Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

As for Yann, he naturally remained silent, pretending not to hear.

After all, Yann now carries the title of "Naval Hero". Even though he still holds the rank of Vice Admiral, he is one of the true high-ranking officers in the Navy.

Although Yann has always claimed to be "Buddhist" in both his style and stance, his frequent pronouncements are often over-interpreted.

In order to avoid escalating this conflict, Kuzan, who was originally on good terms with Yann, had been deliberately keeping his distance from Yann to prevent General Sakazuki from misunderstanding with the "hawkish" officers.

This internal conflict within the Navy made Yone realize more clearly that the Navy had always lacked a unified ideology. Otherwise, even if the emergence of radicals and moderates was unavoidable, the ideological conflict would not have escalated to this extent.

However, through the Revolutionary Army's intelligence network infiltrated within the Navy, Yann recently discovered that the World Government's intelligence agents seem to be intentionally supporting the "hawks."

"Does it mean that hawks are more conducive to the world government's control and command of the navy?"

Yan lay on the beach chair in a rather lazy posture, facing the screen of the video Den Den Mushi, while his mind was quickly discerning and verifying the ideals held by the Vice Admirals of the Marine Headquarters behind him.

Just then, the image projected by the video Den Den Mushi changed. As the dark sky and thunder intensified, a breathtaking blue dragon rose into the air from the deserted island.

Immediately, the vice admirals who were arguing stopped talking and looked at the blue dragon that seemed to be in control of the sky with great fear and solemnity.

"Kaido of the Beasts, Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Form!" Vice Admiral Momonga muttered to himself in a heavy tone.

Kaido has launched attacks on the Navy alone on more than one occasion, and naturally he has also shown this attitude in front of Navy Vice Admirals on more than one occasion.

But when this posture reappeared, these Navy Vice Admirals who had faced Kaido in this posture before were instantly awakened to their awe of it.

[Chapter 485. Nineteen against one, the advantage is mine]

"Kaido, the Azure Dragon form he's transformed into seems to be even larger than it was seven years ago!"

Ya'en took off his sunglasses and put on his usual glasses. He narrowed his eyes slightly and gave a somewhat serious evaluation.

"Ok?"

Borsalino, who was standing to the side, was slightly taken aback, but then realized that Yann was also involved in the "Dressrosa Kingdom Incident".

However, since Yann was a prisoner during the Dressrosa Kingdom incident, it was only natural that he could so quickly notice Kaido's change in appearance.

Borsalino asked casually, "So? Are you confident you can take him down, Lieutenant General Yann?"

Yann shrugged and replied in a helpless tone.

"What a joke. Just seeing that posture makes it hard for me to stay calm. If I were to face it head-on, I probably wouldn't last more than half an hour if I got serious."

Borsalino smiled approvingly.

"Hahaha, Vice Admiral Yann is joking again. Kaido's posture is indeed like a monster to me, but no matter how strong Kaido's defense is, it can't compare to the Ancient Weapon Pluton, right? Vice Admiral Yann must be quite confident."

Yaen shook his head, pinching his index finger and thumb together and then separating them slightly to indicate, "No...no, the chance of avoiding death is only this small."

Hearing this, even Vice Admiral Tsuru, who had a serious expression, couldn't help but complain. "That's enough for you two. We didn't ask you to go and fight Kaido one-on-one."

In Lieutenant General Tsuru's view, putting Borsalino aside for the moment, the combat power ceiling that Yann had previously demonstrated was already quite high.

Even though Arn's physique is always an undeniable weakness, his special form "Final View: White Emperor Sword," which supposedly pierced the ancient weapon Hades, and his "Conqueror's Haki Entanglement," which instantly killed Weevil, both demonstrate that Arn's combat power is definitely at the top level in the ocean.

Furthermore, the reason why Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru forcibly ordered Aon to fight alongside the fleet was that they hoped Aon could break through Kaido's defenses and vitality, and truly nip this threat to the sea in the bud during this war.

To Lieutenant General Tsuru's surprise, Ya'en nodded in agreement with her words, glanced around to count the number of people, and then spoke.

"That's true, after all, it's nineteen to one, so the advantage is on my side."

Upon hearing this, some veteran vice admirals of the Navy Headquarters, who were usually quite concerned about their image, couldn't help but blush.

After all, in this chaotic sea, most naval officers may not be disgusted or disdainful of schemes, but they inevitably admire the glory and pride of a head-on one-on-one duel.

