This Newcomer's Strength...

In Episode 12, Mu Chen saw Jia Ji's fist flying straight at his face.

You really are trying to kill me while I'm down.

Mu Chen grumbled. He had only just dodged that final lazy kick, and his body had not even steadied itself yet.

Jia Ji was already impatient to press his attack, but Mu Chen did not back down either.

Mu Chen quickly adjusted his stance and threw a straight punch to meet Jia Ji's head-on.

At once, Mu Chen and Jia Ji's fists collided with a thunderous boom, the shockwave whipping up dust from the ground.

Not only that, the force behind their exchanged blows was immense. A large crater formed beneath both Mu Chen's and Jia Ji's feet.

At the same time, Kuzan and Onigumo, who witnessed the scene, had not expected this either.

"That kid Mu Chen is pretty good. He can trade blows with Jia Ji without falling behind. Vice Admiral Garp really does have a good eye. Hahaha, not bad."

As the three spoke, Wu Shu also walked over to them. "I knew this newcomer was no ordinary person. Looks like our Marines will have another monster."

Wu Shu had always been an excellent judge of character. When Garp brought Mu Chen to the Marine Elite Training Camp, he had immediately felt that Mu Chen was no simple newcomer, so he had gone over to greet him. From Mu Chen's words, Wu Shu could tell that he was not nervous in the slightest. He was remarkably calm, unlike other newcomers, who would probably grow tense when someone came over to speak with them. After all, a confident and capable person would not be nervous at all. Mu Chen happened to be exactly that. "It's still too early to call him a monster. If we're talking monsters, that would have to be Borsalino and Sakazuki, who have already graduated. Hehe, those two are already at vice admiral level. And then there's Kuzan from our batch, right?"

"Kuzan will catch up soon. Hahaha!" Doberman teased Kuzan, but Kuzan did not seem to care. He maintained his aloof demeanor.

An Ice-Ice Fruit user, and a rare Logia-type Devil Fruit at that. Honestly, it was rather enviable.

Meanwhile, Jia Ji on the field had not expected that Mu Chen's attacking power could actually match his own.

"I never expected this. Newcomer, you're pretty good. Looks like I can't hold back anymore."

"Looks like you were holding back too."

Mu Chen gave a simple reply. At first, he had only opened the first gate of the Eight Gates, because he knew Jia Ji had to be concealing his strength as well. Anyone who could enter the Marine Elite Training Camp could not possibly possess only this much combat power. No matter how shameless Jia Ji was, his strength could not be this low. The power Jia Ji had displayed so far had not even reached rear admiral level. "So you were holding back too. Then I won't be polite."

"Armament Haki!" Jia Ji's arm suddenly turned black, glossy and pitch-dark like an iron rod.

Mu Chen stared at it. So this is Armament Haki? Having been in the Pirate World for so long, he had honestly never seen Haki before. This was his first time seeing it.

Seeing this, everyone knew that Jia Ji was finally getting serious.

"Armament Haki. Looks like Mu Chen is going to have a hard time now."

Zephyr wore a faint smile. He refused to believe that a mere newcomer could defeat his student.

Jia Ji might be unreliable at times, but his strength was genuinely impressive.

But when Garp heard Zefa boasting, he looked unconvinced. "Hmph, Zefa, what are you so proud of? Just watch. Mu Chen still has a trump card."

When Zefa heard that, he was taken aback. Mu Chen had been concealing his strength too? Jia Ji immediately launched an attack at Mu Chen.

Jia Ji was extremely fast, but Mu Chen was no slower. The two traded blow after blow, their fists striking flesh as the battle grew increasingly intense.

Although they had exchanged many moves, because Mu Chen possessed the Blood Sharingan, ninety percent of Jia Ji's attacks were actually ineffective. But in everyone else's eyes, Mu Chen was slowly being forced back. Clearly, facing Jia Ji after he activated Armament Haki, Mu Chen, who could not use Haki, was at a severe disadvantage.

Mu Chen found Armament Haki attacks rather troublesome. He had taken one punch with his body just now, and it had truly hurt. Moreover, his hands could not use Armament Haki either, so he could only rely on skillful force to deflect Jia Ji's attacks. He did not dare take them head-on.

"Come on, then! Let this senior teach you what Haki is!"

"Hahaha, Qiyuan, did you see my heroic bearing?"

"Handsome, right?"

Jia Ji taunted Mu Chen while not forgetting to show off in front of Qiyuan. Mu Chen had initially formed a somewhat favorable impression of Jia Ji, since Jia Ji was indeed strong. But now, Jia Ji was acting like a complete fool.

Yet Qiyuan pretended not to hear him at all and continued watching Mu Chen and Jia Ji fight. Zefa's face had darkened. Good grief, this was his student? Distracted even in the middle of a battle. "Hehehe, Zefa, are all your students this interesting?"

"Hahaha!"

Facing Garp's mockery, Zefa's face was covered in black lines. He truly wanted to drag Jia Ji over and beat him up again.

"Garp, you can still laugh? The newcomer you brought is being suppressed by Jia Ji and is about to lose." Garp was not worried that Mu Chen would lose at all, since he still had a trump card he had not used. "Zefa, you sure talk a lot. Just watch."

Everyone was now pessimistic about Mu Chen's disadvantage. "Looks like you spoke too soon. This newcomer Mu Chen probably doesn't stand a chance. I was even looking forward to something just now!"

Onigumo and Doberman spoke with some disappointment.

But Wu Shu still believed his judgment was correct.

Just then, Mu Chen took a large step back.

Seeing Mu Chen retreat, Jia Ji smiled confidently.

"Mu Chen, what is it? Are you going to admit defeat?"

"It's fine. There's no shame in admitting defeat. Besides, I'm this strong. Hahaha!" Facing Jia Ji's ridicule, Mu Chen merely smiled faintly. "Eight Gates, Second Gate, Gate of Healing—open!"

At once, all the fatigue and discomfort from opening the First Gate vanished from Mu Chen's body.