"You've only been taking it easy these past few days. What kind of admiral spends all day loafing around? Sengoku won't allow you to keep this up forever!"
Zephyr snorted and stopped looking at him.
The other officers around the conference table pretended not to hear, each raising their heads in different poses to stare at the ceiling.
Kuzan shrugged. He had learned that gesture from Loa. Back when Loa defeated Arudo in the plaza, that lazy, punchable expression paired with the gesture had been infuriating.
"Yes, yes. I get it. Honestly, Teacher is lecturing people again."
After a pause, Kuzan pulled down his eye mask and rested his hands behind his head. "Besides, I'm heading to the East Blue tomorrow on a mission. It just happens to be on the way."
"To the East Blue? What could possibly be happening there that requires an admiral?"
"No, nothing. I just don't like the look of the place, so I want to go find something to do."
Zephyr: "..."
I must have seen a fake Kuzan. That lazy bastard is actually taking the initiative to find something to do? Did the sun rise in the West?
As Loa led his group into the primeval forest, towering trees of every strange shape filled their view. Arm-thick aerial roots stretched from the trunks, reaching down into the soil. Tangled Vines and all manner of sprawling plants made walking even more difficult. On top of that, the forest was unbearably hot and stuffy; anyone caught inside would soon be drenched in sweat.
After Loa led them into the forest, several recruits chose to leave the group. They believed that even if they could not join the Elite Camp, this was still valuable training. Following Loa was certainly safe, but it would not serve the purpose of the assessment.
All Loa could do was praise them for having ambition, then wish them good luck.
When they reached a valley, Loa suddenly stopped.
A stream flowed down across jagged rocks, droplets striking the surface and sending rings of ripples outward.
The recruits behind him stopped in unison. They gripped their guns and nervously scanned their surroundings. "What's wrong, Loa?"
Loa studied the area solemnly. "This place..."
"What about it?"
"The scenery's pretty nice! Hey, let's take a leak and leave a souvenir!"
Clang~
The recruits were caught so off guard by his nonsense that they nearly threw out their backs. Climbing back up, they bared their teeth and roared, "What the hell is wrong with you?! You scared us half to death!"
In truth, they had overthought it. Loa simply needed to pee. He had been holding it in since last night and could not take it anymore.
Ignoring his overreacting companions, Loa ran to a boulder over two meters tall, undid his pants, and got to work.
"Ahh~~~ That feels amazing. Holding it in really does make peeing more satisfying."
"What the hell do you mean, satisfying?!"
The recruits, lined up beside him to pee, complained.
Suddenly, one recruit said softly, "Hey, don't you think this Stone is moving?"
"What are you talking about? A Stone—holy crap! Back up! The Stone really is moving!"
Loa had been about to make fun of him, only to discover in surprise that the Stone really was moving!
Everyone hurriedly backed away, pulling up their pants with one hand while grabbing the guns off their backs with the other.
Moo!
A deafening roar echoed through the valley. The massive Stone finished rolling over, glaring with bloodshot eyes at the little people who had disturbed its nap.
One Top Student recruit shouted, "It's a fifty-point Stone Drum Bull! The points are low, but its destructive power ranks among the top ten on the island! Watch out for its horns—they're harder than ordinary steel!"
"Fifty points?"
Loa faced the aggressively hostile Stone Drum Bull, clenching his right hand as intense cold gathered around him.
"You guys stand back. I'll handle this!"
Moo!
The Stone Drum Bull seemed provoked by Loa's stance. It shook its head and roared before lowering its head and charging madly toward him. Its pair of horns sliced through the air with a low howl.
Loose stones along its path were crushed into powder beneath its hooves. It barreled forward like a heavy tank at full throttle.
"Watch out! Move!"
Seeing Loa about to be hit, the recruits raised their muskets and fired. Bullets struck the Stone Drum Bull in a rapid barrage, but the tiny rounds could not stop its charge, nor could they even leave a scratch on its hide.
Seeing this, the Top Student who had spoken earlier cried anxiously, "Move, Loa! The Stone Drum Bull has to stop before it can turn! It can't catch you!"
The Stone Drum Bull was incredibly fast and reached Loa in an instant. It seemed to already see Loa pierced through by its horns. Those horns had always been its greatest weapon; even the island's rulers did not dare provoke it lightly.
"Move? No, no, there's no need for that."
Buzz!
Magic power began to Vibration. The grass and pebbles beneath Loa's feet were blasted away in an instant. He casually raised his left hand and touched the incoming horn.
Yes, touched.
The watching recruits could think of no other word to describe Loa's movement.
"It's over! Loa can't dodge!"
Just as the recruits turned their heads away, unable to bear watching, Loa's voice pierced through the chaotic noise and somehow reached their ears.
Ice Make: Heavy Armored Lancer!
Rip~
The sound of something tearing apart rang out beside them.
The next second, a heart-wrenching scream erupted, making them jump. The recruits hurriedly looked up, only to be stunned by the sight before them.
The Stone Drum Bull, which had been so fierce moments ago, was now rolling wildly on the ground. Blood sprayed everywhere with its thrashing, great swathes of it staining the grass, leaves, and stream red.
