"I suspect that was his intention all along. What an incredible young man," Roger remarked, a peculiar light gleaming in his eyes.
Nearby, Buggy overheard their exchange and cried out in shock, "But Conqueror's Haki is innate! You can't learn it! Only those born with the disposition of a king have a chance to awaken it! You mean... he has the disposition of a king?"
"Anyone who can withstand Roger's Conqueror's Haki like that is definitely not simple. It's entirely possible he possesses the necessary disposition," Rayleigh stated seriously.
Rayleigh's words caused the expressions of the Roger Pirates' crewmembers to turn solemn. They looked at Bege with newfound respect. Considering the overwhelming combat strength he'd displayed sparring with Rayleigh, combined with his extraordinary youth, it all pointed to one conclusion: this man had limitless potential. If he didn't fall prematurely, he was destined to become a overlord ruling over a significant part of the seas.
Rayleigh gazed intently at Bege, his expression grave. "Kid," he said solemnly, "if you truly want to awaken your Conqueror's Haki, you have to push yourself to the absolute brink. Roger's Haki alone isn't enough to force you into that desperate state. If you're willing, I'll add my own Conqueror's Haki to help you. But let me be perfectly clear: this process is incredibly dangerous. You risk severely damaging your spirit, potentially even permanently fracturing your mind."
"Sir Rayleigh, I accept! Bring it on! Let's see if I truly possess the disposition of a king!" Bege's bloodshot eyes narrowed fiercely, and he suddenly burst into defiant laughter.
"Just for saying that, even if you don't awaken Conqueror's Haki today, I acknowledge you possess the spirit of a king!"
Rayleigh laughed heartily, then unleashed his own terrifying aura. A powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki surged towards Bege, unleashed with its full, unrestrained force.
It felt like an entire mountain crashing down on him. Bege's vision blurred again, his spirit wavering, his body going limp. Hammered by the combined pressure of two legendary pirates' Haki, he couldn't even remain standing. Slowly, he collapsed to the ground.
"What a pity. He didn't awaken it," Rayleigh sighed with genuine regret.
"Indeed. A talent like his truly deserved to awaken Conqueror's Haki," Roger shook his head, equally disappointed.
Roger looked seriously at the fallen Bege. "Even without Conqueror's Haki, he still possesses the disposition of a king. With young men like him entering the fray, the seas are bound to become even more turbulent and exciting in the future."
They exchanged a few more words, but suddenly, both froze. Their gazes snapped back to Bege. His body was twitching. Blood flowed more freely from his crimson eyes, his face contorted into a fierce grimace. Incredibly, he hadn't completely lost consciousness.
"It's... not over... I haven't passed out yet... Keep going!"
Bege's voice was practically a roar. His mind felt like it was exploding, a hundred bombs detonating inside his skull. The pain was so intense he desperately wanted to just succumb to unconsciousness. But he knew he couldn't. He couldn't just pass out like this. He clung to consciousness with every fiber of his being.
"Is he insane?!" Buggy shouted, utterly baffled and horrified. "If he keeps this up, even if he doesn't die, his brain will be scrambled!"
Shanks crossed his arms, his expression serious. "Bege... he's a true man. A true man's choice is never wrong."
Rayleigh and Roger shared a look. Simultaneously, they released their Conqueror's Haki again, intensifying the pressure. Two immense, mountain-like waves of domineering presence slammed down onto Bege once more.
The brief respite Bege had gained vanished instantly, his spirit shattering anew. He felt like a tiny boat caught in a raging tempest, moments away from being utterly destroyed.
It hurts... My head feels like it's splitting open... I just want to pass out... If I pass out, the pain will stop...
"BUT!!!"
I refuse! I refuse to accept this! I was given a second chance at life, and I won't waste it living in mediocrity! I will become a ruler of the seas! I will command the winds and the waves!
"No madness, no greatness!"
Lying flat on his back, Bege stared up at the sky, his eyes now pure, unadulterated crimson, pools of blood reflecting the heavens. Flashes of his past life mingled with the present, fueling the raw unwillingness—the defiance—in the depths of his soul. He clenched his fists, muscles straining, his own brutal aura flaring wildly, again and again, pushing back against the twin tides of Conqueror's Haki.
Within his constantly evolving will, an unshakeable resolve finally merged with that savage, ferocious energy, coalescing into an indomitable presence capable of destroying any obstacle. Then, it erupted outwards.
A pulse of blood-red light surged from Bege, instantly sweeping across the area.
Did I... finally succeed?
As if sensing this new, invincible aura radiating from himself, a faint smile touched Bege's lips. His consciousness finally gave way, and he plunged into true darkness, utterly spent.
"There's no mistake. That fleeting pulse... that was definitely Conqueror's Haki. The kid actually did it."
Rayleigh's eyes were wide with astonishment.
"His Conqueror's Haki is fiercer, more brutal... filled with a domineering, savage quality," Roger observed, his perception even keener. "It mirrors his ferocious swordsmanship perfectly."
"He... just succeeded? Like that?" Buggy's expression was incredibly complex, a mixture of shock and perhaps even envy.
"He truly has the disposition of a king," Shanks stared intently at Bege's unconscious face, unable to help his admiration.
"To force himself into such a desperate situation and awaken Conqueror's Haki through sheer will... What an incredible man," Duke Inuarashi and the others murmured in awe.
With the training ground now littered with unconscious bodies, maids and guards who had been waiting anxiously in the distance quickly rushed over. They carefully began carrying everyone back for medical attention and rest.
An unknown amount of time passed before Bege's consciousness began to stir. However, due to the extreme exhaustion, he didn't wake immediately.
Two days later, under the meticulous care of the medical staff, Bege finally regained full consciousness.
I remember... right before I passed out... I should have awakened Conqueror's Haki, he thought, closing his eyes, trying to recall the sensation. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, brimming with fierce energy. An intensely savage, domineering aura instantly erupted from him, flooding the entire room. The maids attending to him fainted on the spot.
Bege burst into ecstatic laughter. "Yes! I can't believe I actually awakened Conqueror's Haki! Hahahaha! See, I knew I had that transmigrator's plot armor!"
His original intention had merely been to use the pressure of Roger's Haki to test his limits and perhaps build resistance. But being pushed to the absolute edge by the combined Haki of both Roger and Rayleigh had forced the awakening itself—an outcome that far exceeded his expectations.
"Huh? The castle space inside me... it actually got bigger?" Bege suddenly noticed that the internal dimension granted by his Castle-Castle Fruit felt significantly larger, several times its previous size.
Furthermore, he realized his control over the castle felt much more intuitive, more effortless.
He quickly pieced together the reason. The power of the Castle-Castle Fruit was inextricably linked to his physical condition and his mental strength. Under the immense pressure of Roger's and Rayleigh's combined Haki, his will had undergone an incredibly intense and rapid transformation, significantly boosting his spiritual power. Awakening Conqueror's Haki, a manifestation of willpower itself, had amplified that mental strength exponentially.
This massive increase in spiritual power had directly influenced his Devil Fruit, resulting in the expansion of his internal castle space.
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