Do You Want to Duel Me? The Domineering Sakazuki

Vice Admiral Karon got straight to the point, his voice ringing like a bell:

"Kid, I read your battle report. Your body is strong, and your combat instincts are exceptional! But before truly powerful opponents, this fighting style of yours that relies solely on brute force is nothing but a castle in the air!"

"Do you know what Armament Haki is? Do you know how to predict with Observation Haki? Do you know the ultimate secret of the Navy's Six Powers?"

As he listened to Vice Admiral Karon's string of questions, Rochi's dark pupils contracted slightly.

"What do you mean, sir?" Rochi asked tentatively.

"Come with me to the Elite Training Camp!"

Vice Admiral Karon shouted:

"That is where the Navy's finest resources are gathered! There, I'll arrange for the best martial arts masters and Haki experts to personally teach you!"

"As long as you're willing to learn, I guarantee that within a year, you'll master true Haki!"

The moment he heard the word "Haki," Rochi's heart clenched violently, and an intensely fanatical gleam flashed through his eyes!

Talk about perfect timing!

He had been worrying about where to systematically learn Haki and the Six Powers, yet this old vice admiral from the training camp had come right to his door!

How could the rigid abilities granted by the system compare to freely taking advantage of the Haki cultivation knowledge Marine Headquarters had accumulated over decades?!

Once he learned how to cultivate Haki, combined with the terrifying physical abilities brought by the system, his combat power would soar exponentially!

Then, heading to the New World to kill high-bounty pirates for experience would be like a fish in water!

"Alright!"

Rochi agreed without the slightest hesitation:

"Sir, I agree to join the Elite Training Camp!"

Vice Admiral Karon was visibly stunned. He had originally prepared a whole pile of arguments and had even been ready to patiently wear down this stubborn kid if he refused.

He never expected Rochi to agree so readily!

"Hahahaha! Excellent!"

Vice Admiral Karon laughed heartily and patted Rochi on the shoulder:

"Pack your things! Come with me right now! From today onward, you'll be a specially recruited student of the Elite Training Camp!"

Half an hour later.

Rochi officially moved into the Marine Headquarters Elite Training Camp.

The following morning, at Marineford's First Military Port.

Air-raid sirens wailed sharply as several top-tier heavy warships, each displacing over ten thousand tons, lined up in formation with their main guns standing ready.

Red Dog Sakazuki stood on the command platform of the flagship, draped in his coat of justice, his expression dark.

He had just received an emergency order from Sengoku:

Several major fleets under Charlotte Linlin, one of the Four Emperors known as "Big Mom," were rampaging through the first half of the New World, plundering several allied nations. The situation was dire!

Red Dog had volunteered to lead the Headquarters' elite forces out immediately to restore order.

"Has everyone assembled?" Red Dog asked coldly, exhaling a plume of thick smoke.

Rear Admiral Rex, clutching a roster, ran over with sweat pouring down his face and reported tremblingly:

"R-Reporting, Admiral!"

"The first squad... is assembled! The second squad... is assembled!"

Sakazuki's gaze swept across the ranks. His brow instantly knotted into a hard frown, and the temperature around them abruptly began to rise!

"Where's Rochi? Where did that brat run off to?!" Red Dog roared.

Rear Admiral Rex dropped to one knee with a thud, crying out in a trembling voice:

"Admiral! Lieutenant Rochi... he was poached yesterday afternoon by Vice Admiral Karon from the Elite Training Camp!"

"Vice Admiral Karon said Rochi was an unparalleled martial arts prodigy, that staying under you would only turn him into a killing machine, so he directly transferred his file to the training camp!"

Boom—!

The instant he heard those words, a devastating wave of violent heat erupted outward from Red Dog!

The solid wooden deck beneath them visibly blackened and carbonized at a rapid rate!

Red Dog's face darkened as though water could drip from it, while blazing lava hellfire surged in his eyes!

"Poaching my people? Taking away someone I had my eye on?!"

Red Dog's teeth ground together with sharp cracks as scorching magma dripped from his right arm onto the deck, melting one deep crater after another!

"That old bastard Karon... he's tired of living!!"

Red Dog abruptly turned with a sweep of his sleeve and strode toward the military port's exit, carrying overwhelming fury and rolling heat with him:

"Move! We're going to the Elite Training Camp to get my man back! I want to see who dares touch a rookie I've set my eyes on!!"

Marine Headquarters, Elite Training Camp.

The place covered an enormous area, with massive walls dozens of meters high rising on all sides and every kind of top-class martial arts training facility available.

At this moment.

Dozens of elite Navy trainees from all over the world were sweating profusely on the vast central training ground.

Every one of them was a Headquarters ensign or lieutenant, with even several lieutenant commanders among them who had earned major merits. Each was proud and arrogant.

And at the very center of the training ground.

Rochi stood bare-chested, his lean yet explosively muscular body covered in dense beads of sweat.

Across his shoulders rested a specially made heavy black-lead barbell, ten meters long and over a meter in diameter!

"Nine hundred ninety-eight... nine hundred ninety-nine... one thousand!"

With a low shout from Rochi, he effortlessly pushed the several-ton black-lead barbell over his head, then gently lowered it.

Boom!

The barbell hit the ground, making the entire training field tremble slightly.

The trainees around him, who had once thought highly of themselves, all sucked in cold breaths at the sight, their eyes filled with deep wariness and shock.

"That newcomer, Rochi... what kind of monster is he?"

"I heard he was a lieutenant exceptionally promoted from the East Blue. He took down a pirate worth over twenty million purely with physical strength!"

"That's insane! With that foundational strength, even those lieutenant commander officers probably can't compare, right?"

Just as the trainees were discussing it heatedly.

Boom—!!

A thunderous crash suddenly came from the Elite Training Camp's heavy iron gates!

The sturdy steel gates were violently blasted away by an unimaginably terrifying force, smashing heavily into the edge of the training ground and kicking up clouds of dust!

The sudden upheaval left all the trainees aghast, and they drew their weapons at once.

"Who dares cause trouble at the training camp?!"

Yet before they could make out the intruder, a suffocating wave of scorching heat, mixed with a pungent sulfuric stench, spread across the entire training ground!

The air twisted violently beneath the extreme heat!

The dust settled.

A towering, mountain-like man in a burgundy suit, with an admiral's coat of justice draped over his shoulders, walked in with heavy, grating footsteps, his face as cold and dark as ice.

Behind him followed a large group of silent, terrified Headquarters officers.

One of Marine Headquarters' greatest fighting forces—"Red Dog" Sakazuki!

"Ad... Admiral Red Dog?!"

"Why is Admiral Red Dog here? What terrifying killing intent!"