A pillar of Ice roughly the width of a fist had been driven brutally into the Stone Drum Bull's forehead. Following the swollen hide upward, they discovered that it had actually punched all the way out through the bull's rear! The conical drill bit exposed to the air was covered in the Stone Drum Bull's steaming blood, and wisps of white mist rose from the Ice.
"Even Arudo doesn't dare ram into me head-on. What the hell are you?"
Loa clapped his hands and dismissed the hard Ice armor around them. Without even looking at the Stone Drum Bull wailing on the ground, he pointed at the Top Student who had just explained it. "Hey, buddy, can this thing be eaten?"
He had skipped breakfast and lunch. With such a perfectly sized meal right in front of him, Loa was starving.
The moment Loa pierced through the Stone Drum Bull in one strike, a Marine at the surveillance center swallowed and looked away from the screen, lowering his head to record Loa's achievement.
"Christopher Loa, one Stone Drum Bull."
Since his fellow recruits had also fired, it was not an independent kill, and the Stone Drum Bull's fifty points were split among them.
Seeing Loa take down the Stone Drum Bull, famous for its tough hide and thick flesh, in one strike, the officers in their seats all turned astonished looks toward Kuzan.
"So this Loa really can use Ice powers! And he's already this strong. Is that natural talent, or did Admiral Aokiji teach him well?"
Although Loa's ability was no secret in the Recruit Camp, most Marines had no reason to care what a bunch of new recruits were doing. If not for Admiral Aokiji, the Marine officers present probably would not have even heard Loa's name.
Feeling everyone's gaze, Kuzan pushed up his eye mask. "Huh? Did something happen?"
It was impolite to talk behind someone's back, especially an admiral of higher rank. For a moment, the vice admirals all raised their heads to stare at the ceiling. "The weather's nice today."
Unlike the vice admirals, Zephyr carefully observed the Stone Drum Bull's movement when Loa attacked. Seeing that the bull had stopped moving before the Ice lance pierced it, he nodded in satisfaction.
"That's more like it. No matter how strong Devil Fruit Powers are, they still need a powerful body to unleash their true might!"
Deep in the valley, Loa had no idea what was happening aboard the warship. He was troubled by something else.
Grabbing the Top Student by the collar, Loa sprayed spit in his face as he roared, "What?! You mean this thing can't be eaten?! Then what the hell did I work so hard for?!"
Faced with Loa's fury, the Top Student was nearly in tears. "It really can't be eaten! The Stone Drum Bull's outer layer is all Stone, and its muscles and organs are poisonous too!"
Seeing that the Top Student was not lying, Loa reluctantly let him go.
Grrr~
His stomach rumbled loudly, joining in the performance. "Ahh~ I'm starving! I want food!"
"L-let's keep looking. On an island this big, there must be some animals we can eat." The Top Student comforted Loa through tears. Why does he have to keep picking on me? Is it my fault the Stone Drum Bull can't be eaten?
Then Loa remembered something.
Wait, why am I searching on the ground? The undergrowth here is so dense that we can't spot animals even a few hundred meters away.
With that thought, Loa pushed away the Top Student's hand and leaped into the air.
Since he could not find anything on the ground, he would search from above.
The recruits could only stare at him in confusion.
Suddenly, Loa dropped back down excitedly and grabbed the Top Student by the collar again. "Hey, hey, let me ask you something! There's a giant ape, about five meters tall when it's on all fours. Its belly is red, and it has silver-white fur. Can that thing be eaten?"
The Top Student thought carefully after hearing the description. "That sounds like a Silverback Great Ape. You can eat it. I remember a restaurant in my hometown, the Sabaody Archipelago, that specializes in Silverback Great Ape dishes. One serving costs 1,000 Beli."
"Then that's the one!" Loa shot back into the sky, stepping on Ice blocks as he left without looking back.
Loa was incredibly fast. He vanished almost in the blink of an eye. Only then did the Top Student suddenly realize, "Does that mean Loa found a Silverback Great Ape?"
As he spoke, he swallowed hard. He exchanged looks with the others, and their faces immediately darkened.
"Loa! Come back! That's something even vice admirals don't want to mess with!"
The Silverback Great Ape was a type of Land Beast. Land Beasts were terrifying monsters as infamous as Sea Kings.
Although the Silverback Great Ape was an ingredient, that did not mean it would meekly let itself be slaughtered! On the contrary, it was immensely powerful. Every successful hunt was enough to make the News Paper headlines.
19. Thanks to readers Haggard Beauty, Book Friend 957***, Lone Painter of Jianghu, Time Sand and Night Rain, g6u4, Book Friend 187***, Seventh Kid, Stars in the Dark Night, Xue Fuli, ZAF001, Black Wool Sweater, All Things Without Rain P, Dot~Dot~Dot~Dot, Book Friend 151***, With You, and Book Friend 10*** for their recommendation support.
Also, to answer a comment in the review section: an Ice Dragon Slayer can of course eat Ice, but Loa is only at the second tier right now, so I set it that he can currently only swallow Ice to restore magic power. He cannot yet directly consume elemental attacks and enter a rampage like in the original work. After all, I can't write the scene from the synopsis within just a few dozen chapters. That would ruin the pacing.
Before you continue