Marineford's largest open-air arena.
The air was thick with a sweltering and murderous aura.
The circular stands were already packed. Besides this year's 320 New Recruits, there was a dense crowd of Marineford officers who had come to watch the excitement, and even some Vice Admirals who were off-duty had shown up.
After all, this generation was known as the Gathering of Monsters, and everyone wanted to see what they were made of.
In the center of the stage sat three treasure chests made of phoebe zhennan wood. The lids were wide open, and three strangely shaped fruits covered in spiral patterns lay quietly on velvet.
Logia: Magma Fruit, Logia: Ice-Ice Fruit, Logia: Glint-Glint Fruit.
Three Logia fruits standing at the pinnacle!
Gulp.
The sound of swallowing saliva rose and fell across the field; the flames of desire and ambition burned brightly in the eyes of the young Marines.
On the main stand, Admiral Sengoku gripped his teacup, glancing at Zephyr beside him out of the corner of his eye.
Sengoku asked, "The World Government argued for three whole days over these three fruits. Zephyr, are you sure you want to throw them out now?"
"Hmph, good steel should be used for the blade's edge." Zephyr crossed his arms and snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the arena below.
"Sengoku, you and I both know how bad the situation at sea has become. The scales have already begun to tip."
Sengoku fell silent for a moment, nodded slightly, and set down his teacup.
Zephyr continued, his voice low and powerful. "Right now, Marineford is severely lacking in high-level combat power. Relying solely on a few of us to hold the fort is not a long-term solution. If we don't cultivate true monsters, who will carry the burden of Justice in the future?"
He turned to look at the outstanding figures below the stands. "Most importantly, Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino, and Kain actually appeared in this class of New Recruits at the same time. Since the seeds are already so excellent, I will never allow them to become mediocre due to a lack of resources. Only the truly strong are worthy of this kind of power."
Beside him, Garp laughed while stuffing himself with senbei. "Puhahahaha! I'm quite fond of that kid Kain! I heard he frustrated you so much you had to take blood pressure medication? He has a future! He truly has the style I had back in the day!"
Zephyr's lip twitched. "That brat may have a terrible personality, but his talent is indeed undeniable. Just watch; perhaps he'll give everyone a surprise today."
Sengoku took a sip of tea and said calmly, "As long as he doesn't tear down the training camp."
Before his voice could fade.
Zephyr stood up, his booming voice instantly drowning out the noise of the crowd.
"There is only one rule—a free-for-all!"
"Only the last ten people standing will be qualified to choose a fruit! Now, let the assessment be—"
"Uh, wait a moment."
A lazy voice abruptly interrupted Zephyr.
Dead silence fell over the arena.
In the center of the arena, Kain stood alone, holding a megaphone in one hand and his other hand in his pocket, looking arrogant and uninhibited.
Under the gaze of over three hundred people, he slowly blew into the microphone.
"Hello? Testing? Can you hear me? Good."
Kain looked around at the more than three hundred pairs of hostile eyes and sighed.
"Everyone is busy. There's a limited supply of pudding in the cafeteria later; if we're late, it'll be gone."
"So, to save time and to prevent everyone from ruining their friendships over a few spots..."
Kain took a deep breath and shouted into the megaphone.
"Aside from those three monsters over there, everyone else..."
"Come at me all at once."
The wind stopped.
The teacup Sengoku had just picked up froze in mid-air, and the senbei in Garp's mouth fell out.
Only Zephyr covered his face in pain.
He knew it!
The next second, the arena exploded.
"Bastard! How arrogant!"
"How dare he look down on us! Let's go together! Eliminate him first!"
"Beat him up!"
Over three hundred New Recruits were completely enraged by those words, swarming toward Kain from all directions like a tide.
"Tsk, young people have such short tempers."
Kain shook his head, but a hint of manic excitement flashed in his eyes.
Watching the overwhelming crowd rushing at him, he didn't retreat a single step.
Instead, with a slight smirk, he kicked off the ground with his long legs and soared into the air.
"Tempest Kick: Wild Dance!"
Kain's body spun at high speed in mid-air. His legs were like windmills, kicking out dozens of vacuum slashes in a single second!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The blue slashes were like a torrential storm, indiscriminately covering a 50 meter radius around him.
Every slash precisely avoided vital spots, yet was just enough to incapacitate people.
"Ah! My leg!"
"This wind pressure... what's going on? I can't even stand!"
"A... a monster!"
The more than 100 people in the front were like they had hit an invisible wall of blades. Accompanied by one scream after another, rows of New Recruits were sent flying back like harvested wheat.
With just one move!
A large section of the arena was cleared!
On the stands, the officers who had originally intended to just watch the show all stood up abruptly.
"Is this... an advanced application of the Tempest Kick?"
"Not only is the range massive, but the control is absolutely exquisite! He didn't cut the bones, only the muscles to make them lose combat effectiveness... How long has this kid been practicing to reach this level?"
In just 5 minutes.
Kain landed and elegantly brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes.
The arena was covered with groaning New Recruits. Besides the Three Monsters in the corner who hadn't moved, the only one standing was the blonde youth whose clothes were still neat and whose hair wasn't even messy.
