Before Adams had even entered the Arena, the shriek of tearing air and dull impacts had already reached him.
On the left side of the Arena, two small figures darted and collided at terrifying speed.
The blonde girl wore round-framed glasses, her gaze behind the lenses sharp as needles. She spun, her right leg tearing through the air as a blurred vacuum slash howled forth.
Opposite her, the pink-haired girl's figure suddenly blurred. Her wine-red dress blossomed like petals, leaving only an afterimage behind as her true body appeared three meters away, lightly evading the attack.
Her toes tapped the air in the rudimentary form of Geppo, rebounding off the force as her tiny fist, wrapped in a fierce gale, shot straight toward the blonde girl's face.
The latter dropped her shoulder and blocked. Bang! A dull impact rang out, and a burst of air exploded in a small radius.
The scene on the right was even stranger. A long-nosed boy hung three meters above the ground, his legs becoming a blur too indistinct for the naked eye to follow. The rapidly vibrating air was compressed to its limit, kicking out pale crescent-shaped vacuum slashes that tore through the air with piercing hisses.
Below him, another pink-haired little girl in an elaborate Gothic pink dress moved like a ghost, rapidly weaving and shifting within a tiny space. Each time, she avoided the sharp slashes by the narrowest margin. Her skirt fluttered wildly, yet not a speck of dust touched it.
If outsiders had seen this, they would have cried out in shock. These children had already mastered the Six Powers to the level of Captains. Such talent would put ordinary Marines to shame.
Like a weightless feather, Adams silently floated high above the edge of the Arena. His silver hair swayed in the strong wind like metallic tassels. He looked down at them as though examining four blades being sharpened, his gaze cold and focused.
Only when sweat had soaked through the four children's clothes, their movements had begun to slow, and their panting had drowned out the roar of battle did he drop straight down. With a thud, both feet landed firmly on the hard stone ground in the middle of the Arena.
The sound was not loud, but it instantly froze every movement in the field.
The two pink-haired girls ran toward Adams one after the other like little birds returning to their nest.
Adams reached out, his broad palm landing on the fluffy pink curls of the little girl in the Gothic pink dress, and gave them a firm rub.
"Perona, your Soru is getting better and better. Next, focus on Geppo. And don't fall behind on the other Six Powers either."
Naturally, he did not expect Perona to use the Six Powers in battle. He merely wanted to improve her physical fitness somewhat, giving her a better chance to dodge or endure an attack if someone got in her face. Having her focus on Soru and Geppo was only meant to improve her mobility.
Perona raised her little face and nodded hard.
"I understand!"
Then longing immediately filled her lively eyes.
"But, Brother Adams, next time... can you take me along on the next operation? I don't want to stay in the sky all the time."
Because of Adams, the possibility of her ever meeting Moria had been completely cut off, and the gloomy shut-in aura that had surrounded her in the original story had also been dispelled.
At this moment, she was incomparably cheerful. Moreover, thanks to Adams's usual protection, she had developed the desire to do something for him.
An operation meant a raid.
Over the past three years, aside from tempering his body, Adams had naturally not neglected a pirate's proper work. However, he had never taken Perona with him.
Adams lowered his eyes to look at her sparkling, expectant gaze and pondered briefly.
Those Mafia Families in the West Blue even dared to stuff child laborers into sweatshops. Compared to that, taking Perona along to see the "scenery" of his work did not seem like much.
Besides, seeing some blood would strengthen her nerves, so she would not be defeated by something as ridiculous as intimidation.
"Fine."
He nodded in agreement.
Perona's little face was instantly lit up by overwhelming joy. With a cheer, she ran off like a light butterfly.
Adams turned his gaze toward the other pink-haired girl.
"Hina, your grasp of the Six Powers is good too, but you still need to practice diligently from now on."
A year ago, once Adams's intelligence network had begun to take shape, he had started searching for her. When he found her, she had just encountered a pirate attack, and her parents' bodies had not yet gone cold. Before her eyes, he crushed those perpetrators into unrecognizable piles of flesh, then took her away.
To Adams's surprise and delight, Hina had not eaten the Barrier Fruit. That pleased him greatly, because it meant her future potential would be higher.
Having Hina learn the Six Powers was only meant to give her a solid foundation and raise her stats a little.
In Adams's view, the Six Powers' greatest purpose was actually to build a foundation. In the terms of a fantasy cultivation world, it was foundation establishment.
Using any ability consumed stamina. There was never anything wrong with laying a solid foundation first.
Hina nodded forcefully, her small chest rising and falling.
"I understand!"
She took a deep breath, and a fierce, gritted-teeth hatred appeared on her childish face.
"I want to join the next operation too! I don't like those people. Hina... hates them!"
The targets of Adams's raids were all top predators in the West Blue underworld, people burdened with blood debts and guilty of every conceivable evil.
It was not because Adams had lofty morals. It was because in the filthy West Blue, truly "good people" had either long since become dry bones or were poor enough to rattle.
Rob them? Aside from a few moldy loaves of bread and scraps of junk metal, there was nothing of value. Only those villains who sucked the blood and tears of countless people were fat prey.
And those people were precisely the ones Hina hated most.
"Of course."
Adams agreed cleanly. Herding one sheep or two made no difference; there was no reason for him to refuse.
The hostility in Hina's eyes eased slightly. Carrying a trace of satisfaction at achieving her goal, she turned and ran off, the hem of her wine-red skirt cutting a crisp arc through the wind.
Adams turned his gaze toward the long-nosed boy among the final two.
