Target: Four Emperors!

The trainees on the drill ground went deathly pale. Their weapons nearly slipped from their hands as they hurriedly retreated to either side, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Sakazuki could not even be bothered to spare these so-called "elite trainees" a glance.

His hawk-like eyes, brimming with towering fury, swept across the drill ground and instantly locked onto Rochi standing at its center.

Sakazuki strode forward. With every step he took, a charred footprint was left in the ground.

He walked straight up to Rochi, his deep voice carrying unquestionable dominance.

"Get dressed and come with me."

Rochi picked up a towel and wiped away his sweat, calmly looking at this enraged top powerhouse.

"Sir, I'm undergoing physical training here."

"Training? What the hell are you training here for?!"

A flicker of utter disdain and icy coldness flashed through Sakazuki's eyes. Pointing at the trembling trainees around them, he sneered.

"A greenhouse like this is for gilding weaklings! It's completely unfit for a bloodthirsty blade like you!"

"What do you want to learn? The Six Powers? Armament Haki? Observation Haki? Even the most advanced killing techniques... I can personally teach you all of it!"

"Come to the New World with me! Learn on a real battlefield, amid the blood of tens of thousands of pirates! It's ten thousand times better than staying in this dump!"

The entire field erupted in uproar!

An Admiral was going to personally teach him one-on-one?!

And even take him to the New World's top battlefields?!

The trainees around them had bloodshot eyes, their breathing so rapid they seemed to be convulsing. Their gazes toward Rochi overflowed with jealousy and envy from the depths of their souls!

This was not punishment at all. It was practically a highway straight to the highest ranks of the Navy's core!

But just then—

"Sakazuki! You've gone too far!"

An enraged roar came from the main building.

The veteran Vice Admiral Karon rushed over with more than a dozen training camp instructors, his face livid as he blocked Sakazuki's path.

"Rochi is now an official trainee of the Elite Training Camp! His records have already been filed with the Marshal's Office! What gives you the right to come here and take him away on your own?!"

"You're poaching someone right under my nose! Do you have any respect for Headquarters rules? Any respect for Marshal Sengoku?!"

Vice Admiral Karon's beard trembled wildly with rage as a powerful physical aura erupted from his body, attempting to stop Sakazuki.

In that instant, the atmosphere dropped to freezing point. Even piercing sparks seemed to crackle through the air!

Faced with the anger and rebuke of a veteran Vice Admiral,

Sakazuki slowly raised his head. A cigar hung from his mouth, and his eyes, blazing with scorching magma, looked coldly sideways at Vice Admiral Karon.

He offered no explanation and cited no rules.

He simply took a step forward, and the incomparably violent pressure of an Admiral-level powerhouse crashed down like a sky-covering tidal wave!

"Karon."

Sakazuki's voice was low, cruel, and filled with absolute violence.

"Don't try to use rules to pressure me."

"Do you... want to fight me one-on-one?"

As soon as the words fell—

"Sizzle!!"

Red Dog's right arm instantly transformed completely into rolling, roaring molten magma!

Thick smoke billowed forth, and the terrifying heat directly melted the concrete beneath his feet into red liquid!

A one-on-one fight!

Those simple words, combined with the destructive power that seemed capable of annihilating the entire island at any moment, instantly made Vice Admiral Karon's expression change drastically!

Vice Admiral Karon sucked in a sharp breath. The rage filling his chest was extinguished completely in that instant.

A one-on-one fight?

Fight head-on against this magma lunatic, the most bloodthirsty man on the seas with the most terrifying offensive power?!

He would have to be out of his mind to clash with an Admiral!

Vice Admiral Karon's face shifted between green and white. His hands clenched tightly, only to loosen again in helplessness.

In the end, he could only swallow the humiliation whole, watching Red Dog with his eyes wide open, unable to utter a single word.

The entire training camp fell deathly silent.

Every trainee and instructor was left numb with terror by Red Dog's invincible, domineering presence—those who obeyed him thrived, while those who defied him perished!

This was the Navy's highest combat power! This was the privilege of an absolute powerhouse!

Sakazuki snorted coldly. No longer paying attention to the speechless Vice Admiral Karon, he turned and glanced at Rochi.

"Rochi, choose."

"Will you stay in this old man's greenhouse and play at being a soldier, or follow me to the New World and slaughter those pirates?"

Rochi stood where he was, looking at the overwhelmingly imposing Red Dog as a bloodthirsty, crazed smile curled across his lips.

An Admiral would personally teach him Haki and killing techniques one-on-one, and he could even head to the New World to face countless great pirates with bounties exceeding a hundred million and farm experience points to the fullest!

Only an idiot would remain in the training camp and slowly follow the usual path!

Without the slightest hesitation, Rochi grabbed the lieutenant's officer cloak from the table and strode toward Red Dog under the intensely jealous and envious gazes of countless trainees.

"Sir, my blade has long been hungry for blood."

"Hahaha! Good!"

Sakazuki laughed heartily, patted Rochi on the shoulder, and turned to stride toward the harbor with him.

After taking Rochi back, Sakazuki ordered the warships to depart immediately and rush toward the New World at top speed.

Time was tight.

Half a day later.

The weather in the New World was like an unpredictable madman.

One moment, the sea was calm and peaceful. The next, dark clouds pressed down overhead as lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Violent hurricanes whipped up towering waves dozens of meters high across the sea.

Amid such apocalyptic weather, dozens of heavily armed Navy warships flying the World Government flag faced off at a distance against a fleet so vast it was suffocating!

"That's... one of the Four Emperors, Charlotte Linlin of BIG MOM's subordinate grand fleet!"

On the warships, many recruits stared at the bizarre pirate ships opposite them. Resembling enormous pastries yet radiating terrifying murderous intent, they made the recruits tremble so badly that they could barely hold their flintlock rifles.

When fighting pirates from the Four Seas, they could still rely on superior equipment to gain the upper hand.

But this was the New World! Against the Four Emperors who ruled the seas, ordinary soldiers were nothing more than cannon fodder!

"Shut up! You pathetic, worthless trash!"

At the bow of the flagship, Red Dog Sakazuki clenched his cigar between his teeth, his hawk-like eyes sweeping coldly across the pirate fleet ahead.

His right arm had already transformed completely into churning, boiling dark-red magma. The terrifying heat instantly vaporized the rain falling around him into pungent white mist.

"Whether they're Four Emperors or anything else, as long as they're pirates, they'll all turn to ashes!"

"Great Eruption—!!!"

Sakazuki roared as a colossal magma fist erupted with world-destroying force. Like a meteor falling from the heavens, it smashed into the center of the Big Mom Pirates fleet with unstoppable might!

"BOOM!!!"

The brutal explosion shook the heavens!

Even specially modified pirate ships were instantly blown apart like paper before such absolute heat, enough to melt steel! Flames soared into the sky as countless pirates screamed and fell into the boiling deep sea!

"The Navy Admiral has gone berserk! Counterattack! Fire the cannons!!!"

Furious, frantic shouts rang out from the Big Mom fleet.

Just as the overwhelming cannon fire was about to collide, a figure like white lightning shot from the deck beside Red Dog without warning!

"Whoosh—!"

The gale tore at Rochi's lieutenant cloak as he plunged headfirst into the battlefield ablaze with cannon fire. In midair, he stepped off a splintered wooden plank flung into the air, his entire body resembling a raging dragon breaking free of its shackles as he crashed down onto the deck of the largest pirate flagship!

"Monster... the monster is here!!"