Digging a Pit / I'll Take You All On ...

That was why Zephyr felt an inexplicable fondness for fighters like Atlas, who relied purely on physical strength.

"Kid, I think highly of you. You have the potential to become a Marine Admiral someday! Hahahaha..." Zephyr gave Atlas a heavy pat on the shoulder, pride showing on his face.

"Of course! I'm going to become the World's Strongest Man!"

Digging a Pit

The morning sun was gentle, and the waves tirelessly battered the shore again and again. On a large rock by the water, Atlas sat bare-chested and still, staring vacantly into the distance. Her thoughts, however, were on her recent training.

Atlas had been training in the Six Powers for some time. Though she had grown highly proficient in them, she had recently hit a bottleneck. Her command of the techniques was solid, but her understanding remained too shallow for her to develop any variations.

"What's wrong? Hit a bottleneck with the Six Powers?" Zephyr's office was hardly luxurious. If anything, it was almost too plain. A plaque bearing the words "Justice Without Killing" hung on the wall opposite the door, while an old sofa beside it looked as though it had been there forever. Shuzo sat on it, his rugged face thoughtful, apparently worrying over matters at the Recruit Camp.

Atlas sat upright across Zephyr's desk, quietly waiting for his answer.

"Well, then. Spar with me first so I can see where you stand." After a moment's thought, Zephyr suggested a match. After all, actual combat would give him the clearest picture of Atlas's progress with the Six Powers.

"All right. Sorry for the trouble, Teacher Zephyr." Atlas had no reason to turn down such an opportunity. Having a top-tier fighter spar with and guide her was something countless people dreamed of.

Shuzo, watching from the side, looked interested too. He was deeply curious about how much Atlas had improved. A few months earlier, he had been unable to take her down without using Armament Haki. Her monstrous physique and tremendous strength had left a lasting impression on him.

"Careful, Teacher Zephyr!" Atlas called once the two had taken their positions on the training field.

"Hahahaha! Come at me with everything you've got, brat!" Zephyr laughed and tossed his Justice coat to Shuzo, revealing his powerful, bulging muscles.

Shave! Iron Body Fist: Divine Strength!

The moment he finished speaking, Atlas struck first. She lunged forward, driving her right fist straight at Zephyr's chest. The sheer force of it made the air crack!

"Bring it on!" Zephyr met her fist with his own without flinching. A thunderous impact kicked up dust around them.

"Again!" Atlas shook out her numb arm and charged back in, eager for more.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The fierce collisions rang across the Training Ground, making the watching recruits' scalps prickle. They had always known Atlas was strong, but they had never seen it so clearly. Watching her fight Zephyr finally showed them just how strong she was.

Zephyr was Black Arm, a former admiral! Despite retiring early, he had lost none of the strength he possessed at his peak. The recruits around them were stunned. How could the gap between people be so vast? 😱

Seeing their expressions, Shuzo's eyes lit up. He seemed to have found the answer to a problem that had been troubling him.

"Hahaha! Now this is fun!"

"Shigan!"

"Tekkai!"

Clearly, there were levels to Tekkai. Atlas's Shigan struck Zephyr like an ordinary blade hitting steel. It broke the skin but could go no farther.

"My turn, kid! Hahaha..." Zephyr teased when her Shigan failed to do any real damage, though his hands never stopped moving.

Life Return: Kami-e Mushin! Shave!

Zephyr's towering, three-meter-forty-eight frame rapidly shrank. His muscles seemed to compress under a hydraulic press, becoming like steel forged a thousand times. He looked compact and formidable. Then he vanished before Atlas's eyes, moving so fast that even her Observation Haki, pushed to its limit, could not react in time.

Danger! Danger!

A dark shadow suddenly fell across Atlas from behind. Her Observation Haki screamed for her to move, but before she could turn, a massive iron fist slammed toward her back.

Iron Body Fist: Giant Hammer!

Bam!

Atlas took the full force of Zephyr's punch and crashed into the Training Ground. The terrifying impact smashed a person-shaped crater into the hard ground!

"Ah! You really didn't hold back, Teacher Zephyr!"

Wincing, Atlas climbed out of the ground. To everyone's astonishment, her clothes were only slightly torn. Even the few scrapes on her face healed before their eyes, leaving only faint white marks. What kind of terrifying physique was that? Was she really not a Zoan Devil Fruit User?