"Use Rankyaku on me. Let me see how much you've improved."
"Yes."
Kaku's reply was concise and decisive, like a blade leaving its sheath.
His body suddenly bent backward like a fully drawn bow, astonishing power erupting from his waist and abdomen as he spun backward through the air.
His movement was swift as lightning. At the instant his rotation reached its peak, his right leg ripped through the air like a battle axe and came crashing down.
Bzzzz—!
A blue vacuum slash several times more condensed than the ones from his earlier sparring, and nearly twice as large, burst from his leg. Carrying an ear-splitting shriek, it crossed the distance between them in an instant and violently slashed toward Adams.
Where the slash passed, the sharp force leaking from it plowed a shallow groove into the hard stone ground.
Adams's expression remained indifferent. He casually raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and grabbed directly at the rampaging vacuum blade.
Pop!
A dull blast sounded, as though a massive bubble had been crushed. The vacuum slash, powerful enough to sever steel, was snuffed out in his palm with his bare hand.
Violent air currents exploded outward, sending the silver hair before his forehead whipping wildly and making his clothes snap in the wind.
When he opened his hand, his palm was as smooth as before. Only a nearly invisible wisp of white vapor rose from it, the extreme heat produced by compressed air friction.
"The power is decent. Stronger than an ordinary cannonball. Keep going."
A sharp gleam flashed in Kaku's eyes, and he did not pause in the slightest. His suspended body abruptly accelerated, both legs becoming two blurred afterimages vibrating at high speed.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!—
The piercing shrieks merged into one. More than a dozen smaller but denser and faster vacuum blades covered every inch of space before Adams like a raging storm.
Adams could not even be bothered to change his stance. He casually lifted his right hand and extended one finger.
His fingertip struck out like an afterimage.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!...
Dense, faint bursts rang out in rapid succession, like a string of taut balloons being punctured.
Every strike landed with flawless precision on those sharp vacuum blades. The vacuum slashes, capable of tearing apart flesh and blood, shattered one after another before that single finger as fragile as soap bubbles.
The scattered shockwaves intertwined, collided, and vanished before him, brushing over his sharply defined face as silver hair whipped wildly across his forehead.
The wind stopped, and the blades vanished. Adams slowly withdrew his finger.
"This power is good too."
He evaluated Kaku while glancing at his calves, which trembled slightly from kicking at high speed.
"The impact of every strike is much stronger than a pistol bullet. Looks like you haven't been slacking off."
"Thank you for the praise."
Kaku landed steadily. His breathing was slightly hurried, but his eyes were bright.
After thinking for a moment, Adams voiced the suggestion he had prepared long ago.
"From now on, try combining Rankyaku with Swordsmanship."
He had no intention of wasting Kaku's talent for Swordsmanship.
Kaku's body trembled slightly, and an intense light instantly burst from his eyes.
"Mm! I understand! I'll work hard in that direction!"
"Very good."
Adams's tone softened slightly.
"Also, if you get the chance to eat a Devil Fruit, what kind of ability would you want?"
He asked as though it were merely casual conversation.
Kaku hesitated almost not at all. Even his long nose seemed to tilt upward slightly with excitement.
"If I get the chance, I want... the ability to turn into a long-necked animal!"
Adams's cheek twitched almost imperceptibly.
Sure enough, his bizarre obsession with long necks ran deep. Suppressing the absurdity in his heart, he replied without a ripple in his voice.
"A long-necked animal? Understood. I'll keep an eye out for one in the future."
That was what he said, but he had no intention of actually searching for one. Instead, he planned to have Vegapunk customize an Ancient Zoan such as a Brachiosaurus or Brontosaurus.
That giraffe fruit from the original story had too low a ceiling. It would waste Kaku's talent.
As for the Lineage Factor Source, Little Garden had plenty of dinosaurs. There was no need to find an ability user and draw blood.
Overwhelming surprise and gratitude instantly appeared on Kaku's face. He bowed deeply.
"Thank you so much!"
"I'm never stingy with my own people."
Adams waved a hand, his tone carrying an unquestionable sense of control.
"Go train."
"Yes!" Kaku answered loudly, full of surging motivation as he turned and ran toward the wooden sword at the edge of the field.
Finally, Adams's gaze fell on Kalifa, who had been quietly standing at the edge of the Arena.
"How is your studying? You'll be officially starting work before long."
Kalifa seemed to be jolted awake. Her body trembled slightly as she raised her head, her gaze behind the lenses flickering as it quickly moved away from her book.
"I've already mastered the theories and procedures I need to know."
She pushed up her glasses, trying to keep her voice steady, though an almost imperceptible tension remained in it.
"But... from now on, I'll always be by your side... handling personal matters for you, right?"
"Of course."
Adams looked as though it were only natural.
"A secretary naturally handles every trivial matter around her boss. Never leaving his side and always being available when called are the basics."
Kalifa raised her little face and said something that caught Adams somewhat off guard.
"That's sexual harassment."
Adams's mouth twitched sharply. He nearly failed to keep that stern expression on his face.
Why had that catchphrase appeared already?
He forcibly suppressed the urge to rub his forehead. His Adam's apple bobbed as he barely maintained a blank expression, though his voice carried the faintest trace of helplessness and warning.
"Kalifa, stop reading those messy books. Clear those distracting thoughts out of your head and go make your preparations."
"Yes!"
Kalifa answered, a sly gleam of triumph flashing through her eyes. She immediately lowered her lashes to hide that small delight, then turned and left the Arena with steps as steady as she could manage.
To Be Continued