So even though they were mentally prepared to gang up on Kaido, these vice admirals still couldn't bring themselves to openly say things like "nineteen against one, the advantage is in my hands" like Arn did.

However, to be fair, upon hearing that it was "nineteen against one," the Navy Vice Admiral, who had initially felt some awe towards Kaido's astonishing strength, immediately felt relieved, realizing that Kaido's power was nothing special.

They might not be able to beat Kaido in a one-on-one fight, but could Kaido possibly take down all nineteen of them by himself?

However, just as Borsalino was about to say something, looking at the image projected by the video Den Den Mushi, his previously relaxed expression slowly tightened, and he muttered something.

"A Hegemon's Territory?!"

In the blink of an eye, a visible wave spread outwards from the center of the deserted island, instantly calming the turbulent sea and even stopping the rolling clouds in the sky.

That scene was incredibly shocking!

It was as if the appearance of something caused the entire sea and sky to come to a standstill.

The next moment, Kaido, in his azure dragon form, opened his massive mouth and suddenly spewed out an incredibly hot breath downwards, so powerful that it seemed to shatter the entire deserted island below.

However, the wave that had been spreading in all directions suddenly converged towards the center, and then a soaring red flying slash accompanied by black and red lightning tore through the heat and struck the azure dragon soaring in the sky.

"boom!"

The terrifying aftershocks, carrying the residual heat from the heat breath, spread out in a ring of rolling heat waves, turning half of the trees on the deserted island scorched yellow almost instantly.

The Azure Dragon, which had been soaring in the sky, seemed to have been struck by a heavy blow, and its enormous and terrifying body fell heavily from mid-air.

"That attack..."

Vice Admiral Momonga, also a renowned swordsman of the sea, was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat and muttered to himself.

"Even Mihawk, known as the 'World's Greatest Swordsman,' couldn't unleash a flying slash at full power, could he?"

As for the other vice admirals, even if their swordsmanship was not profound, they could still feel the shock of that attack from the scene of tearing apart the heat breath and severing the Azure Dragon.

"'Red-Haired' Shanks, just how strong is that guy?" Lieutenant General Doberman's face was extremely grim and solemn.

"He's stronger than I expected. Could it be that 'Red-Haired' Shanks actually dared to choose 'Beasts' Kaido as his opponent to compete for the title of 'Emperor of the Sea'?" Vice Admiral Onigumo said, enunciating each word clearly.

Vice Admiral Tsuru narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully observing the details projected on the image by the video Den Den Mushi, then took a deep breath and said with a touch of admiration.

"I never expected that after Roger, someone else would develop 'Conqueror's Haki' to the level of 'Conqueror's Domain'."

"'Conqueror's Territory'?" Whether it was Arn or the other vice admirals, they all cast questioning glances at Vice Admiral Tsuru.

"That's right, 'Conqueror's Territory'!"

Lieutenant General Tsuru nodded and then spoke.

"The realm of Haki is divided into Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki, which I believe everyone is very clear about."

"Among them, Observation Haki and Armament Haki are Haki that can be mastered through training and practice. However, the level that can be developed varies depending on individual talent and physique."

"As for Conqueror's Haki, it is even more special. It is a kind of Haki that is completely determined by one's innate nature. The training and cultivation after birth is not so much about strengthening it, but rather about digging out and mastering one's own Conqueror's Haki at a deeper level."

[Chapter 486 The Secret of Awakening Overbearing Power]

What Vice Admiral Tsuru just said is nothing more than the most basic common sense about this sea for naval vice admirals.

Of course, for those in the four seas and the first half of the Grand Line whose knowledge of this subject was deliberately withheld, this knowledge was still a very novel concept.

However, the vice admirals knew very well that Vice Admiral Tsuru's main point was yet to come.

Lieutenant General Tsuru paused only briefly before continuing.

"However, in addition to being able to develop various techniques, the three types of Haki, like Devil Fruits, also possess the concept of awakening."

"Awakening Haki is extremely difficult, perhaps even rarer than awakening a Devil Fruit. However, once awakened, each individual can develop some special abilities on top of their original abilities."

This knowledge was clearly one of the important concepts that the World Government and the Navy deliberately kept secret from the sea. It was not recorded in any written documents, but was passed down in a very small number of people by word of mouth.

