One Piece: The Strongest Creature

"...Is it still here?"

For nearly ten seconds, Hancock, whose Observation Haki now extends unimaginably far, travelled from Wano Country to Amazon Lily, phasing through every obstacle in her way. She arrived at the underground base, where she found Kahn relaxing with Nami and Carina by his side, each attending to him. Hancock reported the latest intelligence from Wano.

Hearing that the three sworn brothers had entered Wano with their crews and followers, Kahn shook his head, sighing as he let Carina and Nami feed him peeled grapes. 

With a neutral expression, he replied, "If they seek death, let them be buried."

"I understand, Master," Hancock replied obediently. She nodded in greeting to Nami and Carina before transforming into purple lightning and vanishing from the underground base.

From the time she first greeted the three sworn brothers, Hancock's lightning has changed—from blue and white to a deep purple, her Thunder Fruit power now allowing her to teleport across vast distances. 

What does this mean?

It means Hancock has ascended to a new dimension of power, standing on the world's highest peak.

During her battle with the Beasts Pirates, her purple lightning represented the "Thunder of Destruction"—her ultimate technique, comparable to Crocodile's "Dryness," a move saved only for desperate situations. At that time, the initial 500-million-volt Thunder of Destruction would drain immense energy, similar to the awakened state of her Devil Fruit.

But now, after years of honing her abilities, Hancock has fully mastered the Thunder of Destruction.

Using it as a regular ability, Hancock's lightning naturally turned purple, even if she used only tens of millions or even just millions of volts. Every strike she now delivers, even at low voltages, radiates this destructive power.

Similar to Crocodile's power to desiccate everything he touches, Hancock's attacks now embody pure destruction.

As the wielder of the strongest Logia Thunder Fruit, Hancock, having mastered "Destruction," has risen to the world's peak, rivalling even Marine Admirals.

Yet, in addition to her destructive power, Hancock has also perfected Conqueror's Haki, mastering its most advanced techniques.

Observation Haki foresight, external and internal destruction through Armament Haki—these are the essentials for those reaching the world's highest ranks, achieved through Conqueror's infusion.

Having reached the pinnacle in both Haki and Devil Fruit ability, Hancock stands as a supreme force in the Pirate World, with peak skill, strength, and mind.

She embodies the kind of strength difference seen between Green Bull and Kaido. Though both Marine Admirals and Pirate Emperors are powerful, a vast gap separates them.

This gap is simply that a Marine Admiral usually holds one less "ticket" to the world's highest echelon than a Pirate Emperor.

That "ticket" to the world's highest peak, of course, is Conqueror's Haki—especially Conqueror's infusion.

Why, then, is it so rare among Marines?

It's simple: while most Admirals are immensely powerful, only a few, like Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha, have achieved mastery in both Devil Fruit abilities and Haki, on par with legends like Whitebeard, Kaido, and now Hancock.

As a Devil Fruit user with an unparalleled ability, Hancock now ranks among the most invincible figures on the seas.

The three sworn brothers are indeed powerful, but among them, Kahn finds Luffy the most intriguing—specifically, because of Luffy's recent awakening of his Zoan Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, a mythical transformation. Without awakening, it's just an ordinary Paramecia-type Rubber-Rubber Fruit.

While rubber's natural insulation makes it resistant to electricity, there's a limit. Once lightning reaches Hancock's level—a transcendent, destructive force—rubber itself would need to evolve beyond its limits to withstand it. Unlike in the past, where rubber nullified Enel's lightning in Skypiea, Luffy wouldn't fare so easily against Hancock's Thunder of Destruction.

But Luffy, as the "Child of Destiny," seems to defy reason itself.

In a life-or-death moment, Luffy awakened Conqueror's infusion and his Devil Fruit, giving him two tickets to the world's summit—a feat that doesn't surprise Kahn.

With Hancock gone, Kahn decided to witness this encounter personally.

"Master, are you planning to defeat them yourself?" Nami asked in surprise, leaning against Kahn's arm. She wore a maid outfit, her expression both excited and curious as she watched him rise.

Nami had been part of the Cross Family since she was eleven, transforming from a village girl to one of the most influential figures in the world's top entertainment city. Over these nine years, she'd come to know her Master's power through stories and her sisters' tales, but she'd never seen him in action—he was already the world's strongest creature when she joined.

With Hancock's rise to the top and her sister Sonia's growing strength, the Cross Family had become one of the Five Emperors, the most enigmatic and powerful of them all.

Yet Kahn, for years, hadn't needed to fight anyone.

And now, her Master was about to confront three emerging legends. Could the sworn brothers, with a combined bounty of over five billion berries, be that serious a threat?

"No… I just want to see how far Hancock's strength has come," Kahn replied, shaking his head.

Carina, agile and graceful as always, blinked in surprise. "Are they really strong enough to push Sister Hancock to her limit?" 

"With their talent and luck, they could very well be," Kahn responded, a hint of respect in his tone.

Just as Kahn prepared to take Nami and Carina along to Wano for a closer look at the action, Hancock's specially assigned perfect "No. 12" had already located the three sworn brothers.

"Roooaaar!"

A thunderous dragon's roar echoed, growing louder with every second.

Then, a massive pillar of fire and heat erupted towards the Thousand Sunny's location.

"Kaido…?" 

Kin'emon and his allies, recently thrust into the present from 20 years in the past, paled at the sight of the dragon's fire, almost collapsing in fear. Momonosuke, overwhelmed, fell to his knees, trembling. Seeing the dragon high in the clouds, they were reminded of the countless catastrophes Kaido had inflicted on them.

Ace and the others, meanwhile, wore grim expressions.

"Why is Kaido here?" Ace muttered brows furrowed.

"No, the dragon's colour isn't right," Sabo pointed out, his face growing tense. "It's not Kaido—it's a copy!"

Sabo, well-informed due to Bartholomew Kuma's undercover work with the World Government, knew about artificial Devil Fruits. Although Vegapunk had deemed the early man-made fruits a failure, making them largely ignored by the Revolutionary Army, the arrival of a dragon so similar to Kaido in appearance shocked him.

This wasn't another type of Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon like Kaido's—it was clearly an artificial recreation, suggesting the Cross Family possessed technology capable of creating Devil Fruits.

Even if this scenario seemed far more implausible than the first, Sabo felt that here, in the heart of the Cross Family's territory, it was more likely they had achieved such a feat.

And so, the Cross Family—the most mysterious of the five great powers—revealed yet another fearsome piece of its arsenal.

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