Chapter 245: Volume 2 – Chapter 147: Can You Even Handle It?

What insane acceleration!

That lunatic Daren—how long has he even been at headquarters?

And his strength's already skyrocketed to the point I can't even follow his movements!?

What the hell did he do?

Was he juicing or something?

Momonga's heart pounded wildly, and the corners of his eyes twitched like crazy.

To him, Daren's figure moved like lightning—so fast it was impossible to track. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.

With terrifying, inhuman power behind it, that pitch-black fist tore through the air, every inch of force layered with pressure that seemed to punch straight through the atmosphere.

"You trying to kill—"

Bang!

The fist smashed into Momonga's face. If time had slowed down, you'd be able to see his facial muscles distort under the blow, rippling like waves.

The next moment—

He was launched backward like a cannonball, crashing through several human-shaped stone dummies before slamming deep into the side of a three-meter-high cannon platform.

Boom!

The entire platform exploded into rubble, smoke billowing into the air.

"Only with enough pressure can you learn to adapt and fully master the power of the Goro Goro no Mi..."

Daren grinned as he exhaled a puff of smoke. Every pore in his body felt relaxed, and even the taste of the cigar seemed to have improved.

Nothing beats the satisfaction of smashing a weaker opponent!

The past month had been one long string of fights against enemies stronger than him.

First, he teamed up with Sakazuki to take on Bullet. At the time, his strength was still a tier below, and his Armament Haki was far from refined—Sakazuki had to take the lead in most of the fighting.

Then came getting captured by Kaidou... and tortured by Queen.

After he broke out of prison, he faced off again with Queen and Kaidou, but still couldn't gain the upper hand.

And after escaping, he barely had a break before running into Kozuki Oden and Whitebeard.

Sure, running his mouth was fun for a while, but Daren had to admit—compared to Whitebeard, the "Strongest Man in the World," he still had a long way to go.

All in all, it had been a frustrating few weeks.

Whitebeard and Kaidou were one thing.

But even Gion and Toki joined in on the bullying!

So now that he finally had someone to take it out on, of course he was going to let loose.

If you're my bro, then come try and kill me!

"You bastard... you're seriously not holding back..."

From the smoking pile of debris, a hoarse and pissed-off voice growled out.

Hiss!

Bolts of searing lightning suddenly shot out like a spray of water, piercing through the rubble and quickly coalescing into a humanoid form.

Momonga wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His face was visibly swollen as he glared at Daren.

"You call that pressure? That was you trying to kill me!"

"Oh?"

Daren scratched the back of his head and put on a faux-innocent face.

"I wasn't trying to."

Then he grinned.

"But hey—you withstood it, didn't you?"

"And looks like you're getting better at controlling elementalization, too..."

"No shit! If I hadn't turned to lightning fast enough, that punch would've left me with a concussion—"

Momonga suddenly stopped.

He looked down at his hands, palm lines clear, and clenched his fists experimentally.

In an instant, crackling thunder engulfed his hands, only to vanish a second later as they returned to normal. Flesh to lightning, lightning to flesh—he could switch between the two smoothly.

His eyes widened a little in disbelief.

"It's true... The transition between elemental and physical forms is way smoother now. It's not as clunky or stiff as when I first got the fruit..."

"Now you get it?"

Daren said with a straight face.

"This is top-tier training—straight from the Officer Training Camp."

He was absolutely bullshitting.

Momonga stared at Daren, full of suspicion.

"You sure you're not just using this as an excuse to beat me up?"

Daren nodded without hesitation.

"That's definitely part of it."

Momonga: ...

"But it's also training."

Daren added slowly,

"You've noticed how much stronger I've gotten, right? Compared to when I first left the North Blue—it's a massive leap."

"This is the method I used to get there."

Momonga narrowed his eyes. Something felt off.

"What's this training method called, exactly?"

Daren puffed up his chest, looking righteous as he declared,

"You Get Stronger By Taking a Beating."

"..."

"Daren, you bastard!!!"

Momonga's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, crackling with rage. Blue lightning surged across his skin like roaring flames.

He raised his hand high—then unleashed it.

A thunderbolt half a meter thick, like a raging dragon, howled toward Daren with ferocious force.

Unlike earlier, this time he didn't hold back. The scale and power of the attack had increased several times over.

Good. It's even stronger now... and I can feel it—the magnetic field says his energy is growing...

Daren narrowed his eyes, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

He didn't fully understand how to develop the Goro Goro no Mi.

But one thing he did know:

Under time pressure, real combat and external stress were the best ways to push human potential!

More importantly...

He was shocked to find that his previously stagnant physique stats—completely unmoved since his last major fight—had actually started to shift again after Momonga's lightning strike!

It was an unexpected windfall.

After enduring all of Queen's "enhancements," Daren's body had reached an almost absurd level of toughness, inching ever closer to Kaidou's "indestructible body."

But ever since his clash with Kozuki Oden, his physical growth had hit a wall. Nothing he did could push it any further.

Now, finally, he'd found a chance to break through again.

No way he was going to let it go to waste!

"Let's go, Pikachu! Charge me up!"

Daren muttered with sparkling eyes—then, under Momonga's dumbstruck gaze...

He threw himself headfirst into the heart of that roaring lightning bolt!

BOOM!!

A blast loud enough to shatter the sky thundered across the training ground. Smoke and heat erupted into the air, forming a blazing red mushroom cloud that soared skyward.

...

Half an hour later.

Daren, his body scorched black all over, kicked at the collapsed and wheezing Momonga with an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Hey, don't stop now. That was only five million volts…"

"You seriously call that your limit?"

Momonga lay flat on the ground, gasping for air.

Completely limp, his limbs refused to move.

His face had gone ghostly pale, his eyes sunken, expression dazed, and purple bruises covered his cheeks.

The training ground around them had turned into a scorched battlefield. Pits and craters littered the earth, smoke rising in lazy plumes from the ruins.

Hearing Daren's words, Momonga shuddered.

"I can't... I seriously can't anymore."

He couldn't even lift a single finger.

His eyes were dead. He was ready to cry.