Even some people who have unintentionally awakened their domineering aura may not know the true concept behind it, otherwise, with the Revolutionary Army's current intelligence network, it would be impossible for them not to collect relevant information.

'Is his domineering aura awakening?'

As Yann silently uttered the word, he instantly understood many things that he had previously found contradictory.

Previously, Yann had always believed that Enel's "Mind Field" and Katakuri's "Foresight" were both advanced forms of Observation Haki.

In retrospect, Enel's "Mind Field" Observation Haki, Zephyr's "Iron Fist" Armament Haki, and Arn's current "Conqueror's Haki Entanglement" should all fall under the category of Haki application techniques.

Only Charlotte Katakuri, one of the "Sweet Commanders" of the "Big Mom Pirates" who has risen to fame in recent years, possesses Observation Haki with the ability to "foresee the future," which truly belongs to the category of "Haki Awakening."

Alternatively, the "Intuitive Danger" Observation Haki of Barak, the CP0 member encountered in the North Sea, could also be considered "Haki Awakening".

In other words, does the awakening of Haki amplify a pre-existing trait to an unbelievable degree? Originally, Observation Haki was simply a means of sensing the presence, movement, and emotional changes of living beings through the power of "hearing," but now it has awakened special abilities like "foresight" and "intuitive danger."

Beneath his seemingly calm exterior, Yann was secretly speculating.

However, Vice Admiral Tsuru only briefly mentioned this concept, which clearly falls into the category of secrets, without going into detail or revealing who exactly was among the Navy's forces that had "awakened" their dominance.

Vice Admiral Tsuru's brief explanation of the concept of "Awakening of Conqueror's Aura" was solely for the purpose of later explaining "Conqueror's Territory," so that the vice admirals would have a basic understanding of it in the upcoming battle.

"However, among the three types of Haki, the awakening of Conqueror's Haki is relatively special. According to the information compiled in the past, the awakening of Conqueror's Haki will form an ability called 'Conqueror's Domain'."

At this point, Lieutenant General Tsuru paused slightly, and his usually calm eyes revealed a hint of seriousness as he spoke.

"Under the influence of the 'Dominator's Territory,' the user of this ability can merge with the surrounding nature, communicate with all things in nature, gain the 'loyalty' of all things, and even change the natural laws of the surrounding world!"

"This ability also has another name: 'Hear the Voice of All Things,' and the last known user of the 'Dominion of the Conqueror' ability was... 'Pirate King' Roger."

These words shocked the naval officers present.

For nearly thirty years, the Navy's proudest and most talked-about achievement has been the execution of "Pirate King" Roger, bringing to an end the man who single-handedly ushered in a chaotic era on the execution platform.

Therefore, even for the navy, this name has a special meaning.

But now, the power of "Pirate King" Roger has appeared in "Red-Haired" Shanks, which undoubtedly deeply agitates the naval officers present.

Yann's expression also showed a slight surprise, as if he was quite taken aback.

"The Voice of All Things"—Aan once learned this term by chance from the words of the Warring States Marshal, and understood that it was an ability related to Haki.

However, in the past, Yann only interpreted it from the words and thought it was the name of Roger's advanced Observation Haki. He never expected it to be another name for "Conqueror's Territory".

"Red-Haired Shanks, this man is dangerous!"

Vice Admiral Tsuru summarized, word by word: "We must do everything in our power to completely eliminate this guy in this war, and we must never allow a second 'Pirate King' to appear."

Upon hearing this, the other vice admirals, spurred on by the name "Pirate King," also revealed a resolute look in their eyes.

If the existence of the "Emperors of the Sea" is merely a major threat and destabilizing factor for the Navy, then the "Pirate King" is an existence that is absolutely intolerable.

Borsalino, who was standing to the side, bent down slightly and whispered in Yone's ear.

"Lieutenant General Yann, you're in charge of 'Red-Haired' Shanks. I'm not good at dealing with guys like him."

"Hmm?" Yann looked at Borsalino with some surprise.

Borsalino adjusted his sunglasses, unusually avoiding his usual sleazy and lazy expression, and instead spoke seriously.

"As Vice Admiral Tsuru just said, the 'Conqueror's Domain' can interfere with all things around it within a certain range, and easily change the laws of nature by gaining the 'loyalty' of all things. Therefore, this is the kind of thing that Logia-type Devil Fruit users are least good at dealing with."

"Yes."