Invitation Letter

Dragon's eyes narrowed. He immediately coated his palms in Haki, his feet rapidly stamping against the ground before he transformed into the wind, shooting forward like a sharp sword and instantly closing the distance to Jin An.

Then the corners of his mouth curled upward. The next moment, he switched to a different offensive style, hands and feet striking simultaneously to unleash formidable force as attacks fell upon Jin An's entire body like a violent storm.

The fierce assault suddenly launched by Dragon had zero effect on Jin An, as though those attacks did not exist at all, leaving him to take the blows across his body.

Then he curled his hand into a fist, throwing out a very ordinary punch that struck Dragon directly in the chest and blew him flying.

Dragon touched his intensely aching chest, his expression somewhat pale as he gasped for breath. As expected, elementalization is completely useless in front of a master...

Immediately afterward, he turned back into a gust of green wind and blew toward Jin An.

"You're quite durable..."

Jin An flicked his hand. He felt as though every time his fist struck Dragon, it inexplicably slid off to the side, just like hitting flowing air. The tactile sensation was exceptionally terrible, entirely lacking the thrill of solid flesh and bone.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The intense clash continued unabated, both sides endlessly unleashing punches and palm strikes. Their clothes had long since turned into scraps during the battle, blowing away with the wind.

"Pfft!"

With another head-on collision, Dragon staggered back several steps in the air, relying on treading the gentle breeze to halt his retreat.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gazing at Jin An with flickering eyes. He had pulled out all the stops, yet the opponent still stood in the exact same spot without moving an inch.

"Alright, I've more or less figured out your strength," Jin An said loudly. "You can step down and rest now."

With that, Jin An did not wait for Dragon to react, executing a Moonwalk to leap high into the air before plunging down fiercely.

"Let me let you experience this palm technique descending from the heavens."

Sensing a powerful threat approaching him, Dragon decided to unleash his full strength to counter the attack.

Suddenly, a violent gale rose. The wind whipped up sand, stones, broken branches, and other debris, surging majestically into the sky.

"It's useless."

Beneath Jin An's palm, the fierce wind abruptly disintegrated, and all the branches, sand, and dust shattered, scattering across the ground.

A single slap landed on Dragon's head.

"You lost..."

Beneath the winter sunlight, the training ground and its surroundings fell into a dead silence, pairs of eyes gleaming with heavy delight as they stared at the two figures in the center of the training ground.

This outcome was anticipated by all these onlookers. Their Colonel Jin An had never tasted defeat among his peers.

"I actually lost..."

Dragon lay on the training ground, a hand held before his eyes to block the annoying sunlight.

This was his first defeat since birth, and a complete one at that. This first time in his life was truly impossible to feel happy about.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the side quest: defeat the wielder of violent winds.]

[Ding! You have gained the recognition of Monkey D. Dragon.]

[Ding! Monkey D. Dragon's favorability toward you has increased. Please keep up the good work.]

[Quest rewards: Training Space usage time +36 hours, 20 million Beli, information on the vanished island, one Auctioning House invitation letter]

Jin An: ???

Standing right there on the field, joy drops upon you out of nowhere.

Training time continued to increase, giving him enough time to cultivate for a while longer. As for this Beli, to him it was merely a bonus, and in his eyes, this money was just a string of numbers.

What truly piqued his curiosity were the last two rewards. The vanished island must have been the one someone reported earlier. Being given as a specific reward meant that island likely held some unknown secrets.

As for the invitation letter, this thing would require him to find an empty place to study it properly.

Jin An glanced at Dragon. He never expected someone with such thick eyebrows and big eyes to be into this sort of thing. Reasoning with him for half a day was completely useless, but after giving him a beating, the guy actually became well-behaved.

Jin An looked down condescendingly at Dragon lying on the ground, his face still wearing that unfathomable smile.

"How truly troublesome. As expected of someone raised under the strict guidance of those old geezers at Marine Headquarters."

Devil Fruits weren't something just anyone could obtain, and Dragon's fruit was even more incomparably rare. He was truly envious.

"And thank you for the reward you brought me."

Dragon laughed self-deprecatingly, assuming the reward Jin An mentioned was simply that joy of victory. "What does Marine Headquarters matter, and what do the Four Blues matter? In the end, didn't I still lose at your hands?"

"May I ask you, why can you be so strong?"

Dragon removed the hand blocking his eyes, feeling a strong curiosity toward the person who had defeated him. Defeat was defeat; all he needed to do was improve himself and then catch up to the other's pace, which would bring him fulfillment.

Hearing Dragon's words, Jin An had also asked himself this question in his heart. Was it luck? Hard work? Or courting death and finding a way to survive each time in the Training Space?

He smiled without answering directly.

"Strong? I don't think so. There are simply far too many powerhouses in this world..."

Edward Newgate, Gol D. Roger, Golden Lion Shiki, the Five Elders, Imu—any one of these people could easily defeat him, and his goal had always been these individuals.

"You should rest well for now. Who knows, I might call upon you for something fun later on."

Jin An turned around and walked toward his office. He still had a pile of training left to complete.

"You just arrived here, so it's completely normal that you don't understand Jin An," Kuzan said with some emotion. "I've been by his side for so long, and I've rarely ever seen him work out, but every time I see him, I can feel that he's gotten much stronger."

"Maybe this is what they call a genius—oh no! A monster..."

"When I first met him, I could still go three-seven with him in a fight. Now... words fail me..."

Hearing Kuzan say this, not only did Dragon not feel any better, but he felt even more miserable.

"Damn it! An invitation letter to the Human Auctioning House?"

Holding the reward issued by the system, Jin An cursed out loud. What earthly use did he have for this piece of trash?

The auction house was located in the Sabaody Archipelago, which was miles away. This thing was basically useless paper, and it wasn't like he was going to go buy some living person...

On second thought, the Sabaody Archipelago was a resort destination, and taking a trip there seemed pretty nice.

However, getting past Kuzan would be a bit difficult. That guy probably wouldn't let him have his way...

Kuzan, who was cleaning up the mess in the training ground, sneezed. "Sigh~ My life is so hard..."

"No way. If there are no conditions, I'll create the conditions to go." Looking at the invitation letter, a mischievous smirk surfaced at the corner of Jin An's mouth. "And I'm bringing a few people with me."

A lively event that only happens once a month—there were bound to be plenty of interesting things happening...