One Piece: The Strongest Trait System novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118 - [118] : The No.1 Contention! Clash of Awakened Logias! Thunder-Ice Island!

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"WHAT A TERRIFYING POWER!"

Sensing the horrifying energy erupting from behind them, Zoro and the others, sprinting towards the Going Merry, stared back in awe and terror.

The moment Rowen engaged, Luffy had yelled for everyone to retreat towards the Merry.

Luffy, though often scatterbrained, made the right call at critical moments without needing Rowen's explicit instruction.

Their earlier brief engagement was to show their unwavering support for Rowen—

Now, with Rowen unleashing his full power against a Marine Admiral, Luffy knew staying would only hinder him—Retreating immediately was the best way to help Rowen.

With their captain's order, Zoro and the others naturally wouldn't let pride get in the way of Rowen's fight. Even Nami and Vivi, despite their deep concern for Rowen, immediately retreated towards the Merry.

They had absolute faith in Rowen.

Even against a Marine Admiral, they firmly believed Rowen would ultimately emerge victorious—Zoro and the others felt the same. Despite facing a Marine Admiral, ROWEN WOULD DEFINITELY WIN!

But as they retreated, feeling the horrifying freezing aura and the cataclysmic thunderous energy wash over them from behind, Zoro and the others were still profoundly shocked.

Back on Skypiea, though Rowen had demonstrated the Awakened power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, it paled in comparison to his true, all-out strength.

The full power of an Awakened Rumble-Rumble Fruit—its offensive capability stood at the absolute pinnacle of all Devil Fruits!

A top-tier Devil Fruit ability like this, even without Haki, possessed terrifying attack power far surpassing an Admiral-level 'gatekeeper' like Zephyr in his prime.

Rowen, Aokiji—both were among the absolute peak powerhouses on these seas! Their fully unleashed Rumble-Rumble and Ice-Ice Fruit abilities were true super-natural disasters—

Before such power, human strength seemed infinitesimally small, like ants. Even Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, who had now awakened Haki and were considerably strong, felt it...

Witnessing this from such a distance, they truly grasped the immense gap between themselves and the absolute strongest fighters on these seas.

But Zoro and Sanji's eyes held no trace of discouragement; instead, a burning fighting spirit ignited within them. 'With Rowen's help, we can definitely become this strong too! To truly help Rowen, we MUST become this strong'

After this, they would train even harder.

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"HURRY! SET SAIL! Get further away from here! This battle isn't something we can interfere with! At the very least, we can't let Rowen be distracted in the slightest!" Luffy yelled while retreating.

"The next time we face an opponent like Aokiji, I'll be the one standing before Rowen! The No. 1 strongest in Rowen's arsenal—that's me!" Zoro declared, a feral grin spreading across his face as he ran.

(Zoro didn't think he'd surpass Rowen. But this was just a Marine Admiral! The Navy had three of them! And above them, the Fleet Admiral, and the World Government's hidden powers—

If Rowen still had to personally deal with every Marine Admiral they encountered in the future, then he, Zoro, would be too useless! As Zoro told Aokiji before, Rowen was his guide on the path of piracy, the path to becoming one of the sea's strongest—He would help Rowen achieve his dream, become Rowen's strength!)

....

"WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING?! MOSS-HEAD! The No. 1 in Rowen's arsenal is obviously ME!" Sanji instantly retorted, still running towards the Merry, transforming into his sharp-toothed angry state as he yelled at Zoro.

"Huh? YOU, who will awaken Conqueror's Haki fourth—or maybe even later—you think you can be No. 1?" Zoro shot back, still running, holding up his fingers—two on his left hand pointing at himself, four on his right pointing at Sanji, making veins bulge on Sanji's forehead.

That damn moss-head!

How many times had he taunted Sanji with the Haki awakening order? And Sanji couldn't even refute it, because he didn't possess the disposition for Conqueror's Haki!

Though furious, Sanji didn't start fighting Zoro now. Retreating quickly, not becoming a burden to Rowen, was paramount.

"OI! You two are too much! I'M THE CAPTAIN!" Luffy yelled indignantly, hearing Zoro and Sanji's argument.

Everyone immediately looked at him...

"The No. 1 strongest in Rowen's arsenal—IS ME!" Luffy declared.

"...."