Kain clapped his hands, looked at the corpses littering the ground, and gave an apologetic smile toward the stands.
"Sorry about that, I went a little too heavy. But I was just trying to help everyone test their endurance."
[Ding! Mass brawl, caused collective psychological trauma! Disciplinary Violation +2,000!]
Refreshing!
Kain turned around and looked at the only three people left on the field.
Borsalino was raising his hands in surrender. "So scary~ Brother Kain is as strong as a monster~ I think I'll just give up~"
On the other side, Kuzan scratched his head. "Arara, what a pain... but since it's come to this."
"Hmph!"
A cold snort interrupted Kuzan's chatter.
Sakazuki strode forward, each step leaving a footprint in the ground.
"All the humiliation from this week... I'm going to pay it all back to you today! You two! If you're still men, then come with me! Let's take down this bastard first!"
The future Three Admirals, the prototypes of the Marines' ultimate combat power, were actually forced to choose to team up by Kain at this moment!
"That's more like it."
Kain cracked his neck, making a series of popping sounds.
"If I don't beat the three of you into submission together, how could I have the face to teach you what Justice is in the future?"
"Shave!"
Four figures disappeared from their spots almost simultaneously.
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave instantly exploded in the center of the arena, and the hard stone floor cracked inch by inch.
Sakazuki's fist, Kuzan's whip kick, and Borsalino's light-speed kick (though he didn't have his fruit yet, his leg technique was extremely fast) all attacked Kain from three directions simultaneously.
This was a checkmate!
Even a Marineford Rear Admiral would have to suffer defeat when facing the combined attack of these three monsters.
But Kain smiled.
He simply closed his eyes, as if giving up resistance.
"Paper Drawing: Fighting Body!"
Kain's body twisted at an impossible angle, like a piece of paper, sliding past Sakazuki's punch and brushing against the sole of Kuzan's shoe.
Only Borsalino's kick landed on him.
"Iron Body: Steel!"
Kain didn't stiffen; instead, he instantly hardened his back muscles while moving.
Clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out. Using the impact of the kick, Kain didn't retreat but instead advanced, slamming into Sakazuki's chest like a cannonball.
"Sakazuki, it looks like your wound has reopened?"
Kain's voice was like a demon's whisper.
"Finger Pistol: Bone Piercer!"
Pfft!
One of Kain's fingers poked into the unhealed wound on Sakazuki's chest.
"Argh!"
The intense pain caused Sakazuki's movements to stiffen for a split second, and cold sweat instantly drenched his body.
"Despicable!"
"This is called tactics, my dear friend. Keep practicing."
Kain seized the opportunity to grab Sakazuki's arm and, with a textbook shoulder throw, slammed the future Fleet Admiral into the charging Kuzan.
Bang!
The two collided and rolled into a heap.
Finally, only Borsalino remained in the air.
"Sorry, Kizaru-kun, time to clock out!"
Kain shattered the ground, soaring into the sky with Moonwalk, appearing above Borsalino's head.
"Tempest Kick: Battle Axe!"
His right leg was like a giant axe descending from the heavens, carrying wind pressure as it chopped down heavily.
Borsalino crossed his arms to block.
Boom!
He felt as if he had been hit by a mountain. He fell like a shooting star, slamming into the ground and passing out with his eyes rolling back (or perhaps he was just faking it).
The smoke and dust cleared.
The entire venue was silent.
The sunglasses in Zephyr's hand had been crushed into powder.
In the center of the arena, only one person remained standing.
Kain stood proudly among the three fallen men. Although his uniform was a bit messy, his aura was at its peak.
He won?
One person took down the entire camp and even defeated the three monsters head-on?!
Just as everyone was shocked by Kain's invincible posture.
Kain, in the center of the field, fell to his knees with a thud, scooped up the unconscious Sakazuki, and wailed toward the sky. Tears came as if on command, streaming down his face.
"Sakazuki! Kuzan! Borsalino! Waaaaah... how could I be so heavy-handed!"
Kain cried heart-wrenchingly, with snot and tears everywhere.
"My heart hurts so much! Hitting you, but the pain is in my heart! I'm not human! I'm a beast! I shouldn't have won! I shouldn't have hurt our friendship for that damned first place!"
"Teacher Zephyr!" Kain turned his head, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at the stands. "I don't want this first place anymore! You can even just give me the cash equivalent of the prize! Please, you must heal them!"
Everyone looked at the Strongest New Recruit crying like a 200 pound child, their lips twitching in unison.
This acting... was way too exaggerated!
When he was fighting just now, he was clearly smiling more pervertedly than anyone else!
[Ding! Detected host's extremely hypocritical performance, successfully disgusted the entire audience!]
[Ding! Defeated all the elites of the New Recruit camp single-handedly, establishing the status of Great Demon King!]
[Disruption level being calculated... discipline points critical hit reward: +8,000 points!]
Hearing the system's pleasant prompt, Kain, with his face buried in Sakazuki's chest, revealed a joyous smile that looked even uglier than his crying.
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