"I knew that body of yours could take it, kid, but I didn't expect anything this ridiculous! Hahaha!" Zephyr said, clapping Atlas on the shoulder. She could only stand there with a wry smile and let the old man have his fun.

"Teacher Zephyr, that state you were in just now..."

"That's right. It's what you're thinking, but it's only one application of Life Return!"

"Also, from what I just saw, your command of the Six Powers really is good. You simply haven't trained long enough. If you want to improve faster, you'll have to do it through actual combat. That's how you'll learn to make the Six Powers part of your body."

"Huh? Then what am I supposed to do?" Atlas was troubled. Zephyr might have retired early as an Admiral, but as head instructor of the Recruit Camp, he still had plenty of work. He could not spar with her regularly.

As for the others at the Recruit Camp...

Atlas shook her head inwardly. They were too weak to pose any threat to her.

"Teacher Zephyr, I can spar with my junior Kanos," Shuzo volunteered, having clearly been waiting for his chance to speak.

"Hm?" Atlas was surprised. She had considered asking Shuzo, but he had plenty of responsibilities too. She had not expected this...

"But I need my junior Kanos to help me with something in return," Shuzo said, his dark face reddening with embarrassment.

So that's what you were waiting for. You always look like such an honest, straightforward guy, but now you're scheming against me? You've changed, you little rascal!

Atlas grumbled to herself.

I'll Take All of You On

"Well, Atlas, I'd like to ask you to teach the elite class a lesson," Shuzo said sheepishly.

"Huh?" Atlas almost thought she had misheard him. She shot him a puzzled look, while Zephyr listened with interest.

"I think Smoker and the others have gotten a little too full of themselves. They're trying to master all six techniques at this stage, so I was hoping you could give them a little 'guidance.' Please!"

Now Atlas and Zephyr understood. Smoker and the others had grown too greedy and ignored Shuzo's warning from the start. Unable to find an effective way to talk sense into them, Shuzo had resorted to this.

"Everyone, come over here. I've found you a sparring partner today to test the results of your recent training," Shuzo told Smoker and the others with a smile. He forced an innocent expression onto his dark face, but somehow it only looked unsettling.

"Boss!" That had to be Grus.

"Atlas?!"

"Atlas?"

Atlas's three roommates were clearly surprised. They rarely saw her anymore. She was the first to rise and train every morning and the last to return to the dorm at night. She was always busy, leaving the other three no chance to talk to her.

"You can't be serious, Instructor Shuzo. You're setting us up for a beating!"

As Atlas's roommate, Grus knew how hard she worked. With her terrifying talent on top of that, her strength had probably soared beyond anything he could imagine. The others nodded in agreement.

All except Hina. She had long wanted to see just how far behind Atlas she was. Excitement shone in her eyes.

"No, I think you've misunderstood," Atlas said, shaking her head.

Smoker and the others froze. Misunderstood?

"The seven of you will challenge me together. I'll use only two of the Six Powers against you." Atlas was being a little crafty: Shave and Tekkai were the only two she had trained to the limit. Her grasp of the others was nothing special.

"What?" Anger flashed in their eyes. Was she looking down on them? None of them could beat Atlas alone, but surely seven of them together could. And she was even limiting herself!

None of them was foolish. They understood what Shuzo was trying to do, but that did not make it any easier to accept.

Looks like I'll have to let my strength do the talking. Watching their expressions shift, Atlas said no more and took a fighting stance.

Smoker and the others had little choice. They tensed, one by one. If they still lost to Atlas under these conditions, they would never live it down.

"Birdcage!" Hina struck first. Black iron bars extended from her arms, and in moments Atlas was surrounded.

"Smoke: White Domain!" Smoker immediately activated his Devil Fruit Ability. Thick smoke seeped inside the enclosure, seeking to trap Atlas.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Atlas had no intention of waiting to be captured. Her fists, each as big as a cooking pot, smashed through Hina's black bars with terrifying force. But the instant she emerged, a bull-headed figure with horns and a nose ring appeared above her.

"Shigan!" A massive hoof came at Atlas with a sharp whistle through the air. Even Shuzo, watching from the sidelines, silently praised their flawless coordination. Unfortunately...

"A Devil Fruit User?" Atlas had not expected a Zoan Devil Fruit User among them, but she was no pushover.

"Tekkai: Utsugi!"

Clang!