"Aren't you the captain, Luffy? Shouldn't you aim to be the strongest?" Usopp interjected with a grin, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"Shishishi! Captain, that's right! But in terms of strength, being Rowen's No. 1 is good enough!" Luffy replied with a cheerful, candid grin.

"Hmph. Luffy. When it comes to being Rowen's No. 1—I won't just hand it over to you because you're the captain," Zoro smirked.

"That's right! Rowen's No. 1 will definitely be ME!" Sanji roared.

"Shishishi! Then let's see which of us becomes Rowen's No. 1!" Luffy laughed.

Amidst Luffy's laughter, the crew reached the shore and boarded the Going Merry.

"SET SAIL! ALL SAILS OPEN! HARD TO PORT, 180 DEGREES!" Nami immediately began issuing navigator's commands.

"OOOHHH!" The crew instantly followed Nami's orders, maneuvering the Merry away from the uninhabited island.

"The climate here is too bizarre! Don't forget—Aokiji is also a Logia user! Rowen and Aokiji can both alter the climate with their Devil Fruit powers! We can't get caught in any freak weather they create! We need to get further away, Anyway, Rowen has the Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability—even from a great distance, he can quickly return to the ship!"

Nami stated, using her Climate Sense to monitor the atmospheric changes, carefully managing the distance between the Merry and the island—far enough to avoid being caught in any climate upheaval, yet close enough for Rowen to return swiftly.

Only Nami, with her Climate Sense Trait, could precisely manage such a delicate balance.

"Next—we just wait for Rowen to return victorious! Shishishi!" Luffy declared confidently, looking towards the uninhabited island.

The others, infected by his confidence, also looked towards the island with anticipation.

ROWEN—WOULD DEFINITELY WIN.

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BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The terrifying lightning storm completely obliterated Aokiji's ice constructs, making his figure vanish within the maelstrom.

The atmosphere was filled with pulverized ice particles, shredded by the violent energy of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

200 Million Volt—Thunder Dragon.

After Awakening the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Rowen no longer needed to strike thunder drums like Enel to unleash tangible lightning attacks—and the Thunder Dragon's power had directly upgraded from 60 million volts to 200 million volts.

"Hm?"

Rowen looked towards the dense mist rising from the shattered ice, created by the intense heat of the lightning storm. His eyes flashed with an extreme, pure red light.

Observation Haki - Future Sight!

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Several spears of ultra-cold ice, wreathed in Armament Haki, shot out from the dense mist! The Haki infusion made the ice spears appear almost solidified, tangible.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Rowen moved slightly, precisely dodging each ice spear.

CRACK! CRACK!

The ice spears slammed into the ground, instantly flash-freezing everything around them, radiating terrifying cold.

These spears contained the full concentrated power of the Ice-Ice Fruit—unlike his wide-area freezing aura, their localized destructive power was extremely horrifying—and being coated in Armament Haki amplified their threat level exponentially...

"Trying to obstruct my Observation Haki with rising steam? You're underestimating me, Aokiji—" Rowen commented calmly, effortlessly dodging Aokiji's ice attacks.

The steam, infused with Devil Fruit power, could indeed interfere with normal Observation Haki. But Rowen's Observation Haki was trained to its absolute peak—capable of seeing the future.

Such tactics were useless against him.

"Ararara... Scary. Completely unaffected. Your Observation Haki—has already reached its peak, hasn't it? You can... see the future???"

WHOOSH!

Seeing his attacks were completely ineffective, Aokiji no longer bothered hiding. He manipulated the freezing aura and air currents, instantly dispersing the steam.

Looking at Rowen not far away, at the extreme red light flashing in his eyes, Aokiji's expression grew even more grave.

Though his own Observation Haki was completely shredded by Rowen's Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability, preventing him from extending it outwards, his inherent insight as one of the sea's peak powerhouses remained.

Within that dense, Devil Fruit energy-infused mist, this man's Observation Haki perception remained completely unaffected!

This could only mean one thing: this man's Observation Haki was a tier above his own...

And that tier could only be—Observation Haki trained to its absolute peak, capable of foreseeing the future!

Unbelievable!

This man has trained even his Observation Haki to such a level???

A MONSTER!

Even Aokiji couldn't help but curse inwardly now.

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CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

FWOOSH!

VMM!

WHOOSH! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Ice-Ice Fruit—AWAKENED!

CRACKLE! BOOOOOOM!

VMM!

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOOM!!!

Rumble-Rumble Fruit—AWAKENED! Full Power Unleashed!

VMM!