Battle! Exhilarating!

In the Paradise section of the Grand Line, aboard a small pirate ship, Shanks, wearing a straw hat, looked at the newspaper in his hand, a trace of longing flashing through his eyes.

Ever since Gol D. Roger had been executed a year ago, Shanks had set out to sea immediately after leaving.

He had decided to retrace the path his captain had once traveled.

Red-Haired Shanks had already begun making a name for himself across the seas.

"Captain!"

A round-faced young man holding a huge drumstick leaned over to look at the newspaper in Shanks's hand.

"Huh?"

Hearing someone call him, Shanks blankly raised his head and looked at the chubby face leaning in beside him.

"Ahahaha, the captain's been scared stupid."

Seeing Shanks like that, the fat man split his mouth in laughter, and the other crew members immediately burst out laughing as well.

Hearing his crew mock him, Shanks froze for a moment, then raised a hand to press down his straw hat and joined in the laughter.

After a while, the laughter died down, and Shanks waved the newspaper in his hand.

"See this? This man fought Kaido for seven days without a winner. That's what a true powerhouse of the seas looks like. Before that, he was only a great pirate with an 87 million bounty."

Shanks waved the newspaper excitedly.

"We're going to make our names known across the seas too. We'll conquer the entire Grand Line."

"Yeah!"

The pirates immediately cheered at Shanks's words.

No one thought they could not do it.

Shanks's personal charisma had already begun to show.

"Captain, that guy caught up with us again!"

Just as everyone was cheering, one pirate suddenly raised his arm and pointed into the distance.

Shanks looked up and saw a small boat rapidly approaching. A hawk-eyed man aboard it was rowing with the blade in his hand. Seemingly noticing that they had spotted him, he swung his sword, sending a green Flying Slash toward them.

Shanks gripped the hilt at his waist and swung his blade.

The two Flying Slashes collided and shattered.

"Men, get the ship moving!"

Shanks looked somewhat flustered. That guy was a battle maniac.

They were not enemies and had only met a few times, but after learning that Shanks knew swordsmanship, the man challenged him countless times every day, leaving him completely drained.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid the thunderous collisions of Flying Slashes, the large and small ships began a chase across the seas of Paradise.

Dragon, who had already resolved to change the world, stared at the newspaper in his hand with astonishment in his eyes.

He had been following the battle in Wano Country and had been curious about the identity of this powerful man.

Now that he knew, he found it rather unbelievable.

He even found the man familiar, as though he had seen him somewhere before.

"Chief, should we bring such a powerhouse into our great cause?"

The person beside him, with an enormous head and clown makeup that made their gender impossible to distinguish, asked.

"It would be difficult to change the mind of someone this strong."

Dragon was tempted, but he ultimately shook his head.

What they needed now was time to develop.

He knew very well that this newspaper had drawn countless eyes onto this man.

Under such circumstances, even if they invited him and he agreed, it might not necessarily be a good thing for them.

"Still, this man looks familiar. Lin Ye the Madman—I think I've seen him before!"

Dragon stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the newspaper.

"Joined the Moria Pirates a year ago? A year ago?"

Dragon hesitated for a moment, then his gaze sharpened.

"Loguetown in the East Blue? The day Pirate King Gol D. Roger was executed—the day I resolved to change the world."

Dragon's eyes widened.

He remembered.

Was this the child who had killed Marines back then?

How had he changed so much in just a year?

But back then, judging by his moves, his strength had seemed...

Dragon's eyes were filled with disbelief.

That made no sense!

He had been able to gauge Lin Ye's strength back then. He definitely had not been a powerhouse.

And it had only been one year?

What exactly had happened?

Dragon stopped thinking. His brain had completely stalled.

With the World Economy News Paper's coverage, the entire world was in upheaval.

Morgans, determined to make big news, had truly gone all out this time.

Thanks to him, even fishermen on remote islands who lived by fishing knew that another top-tier powerhouse had appeared on the seas.

Another great figure capable of shaking the world.

Of course, Lin Ye himself knew nothing of this yet.

Lin Ye, currently fighting Kaido, felt only one thing.

Battle! Exhilarating!

Lin Ye had never imagined that battle could make him feel this way.

In his previous fights, he had treated battle as merely a means of obtaining Blank Traits.

And against the opponents he had faced before, with his cheat-like abilities, they would die in one or two moves at most.

Or rather, those had not counted as battles at all. They had merely been his slaughter.

Only this battle with Kaido was a true fight.

A battle of fists meeting flesh was indeed enough to make one's blood surge.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lin Ye swung his fists. His suddenly thickened arms struck the descending spiked club, producing the clang of metal against metal.

With the force of Lin Ye's final punch, he smashed the spiked club high into the air.

Boom!

Kaido, who had exposed an opening because of that punch, could only watch as Lin Ye's fist slammed into his face.

Thud, thud, thud!

His body abruptly retreated, his feet stomping over the shattered ground.

Kaido raised a hand to cover his face.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

With one hand covering his face and the other using his spiked club as a support against the ground, Kaido was nearly losing his mind.

"I can't kill you now, and you can't kill me either!"

Kaido stared fixedly at Lin Ye.

"Our battle has no meaning."

Looking at Kaido, who was panting heavily and growing frantic, Lin Ye also breathed slightly harder.

Several wounds had appeared on his body as well.

Yet his spirit remained exceptionally high.

"Battle has no meaning?"

Lin Ye raised his fist. Two-colored Haki wrapped around it, and even the space around his fist faintly distorted.

"Battle itself is meaning, Kaido!"

A fanatical smile appeared on Lin Ye's face.

He had previously become stronger simply by adding points to his traits. His strength had indeed risen, but he had been far from proficient in wielding it.

Now, after seven days of fighting Kaido, his use of Haki and his body had improved immensely compared to seven days ago.

Of course, although he was stronger than he had been seven days ago, he had not grown much stronger.

After all, at this level of strength, even improving by the slightest amount was incredibly difficult.

But he was still improving.

Hearing Lin Ye's words, Kaido on the other side clearly became even more frantic.

Why had he not noticed at the beginning of their fight that this guy was a battle-crazed lunatic?

And over these seven days, he had clearly felt that Lin Ye, who had severely lacked combat experience before, was rapidly developing his battle instincts.

Was Lin Ye using him as a punching bag for practice?