The Invincible Me Has Entered the Arena

"That's because you're too weak, boy."

Hearing his words, Momousagi said with a playful smile:

"I've been standing up there for ages. If you had even a shred of Observation Haki, you wouldn't have failed to notice me."

Noah let out an "uh," feeling that she had a point.

But Haki was something Zephyr hadn't even started teaching yet. For a boy who had been in the Elite Training Camp for less than a year, expecting him to master it through self-study seemed a bit too demanding, didn't it?

"Commodore." Noah wisely chose to steer the conversation back on track. "Where did Mr. Kuzan and the instructors go?"

Momousagi pointed toward the solitary peak on the north side of the island:

"Over there, catching the cold wind at the summit."

Noah looked up at the mountain and realized that standing at the peak would provide a perfect, unobstructed view of the entire town to the south, making it an ideal spot to monitor the Elite Training Camp recruits during their combat assessment.

He understood immediately and stopped asking, shifting his focus instead:

"I don't think I'm too late, am I? How long has the assessment been going on?"

"It started around nine the night before last, so it's been about thirty hours now."

Momousagi leaned against the railing and lazily stretched, her graceful figure fully revealed under the moonlight.

"So, boy, you've only got a dozen hours or so left. If you don't hurry up, I'm afraid you'll end up at the bottom of the pack this time..."

Only a dozen hours left?

A sense of urgency welled up in Noah. Although the time spent alone with Momousagi under the moonlight was pleasant, the mission was what mattered most, and he dared not linger any longer.

"Here is your sword."

He took out Kotpira and handed it to Momousagi above. "I'll be heading off now. You can stay here and enjoy the sea breeze. Remember to contact Mr. Kuzan and report for me. See you later."

"Hmm?" Momousagi looked slightly surprised. "You're in such a rush to return it? I was actually planning to lend it to you for the live-combat assessment."

"I've got my own."

Noah smiled and pointed to the two swords at his waist. "See? When I was buying strawberries for Rear Admiral Shizi, the fruit stall owner saw that I bought a ton and that I was so handsome, so he gave them to me as a gift."

"Talking nonsense again."

Momousagi couldn't be bothered with him and waved her hand dismissively. "There's less and less truth coming out of your mouth. Forget it, hurry up and go, before I get annoyed and kick you into the sea."

"Ha, nonsense? That part was indeed a bit fake, but Commodore, there was at least some truth in there, right?"

"What?" Momousagi looked at him suspiciously. "You buying strawberries for Rear Admiral Shizi?"

"No, the second to last sentence."

"..."

After a long silence, Momousagi expressionlessly raised her right leg. Under the moonlight, the aura of a Rankyaku began to brew.

The invincible Noah, sensing the danger, took a flying leap off the warship and sprinted away into the night once more.

Ten minutes later.

Stepping into the town, Noah slowed his pace. His right hand gripped the hilt of his sword as he walked down the street, silently observing the situation on both sides.

Along the way, he saw many traces of intense fighting; broken walls and rubble were everywhere, and occasionally, he could spot one or two pirate corpses that had long since gone cold.

"No townspeople to be seen..."

He looked at the empty houses, lost in thought. "Were they evacuated in advance, or did they find places to hide when they saw the fighting break out..."

As long as they weren't slaughtered by the pirates, it was a good thing.

Otherwise, no matter how careful they, the Marines, were during their clash with the pirates, the collateral damage of the battle would inevitably harm the innocent.

He walked for another two streets and still didn't see a single living soul. The sounds of shouting he had heard at the port earlier seemed to have vanished as well.

The surroundings were deathly silent, leaving him unable to pinpoint the location of the fighting through sound.

"Could someone come and guide this blind man..."

He was so bored he started pulling at his hair; since it was thick, he didn't have to worry about going bald. "I can't be that unlucky, can I? That the moment I arrive, all the pirate officers have already been taken care of?"

According to what Aokiji had said earlier, the Capone Pirates only had about five hundred pirates stationed on this island, with a dozen or so officers, and the one with the highest bounty was only worth a little over twenty million.

An enemy of this scale could certainly force the recruits of the Elite Training Camp into a tough fight, but that was as far as it went.

As long as his colleagues performed normally and didn't make any blunders, they would hold the upper hand from start to finish, and the final outcome of the battle would be a foregone conclusion.

But it shouldn't have ended this quickly, right?

He had traveled thousands of miles to get back here, aiming to get a piece of the action, and now it seemed like he wouldn't even get a sip of hot soup?

Turning another corner, Noah caught a glimpse of a building to the northwest glowing with raging flames. His eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace, sprinting toward the fire.

He hadn't gone more than a few steps when, at the corner of the street, he ran head-on into three burly figures. He couldn't dodge in time and collided heavily with the one in the middle.

Thud!

The man immediately let out a miserable shriek and flew backward like a kite with a broken string, smashing through a glass display window along the street and crashing into the shop inside.

To the left and right, the other two men stared at their comrade who had been sent flying, stunned for a full two or three seconds before they finally snapped out of it and turned their heads in unison toward Noah.

Hmm, a very handsome youth, his features are so dashing it's almost ridiculous. Why the hell couldn't I have grown up to look that good?

This was the first thought that flashed through both of the burly men's minds simultaneously.

But as their gazes shifted downward and they caught sight of the white Marine uniform Noah was wearing under the dim moonlight, their eyes instantly turned sharp and fierce.

The burly man on the right even let out a sinister grin, making no effort to hide the wild joy on his face as he drew his blade with a sharp shing:

"A Marine?"

"I initially thought you were just residents of the town, but seeing that reaction puts my mind at ease." Noah drew his sword as well, his expression even more pleasantly surprised than theirs. "Pirates from the Capone Pirates?"

"No shit!"

The one who spoke was the guy who had been sent flying; he flipped up from the shards of glass covering the floor and began walking toward Noah step by step, grinning strangely as if eyeing prey.

"Ha, we've been searching for ages with nothing to show for it, and to think we'd run into one right here! Hey, Dia, Passat, it looks like our luck isn't so bad after all!"

"That's for sure." The burly man on the left bit down on his cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and chuckled, "Speak up, kid, where are the rest of your companions hiding? Tell us a few more, and maybe we'll consider leaving you..."

Swish!

Before he could even finish his sentence, he heard a sound of wind being torn apart near his ear, and suddenly, the cold glint of a blade flashed before his eyes.

The next instant.

Under the moonlight, accompanied by blood spraying across the wall, a head flew high into the air, spun a few times, and rolled onto the ground, revealing a face frozen in terror.

His cigarette was still dangling from his lips, unextinguished, with smoke still curling lazily from it.

But that remaining stub was destined never to be puffed on again; it could only be surrendered to the sea breeze blowing through the night.

Thanks to Gou Le De for the 5000-coin tip, and to mr Yue for the support. Weakly asking for votes.

PS: Sleepy and tired, not sure if I can manage a second chapter...