Could This Guy Be a Monster Too?

The next moment, everyone present looked at Ivan with the same inexplicably strange expression as Hina.

This guy might become an Admiral someday?

An Admiral was one of the Navy's strongest fighters, and there were only three in the entire world.

Those words carried tremendous weight!

If anyone else had said it, they wouldn't have paid it much mind. But the one who had said it was the Navy's hero, Vice Admiral Garp!

Vice Admiral Garp was one of the rare great powerhouses on the seas, and his judgment was exceptionally sharp. His words undoubtedly carried a great deal of weight.

That meant White Dove really did have the talent to become an Admiral!

That was why everyone's expressions had turned strange. They all looked Ivan over with curiosity.

Could this guy be a monster too?

Ivan's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected Smoker to be such a blabbermouth and tell Hina what Garp had said about him.

Ivan sighed, feeling somewhat helpless, though he didn't blame Smoker.

After all, it was just too hard for someone as outstanding as him to keep a low profile!

Ivan looked at Hina, a beauty who was immensely popular in the Navy. "Captain Hina, did Smoker say anything else?"

Hina shook her head. "No, that was all. But Hina has something she wants to discuss with you."

Ivan: "???"

Hina's hands suddenly changed in a blur, transforming into a series of sharp black spears.

She stared intently at Ivan, her exquisite eyes brimming with fighting spirit:

"Hina wants to get stronger, and Hina wants to become an Admiral too. Since Vice Admiral Garp thinks you have the potential to become an Admiral, Hina wants to challenge you and see just how big the gap is between Hina and a real monster!"

Ivan glanced around at the many Navy officers glaring at him, every one of them wearing an expression that said, "If you dare hurt Hina, we'll beat you to a pulp." He said helplessly, "Can I refuse?"

Hina was a little disappointed. "Of course you can. Hina won't force you."

Now Ivan didn't want to refuse after all. Hina was Smoker's friend, so she was naturally his friend too. He might as well do Smoker a favor.

He nodded. "All right, then. Let's have a friendly match!"

Once Ivan agreed, Hina's dejected face immediately lit up.

She cautioned him, "Thank you, Ivan, but you'd better be careful. Hina may only hold the rank of captain, but her strength has already reached the level of a Rear Admiral. You need to give it your all and not hold back."

With Hina's warning, Ivan didn't dare take her lightly.

He had originally planned to use thirty percent of his strength, but now it seemed he needed to use seventy percent.

So, after Hina finished preparing and conjured more and more black spears, Ivan took a deep breath, summoned the power within him, and called out:

"One Sword Style: Red: Sky-Rending Slash!"

Hina cried out in her sweet voice, "Watch out, Black Spear Formation!"

The next moment, countless black spears collided with a massive Flying Slash, and a terrifying boom erupted across the training ground!

But the change in the situation at the moment of collision caught everyone off guard.

The Flying Slash swept through everything in its path, effortlessly shattering the countless black spears as it surged unstoppably toward Hina!

Everyone could tell at a glance that Hina, who claimed to have the strength of a Rear Admiral, was no match for Ivan!

"Hiss..." Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

Was this the monster Vice Admiral Garp had personally singled out? He was only eighteen, yet he possessed such terrifying strength.

Hina might have looked young, but she was already thirty-two. Even though she was fourteen years older than Ivan, she still wasn't his match!

As soon as Hina clashed with Ivan, she felt a terrifying pressure.

It didn't feel at all like she was fighting a captain from headquarters. Instead, it felt like she was fighting a Vice Admiral!

Rather than feeling discouraged, Hina found the fighting spirit in her heart burning even more fiercely.

Sure enough, only by constantly chasing monsters like him could she possibly take another step forward!

Hina's goal had never been to surpass others. She wanted to surpass herself and become the first female Admiral in history!

Hina spread her arms, transforming them into black bars. Under her control, the bars were coated in a layer of dark Armament Haki. They then flew directly into the air and transformed into countless thin iron rods, forming a cage.

After doing all that, Hina braced her hands on her knees and panted lightly. A fine sheen of sweat on her forehead dampened several strands of pink hair as she called out:

"Ivan, you really are a monster, but Hina won't give up. Watch my strongest move!

"Thousand Cages: Prison Net: Bone-Crushing Corridor!"

The instant her shout rang out, the sharp screech of metal slicing through the air suddenly filled the world.

Thousands of pitch-black iron bars crashed down from the clouds and struck the ground with tremendous force, completely enclosing the area for several hundred meters around in the blink of an eye.

They tangled and intertwined, forming a massive iron cage without a single gap in moments.

Before anyone could recover from their shock, an even more frightening sight followed.

From the cage's walls, ceiling, and floor, countless black bars honed as sharp as blades suddenly shot out.

The densely packed black bars descended on Ivan at the center of the cage like a rain of arrows blotting out the sun, shrieking as they tore through the air!

The black bars resembled dark clouds, leaving everyone in awe. Even Ivan didn't dare take them lightly.

Now that the fight had reached this point, he finally got serious. He drew Yubashiri and coated it in a layer of deep blue:

"A very powerful move. You're much stronger than Smoker, Captain Hina!

"But this still isn't enough to defeat me! One Sword Style: Blue: Water Breathing: Second Form: Water Wheel!"

Water Wheel normally required the user to leap into the air and swing in a circle perpendicular to the ground, but Ivan's physique was far stronger than Giyu Tomioka's, so he could unleash the move continuously!

Water emerged from the sea and the air, wrapping around the blade. A continuous series of circular slashes surrounded Ivan, forming a spherical cage of water.

Once the spherical cage of water was fully formed, it expanded violently. The seemingly fragile streams were astonishingly resilient. When the black bars struck the water, they snapped in an instant, then were crushed and pulverized by the supple streams!

Boom!

Another deafening explosion rang out across the training ground. Countless streams of water expanded rapidly in every direction, instantly engulfing the Navy officers watching nearby.

But Ivan's control was astonishing. Whenever the streams were about to sweep over the surrounding Navy officers, they immediately parted to avoid hurting them.

The buildings farther away, however, were beyond Ivan's ability to protect.

After that move, countless fragments of stone shot into the sky, and strange sword marks cut by the slashing streams covered the entire training ground.

After the attack, Hina finally lost the strength to resist and was knocked to the ground by the water.

Ivan won the match, but the seaside training ground was completely ruined as a result.

When the mist over the training ground cleared, Ivan saw the mess and couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

It seemed like I might have gone a little overboard!