Age Has Never Been a Reason to Limit the Strong!

After her defeat, Hina could not help feeling a little dejected. She collapsed to the ground and looked at Ivan with a complicated expression:

"I really envy you, Captain Ivan. You're only eighteen, yet you're already so terrifyingly strong."

Ivan shook his head and said seriously:

"Age has never been a reason to limit the strong!

You only see my strength, but you overlook the effort I've put in behind the scenes."

Hina froze at his words.

That was right. For Ivan to possess such strength, he must have worked even harder behind the scenes!

At that thought, Hina's gaze softened considerably as she looked at Ivan.

Sure enough, for Captain Ivan to be so terrifyingly strong, he must have put in a great deal of effort behind the scenes!

At the same time, Ivan was moved by his own words.

That was right. He had come this far thanks entirely to his own talent and hard work!

System, do you think I can make it to the other shore?

Boom!

Just then, several figures suddenly shot into the air from the central area of Marineford and crashed down onto the training ground with an astonishing presence.

The golden figure at their head shouted, "How dare you! Who dares to run wild in Marineford?!"

As soon as the three figures appeared, the training ground fell deathly silent.

They were Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Garp the Hero, and Admiral Aokiji—the strongest Marine forces stationed at Marineford!

After landing, the three looked around but saw no sign of an intruder.

Sengoku looked at Ivan and Hina in the middle of the training ground and asked in confusion, "What happened here? Where's the intruder?"

Hina and Ivan exchanged glances and recounted what had just happened, explaining that there was no intruder.

After learning the whole story, several veins bulged on Sengoku's forehead. His temples throbbed, and the pressure around him grew frighteningly oppressive.

He had been working in his office when his Observation Haki suddenly sensed a fierce battle erupting at the edge of Marineford.

His heart had tightened, and his first thought was that a top-tier pirate like Golden Lion had attacked again. He had immediately brought Garp and Aokiji rushing to the scene.

Who could have imagined it was just two headquarters captains sparring?

If you wanted to spar, fine, but you could at least have gone to a training ground meant for high-ranking officers! Why come to an ordinary one?

Even sparring at an ordinary training ground wouldn't have been a big deal, but why cause such severe damage and destroy the whole place?

Furious, Sengoku glared at Ivan and turned to leave. "Aokiji, I'll leave the rest to you. Make sure these two pay to rebuild the training ground, and have them get out of here and report to their posts. I don't want to see them for a while!"

Aokiji smiled helplessly. "Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

After Sengoku left, Garp followed him. But before leaving, he gave Ivan a heavy pat on the shoulder, driving Ivan into the rock up to his knees:

"Hahaha, well done! Young people should have some fire in them, or you'll be like us old men, unable to board the ship of the new era!"

With that, Garp followed Sengoku without waiting for Ivan to answer, leaving as he bickered with his old comrade.

Soon, only Aokiji remained of the three.

Aokiji might have looked lazy, but he was an Admiral, after all. He was highly capable and swiftly delivered his ruling.

Ivan bore primary responsibility for the destruction of the training ground and had to pay two million Beli in compensation. Hina had to pay 1.5 million Beli.

But after giving his ruling, Aokiji did not leave. Instead, he stared at Ivan with great interest, making Ivan uncomfortable all over.

Ivan folded his arms and looked at Aokiji warily, joking, "Admiral Aokiji, don't stare at me. Even if you do, I'll still like pretty girls."

Ivan's words amused Aokiji. He shook his head and laughed. "Hahaha, you're an interesting kid."

After a pause, he said with seeming casualness, "I hear you firmly believe in Burning Justice?"

These days, most of the younger generation of Marines believed Admiral Aokiji had always been this lazy.

But a small number of veteran Marines knew that Admiral Aokiji had not always been this way.

He had once been even more driven than Akainu. He had stood for Burning Justice, actively carried out Marine missions, and firmly believed that maintaining order through harsh measures was justice.

Unlike Akainu, however, he also cared for civilians and would not disregard their lives to complete a mission.

Back then, Aokiji had been better suited than anyone to become the next Fleet Admiral.

But all of that changed after the Buster Call incident more than a decade ago. He came to understand the World Government's cruelty and fell into a long struggle with his beliefs. The justice he upheld also changed to Lazy Justice.

Now, having found a talented junior who stood by Burning Justice, Aokiji could not help wanting to protect that flame and keep justice burning.

"Yes, Admiral Aokiji. My justice will surely burn away all filth!" Ivan said firmly.

"Good!" Aokiji patted Ivan's other shoulder, much more gently than Garp had. "Once you've paid the fine, go report to the G-2 Branch today. This is my Den Den Mushi number. Call me if you run into trouble."

At that moment, Aokiji seemed to have returned to more than a decade ago, when his justice was still hot, burning fiercely.

Now, that heat seemed to have carried on rather than gone out, passing from one person to another.

Watching Aokiji leave, Ivan could not help thinking, Admiral Aokiji really is a gentle person.

The warmest person ate the coldest fruit. Is that Oda's twisted sense of humor?

Aboard the Orange, Ivan pressed his palms together and called out, "Wood Release: Warship Expansion Jutsu!"

A mass of tough wooden planks grew from the Orange's hull, making the ship, which was already larger than an ordinary warship, even bigger.

Seen from afar, the Orange now looked like a small castle floating on the sea. Rather than a warship, it was more like a gigantic cruise liner without decorations.

On the upper deck, Ivan studied the Orange's new appearance and nodded in satisfaction.

Beside him, Tashigi hesitated before speaking. "Captain Ivan, the Orange is a warship. Isn't it a little inappropriate to make it this bulky?"

Nami's eyes lit up, and she cut in, "Tashigi, what's inappropriate about it? It looks amazing now!"

Back when she was the Cat Burglar, Nami had enjoyed frequenting all kinds of luxurious places. Now that her own ship was even more lavish than those luxurious merchant ships, she loved it.

Ivan explained with a smile, "Don't worry, it's fine. In the naval battles of the future, after all, it'll always be the strong who decide victory or defeat, not external things like warships."

Tashigi thought that made sense, so she said no more.

Several hours later, the Orange reached the G-2 Branch area and slowly docked not long afterward.

But to Ivan's surprise, when he disembarked and stepped onto land, he suddenly noticed quite a few people nearby watching him and slowly walking toward him.

At their head was a tall, middle-aged man with two long swords at his waist. It was none other than Comil, the commanding officer of the G-2 Branch.

What are they doing at the edge of the harbor? Could they be here to welcome me?

Ivan was a little puzzled.