A Vice Admiral's Pride!

In fact, Vice Admiral Dewitt had been considering the challenge for a long time. Ever since he accepted the Scald-Scald Fruit from Vidal, he knew that he would be on the other side for the rest of his life.

Vidal wanted to become the Fleet Admiral; this was common knowledge among all the middle and upper ranks.

To become Fleet Admiral, one must need a group of trusted confidants, a fact Vice Admiral Dewitt understood all too well. How could the world's largest military organization be without factions within it?

It's just that everyone is burdened with the belief of 'justice,' so the conflicts between them haven't escalated. But now that everything's fine, who can guarantee that nothing will go wrong in the future?

But Dewitt felt that it was too rash to ask Vidal to stay with him for life based on Devil Fruit, and it would be hard for him to accept that. So he had long wanted to fight him.

If you defeat him fair and square, then the primary and secondary roles are truly defined; otherwise, you'll always feel uneasy.

It's like the rules of a certain world: if you don't fight first, you can forget about subduing the other party and making them fight obediently for you!

For Vidal, this was somewhat sudden; he hadn't really thought about it. But somehow, after exchanging a few glances with Dewitt, he suddenly understood and readily accepted the challenge.

Since the Vice Admiral was so agreeable, he didn't hesitate at all.

Let's just have a fight!

Honestly, aside from fighting his father Cornell once, he's never really had a serious encounter with a Navy Vice Admiral.

Although Vice Admiral Dewitt's strength should be considered below average among Vice Admirals—if it weren't for the power of the Scald-Scald Fruit, he probably wouldn't even be considered average, definitely at a lower level— Vice Admiral is still Vice Admiral.

Both of them were the type of people who didn't like to procrastinate. After having lunch at the base's canteen, they headed straight for the largest training hall.

"Phew, it's been so long since I've been here. I miss it a bit." Vidal looked up at the equipment around him and the lamp above his head.

He remembered that the selection competition for the Special Training Camp was held here, and he played a friendly match with Comil, Vincent, and the others. He hadn't been back since then, and even when he came here twice after graduation, he only strolled around the botanical garden.

By this time, Vice Admiral Dewitt had the venue sealed off, and besides him, Vidal, only Major Rogers and another Rear Admiral, the adjutant of the G-8 Branch, were present.

He felt he might not be able to beat Vidal, so if he knew he would lose, why let a bunch of people watch?

Does he even care about his reputation as commander?

"Vidal, let me see the current strength of Sengoku Admiral's disciple, the first batch of trainees at the Zephyr Training Camp, the Navy's Horn of Justice, and the future Ryokugyu Admiral!"

Vidal was speechless upon hearing this long speech. Had he unknowingly accumulated so many labels on himself? However, Dewitt's assertion that he would become Admiral did sound quite agreeable.

Surprisingly, this seemingly serious-looking commander of the G-8 Branch is quite eloquent!

"I'm also very curious about the Marine Vice Admiral's strength." Vidal smiled, but his smile vanished in an instant as he disappeared from the spot.

Vice Admiral Dewitt had already Awakening his Observation Haki and instantly appeared in front of Vidal.

His right hand, its skin rapidly heating up and turning red, was enveloped in scorching heat and Armament Haki. His fist slammed into Vidal's Hardening, Haki -laden black fist, which was hurtling through the air.

[Boom!!]

Major Rogers and another Rear Admiral on the sidelines saw this simple exchange of punches, just like the opening, suddenly generate a scorching heat wave, and the floor within ten meters of their feet shattered inch by inch.

[Bang! Bang!]

Two Marine Headquarters engaged in a fierce battle in the empty arena.

Vidal seemed to have completely abandoned all the techniques of the Woods-Woods Fruit, relying purely on his physical skills and Haki to clash head-on with Vice Admiral Dewitt.

Firstly, since Dewitt's Scald-Scald Fruit can easily melt steel blades, the effectiveness of his plant-based abilities will definitely be greatly reduced.

Secondly, he wanted to experience the combat level of Marine Vice Admiral with his fists. Dewitt was now a standard Vice Admiral, stronger than him were the so-called veteran vice Vice Admirals, and weaker than him were newly promoted Vice Admirals like Donald.

"This kid has incredible strength!"

As the fight progressed, Dewitt felt immense pressure. Every punch from Vidal forced him to retreat, clearly indicating that he was at a significant disadvantage in terms of strength and Haki.

If one had to point out any advantage he might have, it would be his Observation Haki. He had dedicated decades to honing his Observation Haki, while Vidal had only practiced it for a few years.

Therefore, thanks to the predictive effect of Observation Haki, Dewitt did not fall into a significant disadvantage for a short period of time.

"Shave!"

"Rankyaku - Crimson Blade!"

Dewitt dodged an incoming punch by turning to the side, stomped a hole in the ground to create distance, and then unleashed three kicks at Vidal, who was twenty meters away.

[Swish!]

The bright red, high-temperature strike, carrying scorching heat, carved three charred marks into the already shattered ground.

The Rankyaku, which would be quite strenuous for a colonel, was as easy as drinking water for this commander of Navarone Fortress; he unleashed three kicks without even breaking a sweat.

Vidal was also impressed by this technique that combined ability with physical skills.

This move shows that Vice Admiral Dewitt had indeed seriously studied the Scald-Scald Fruit before.

The Scald-Scald Fruit cannot conduct heat over long distances, but he used the Rankyaku from the Six Powers as a medium to temporarily attach the high temperature emanating from himself to the air blade, thus compensating for the inherent flaw of the fruit's ability.

Since that's the case, Vidal felt he should also show off his skills.

Just like before, he wanted to defeat his opponent's strongest point, because he believed that only by doing so could he truly convince others.

"Rankyaku - Flying Leaf Quick Blade!"

[Swish!]

Vidal kicked three times in quick succession. As his long leg, which was much longer than Dewitt's, cut through the air like a blade, three green crescent-shaped air blades appeared in front of him.

But his sudden Rankyaku caused Vice Admiral Dewitt's pupils to shrink sharply.

Those green air blades were not only longer than his, but also two sizes thicker, which was enough to prove how big the gap was between them.

[Boom! Boom! Boom!]

As expected, two green blades shattered all his red blades, forcing Dewitt to dodge hastily and somewhat awkwardly. But Vidal, who was now serious, did not want him to remain complacent.

His towering three-meter frame appeared in front of Dewitt in the blink of an eye, instantly blocking the Vice Admiral's entire field of vision, while his two fingers transformed into afterimages.

"Shigan - Seed Machine Gun!"

Photosynthetic Energy burst forth at his fingertips, and streaks of green light rained down like bullets.

Shigan?

"Hmph, I can do that too!"

Despite the overwhelming onslaught of such a dense barrage of attacks, Dewitt, with his superior Observation Haki, remained completely unfazed; after all, he had decades of combat experience.

"Shigan - Crimson Lotus!"

The burning hot index finger bent, and then in the blink of an eye, it stabbed out at supersonic speed in all directions, bringing with it a gust of heat like a whirlwind.

The blazing red fingertips collided with the bright, emerald green light at an exaggerated frequency of dozens of times per second, then vanished like fireworks, leaving only the rapid whooshing sounds and the clinking of the dots.

Lieutenant Vice Admiral Dewitt's face grew increasingly flushed during the fight, and his body temperature continued to rise, causing the ground around him to gradually melt.

He also had his own pride, the pride of Vice Admiral and a commander, and he would never easily admit defeat!

Don't underestimate me, you brat!

He's serious about this fight.