"Did Kizaru just get hurt?"
"No way, right?! Hey, does anyone know if that's real?"
At the same time, just as at Marine Headquarters Plaza, the Sabaody Archipelago fell into stunned silence.
Most people had not seen exactly what had happened, but the broken Ice Spikes still lodged in Kizaru's leg told the story.
In other words...
The strongest fighting force at Marine Headquarters, a full-fledged Admiral and one of the Grand Line's top fighters, had truly been wounded by a recruit!
Countless Pirates stared at the scene, speechless and bitter.
To Pirates like them, Marine Admirals were untouchable figures towering far above them. No matter how freely they lived, they had all worried about running into one.
Yet that fearsome figure had been wounded by a recruit who had not even left the Recruit Camp.
Kizaru was not weak. The Pirates knew that beyond a doubt. Blood and tears had taught them as much.
That left only one answer: the recruit was simply that strong!
Has the age of the Marines finally come again? some of the older people wondered. They still remembered when the three current Admirals had first set out to sea. The Marines had been unstoppable then, riding the momentum of Roger's execution. Who on the seas had dared face them head-on?
The so-called Great Pirate Era sounded grand, but most Pirates had merely been strays struggling to survive between the Marines and the great pirates.
They had thought the Marines' recruits were getting weaker with each generation, and that the organization would soon decline. They had not expected someone this formidable to emerge this year.
Not only had he reached the Tenth Match, a feat no one had achieved since its inception, but he had also wounded Kizaru soon after their fight began!
"Marine Headquarters