Monster in the North Blue

"Damn it!!"

Seeing this scene, Gion's expression changed drastically; she finally realized that this guy Darren clearly possessed formidable strength.

He had been toying with them all along!

Gion's partner, Kake, excelled in close-quarters combat and possessed astonishing physical power.

Yet, his attacks landed on Darren without causing him the slightest bit of harm!

Looking at the shirtless Darren, whose muscles were covered in hideous scars, a thought suddenly surged into Gion's mind.

This guy's physical defense has likely been trained to an inhuman level!

Under normal circumstances, its hardness might even rival "Iron Body"!

As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Gion hesitated no longer, her figure launching from the spot like a pink phantom.

Her eyes shimmered with intense fighting spirit, and the golden named blade in her hand erupted with a dazzling, cold light.

With matters having reached this point, there was no way she could retreat.

She and Kake were representing the Headquarters, and with so many Marines watching nearby, they had to regain their face no matter what!

"Watch yourself, Colonel Darren!"

The moment her voice rang out, Gion's figure had already appeared before Darren.

The golden named blade in her hand slashed through the air, triggering a sharp, sonic boom.

"Draw Blade: Peach Smoke!"

A single slash descended!

Sshhh!!

The golden named blade struck down fiercely, and blood sprayed out.

A hideous bloody gash bloomed across Darren's chest, and a large amount of blood gushed forth.

However, the pupils in Gion's eyes suddenly constricted.

He didn't dodge!?

She stared at the Marine Colonel before her in complete astonishment, unable to react for a moment.

The edge of the named blade in her hand was wedged firmly into the muscles of Darren's chest, unable to advance even an inch further!

Then, she saw a smile.

A cruel, joyful, and even faintly crazed smile gradually rose at the corners of Darren's mouth, stretching into an unbridled arc.

"Feeling the breath of all things... the realm of cutting steel, is it?"

Darren licked the salty, metallic blood that had splattered onto his lips, his gaze toward Gion filled with appreciation.

"Truly worthy of being a genius from Headquarters; you are only a step away from becoming a Master Swordsman."

As soon as his voice fell, Gion felt a violent gust of wind rush toward her face, tearing at her cheeks with stinging pain.

The sound of air exploding rang out right in front of her.

So fast!!

Her expression changed wildly, and she instinctively held her named blade horizontally in front of her to block.

Clang!!

A black military boot kicked heavily against the blade of her sword.

Gion felt a force of immense magnitude surge toward her; it felt as if she had been struck head-on by a high-speed Sea Train, sending her flying backward like a cannonball.

Ripples of air pressure generated and expanded in the void.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Gion's figure crashed through several heavy stone targets in succession before rolling a few times and collapsing to the ground.

Countless fragments of stone tumbled down.

A trail of blood spilled from the corner of Gion's mouth, and her sword-wielding hand trembled incessantly; the web between her thumb and forefinger was dripping with blood, sending waves of burning, stinging pain.

She stared at the man in the distance with disbelief, her heart churning with turbulent waves.

This guy... not only is his physical defense as monstrous as a freak's, but he also possesses strength approaching that of an adult Giant!?

"Ahhhhhhh!! Damn it!! Darren, you bastard!! How dare you hit my face!!"

At that moment, a furious, enraged roar suddenly erupted.

"I make my living with this face!"

Kake, his face now swollen like a pig's head, struggled to pull his head out of a deep crater, panting heavily, his eyes having turned a shade of crimson at some point.

His aura shifted instantly, as if a fierce, savage beast had awakened from its slumber.

"To force me to use this level of power... you have every right to be proud."

Gion's partner hunched his body, swaying as he gradually steadied his stance.

His military uniform suddenly bulged as the muscles on his withered frame swelled and rose like volcanic rock, his expression turning ferocious.

Crackle, pop...

As his power erupted, the ground beneath his feet began to spiderweb with fine cracks under the pressure of the intense shockwaves.

Such a terrifying sight caused the watching Marines' expressions to shift instantly.

"What immense physical strength!"

"To think such power was hidden within his body!"

"Is this the caliber of a genius from Headquarters!?"

They watched in horror as Major Gion's partner from Headquarters charged toward Darren with long, powerful strides, his momentum reaching an extreme peak.

His speed increased again and again, becoming twice as fierce and swift as his previous attacks!

He was like a meteor hurtling horizontally toward Base Commander Darren.

And then...

BOOM!!

...he was sent flying back even faster than he had charged in.

