Chapter 339: Destruction & Realization

"M-Monster." Muttered Dawrin weakly as he stared at Diddy, who smirked before stomping his foot, crushing his head and killing him.

"Welp, that's roughly thirty minutes of my life I'll never get back." Said Diddy lightly as he wiped his bloody foot on the ground while gazing at the numerous corpses strewn across the destroyed earth.

Once I killed Warper, everything was so easy afterward; killing the rest of the heroes wasn't even challenging; it truly felt like I was fighting a bunch of babies, and there was no fun in that. The ones who gave me the most fun were probably Copycat and Muscleman, then again, that's not saying much since, other than wielding my raw strength, they had nothing going for them.

"Scar could've probably defeated them." Muttered Diddy lightly with a yawn as he twirled Warper's head only to suddenly chuck him into the sky, his head vanishing amidst the dark clouds.

Approaching a large safe I happened to unearth earlier in the battle, I slashed it open, only to spot Naga-sa in pristine condition, causing me to smirk as I grabbed my bo-staff, causing its aura to flood into my body like usual as I felt it seemingly roar in satisfaction.

"Ah, this feels good." Said Diddy with a smirk as he swung Naga-sa, creating powerful gusts of wind, only to slam his bo-staff onto the ground.

With Naga-sa in my possession, I didn't have any more reason to stay here any longer, though just as I turned around, preparing to leave, I saw Stars staring at me from a distance while clutching her right shoulder, which was missing an arm thanks to yours truly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot I can't leave until I kill you." Said Diddy calmly as he rested Naga-sa onto his shoulder and approached Stars, who was barely conscious and struggling to stand.

"For being the supposed stronger hero in the US, you're pretty lackluster." Added Diddy lightly as he gazed at Stars, who stood motionless while she watched him near her.

"Anyways, I heard All-Might and All-For-One are in Japan, so I'm going there next; I don't expect much from them, but eh, who knows? Maybe I'll even figure out a way to return home." Remarked Diddy as he rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression while stopping before Stars, who hardly reacted, seemingly uncaring for his words.

While I was thinking, I felt Stars grab my shoulder, though following that, the restriction I felt suffocate my very being suddenly vanished, causing me to raise an eyebrow as I was finally able to leave the ground; however, what came next was an even larger and more suffocating presence as it encased my very heart.

"Diddy D. Kong. Your heart will stop if you move." Said Stars weakly with a defeated expression as she raised her head and stared into Diddy's beastly eyes.

Furrowing my brows, I used my future sight, and to my dismay, if I actually ignored her words, my heart would stop, and I would eventually end up dying.

"So, you had something like this, but why did you only use it now? You could've saved the other heroes if you had used it earlier. Actually, don't tell me; I don't care." Asked Diddy as he curiously gazed at Stars, only to shrug his shoulders while shaking his head.

"E-Everything is ready, G-General." Said Stars softly as she turned around and grabbed her phone.

Listening to her conversation, my ears immediately perked up when I heard them mention ICBM; I couldn't help but smirk as I stopped myself from using haki to break out of her little shackle; continuing to stand still, she spoke on the phone for a little bit longer, before hanging up. Stars didn't say anything and merely gazed at the corpses of the other heroes before taking to the skies and flying away, leaving behind a faint trail of blood that leaked from her shoulder.

While she flew away, I waited for several minutes, watching as she vanished beyond the horizon, and after around the ten-minute mark, which was about the time I was beginning to get bored, I suddenly felt my fur stand on end while my instincts screamed at me to leave, warning me of my impending death.

Immediately lifting my head, I gazed into the sky, past the clouds, only to see a small dot heading right for me, causing me to click my tongue in annoyance. Breaking free from whatever ethereal shackle Stars held me down with using my haki, I folded my arms and calmly stared at the sky while my instincts continued to scream.

"Tch, so I can't even fight a nuclear warhead? Well, that's beyond disappointing." Muttered Diddy lightly as he stared at the missile reentering Earth's atmosphere while heading right for him.

