But as that thought crossed his mind, he instinctively glanced at the black-haired young man sitting quietly on the hospital bed, calmly smoking a cigar, his whole body wrapped in blood-stained bandages. Then he relaxed.

Who's not a little insane these days?

Without the kind of obsession that drives someone to grow stronger—so relentless they'd risk their life for it—there's no way to become one of the strongest on these seas.

Dragon couldn't help rubbing his temples, a flicker of emotion passing through his eyes.

"Ever since I founded the Freedom Fighters... I've definitely gotten a bit too soft."

He clenched his fists.

Both he and Daren commanded their own armies, but the North Blue Fleet under Daren's command far surpassed the Freedom Fighters in both size and combat power. Yet, despite the weight of military responsibility, Daren had never abandoned his pursuit of strength.

He never stopped fighting.

Compared to Daren's madness, Dragon had to admit he'd gotten a bit "lazy" lately.

Sure, part of it was because the Freedom Fighters were newly established, and everything was still in its early stages, demanding a lot of his time and energy. But that was no excuse for stalling his pursuit of power.

"Looks like I need to find a capable deputy as soon as possible. If I keep letting this slow me down, Daren's going to leave me in the dust."

With that thought, Dragon made up his mind.

While Dragon's thoughts were drifting, Daren remained seated in silence, a faint daze clouding his eyes.

He seemed completely unaware of the suspenders-wearing fat man in front of him, who was spitting all over the place with his rambling analysis. One thought just kept echoing in his mind, over and over.

I actually awakened Kaidou... with one punch?

I... became a sensei?

Me?

Rogers Daren?

A top-level sensei?

An overwhelming sense of absurdity filled his mind, lingering without fading.

He unconsciously looked down at his hands, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

"I'm... really that strong?"

"Hey, hey... are you even listening?"

Queen waved his hand in frustration, snapping Daren out of it.

Daren blinked, took a deep drag on his cigar, and asked in a low voice,

"So... did you manage to collect the experimental data?"

Queen puffed out his big belly, grinning smugly.

"Of course! You're looking at the greatest scientist in the world!"

As he spoke, he used his mechanical arm to press a switch on the whiteboard.

With a sharp "whoosh," a light screen swept across the board, instantly projecting a detailed chart.

Dense data filled the screen, forming a magnetic field strength line graph with time on the horizontal axis.

The graph took the shape of a massive inverted "U", marked in bright red. As the magnetic field strength climbed, the red gradually shifted to purple, with the peak reaching black—signifying "extreme danger."

"This is the change in your internal biomagnetic field during your Devil Fruit awakening."

Queen stared at the line graph with barely contained excitement, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"The horizontal axis represents time, while the vertical axis shows the strength of the biomagnetic field."

"The baseline for biomagnetic strength varies greatly depending on race, physique, and species."

"Normally, the stronger the physical constitution of a lifeform, the stronger its internal biomagnetic field. Based on my analysis and collected data, using comparative evaluation, the average adult human has a magnetic field strength between 80 and 120 units, while an adult Tyrannosaurus rex measures around 180 units."

"But in your normal state, your biomagnetic strength already hits 200!"

"That alone is a level no ordinary human could withstand."

"Yet once you enter your Devil Fruit's awakened state, your magnetic field strength... skyrockets at an utterly terrifying rate."

As he spoke, Queen's tone deepened, laced with both a thrill of discovery and an indescribable sense of disbelief.

"It surged from 150 all the way to 400—and at its peak, when you unleashed that move, 'Magnetic Storm: Qilin'—it broke through 500!"

"According to all the data and research I've gathered, that's beyond the limit of what any living creature in this world can handle!"

"Even the super-massive Sea Kings in the deep sea only hit about 350 at most."

Dragon couldn't help but click his tongue in shock.

Even though he wasn't well-versed in science or human biology, Queen had explained it clearly enough that he immediately grasped the core idea.

"So you're saying... just in terms of raw physicality, Daren in his 'Magnetic Field Rotation' state is even more powerful than a super-massive Sea King?"

"Exactly!"

Queen nodded.

"In theory, if it weren't for the Devil Fruit's curse making him sink like a rock, he could brawl with a super-massive Sea King in the deep sea!"

Dragon's eyes widened in disbelief.

A fistfight with a super-massive Sea King—underwater?

Only those Sea Kings over 5,000 meters long were considered "super-massive." These monsters were virtually invincible in the depths. When enraged, the storms they triggered could easily wipe out a small island.

Even heavily armed Marine fleets wouldn't dare provoke one casually during a voyage.

"Of course, that's all just theoretical."

Queen added offhandedly.

Dragon raised an eyebrow.

"So you're saying Daren actually isn't strong enough to take on a super-massive Sea King?"

Queen shook his head.

"No, I'm saying even ten of them wouldn't be enough to bring him down."

Dragon: "..."

"With your IQ, it's honestly hard to explain just how vast the difference is between 350 and 500 in biomagnetic strength."

Queen shot him a disdainful glance.

"This isn't some simple 1.428x gap. For every 30-point increase in a creature's magnetic field, there's a massive qualitative leap."

"A 150-point difference? That's like the gap between an ant and an elephant!"

His gaze locked onto Daren with blazing intensity.

In his eyes, it was like he'd found the ultimate research specimen.

"Kaidou-sama wasn't wrong—you really are the 'strongest creature'."

...

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