After his physical constitution had advanced to six stars, Maud's strength had risen to a whole new level. He could now defeat Vice Admiral Momonga.
Even so, with Maud's current strength, there was no way he could last ten rounds against Aokiji.
Even if he and Lafitte fought together, nothing would change.
That was the power of an admiral.
That was why, when Aokiji arrived, Momonga and the other Marines instantly felt at ease.
To them, an admiral represented the Marines' peak combat power. He was their heaven.
No matter what kind of situation they faced, as long as an admiral was present, there was nothing they couldn't resolve.
Let alone a rookie pirate crew that had only recently made its debut.
However, no matter what, the Marines present could never have imagined that the middle-aged blind man who had remained as quiet as a rotten log from beginning to end possessed strength no inferior to Aokiji's.
They couldn't gauge Issho's depth, but Aokiji could.
To put it bluntly, if Aokiji exerted a little effort, he could crush Maud and Lafitte to death.
But Issho was different.
He wasn't an opponent Aokiji could deal with easily.
If that hadn't been the case, why would Maud have remained so calm?
Meeting Aokiji's gaze, Issho said calmly, "I've long heard of your reputation, Marine Admiral Aokiji..."
"Ah, well."
Aokiji stepped off his bicycle and kicked down the stand, bringing it to a steady stop. Then he slipped both hands into his pockets and scrutinized Issho's scarred face.
"You're called Issho, right? I've heard about your deeds."
"Oh?"
Issho was slightly surprised. He raised his eyelids, revealing a sliver of white, and said blandly, "I'm merely an unknown nobody, yet even a Marine Admiral knows of me. I'm truly honored."
"Hey, hey, you're