Scarlet blood sprayed from his mouth, and his uniform was shredded to pieces in an instant by the violent force.

After rolling across the ground a dozen times, Gion's partner curled into a ball, looking like a boiled shrimp.

He gasped with his mouth wide open, like a fish deprived of oxygen, his bloodshot eyes bulging from their sockets due to the agony.

"Ugh!!"

A pool of acrid, foul-smelling liquid was vomited out, filling the air with a nauseating stench.

Silence.

The entire training ground fell into a deathly hush.

Under the shocked gazes of everyone present, the newly appointed North Blue Admiral walked slowly, step by step, toward Gion and her partner.

His tall frame cast a shadow under the scorching sun, enveloping the two of them.

Darren looked down at these two "inspectors" sent from Headquarters to keep an eye on him, a sunny smile appearing on his face.

"You two are truly worthy of being experts from Headquarters..."

He blinked.

"--I look forward to your guidance in the future."

"Damn it!! Darren, you bastard, how could you possibly be this strong!?"

Having finished retching, Gion's partner lifted his head, panting, his bloodshot eyes locked onto Darren.

Hearing his words, Darren seemed to recall something amusing, and a smile spread across his face.

"Compared to the real monsters, I'm not actually that strong..."

He said with a laugh, then glanced down at the scar on his chest.

Hmm, the bleeding had stopped; it felt like it was already starting to scab over.

"Alright, that spar with you two was quite fun."

He turned around and began walking toward the far end of the training ground.

"Warm-up finished. Now, I have to begin my actual training."

Gion and her partner: ???

They were completely bewildered.

That exchange just now... was only a warm-up to you!?

You were even slashed!

You were bleeding non-stop!

Oh, it's already scabbing over? Never mind then.

The two of them exchanged a look, their inner shock written all over their faces.

Rumble, rumble!

Just as Gion and her partner were reeling internally, a heart-stopping tremor suddenly rose from beneath their feet.

Dust and gravel danced across the surface of the training ground.

As if sensing something, they looked up.

The scene that met their eyes left their minds completely blank.

A hundred meters away, the man who had just crushed the two of them with such overbearing force was currently clutching a massive black iron chain.

The rusted black chain was about ten meters long, stretching all the way to the abandoned warship docked at the edge of the training grounds.

As the muscles on his body bulged like hardened volcanic rock, Darren gripped the enormous chain with both hands and actually began to drag that six-meter-tall medium-sized warship, moving forward slowly!!

One step, another step, with every stride he took, Darren's military boots left a shallow crater in the ground of the training field.

And as he moved forward, the massive warship being dragged behind him scraped a deep groove into the ground, triggering tremors with every movement.

From the perspective of Gion and her partner, the seemingly small Navy Captain dragging that astonishingly large warship under the scorching sun created a scene of immense visual impact.

Gion and her partner were dumbfounded, their mouths agape, yet they couldn't utter a single word.

"You two just arrived in the North Blue, so there are many things you don't know."

At this moment, Momonga walked up beside Gion and her partner.

He watched the Navy Captain in the distance struggling to drag the warship forward, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration.

"Before Rear Admiral Sakazuki was transferred out of the North Blue to the Headquarters, Captain Darren was his adjutant."

"The dense web of scars on Captain Darren's body... the vast majority of them were caused during sparring sessions with Rear Admiral Sakazuki."

As soon as these words were spoken, Gion and her partner both gasped in unison.

That terrifying collection of scars... was caused by sparring?

This... this wasn't sparring at all...

This was clearly a beast-like slaughter!!

A man capable of fighting a "monster" like Sakazuki...

Recalling their "sparring" from just moments ago, the faces of Gion and her partner flushed red.

They feared that the full-strength efforts they had just exerted were nothing more than child's play in the eyes of a madman like Darren...

"Another monster..."

Her partner swallowed hard, his throat dry as he spoke.

"The North Blue produces monsters"—this saying had been circulating widely at the Marineford Navy Headquarters for the past year or two.

Because out of this most chaotic sea in the Four Blues had emerged two freaks with vastly different personalities, yet equally terrifying strength.

—Sakazuki and Borsalino.

They had graduated from the Officer Training Camp in less than half a year, rising with brilliant talent and an unstoppable momentum, earning the title of "monsters" personally acknowledged by Admiral Zephyr.

But now, perhaps before long, another "monster" would emerge from this chaotic sea.

His name is Rogers Darren.

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