Hearing the sudden voice, Felost instinctively turned toward its source.
He saw a teenager, probably in his teens, lounging casually on the city wall. Right beside him, the city guards and the pirates were locked in fierce combat, yet neither side had noticed his presence in the slightest.
"Who are you, sir? Can you really guarantee that the Kingdom of Joromia won't fall to these pirates? Don't forget, they're under the command of Mammoth Jack—the captain of the Jack Pirates! He has a bounty of 450 million berries!" Felost exclaimed, completely demoralized after witnessing Jack's overwhelming power.
"Heh heh heh… Since I spoke up, of course I have the means to ensure the Kingdom of Joromia won't be harmed. If I didn't, what would be the point of saying anything at all?" the young man said with a light laugh.
"If you can truly save Joromia from being ravaged by pirates, then there's no harm in crowning you king!" Felost declared.
After all, the nobles and royalty had already fled. If this man could repel Jack, then making him king would be far better than handing the crown to those cowards who abandoned their people.
"Then the deal is sealed."
With a gentle leap, the young man landed from the city wall and slowly began walking toward Jack.
"Hey, big guy, you heard it too, right? Starting today, the Kingdom of Joromia is my territory. Would you mind getting the hell out? My kingdom doesn't welcome the likes of you," the young man said as he came to a halt in front of the mammoth.
"Who the hell do you think you are to speak to me like that? Who gave you the guts to act so arrogantly in front of me?!" Jack's bloodshot eyes flared with fury as he let out a roar. His massive trunk suddenly raised high and came crashing down toward the young man.
"Silence—Silent Strike!"
The young man was none other than Sanders.
Using the power of the Silence Gravity fruit, Sanders had walked on air from Loguetown, crossing the Red Line and entering the New World.
He knew that after nearly killing Borsalino in Loguetown, the Navy would begin to take serious notice of him. The Great Pirate Era had just begun, and although the Navy and World Government were under immense pressure, they still had the capacity to hunt down individuals like him. Going back to the North Blue was out of the question.
The New World, on the other hand, was the region where the Navy and World Government had the weakest presence—and it would soon become the epicenter of the coming storm. If Sanders was to be part of this new age, he had to be here, in the heart of the chaos.
So after some thought, Sanders decided to head into the New World.
It didn't take long for him to realize how brutal this sea truly was. The erratic, violent climate of the New World rendered even his Silence powers nearly useless in the face of nature's fury. Eventually, Sanders decided he needed to find a base of operations and build his own power.
To find a suitable location, he fully unleashed his Observation Haki—and that's when the cries from the Kingdom of Joromia reached his ears. He rushed toward the source and happened to arrive just as Jack was assaulting Mia City.
Sanders wasn't some bleeding-heart saint. He hadn't come here to fight Jack just to help the kingdom. After all, even though Jack wasn't yet one of the Three Calamities under Kaido, he was still a major pirate with a bounty approaching 500 million. That level of strength was easily on par with a Marine Vice Admiral. Sanders wasn't about to pick a fight with someone like that without a reason.
But he needed a base—and being a king didn't sound half bad. That was the reason behind the exchange he just had with Felost. If he could take this kingdom, it would be worth the risk—even if it meant confronting Jack.
Jack's massive trunk came crashing down like the end of the world. But the moment it struck Sanders's hand, the impact vanished without a sound. Not even a gust of wind stirred from the collision. Anyone watching might have thought they were acting out a stage play.
"Captain Jack's attack… it was blocked!" The pirates of the Mammoth Crew had been closely watching Jack's fight. Seeing Sanders stop the blow stunned them speechless.
"He blocked it… he really blocked it! Maybe this man truly can save the Kingdom of Joromia!" Felost gasped in shock.
"He blocked Mammoth Jack's attack! We're saved!" shouted the citizens and city guards in unison, filled with hope.
"If you won't leave, then none of you are leaving!" Sanders declared coldly.
Suddenly, an overwhelming pressure exploded from his body.
A dominating aura swept through the battlefield. Whether city guards or Mammoth pirates, they all collapsed to the ground unconscious—completely overwhelmed.
Within moments, only Jack, Felost, and a few others within a several-hundred-meter radius were still standing.
"Conqueror's Haki?" Jack muttered, his brow furrowed in disbelief.
"Collapse Fist—Critical Strike!"
Without a sound, Sanders stepped forward and punched the mammoth. His Armament Haki-enhanced fist crashed into Jack's massive form.
BOOM!
Jack's enormous mammoth body was launched into the air, sent flying backward.
"He—he sent Jack flying!"
The few conscious onlookers were stunned.
Before his transmigration, Sanders had just finished his university military training. During that time, he'd asked his instructor to teach him some hand-to-hand combat skills. The instructor, impressed by Sanders's performance, taught him a few techniques—mostly defensive ones, like Tai Chi holds and counters. The only real offensive move he learned was the Collapse Fist.
Though he barely scratched the surface back then, after arriving in this world and surviving constant pursuit and life-or-death situations, Sanders had no choice but to grow stronger. Through merging his own insights and the power of his Devil Fruit, he developed his own version of the Collapse Fist.
Using the fruit's power, he refined the technique's explosive acceleration and internal striking force. Each punch was utterly silent, storing energy within and piercing through organs with devastating efficiency.
Jack hadn't yet been taken in by Kaido and made into one of the Beast Pirates' Three Calamities. Kaido was still a lone monster roaming around looking for fights. Jack, while still powerful, was only on par with a standard Marine Vice Admiral. However, his Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit gave him tremendous durability—so much so that even Vice Admirals found him difficult to deal with.
If it had been anyone else, that punch would have sent its force straight through the vital organs, ending the fight. But Jack's sheer durability allowed him to absorb much of the blow. Still, it sent him flying and scattered some of the force.
He crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact, forming a deep crater.
"Damn it… damn it…" Jack growled as he stood up slowly. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth—the punch had still inflicted internal damage despite his defenses.
"What insane defense… I hit you with a Collapse Fist and you only got lightly injured. You really do have a talent for being a punching bag," Sanders said coolly.
"You bastard… you bastard… you bastard!" Jack roared in fury. His body reverted from beast form back into human shape.
From his back, he drew two massive, sinister scythes.
"Destroy! I'll destroy everything you've got!" he screamed as he lunged at Sanders with a violent slash.
Sanders drew the longsword from his waist at the same time.
Steel clashed. The force of their collision sent shockwaves flying in all directions. Even nearby boulders were shattered and sent tumbling away from the force of their blows.