Leaps and Bounds (Please Keep Reading!)

"Admiral Zephyr was beaten to the point of coughing up blood by a commodore!"

"How could that be possible? Impossible..."

Yet the facts were right before their eyes. The footage recorded by the Visual Den Den Mushi could not lie.

The truth was that Commodore Beiyuan Heng had genuinely injured Admiral Zephyr.

With such terrifying talent and such terrifying strength, was he still not worthy of becoming Admiral Zephyr's disciple and inheriting his legacy?!

At that moment, the doubt and curiosity on the Marines' faces were entirely replaced by utter shock.

The scene fell silent, with only the Den Den Mushi's static audible.

An old veteran sighed. "The future will ultimately have to be handed over to the young."

He had followed Admiral Zephyr into battle for many years and had personally witnessed how Zephyr hunted pirates. That man had once sunk an entire pirate ship with a single blow.

In his heart, Zephyr had been invincible.

Yet today, that impression had been shattered by an unknown young man.

Just when everyone thought the battle had ended, the footage did not stop. Instead, it continued playing.

"Inherit my legacy, Beiyuan Heng."

In the footage, Zephyr laughed heartily.

This time, however, no one doubted Beiyuan Heng anymore.

By this point, a trace of guilt showed in the eyes of every soldier present.

"Come to think of it, how could Admiral Zephyr possibly take just anyone as his disciple and successor?"

"I believed the rumors. I've wronged Commodore Beiyuan Heng."

Most of the soldiers present began reproaching themselves in guilt.

At that moment, Zephyr's voice abruptly came from the Den Den Mushi.

"The next part is the important one. Listen carefully, you lot."

The conversation between Zephyr and Beiyuan Heng that followed mainly concerned Haki training.

Although most of the soldiers were completely lost, those who understood knew exactly what it meant.

In just a year and a half, he had trained his Armament Haki to the point where it could contend with Black Arm Zephyr!

This shocked them even more than the strength Beiyuan Heng had displayed earlier.

However, Sengoku and Zephyr had not intended to show them just how high Beiyuan Heng's Haki talent was.

Rather, considering the recent situation in the New World, they felt it would be better to spread knowledge about Haki throughout the Marines as soon as possible.

Of course, they had discussed all of this with Beiyuan Heng beforehand.

Beiyuan Heng was naturally more than happy with that arrangement.

Afterward, Beiyuan Heng did not pay much more attention to the matter.

He had already achieved his goal.

After the footage finished playing, Sengoku took the opportunity to deliver a speech.

He urged the Marines to train harder and uphold the justice in their hearts.

The Marines were so fired up that they wished they could go out and capture pirates immediately.

[Name: Beiyuan Heng]

[Occupation: CP9 Agent, Marine Headquarters Commodore, Swordsman]

[Traits: Observation Haki Basics (White), Emerging Brilliance (Green), Haki Mastery (Green), Martial Arts Mastery (Green), Fearless Under Pressure (Green), Armament Haki Peak (Blue), Innate Great Strength (Blue), Indestructible Body (Blue)...]

[Draws Remaining: 0]

After several days of consolidation, Beiyuan Heng's panel had undergone earth-shaking changes.

There were eight advanced or newly generated traits in total!

First was [Observation Haki Basics (White)].

Since most people at Marine Headquarters did not recognize Haki, and only a small number realized that Beiyuan Heng had used Observation Haki to evade Zephyr's attack, only the white Observation Haki Basics trait had been generated.

[Observation Haki Basics (White)]: You are relatively proficient in using Observation Haki. Your learning efficiency for techniques related to Observation Haki is slightly increased.

Next came four green traits.

Among them, [Emerging Brilliance (Green)] had advanced from [Somewhat Famous (White)].

[Emerging Brilliance (Green)]: A small number of people throughout the world have begun spreading your name by word of mouth. When active in areas where your name is known, your strength is slightly enhanced, and people's awareness of you is slightly increased.

Another was [Fearless Under Pressure (Green)], which had evolved from [Calm (White)]. Its effect further strengthened the original trait and allowed it to work better in conjunction with Observation Haki.

Beiyuan Heng's Observation Haki would likely soon reach an exaggerated level with the support of all these traits.

In addition, there were two newly generated green traits.

They were [Haki Mastery (Green)] and [Martial Arts Mastery (Green)].

Both were relatively broad traits.

The [Haki Mastery (Green)] trait should have been provided by Marines familiar with Haki. Since Beiyuan Heng had mastered the Three Types of Haki, [Haki Mastery (Green)] had naturally emerged.

[Haki Mastery (Green)]: Your understanding of Haki has reached a proficient level. You are quite familiar with all kinds of Haki techniques, making them easier for you to learn and allowing you to use them more appropriately in battle.

As for the [Martial Arts Mastery (Green)] trait—

The reason this trait could be generated was probably because most Marines could not understand the battle between him and Zephyr. They had barely even seen the Six Powers before.

No wonder Sengoku and Zephyr wanted to popularize knowledge about Haki among the Marines.

The Marines in the first half of the Grand Line had indeed become somewhat too comfortable.

However, this trait's effect was unexpectedly good.

[Martial Arts Mastery (Green)]: You have reached a proficient level in all kinds of martial arts. You are quite familiar with various martial arts techniques. When using them, your stamina consumption is reduced, and your movements become swifter.

There was even less need to mention [Armament Haki Peak (Blue)].

[Armament Haki Peak (Blue)]: Your understanding of Armament Haki has reached the pinnacle. All kinds of Armament Haki techniques come naturally to you, making them easier for you to learn. Furthermore, the power of your Armament Haki is enhanced in battle.

No one had any doubts about Beiyuan Heng's talent in Armament Haki. Some even believed, due to their trust in Admiral Zephyr, that Beiyuan Heng's talent for Armament Haki was the strongest.

The recognition provided by these people combined to push the Armament Haki trait directly to blue.

Meanwhile, [Innate Great Strength (Blue)] and [Indestructible Body (Blue)] had advanced from [Great Strength (Green)] and [Iron Skin and Iron Bones (Green)].

Both effects further strengthened the foundations of their previous traits and added an additional effect.

The additional effect of [Innate Great Strength (Blue)] was that his strength naturally increased every day.

The increase was not much, but it was steady and lasting.

The additional effect of [Indestructible Body (Blue)] was that while granting even greater defense, it also came with a natural rebounding effect.

It was equivalent to a smaller version of Iron Balloon.

If it advanced further, it might truly become completely comparable to Big Mom's "Iron Balloon."