Helbert felt as though his hard hoof had struck a great bronze bell rather than flesh. A tremendous recoil surged through it and jolted his entire body. He was a user of the Zoan Ox-Ox Fruit, Yak Form, yet he still could not match Atlas in strength or toughness. What the hell?

Atlas had no intention of wasting the opening created by Helbert's momentary shock, even if it lasted only a second.

"Iron Body Fist: Divine Strength!"

Tremendous force slammed into Helbert. His hybrid-form body crumpled as though made of paper and flew backward.

The others were startled, but not so badly that they lost the will to fight. Fortunately, Helbert's Zoan recovery kept him in the battle. He could only hang back and harass Atlas now, though. Taking another punch like that was no joke.

"Birdcage!" Hina tried the same move again, but Atlas would not give her the chance. A red gleam flashed in her eyes as she activated Observation Haki.

Shave!

Atlas slipped precisely past Hina's Devil Fruit Ability and two of Smoker's white fists. In an instant, she reached Rosinante and two others she did not know. She could not help it; those three were the weakest of the seven. Rosinante might be a Devil Fruit User, but his ability was better suited to support and assassination than a direct fight.

"Heh, boss, don't blame me. I'm not looking to get beaten up by you." With that cheeky grin, Grus planted himself directly in front of Rosinante.

From a practical standpoint, Rosinante's ability could provide them with perfect cover. And Rosinante was Grus's roommate. Of course he would save him first. The other two would have to fend for themselves.

Atlas dealt with them easily. Two punches were all it took to knock them out of the fight.

"Damn it!" The fight had barely begun, and they were already down two people, with a third nearly out. The pressure on them shot up.

"My turn to attack!" Atlas grinned, showing a neat row of white teeth that seemed almost blinding to Smoker and the others in the sunlight.

Shave! Iron Body Fist: Shatter!

Her target was Rosinante again, but Smoker reacted in time. Smoke: White Snake! Snake-shaped streams of white smoke wound around Atlas's limbs and torso.

"Too weak!" Atlas ignored Smoker and charged straight through. With her formidable physique, she tore free of the smoke in an instant.

Shave: Iron Body Ball!

Atlas's tall body suddenly began spinning at high speed. Her target, however, was Grus!

Combat was an art. It was not just about charging blindly; timing and awareness of the whole battlefield mattered too.

Gion

"Tekkai!" Panic flashed across Grus's face as Atlas came at him. He could only hope that Tekkai, the technique he knew best, would slow her down a little.

Bam! As expected, Grus was sent flying. He hit the ground hard like a battered sack, leaving them down another fighter!

Seeing this, the remaining four quickly huddled together, practically pressed against one another to keep Atlas from picking them off. But they were naive. They had no idea how strong she was!

"Shave: Tekkai Steel: Raging Bull!"

Atlas charged at Smoker and the others like a maddened bull. The ground in her path churned as though it were soft earth!

"Smoke: White Wall!"

"Bars-Bars: Gun Shield!"

Smoker and the others would not sit still and take it. An iron shield bristling with black spears and a white wall of smoke suddenly rose across Atlas's path. Devil Fruits really were remarkable. When fighters were close in strength, they could have a major impact on a battle.

Unfortunately, these fighters were nowhere near Atlas's level!

Boom!

A deafening crash rang out. Smoker's white wall and Hina's gun shield collapsed like paper. Atlas plowed on without slowing, slamming into Smoker and the others as they stared in horror. They flew backward and struggled weakly on the ground, unable to fight any longer.

"Do you understand now? What you need to do is focus on the techniques among the Six Powers that suit you, not try to swallow them all at once. Did any of you manage to use even one of those half-learned techniques properly? You're lucky you fought a comrade today. On a battlefield, you wouldn't just lose face. You'd lose your lives!"

Shuzo was momentarily stunned by how decisively they had lost. Then he hurried forward and launched into a stern lecture, afraid the defeat might hit them too hard.

"Senior Shuzo, I'll head back now. Don't forget your promise!"

Seeing that Smoker and the others were all right, Atlas told Shuzo she was leaving.

"Sure, sure. Don't worry."

"Finger Pistol: AK-47!"

Sharp, heavy reports rang across the Training Ground. The Marines passing by paid them no mind and went about their work.

Since her fight with Smoker and the others, Atlas had spent more than two hours sparring with Shuzo almost every day. Her use of the Six Powers had grown increasingly natural.