Hearing Renji's words Ace turned his gaze back toward Kaido's body.
Especially the flames surrounding Kaido a thoughtful expression appeared in Ace's eyes.
At this moment, Ace had finally begun to understand the gap in strength between himself and monsters like Kaido.
After witnessing Kaido's flames ignite and melt even rocks and soil, Excitement appeared in his eyes.
"Flames with even higher temperatures...?"
[You picked up one Devil Fruit Growth Experience!]
Hearing the system notification and seeing Ace fall into deep thought.
Renji smiled faintly.
He no longer planned to disturb him.
At that moment Renji directly fused the Devil Fruit experience into his Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
In an instant it felt as though a complete transformation had occurred within his body.
His entire body seemed to vibrate.
No not just at this moment.
But at every single moment.
That was only natural.
Whether living beings or inanimate objects everything possessed vibrations.
Every breath.
Even the simple flow of blood through the body produced vibrations.
"I broke through."
Feeling the changes within himself Renji took a deep breath, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
The reason he had guided Ace earlier was not only because of concern for a friend.
It was also because his Tremor-Tremor Fruit had already been just one step away from awakening.
And now he had finally reached that state.
The awakened state of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
The state of resonance.
Through this state he could avoid the vast majority of direct attacks.
Resonance was an incredibly mysterious ability.
It allowed him to synchronize frequencies with other things whether living beings or lifeless objects.
Of course this "communication" was not simple conversation.
It meant matching the same frequency as the target.
And once he synchronized with the same frequency Renji could remotely influence them.
He could even kill enemies without directly touching them.
It was similar to how sound vibrations could shatter glass.
But with Renji's current power and abilities the things he could accomplish were far more terrifying.
"So this is Devil Fruit awakening...?"
Renji spread open both hands, looking at the changes in his body with satisfaction.
Then he nodded slowly.
"So this is what true evolution feels like."
The reason was simple.
That single ship belonged to the Red Hair Pirates.
No one was willing to provoke one of the Four Emperors for no reason.
"Charge!"
As time passed little by little the verbal clashes between the Beasts Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates gradually died down as the battle between Kaido and Whitebeard entered a stalemate.
Whitebeard was indeed weaker than Kaido because of his injuries.
But the Strongest Man in the World was not someone to be underestimated.
At most he was only being suppressed slightly by Kaido.
"Move out!"
At this moment under the command of King from the Beasts Pirates and Marco from the Whitebeard Pirates the two sides finally collided head-on!
Marco and Jozu immediately stepped forward.
King and Jack intercepted them directly.
Then came the Whitebeard Pirates' division commanders.
On Kaido's side the Flying Six and the Numbers stepped forward to face them.
For a moment the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates had completely crashed into each other.
"Hahaha! This is exhilarating!"
On Whitebeard's side, Jinbe and Crocodile also joined the battle.
And beyond these top-tier fighters Kaido's fifty thousand troops and Whitebeard's thirty thousand troops also began fighting across the battlefield.
For a time some boarded enemy ships to engage in close combat.
Others attacked from afar with artillery fire.
Nearly one hundred thousand combatants and more than a thousand ships had plunged into full-scale war.
"I never expected the Four Emperors to possess such terrifying power within the New World."
Far away a figure appeared.
It was an extremely ordinary-looking small boat.
Only three people stood aboard it.
But those three individuals were anything but ordinary.
They were Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"Hero of the Marines" Garp.
And Admiral candidate Vice Admiral Momousagi!
"A massive war involving nearly one hundred thousand people."
"And none of them are just cannon fodder."
"Even the World Government would struggle to gather forces of this scale."
Sengoku stared at the battlefield at sea, his expression filled with gravity.
He realized that even though he had constantly monitored the New World he still did not truly understand it.
Especially the strength of the Four Emperors which he had severely underestimated.
"Thankfully…"
A trace of relief appeared in his eyes.
At this moment, the war between Kaido and Whitebeard had at least given him an opportunity to better understand the New World.
"Report this back to the temporary headquarters."
"Let Akainu and Aokiji learn about the situation in the New World immediately."
Momousagi, despite being an Admiral candidate and one of the Marine high-ranking officers, simply nodded like a secretary.
She immediately began transmitting the information.
Meanwhile in another area of the sea ships belonging to various factions filled the surrounding waters.
Even though nobody wanted conflict to break out here there were simply too many forces present.
If a fight erupted, nobody could guarantee they would gain the advantage.
So everyone restrained themselves.
Yet even in such a chaotic situation there was one ship completely left alone.
The reason was simple.
The owner of that ship was none other than one of the Emperors of the New World.
The woman the world called "Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin.
The reason she alone occupied that entire stretch of sea was because she had simply driven every other ship away by force.
Big Mom was currently devouring an enormous cake.
Her face was filled with disbelief as she stared toward the battlefield where Kaido and Whitebeard were fighting.
It was not their strength that shocked her.
Although she was slightly weaker than Whitebeard and Kaido she was still within the same realm as them.
What truly shocked her was that Kaido and Whitebeard were genuinely fighting head-on.
A real war.
The moment they declared war they truly went to war.
The two sides had mobilized nearly one hundred thousand fighters.
And if logistics and supply personnel were included the total number involved likely exceeded several hundred thousand people.
A war on this scale was already the greatest conflict in the entire New World.
"What exactly are those two bastards plotting?"
In Big Mom's eyes there was no such thing as a meaningless war.
Even if Whitebeard and Kaido had always held grudges against each other that still should not have escalated into total war.
Such internal conflict would only benefit the World Government.
"And if the World Government sets its sights on the New World because of this…"
"Then don't blame me for turning against all of you!"
Meanwhile in another part of the ocean a ship drifted slowly across the sea.
Unlike Big Mom, it had not violently driven other ships away.
Yet every nearby vessel still obediently kept at least five nautical miles away from it.
"Mihoooook~!"
"You really don't plan on fighting me?"
Just from the voice alone, one could already guess who it was.
That's right the youngest of the Four Emperors currently ruling the seas Red-Haired Shanks!
After witnessing the battle between Kaido and Whitebeard the desire to fight had begun rising within Shanks as well.
He immediately shifted his attention toward Mihawk, who stood aboard the ship.
"Or are you scared?"
"If you're really afraid, I won't force you."
"You can just publicly announce that the title of World's Greatest Swordsman belongs to me now."
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