As disappointing as it was, I wasn't stupid enough to continue and try; there was a difference between immense danger and guaranteed death. What I was sensing right now was guaranteed death; I would die without a shadow of a doubt if I attempted to fight the nuclear warhead.

"Tsk, I'm still too fucking weak." Said Diddy mockingly in frustration as he raised his arm into the air, causing a lightning bolt to appear in his hand.

Transferring all my anger and frustration into the lightning bolt, I gritted my teeth and powerfully threw it at the incoming missile, using all of my strength as the lightning bolt flew through the sky in what seemed like an instant. Not even a second later, my attack collided with the missile, creating a massive explosion like no other, one so big that I couldn't help but gnash my teeth in awe and anger.

The light from the explosion was so bright that it blinded my eyes, and even though I should've looked away, I didn't; I wanted to engrave what the pinnacle of strength, whether it be technological or biological, looked like. Right after the massive explosion came an incredibly powerful blast of wind and scorching heat that quickly burnt my fur and even some of my skin; though I didn't care, I ignored the pain that engulfed my body and firmly stood amidst the shockwaves of the explosion.

After a few moments, the aftermath began to die down, but the center of the explosion was still very active. Gazing down at my body, I eyed my burnt and scorched skin before glancing at the corpses, which weren't even recognizable anymore as they were nothing but human-shaped charcoal.

"I'm still not that strong." Muttered Diddy with a deep frown as he clenched his fist in both frustration and determination.

Grabbing Naga-sa, I leaped into the air and flew through the sky, heading to the North Pole to heal.

(Note: For those curious, the temperature at the center of a nuclear explosion can reach upwards of 100,000,000 or one hundred million degrees Celsius, nearly five times the temperature at the center of the sun. No one in One Piece is surviving that level of heat; they'll be incinerated.)

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"D-Did you get him, General?" Asked the President anxiously as he fixedly stared at the General, who was sporting a solemn expression.

"The missile exploded too early, Mr. President… It's unlikely we managed to kill him, but he is probably heavily wounded at the very least." Replied General with an unsightly expression as he looked at the screen that showed the events just before the missile exploded.

"Heavily wounded? Ugh, that's not good, but we can work with that. If we can just gather our forces and quickly find him, we may be able to-" Said the President solemnly as he walked in circles while rubbing his chin, only to halt when Stars suddenly entered the tent.

"Is he dead?" Asked Stars solemnly as she stared at the general while medics quickly followed behind her, tending to her many wounds.

"No." "Haa thought so." Said the General and Stars, respectively, as she sighed before plopping onto the nearest chair.

"I-I hate to say this, but it would be better to just leave him alone… Even with the twenty strongest heroes in the US, we still lost. No, Lost is an understatement; it wasn't even a fight; the moment Warper died, it was over." Declared Stars with a weary expression as she angrily clenched her fist, causing everyone listening to frown.

"Gather our forces? We have just lost all our forces, Mr. President; besides, my quirk… it doesn't even work on him. While flying away, I felt him forcefully destroy my rule, like it was a thin, weak paper." Added Stars with a wry expression as she raised her head and glanced at the President, her words greatly surprising him.

"A-Are you suggesting…We, the US, surrender to him?" Asked the President with a frown as he approached Stars, who merely sighed before shaking her head.

"I don't know. If I were to fight him again, I'd die, just like my fellow heroes." Replied Stars calmly while lowering her head, causing the room to fall into silence.

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I hadn't slept since that day; the image of that explosion remained firmly imprinted in my mind while I spent my time healing and eating. Something I've noticed about the beasts in this world is that they aren't all that nutritious; I had to hunt nearly ten seals before I felt satisfied, and even then, that only helped to heal my burnt wounds, not regrow my fur.

"However, now, it's time to return home; after seeing that explosion, I've lost any desire to stay here." Muttered Diddy with a frown as he flexed his muscles while his newly grown fur blew in the frigid wind of Antarctica.

Leaping into the air, I headed towards Europe, which was the closest to me; if I wanted to return home, the quickest method would be to conquer the world and then have them look for a similar portal I had gone through.