"Hey! Kid! The grilled Sea King meat and rice crackers on your plate are mine!"
The Third Mess Hall in Marineford. The air was as hot and stuffy as a giant steamer. In this gathering place for Marines, filled with the stink of sweat and potent hormones, a gruff, brazenly self-righteous shout instantly shattered the peace in the corner.
Yas sat at a wooden table. The mountain of food scraps piled before him testified to the whirlwind speed at which he had just eaten. Three full days had passed since he fused with the Third Raikage template. Over those three days, one of the ways the system offered to increase his fusion rate was intense physical exertion and replenishment. To prepare for today's assessment, which could practically be called a suicide mission, Yas had swept through half the mess hall's premium ingredients.
Hearing that outrageously arrogant demand beside his ear, Yas swallowed the last piece of blood-streaked beast meat in his mouth without even raising his head.
"Done talking? Get your filthy hand off my plate. Otherwise, I'll break it."
Yas's voice was quiet, but carried a chill that seeped into the bones. This was the Great Pirate Era, when the big boss Rocks ran rampant. People died on the front lines every day. Even at Marine Headquarters, weakness would only get you devoured until not even your bones remained. Backing down wasn't in Yas's vocabulary.
Standing beside Yas was a burly man wearing a dog-head hat. The man clearly hadn't expected a mere brat in a recruit's uniform to dare talk back to him like that. His hand was already resting on the edge of the platter of grilled meat. At Yas's words, he split his mouth into a wide grin, revealing a full set of white teeth.
"Hahaha! Recruits these days have more and more personality! But my stomach's growling, and I'm taking this meat!"
Before he had finished speaking, the burly man's thick fingers suddenly tightened as he tried to wrench the entire iron platter over to himself.
Bang!
Yas's right hand moved second but arrived first, clamping down on the burly man's wrist like an iron vise. Their arms collided violently in midair with a teeth-grating thud. Under the pressure of that invisible, immense force, a web of fine cracks instantly burst across the surface of the mess hall's sturdy table, made from century-old ironwood.
A flicker of surprise crossed the burly man's eyes. Though he had used less than a tenth of his strength, that tug was enough to stop a rampaging bull in its tracks. Yet this lean recruit had blocked it with one hand, without even the slightest tremor in his arm!
"Let go. This is your last warning." Yas slowly raised his head. His eyes, as still and expressionless as a dead fish's, stared coldly at the burly man's scarred face. Savage blue chakra faintly surged beneath Yas's skin, like a ferocious beast that could break free of its cage at any moment.
They stared at each other for three full seconds. The air around them seemed to freeze. When several veterans walking past with trays saw the dog-hatted man's face clearly, their legs went weak with fright, and they scrambled dozens of meters away.
"Hahahahaha! Interesting! Far too interesting!" The burly man suddenly released his grip and burst into deafening laughter. His laughter even made the lights hanging from the mess hall ceiling rattle. He casually snatched a bag of rice crackers from a nearby veteran's tray and strode toward the door, stuffing them into his mouth as he went. "Kid! Eat more meat! Otherwise, someone could die this afternoon!"
Watching the burly man's retreating back, Yas shook out his slightly aching wrist. A flicker of utter fervor flashed deep in his eyes.
Monkey D. Garp. The man who had subdued an entire era with his iron fists. So his strength had already reached such a terrifying level. A casual squeeze had put pressure on the Third Raikage's body at a 1% fusion rate.
"Someone could die?" Yas gave a cold laugh. "We'll see who dies today."
At three that afternoon, at Marineford's First Combat Training Ground.
The scorching midday sun had baked the vast plaza, paved with special rock, until it was burning hot. Dense crowds already surrounded it. Apart from this intake's recruits, even more were junior and field-grade officers with rank insignia on their chests. Even on the elevated viewing platform, several generals wearing Coats of Justice could faintly be seen.
Today was the recruits' practical combat assessment. But what had drawn these battle-hardened veterans in droves wasn't the earlier sparring that amounted to playing house. It was an outrageous order personally issued by Chief Instructor Zephyr. Recruit Yas would undergo a special one-on-one assessment against a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral!
Bare-chested and wearing only loose trousers, Yas stood quietly in the center of the plaza. His solid muscles were sharply defined, like granite.
"That kid's Yas? I heard he crippled Instructor Moore a few days ago?" A scar-faced major held a cigar between his teeth, his tone full of disdain.
"Not only did he cripple Moore, he took a blow from Chief Instructor Zephyr without dying. But this is as far as he goes." A veteran beside him sneered in agreement. "I heard he was so arrogant that the higher-ups dragged Vice Admiral Garp back from leave to knock him down a peg. Vice Admiral Garp just came back from fighting the Rocks Pirates in the New World, and he's got a bellyful of anger with nowhere to vent it. After today, this kid will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair."
"An idiot who doesn't know his place! He thinks blocking one casual blow from Admiral Zephyr makes him invincible. Vice Admiral Garp's fists can punch straight through mountains!"
Malicious speculation and mockery filled the surroundings. In an age where strength reigned supreme, a recruit who suddenly emerged to stand above everyone else naturally attracted endless jealousy and suppression.
Just then, all the noise in the plaza cut off abruptly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps came from the plaza's entrance. With every step, the entire ground seemed to tremble slightly. Wearing his dog-head hat, Garp slowly walked into the arena while picking his nose.
On the raised platform, Zephyr adjusted his sunglasses, a hint of a smile curling his lips. Sengoku, meanwhile, frowned and adjusted his round, frog-like glasses, complaining under his breath. "Zephyr! You called in that brute Garp. What if he beats that promising youngster to death?"
"If he can't even withstand a few punches from Garp, he doesn't deserve to face those real monsters with Rocks," Zephyr said coldly.
Garp stopped ten meters away from Yas. He dug out a booger and flicked it away.
"Yo! Kid! So you're the arrogant recruit Zephyr was talking about." Garp grinned, revealing an exceedingly dangerous smile. "Where's that vicious streak you had in the mess hall at noon? It's not too late to regret it. Ready for me to shatter every bone in your body?"
Yas slowly raised his eyes. The air around him began to warp from his surging will to fight.
He had no habit of wasting words. What answered Garp was a terrifying burst of energy that erupted inside him like a volcano!
"Old man! Done talking? Got a problem? Then let your fists do the talking!"
[Lightning Release Chakra Mode: Activate!]
Boom!
Without warning, a dazzling pillar of brilliant blue lightning shot skyward with Yas at its center! It pierced straight into the clouds!
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