"But..."
Rhett's voice suddenly turned cold.
The spreading blood mist suddenly condensed into a single point. Rhett's complete form appeared not far from Barrett. He was no longer lazy and casual. A suffocating pressure emanated from him.
He looked at Barrett, who had immediately taken a fighting stance after his all-out attack had missed. Rhett slowly raised his left hand.
"Your progress. I've seen it."
"Your resolve. I've received it."
"Then, as a 'return gift' for your persistence..."
Rhett's left hand, five fingers spread, aimed his palm at Barrett. His thumb was folded inward. His index and middle fingers were straight and together. His ring and little fingers were bent. He formed a strange and ancient hand seal. He slowly raised this hand in front of his left eye. Through the gap between his fingers, that blood-colored eye coldly locked onto the startled Barrett.
"With this single strike, I'll put an end to your reckless challenge."
"Devour."
ROOOAR—!!!!
A dragon's roar shook the entire Blood Prison space! The highly compressed blood mist instantly transformed into a ferocious eastern blood dragon head! Its horns were jagged. Its eyes burned with solid blood-colored flames. Inside its open jaws was a bottomless vortex of destruction!
Barrett's pupils reflected the dragon head that now filled his entire vision. Every cell in his body screamed at him to run, that he was going to die. But running wasn't Barrett.
Rhett's universal formula for Barrett: "XXXX isn't Barrett." It worked every time.
He roared and tried to gather his Haki for defense. He crossed his arms in front of him. He pushed his Combine-Combine Fruit to its limit, trying to harden his armor. He even tried to combine with the dragon head.
But it was too late!
The blood dragon head moved at a speed he could see but couldn't react to. It devoured him whole!
No explosion. No impact.
Only consumption.
Barrett's figure, his face mixed with shock, unwillingness, and undiminished fighting spirit... all of it was swallowed by the dragon's gaping maw in an instant.
As if thrown into a different dimension made of pure blood mist, all sound, light, and perception were completely cut off, consumed, and annihilated.
After completing its devouring, the blood dragon head let out a satisfied low hum. Then it dispersed into floating blood mist, slowly merging back into the space.
Rhett slowly lowered his hand. He quietly looked at the place where Barrett had been. Nothing remained. As if he had never existed.
---
In the plaza, Rhett's figure reappeared in front of his throne. He casually brushed off the dust that wasn't there. He yawned.
Rhett: Ah so tired
"Where's Barrett?" Whitebeard asked casually. He had been involved in creating that technique. He knew very well how powerful it had become as Rhett grew stronger. He had never considered the possibility that Rhett might lose. That technique was certified by two Emperors.
Rhett glanced at him and lazily sat back on his throne. He picked up the half-drunk juice on the side table, took a sip, and replied carelessly.
"Dead."
Two casual words. The entire plaza fell silent.
Dead?
That "Devil's Heir" who had just held his own against four top fighters, the arrogant Douglas Barrett... just dead? Just like that?
"Impossible!" Akainu stepped forward. "A monster on that level couldn't be killed without a trace! And... you were on the same ship! That kind of evil bond—"
He couldn't finish.
THUD. The teddy bear flew.
The teddy bear got up and looked at Rhett.
It was no longer the teasing look he gave Garp. No longer the equal look he gave Whitebeard. No longer the playful look he gave the children.
It was an expression of extreme coldness and indifference.
Rhett didn't even change his sitting position. He just turned his head slightly. His blood-red eyes locked onto Akainu.
"Sakazuki," Rhett's voice was calm. "Are you using that magma-scorched brain of yours to question me? Or to judge me?"
Akainu's pupils contracted sharply. His magma churned more violently. But he found himself frozen in place by that gaze. A primal sense of danger screamed at him.
Rhett slowly put down his juice cup. He leaned forward slightly. Even sitting, he gave a feeling of looking down.
"Or..." Rhett looked at the teddy bear. "Do you think being a Navy Admiral gives you immunity from death... in front of me?"
"Do you want to die?" Rhett's voice dropped even lower.
"Hey, hey, Rhett, I can't pretend I didn't hear that." Garp interrupted.
Rhett returned to his lazy demeanor. "Oh, oh~ Garp, what if I use my position as a Navy angel investor to transfer Sakazuki to my territory to help catch pirates? Or give him a reason... to put Sakazuki in the Logistics Department. Permanently. Do you think that's possible?"
Red Teddy started sweating uncontrollably. That would be worse than death.
Dead silence.
Absolute dead silence.
Everyone could feel that Rhett wasn't joking. He was seriously considering whether to turn a Navy Admiral into a corpse right there. Or worse.
Akainu's face was bright red. Extreme anger and humiliation. But his throat moved. The roar was stuck in his throat. His Observation Haki screamed at him, warning that one more word meant death.
"Don't be ridiculous. Come join me for a ten-day, ten-night no-sleep doughnut eating contest. I guarantee you won't beat me." Garp said, casually.
Watching through the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku felt a headache. But he wasn't worried. He had known about Garp and Rhett's relationship since the moment Ace was born. He had thought Garp was just causing trouble. Now, damn, Garp, you had foresight.
"Tch, you think you can beat me?" In the end, it was Rhett who withdrew that terrifying gaze first. He lounged back on his throne. The blood mist calmed as if nothing had happened. He waved his hand as if shooing a fly.
"Boring."
He snapped his fingers. The blood mist turned into a new box of doughnuts.
"Let's compete."