Who's going first?
After he asked this, there was no answer for a long time, only the sound of sea wind sweeping past.
Hearing the name of a Four Emperors and actually seeing one in person are ultimately two very different things.
Just seeing that face, feeling that faintly emanating terrifying aura.
That alone already made many people start to back out, regretting why they'd come to join in this mess with a "picking up scraps" mindset.
Amid an extremely oppressive silence.
"Oi, what, all of you this gutless?"
A white-haired, six-to-seven-meter-tall giant of a middle-aged man snorted coldly, "Since no one dares to go first, then I'll be the one to test you, bastard!"
He vaulted into the ring, his over-two-ton heavy body slamming down hard enough to make the ground tremble.
"You should recognize me, right, Shano!"
The giant shrugged off his cloak and tossed it aside, revealing rock-like knotted muscles. He bared his teeth in a feral grin:
"I'm the one with an 845 million Belly bounty, 'White Moon Wolf Dao' Gadreel, the rare Mythical Silver Wolf Fruit Ability User!"
"You really are strong enough! If we really fought to the bitter end, I'd absolutely not be your match! But not being able to take even a single move? Hahaha! Even Whitebeard in his younger days couldn't kill me in one strike back then!"
The stands around them instantly erupted.
"It's that monster from twenty years ago, the one who took advantage of Roger's execution to single-handedly storm Navy Headquarters, wreak havoc, and even manage to escape!"
"So many people have died at his hands, they say the number's already in the tens of thousands by now… and he actually came too?!"
"A Mythical type greatly boosts physical toughness. If it's this guy, he should definitely be able to tank it!"
"Now we're in for a good show!"
Amid the chatter.
Gadreel smashed his fists together and threw his head back with a roar, pitch-black Armament Haki instantly coating his entire body!
At the same time his body abruptly swelled, reaching a full ten meters in height, and savage, terrifying fangs grew from his mouth.
"This is my strongest battle form!"
He laughed wildly, arrogantly curling a finger at Shano:
"Come on! Do it! Let me see how much weight you really carry, you junior who's rumored to have already become the strongest of the Four Emperors!"
Shano, however, still had both hands in his pockets, not even bothering to lift his eyelids.
"Kamusari."
He merely breathed out these two words lightly.
Clang!
The next instant!
A black-and-red Sword Qi suddenly slashed across the entire Beast Fighting Arena, space itself seeming to be cut apart at that moment, the blinding thunder-light dying everyone's vision blood-red.
The feral grin on Gadreel's face didn't even have time to fade.
His vaunted Mythical-type Defense, that Armament Haki of his that was said to be something even Whitebeard couldn't break in a single blow…
At the moment it came into contact with the Sword Qi, it was as fragile as paper, utterly collapsing!
Splurt!
Amid the sound of flesh tearing, Gadreel's massive body was cleaved cleanly in half at the waist. His upper body still held its taunting posture, while his lower body had already crashed heavily to the ground.
Blood sprayed out like a fountain, splashing over and dyeing the surrounding earth a glaring scarlet.
"..."
The whole arena fell instantly silent as a grave.
"This…"
All the Pirates wore roughly the same expression, eyes bulging, snot dripping out, staring at this scene in utter disbelief.
This!
What kind of sick joke is this?!
A legendary Great Pirate who's been famous for over twenty years, the one "even Whitebeard couldn't kill in a single blow"!
And one renowned specifically for his monstrous physique!
And he just got casually sliced in half like that?
"Next."
Shano's voice rang out again.
But this time.
No one dared respond. Some Pirates' eyes subconsciously shifted toward another bald, scar-faced man.
This guy's bounty was slightly higher than Gadreel's, in fact the highest in the entire arena.
But under everyone's gaze, the bald scar-face was drenched in cold sweat, waving his hands frantically, then lowering his head, terrified that the man in the ring would look his way.
"Since no one dares to one-on-one…"
Shano's gaze swept over the crowd who were all scared stiff, and he sighed in some disappointment,
"Then come all at once. No limit on numbers. I'll only use one move. As long as someone can withstand it, my promise still stands."
The moment his words fell.
The entire Beast Fighting Arena instantly boiled over.
"All at once? Did I hear that right, that guy said we can all come at him?!"
"No limit on numbers? If all ten-plus thousand of us charge him together? Even the strongest Sea Emperor couldn't possibly take out that many people in one go…"
"He might even be the one who can't hold out and goes down first, hahaha!"
"We're not small fry who can't even withstand Supreme King Haki, don't look down on people so much!"
No one knew who yelled it first:
"If that's the case, then let's all go together and see what he can do!"
Over ten thousand Pirates erupted into action on the spot.
The opponent is a Four Emperors!
After witnessing that bloody scene just now, going alone, they didn't dare. Going in tens, in hundreds, they still didn't dare.
But if over ten thousand veteran New World Pirates charged together!
Then they definitely could!
In an instant, a human tide surged down. Those adept with Haki unleashed their Haki, and the Devil Fruit Ability Users all brought out their strongest forms.
The entire Beast Fighting Arena was drowned in earthshaking shouts and killing cries.
Of course, there were also some whose ambition had been snuffed out, or those timid but sharp enough to sense something was off. They quietly faded to the very back of the crowd, ready to bolt at any time.
"Hmph."
Looking at the Pirate army surging toward him like a tide, Shano's lips curled into a faint, icy smile.
"Since you're all here, that's just perfect."
He slowly raised his right hand, five fingers spread, palm facing up, and a terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from within his body.
Then he suddenly clenched it into a fist and punched out!
