Drip. Drip. Drip.

Fresh blood splattered onto the sand, dyeing the grains crimson.

"That reaction just now... was unusual," Zephyr muttered to himself, his back muscles twitching slightly. "And he actually managed to pierce my Haki defense..."

A thirty-centimeter gash ran across Zephyr’s back, the flesh parted and bleeding. However, for a man who had survived countless battles, such a wound was a trifle. With a sharp flex of his powerful back muscles, the bleeding stopped instantly.

"I didn’t expect the restored Zephyr to be this troublesome. His Haki is top-tier... a master of martial arts at this level truly has no weaknesses," Aeridar noted gravely. The Haki receded from his right arm, and his fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly.

He had used Observation Haki to glimpse the future and evade Zephyr’s strike, intending to deliver a finishing blow. Yet, in that split second, Zephyr had reacted, stepping forward just enough so that only Aeridar’s fingertips grazed him.

The most alarming part was the density of Zephyr’s Haki; Aeridar had barely broken through. For a master of Life Return like Zephyr, stopping blood flow was a basic maneuver, a trait Aeridar had seen before with Redfield.

"Hey, old man... I’m going all out now," Aeridar said, his presence becoming as heavy as a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"About time. But be warned, I’m going to beat you to death," Zephyr replied, his own aura rising to match.

BOOM!

Zephyr kicked off the sand, leaving a pit behind as he blurred in front of Aeridar, raining down blackened iron fists.

"No, I’m the one who’s going to kill you!" Aeridar met the strike with his palm.

The collision sounded like a lightning strike. The atmospheric pressure caused a shockwave that leveled the surrounding dunes, creating a curtain of sand that obscured the battlefield.

"Nani?" Zephyr was shocked. His punch hadn’t forced the brat back even a single step.

"Put some weight into it!" Aeridar taunted. "Is this all the strength you have after getting your health back?"

"You pirate scum... don’t get cocky!" Zephyr roared, throwing a flurry of punches.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Aeridar met him blow for blow. The rapid-fire collisions sent ripples through the air, creating visible distortions.

"Impact Fist: Bear King Pillar!!!"

Aeridar shouted, his frame seemingly growing more muscular as he threw a devastating straight punch. The fist, blackened and the size of a dinner plate, pierced the air with a sonic boom, leaving a ring of white vapor in its wake.

"Not good!" Zephyr crossed his arms in a guard.

BOOOM!

Zephyr was sent flying by the sheer force, turning into a black blur that crashed through the forest hundreds of meters away, snapping trees like toothpicks.

"Life Return: Universal Law!"

Aeridar’s skin turned a heated pink, emitting steam as his heart hammered like a war drum. With every beat, his height and muscle mass increased. Within seconds, he stood over three meters tall, a towering, blackened metal titan radiating a murderous pressure.

He exhaled a long white stream of breath that lanced through the air like an arrow.

"Airquake!!!"

Focusing on the forest, Aeridar took a deep breath. A faint white glow enveloped his fist, forming a spherical pressure zone.

CRACK—

He punched the empty air. A sharp sound of shattering glass rang out as spiderweb-like cracks spread across the atmosphere for dozens of meters.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The vibration rippled through the air and the earth. The entire island began to heave and shudder as if caught in a cataclysmic earthquake. Massive fissures tore through the desert floor, snaking toward the horizon.

"What’s happening? Did a Dyna Stone explode?"

"Impossible! I thought they were frozen!"

"Damn it! Is the Captain crazy? Using tremors here... doesn’t he care about the magma underneath?"

As the island shook, the combatants on the dunes fell into chaos. Everyone feared the volcanic magma beneath Secon Island would be triggered, which would mean certain death for everyone.

The townspeople and the observing Marines were paralyzed by panic. Even the Straw Hat Pirates, who had just reached the edge of the dunes, were thrown into disarray.

"What is this?!"

"An earthquake?"

"It’s over! Secon Island is sinking!"

"Is the journey ending here? I guess we’re going to die! Though I’m already dead! Yo-ho-ho-ho!"

While Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Franky kept their cool, Usopp, a shrunken Nami, and Chopper clung to each other in tears. Brook, despite his panic, couldn’t help making a "Skull Joke."

"Hey... look over there! The air... it’s cracking?" Sanji pointed toward the distance.

Luffy looked up at the shattered atmosphere and his eyes widened. "That’s... Whitebeard’s power! The Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"