"What kind of Devil Fruit ability is this…? He grew wool?"
A Marine stared at Kairos in confusion, instinctively trying to analyze what had just happened.
"Be careful. Kairos has never shown any Devil Fruit ability before. This might be one of his hidden trump cards…"
Some Marines even stepped back half a pace, their faces filled with caution.
Kairos looked down at the wool growing on his body.
Then he reached up and touched the sheep horns on his head.
Good.
Confirmed.
Right now, he looked like he was wearing a Pleasant Goat mascot suit.
"Kairos, I didn't expect you to still have a move like this hidden."
Zephyr's expression turned grave.
He stepped forward and naturally shielded the Marine recruits behind him.
Kairos: "…"
He fell silent for three full seconds.
His mind was in complete chaos.
Looking at Zephyr's serious expression, a strange thought suddenly drifted through his head.
This old man really does have two brushes.
At this moment, Kairos had only one thought.
Regret.
Pure, overwhelming regret.
Why had he been stupid enough to activate the Pleasant Goat card?
No.
This was absolute dark history.
The entire Grassland Three Swordsmen series had to be permanently sealed.
Even if he, Kairos, got beaten to death by the Four Emperors or jumped off Reverse Mountain, he would never use another Qingqing Grassland card again.
In the next instant, the soft wool shrank back.
Kairos returned to normal.
A faint trace of embarrassment flashed across his face.
That cursed Pleasant Goat card…
thankfully, its duration had finally ended.
"That was just to lighten the mood."
Kairos coughed twice and spoke with a completely serious expression.
"Come on."
"To lighten the mood?"
Zephyr paused.
Doubt appeared on his face.
He had genuinely believed Kairos had revealed some hidden trump card.
But according to Kairos, it had only been to "lighten the mood"?
The surrounding Marines also noticed the fleeting embarrassment on Kairos' face.
Their expressions immediately became strange.
You definitely just did something embarrassing, right?
You did, didn't you?
Definitely.
"…Looks like I'm not getting past this."
Kairos looked at the Marines' suspicious expressions and let out a heavy sigh.
Fine.
Since they couldn't forget it—
then he would simply blind them all.
He would erase their memories through physical means.
Come forth—
Golden King.
"Ah!"
In an instant, dazzling golden light erupted from Kairos' entire body.
The brilliance was even brighter than the sun itself, as if a mountain of gold had suddenly appeared on the coast.
Gilgamesh Card, activated.
"So bright… that light!"
A Marine instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes.
The golden radiance reminded him of a report he had once seen in the newspaper.
"That's the power Kairos used when he defeated Vice Admiral Garp!"
His companion immediately shouted, his face filled with shock.
Back then, when Kairos defeated Garp, his entire body had also radiated this same overwhelming golden brilliance.
"Kairos, you're finally serious! Come!"
Zephyr roared like thunder.
He leapt forward as a tyrannical aura surged from his body.
His blackened right arm punched out like a war god awakened, domineering and unstoppable.
"Tch."
A cold, disdainful snort came from within the golden light.
In the next moment—
behind the rising golden radiance, countless golden ripples appeared in space.
They were like heavenly gates opening one after another.
Simply looking at them was enough to make hearts tremble.
Within each golden ripple floated the outline of a Noble Phantasm, shining with dazzling golden light.
Luxurious.
Ancient.
Solemn.
The contrast created an indescribably oppressive impact.
Zephyr had already arrived.
Without hesitation, he punched downward.
The force of Black Arm surged like mountains collapsing and oceans overturning.
Even a large warship would have been reduced to scrap metal by that punch.
Suddenly—
a sharp metallic sound tore through the air.
From one of the golden ripples, a glowing chain shot outward.
Snap!
Almost instantly, the chain seemed to ignore distance itself.
It wrapped around Zephyr's body in a bizarre flash.
His descending fist was forcibly pulled back.
Even the black Armament Haki covering his wrist began cracking under the chain's restraint.
"What?!"
Shock flashed through Zephyr's eyes.
The title "Black Arm" was proof enough that his fist strength and Armament Haki stood near the peak of the Marines.
Yet now—
his full-powered strike had been stopped by a single chain?
Zephyr tried to exert more force, but his body could not move at all under the chain's restraint.
"Teacher Zephyr… was restrained by a chain?"
A Marine recruit inhaled sharply.
A single chain had flown out and effortlessly bound a former Admiral.
"No, something's wrong. When Kairos fought Vice Admiral Garp, he didn't use chains…"
A Marine familiar with the details of the deserted-island battle felt his heart tremble.
Kairos' current power seemed completely different from before.
The rising golden light gradually faded, revealing Kairos' figure.
A faint golden glow still surrounded his body.
Combined with the golden ripples opening behind him, he looked as though he himself had been forged from gold.
At this moment, Kairos' expression was different from usual.
His eyes were cold.
And within that coldness was pride.
The pride of a king.
If not for the fact that Kairos respected the elderly and cared for the young, a certain word might already have slipped out of his mouth.
Kairos looked at the chain binding Zephyr.
It was a silver chain with differently shaped wedges attached at both ends.
A layer of black Armament Haki coated its surface.
Its name was—
Enkidu, the Chains of Heaven.
"Looks like the Chains of Heaven can still restrain you."
Kairos looked at Zephyr and spoke softly.
The Chains of Heaven increased in hardness depending on the divinity of the target.
The purer the target's divinity, the stronger the chains became.
Since Zephyr possessed no divinity, Kairos had coated Enkidu in Armament Haki beforehand.
Now, it seemed to work just fine.
In that case—
he would erase their memories physically.
Golden light flashed in Kairos' eyes.
The golden ripples behind him multiplied to more than a hundred.
Space itself trembled.
Golden radiance nearly covered the sky.
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