"Clashing Fang... Dragon Slayer Fist!"
BOOM!!!
In an instant, two visible shockwaves formed, one black and one white, intertwining with each other like jagged teeth.
Accompanied by blinding black and red lightning, they exploded outward with Shano's knuckles as the center!
Wherever they passed, space itself seemed to be crushed by an invisible giant force, even the air was instantly blasted away, forming an absolute vacuum zone.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sound of bones shattering rang out one after another, dense and continuous.
The hundreds of Pirates charging at the very front didn't even have time to scream before they were ground into blood mist by this terrifying concussive force!
And the Pirates further back were horrified to find that their bodies were actually starting to fall apart beyond their control!
Skin splitting open, muscles tearing apart, and even their bones couldn't support them anymore, directly starting to crumble to dust...
"No!"
"Help!!!"
"What the hell is this move!!!"
Shrill screams rose and fell, but were quickly drowned out by the deafening explosions.
The entire floor of the Beast Fighting Arena cracked open layer by layer, countless stones were blown high into the sky, then turned to powder in the shockwaves and drifted down like ash over the ground.
Only three seconds later.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, the Beast Fighting Arena that had been packed and roaring with voices just moments ago had already turned into a dead-silent ruin.
Or rather.
There wasn't even a Beast Fighting Arena anymore; this entire area looked as if some higher-dimensional being had erased it from the paper with an eraser.
All that remained was a blank void.
The more than ten thousand Pirates naturally did not have a single survivor, including those Pirates with bounties of several hundred million—they hadn't managed to live either.
"Not bad power."
Shano pulled back his fist, looked around in a circle, and nodded in quite some satisfaction.
The whole reason he'd set up this trap.
Was mainly to wipe out a large batch of the worst scum in the New World, but doing it like this also let him conveniently test the power of the "Clashing Fang Dragon Slayer Fist."
Not bad...
He'd started this training at the beginning of August, and now it was almost September. After more than twenty days of Hell-level training—
Thunderous Air Splitting Fist.
Clashing Fang Dragon Slayer Fist.
—he had already brought both of these ultimate moves to Great Success!
Especially this Clashing Fang Dragon Slayer Fist—like the name suggests, it's two completely opposite shockwaves grinding against each other, creating destructive power.
Compared to the Thunderous Air Splitting Fist, it consumes a lot more stamina. Even with his current level of physical toughness, he still can't fire it off continuously.
But the sheer power of it is also beyond imagination!
Back then, whether Swordsmanship or Fist Technique, there was absolutely no way he could have achieved this kind of result with a single move.
Just like these Pirates themselves had been yelling a moment ago.
These New World thugs who dared to challenge him weren't some small fry that could be easily knocked out with a bit of Supreme King.
Yet in front of this "Clashing Fang Dragon Slayer Fist," they didn't even have room to struggle before they were crushed completely into dust.
Shooting a glance at the far-off sea surface that had been blasted open for several kilometers, Shano turned and walked out of the arena.
Angewomon had long been waiting outside, smiling as she handed him a hot towel.
"Master, hard work." She blinked. "Should I notify the Infrastructure Corps to come handle the site?"
"Mm, leave it to them."
Shano wiped his hands. This Beast Fighting Arena had been a place where slave-owners played cruel games; it had no archaeology value.
So in the original plans, this place was going to be blown up and demolished anyway, to build the Galaxy Sea Region First People's Hospital.
With that one punch flattening the place, he'd actually saved the Infrastructure Corps workers quite a bit of effort.
On top of that, he wiped out more than ten thousand evildoers in one go and also tested his new move's power. Call it killing three birds with one stone.
"With this, the Pirates in the New World, and even the Pirates of the Four Seas and Paradise, should quiet down for a while."
Shano grinned; this kind of thing where he could intimidate scum and benefit the people was something he genuinely enjoyed doing.
Handing the dirty towel back to Angewomon, he casually asked:
"How's the dinner party coming along?"
The Endgame was currently docked in the Galaxy Sea Region, so the small welcome banquet for Aokiji joining them was simply set to be held on the deck.
"Everything's ready, just waiting for you, Master."
Angewomon answered with a smile:
"A former Navy Grand Admiral actually joined the Endgame. Once this news gets out, our reputation will rise again, and over at Navy Headquarters and the World Government, they'll probably be so mad their seven apertures start smoking, right?"
"Who knows?"
Shano laughed heartily.
"That old geezer Kong is pushing a hundred by now. He's seen so many big scenes, maybe he's long gotten used to it. C'mon, let's go meet our new partner."
Nice!
Angewomon happily followed along.
Even though she'd already evolved into a humanoid form, she still retained some of the hobbies and habits she had back when she was a white kitty.
Like Uncle Zeff's fish dishes—she hadn't had them in a long time, she really missed them!
"Oh, right."
As if suddenly remembering something, Shano halted his steps. "Over at Morgans' side, that cooperation project we gave him a few days ago should be just about ready, yeah?"
"Uhh... I've had nothing but fish in my head and totally forgot to report to you."
Angewomon slapped her forehead, stuck her tongue out in slight embarrassment, and said:
"It was already ready yesterday. All the Warrants have been copied over a million times—enough for every copy in the first batch of newspapers to come with one."
"If things go smoothly, starting tomorrow morning, that first batch of newspapers will start being distributed all over the world."
"Very good, efficiency's not bad."
Shano nodded slightly, the corners of his mouth inevitably curling into a smile:
"Tsk, when those dog lackeys on the Wanted list see the day they've actually been given bounties themselves, their expressions are gonna be priceless."