As panic spread he planted his feet, drew Snow‑Walk, and breathed haki into the blade until it gleamed obsidian black.

"One‑Sword Style, Sky‑Split!"

The slash looked modest barely a ribbon of black wind but the airborne Sea King was diced into thousands of neat chunks of meat that rained harmlessly around them.

Kuro swallowed. One stroke. Thousands of cuts.

"Quit gawking. Fetch the best pieces," Wayne said, sheathing the sword. "We are having fish stew tonight."

He barely finished the sentence before sense screamed a warning. Something far, far larger was charging up from the depths.

"Hold fast," he barked. "Nobody falls overboard."

The mother surfaced. This Sea King dwarfed the first the way the first had dwarfed the ship several kilometers of scaled fury. Seeing its offspring minced, it let out a vengeful bellow and rolled, hurling a wall of water at the Apocalypse while lunging with jaws wide enough to swallow the flagship whole.

Wayne's anger erupted. If the monster touched the ship, his nakama especially the Devil‑Fruit users would be doomed.

With that fury a dormant power awakened.

The world went silent. Dozens of crewmen toppled unconscious; only Robin, Golia, and a handful of veterans kept their feet.

Conqueror's Haki. Power possessed by one in several million proof of a king's potential.

The Sea King's charge faltered. It trembled, eyes wide, then against every animal instinct turned tail and vanished beneath the swells.

Water cascaded over the rails, drenching everyone but doing no real harm. Wayne let out a slow breath, haki fading, and the remaining crew erupted in whoops of relief and awe.

Robin's eyes shone. "The gift of a king," she whispered.

Kuro slumped, unconscious; even awake he would not have understood the display.

Wayne flicked his cigarette alight and watched the men hauling in meat for supper. A moment ago he had considered bisecting the leviathan but doubted the blade could sever something that size quickly enough. Anger had provided a simpler solution.

A soft chime sounded in his mind:

Conqueror's Haki

Seed → Novice (1 / 10 000)

From now on he could summon that force at will.

He looked to the sunset, eyes steady. "A king's aura, huh? All the more reason to keep climbing until not even an Admiral can threaten the people I care about."