The Forbidden Power on the Great Sea

Seeing Zephyr abandon them and charge straight toward Maple Leaf Island, Rear Admiral Kadaru was dumbfounded.

The ships hadn't even docked yet, but the highest commander on board had already run off on his own—what was that about? The enemy was just a bunch of no-name small-time pirates; did the Navy's Admiral really need to handle this personally?

"Immediately steer the warship toward Maple Leaf Island Port, and relay Admiral Zephyr's orders to the other ships."

Watching Admiral Zephyr's retreating figure, Kadaru felt quite helpless. With the Admiral gone, command fell to him, the one left behind. After all, aside from the Admiral, he was the highest-ranking officer here—a Rear Admiral.

A pirate with a bounty of twenty million Berries wasn't much in Kadaru's eyes, but he couldn't forget that at least eighty percent of the men on these three warships were still untrained civilians. Now that Admiral Zephyr had run off to the island on his own, if anything happened to these newly conscripted recruits, wouldn't the blame fall on him?

As for Maple Leaf Island, Wood was currently gripping his blade with both hands, blood still dripping from the edge. Around him lay the lifeless bodies of Iron Arm Pirates members, roughly twenty to thirty in number—nearly half the entire crew.

After cutting down so many pirates, Wood himself wasn't unscathed. His body was covered in wounds large and small, and his entire left arm hung limp. The bones in that arm were clearly shattered. While such injuries in the Pirate World would heal in a few days, for now, they severely hampered Wood's combat ability.

Gripping the longsword in his right hand, Wood gave it a sharp flick, flinging off the blood so it wouldn't trickle down to the hilt and make his fingers slip.

Watching Wood flick his blade, Iron Arm Cook, standing not far opposite him, was burning with rage, wanting nothing more than to tear Wood apart alive.

Compared to Wood with his limp left arm, Cook wasn't much better off. The prolonged battle had drained most of his stamina, and a terrifying gash across his right eye not only directly impaired his fighting ability but also caused heavy blood loss, weakening his body further.

Yet, more than the pain in his right eye, Cook's hatred for Wood burned even hotter. Back when they, the Iron Arm Pirates, had set sail from the South Blue with dreams, their crew had grown steadily, and they'd planned to enter the New World and make a name for themselves. But they never expected that, just entering the first half of the Grand Line, on a tiny island like this, a brat barely out of his teens would nearly annihilate them!

"You've killed so many of my crew, I won't let you die easy, you little bastard! You probably think that with my right eye injured and my stamina nearly gone, I'm useless. But knowing when to hold back isn't something only you can do. On this sea, there's a forbidden power—let me show you."

Seeing the residents of Maple Leaf Island still fighting the Iron Arm Pirates on another front, Wood had intended to finish this quickly. The islanders had formed a volunteer group to help him after seeing him wounded. But ordinary folks wielding rakes and axes couldn't possibly match pirates who'd spilled blood. Though the islanders outnumbered the Iron Arm Pirates several times over, the moment they clashed, heavy casualties mounted.

Wood wanted to end this fight fast and rush over to support them, minimizing the islanders' losses. But Iron Arm Cook's words made his expression turn grim—it was clear from Cook's tone that he still had a trick up his sleeve.

"Forbidden power of the sea... could it be..."

As if to confirm Wood's suspicion, Cook's body began to change. His skin, which should have been normal human flesh, started sprouting fine fur. His already tall frame seemed to grow even larger, as if pumped full of hormones. His sharply defined muscles were gradually covered in short fuzz, but his arms and legs, after a series of transformations, became abnormally thick and powerful. His mohawk hairstyle remained, but his once rugged face morphed into that of a hopping, bipedal animal.

Wood recognized this creature from his past life—it was a kangaroo!

"Tch, a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user..."

Cook, having revealed his Devil Fruit, looked smug. He was about to boast as usual, but Wood already knew what "Devil Fruit" was and accurately identified his fruit's type.

"That's right, the forbidden power of the sea. Those who eat a Devil Fruit become castaways of the ocean. The Devil Fruit I ate is the Zoan-type Ratto Ratto Fruit, Kangaroo Model. Zoan-type fruits greatly enhance the user's physical abilities, and kangaroos are naturally skilled at boxing. Do you know what that means?"

Wood knowing about Devil Fruits didn't surprise Cook much. After all, this was the first half of the Grand Line. Unlike the backward Four Seas, people here were more knowledgeable and wouldn't gawk at a Devil Fruit user like folks from the Four Seas.

A Zoan-type Devil Fruit normally had three forms: human form, hybrid form, and full Beast Form. Iron Arm Cook was just a rookie pirate with a twenty-million-Berry bounty; Wood didn't think his Devil Fruit abilities were highly developed. But he had to admit that the situation, which had seemed like a sure win, had now become uncertain with the sudden reveal of a Devil Fruit user.

In his half-human, half-kangaroo form, Cook leaped and shot toward Wood in an instant. His muscular arm drove a fist clad in Arm Gauntlets through the air, aimed straight at Wood's head.

"Boom------!"

The massive fist shattered the ground. A few strands of Wood's black hair flew up, but he had already retreated several steps away, staring at the spiderweb of cracks on the ground with a look of lingering fear. After using his Devil Fruit ability, Cook's jumping power and punching force were far greater than before!

"Tch, my stamina's been drained this much? If I were at full strength from the start, that punch would've blown your head off!"

Looking at the crater his Arm Gauntlets had made in the ground, Cook wore a dissatisfied expression. In this form before, a full-power punch from him had once pierced straight through a small Navy warship.