Inside the arena, the atmosphere was at a strange, tense standstill.
On the viewing platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's eye corner twitched slightly. He pushed up his round-framed glasses, turned to Zephyr beside him, and spoke with a complex tone: "Zephyr... are the soldiers you train usually this... emotionally expressive?"
Zephyr didn't say a word. With a face like iron, he jumped off the platform and strode toward the center of the field.
"Enough! Hold back those horse-piss tears!"
Zephyr's roar was so powerful that Kane's crying stopped abruptly.
Kane looked up, his eyes clear but carrying three parts grievance, two parts resolve, and five parts of acting that he hadn't quite pulled back yet.
"Instructor Zephyr, Sakazuki, he..."
"He's not dead yet!" Zephyr irritably kicked Borsalino, who was playing dead on the ground, and glared at Kane. "That Finger Pistol of yours almost punctured his heart just now, and yet you have the face to sit here wailing like it's a funeral?"
Kane took the opportunity to stand up and gave a serious Marine salute: "Instructor, I did that to stimulate his potential in actual combat! That strike just now was my deepest concern for classmate Sakazuki!"
Zephyr snorted coldly, ignoring his glib talk, and turned to announce to the entire audience:
"The final winner of the Elite Camp examination—Kane!"
"Now, as promised, as the first-place winner, you have the right to be the first to choose one of three top-tier Logia Devil Fruits!"
Whoosh!
As soon as these words were spoken, the originally noisy arena instantly fell silent.
Everyone's breathing became heavy, and countless eyes stared fixedly at the three golden phoebe wood treasure chests on the high platform.
On the ground, Borsalino, who had been faking unconsciousness, quietly opened a slit of his eyes; Kuzan, clutching his stomach, couldn't help but sit up straight; even Sakazuki, who was on the verge of fainting, subconsciously clenched his fist.
They were waiting—waiting for Kane's choice.
As long as Kane took the strongest one, the remaining two would still have a chance.
Kane walked slowly toward the high platform with his hands in his pockets.
He arrived before the three priceless fruits, reached out, and let his fingertips lightly brush against the rinds covered in mysterious spiral patterns.
Just when everyone thought he was about to pick one up—
Kane suddenly withdrew his hand, a hint of... boredom appearing on his face.
"Reporting to Fleet Admiral Sengoku, reporting to Instructor Zephyr."
Kane turned around, his back to the treasure that could drive the world mad, and spoke in a flat voice:
"I don't want a single one of these fruits."
The entire arena was dead silent.
This lasted for a full 3 seconds, and then, the crowd exploded!
"What?!!!"
"Did I hear that right? He refused?"
"Those are Logia types! Did this guy get his brain scrambled in the fight?"
Sengoku was stunned, his hand holding a teacup suspended in mid-air. In all his years, he had seen people fight until they were bloody for a fruit, but he had never seen someone refuse one when it was handed to them on a silver platter.
Zephyr's expression darkened instantly, and an invisible pressure spread out:
"Kane! This is no time for jokes! Do you know what you are refusing? This is a power that countless people can only dream of!"
"Power?"
Kane let out a light chuckle and suddenly looked up, a heart-palpitating arrogance flashing in his eyes.
He looked around, his gaze sweeping over the confused New Recruits, the shocked officers, and finally landing on the three people on the ground.
"Instructor, you often teach us not to rely too heavily on Devil Fruit abilities. Abilities are certainly powerful and can allow one to reach the heavens in a single step. But precisely because they come too easily, they cause people to become lax and neglect the tempering of their own Physique. In the New World, no matter how strong a fruit ability is, there will be a day it is countered. Only Haki... Haki is the power that transcends everything!"
These words were like a thunderclap, striking hard into the heart of everyone present.
Only Haki transcends everything!
What level of enlightenment was this!
This wasn't just a slogan; it was a declaration of a powerful man who possessed absolute confidence in his own strength!
On the ground, Sakazuki snapped his eyes open and stared fixedly at the figure silhouetted against the sunlight. Unwillingness and shock were intertwined in his heart. This guy... this kind of spirit... Zephyr was stunned.
Looking at the troublemaker who usually gave him the biggest headaches, his eyes actually felt a bit warm.
He had always worried that this generation of monsters would rely too much on their talent and neglect basic martial arts and the tempering of Haki. He never expected that the one who understood him best, the one who most thoroughly carried out his Black Arm will, would be Kane!
"Good! Good! Good!!"
Zephyr said good three times and laughed loudly. His fan-like large hand slapped heavily on Kane's shoulder, nearly dislocating it.
"As expected of a soldier I trained! You have ambition! Since you firmly believe in your own path of Haki, then I won't force you to eat these things!"
On the platform, Garp crushed his senbei into powder and laughed wildly: "Puhahahaha! Sengoku, did you hear that? This kid is exactly to my taste!"
In an instant, the way the entire audience looked at Kane changed.
From the fear of looking at a monster, it turned into the respect of looking at a pure powerhouse.
This was a true man who was willing to give up shortcuts in pursuit of the ultimate martial path!
[Ding! Published the Haki Supremacy speech, establishing a fake profound persona, triggering mass admiration! Triggered Subverting Cognition achievement! Disciplinary Violation +2,000!]
Hearing the system notification, Kane was blooming with joy inside.
Don't want the fruits?
Nonsense!
There were plenty of fruits in the system roulette that he had never even heard of; they were definitely stronger than these three.
Besides, once he became the Fleet Admiral in the future, how could he do without reliable soldiers under him?
And... Kane looked at the deeply moved Zephyr, and his expression suddenly became a bit wretched.
"Um... Instructor, since I'm not eating the fruit, it's equivalent to saving important strategic resources for Marineford, right?"
Zephyr hadn't recovered from his emotion yet and nodded subconsciously: "Yes, these three fruits are indeed precious. Leaving them for Sakazuki and the others is also an excellent supplement to our combat power..."
"In that case,"
Kane rubbed his hands together and spoke rapidly:
"Then can you convert my quota into cash? I've calculated it; these fruits are worth at least over 1,000,000,000 Berries, right? See, will you give me cash, or deposit it directly into my allowance account? A 20 percent discount is fine too; I'm not picky."
The air froze again.
The smile on Zephyr's face stiffened and gradually cracked.
The tea Sengoku had just sipped sprayed all over the back of Garp's head.
"What... did you say?" Zephyr's voice was trembling.
"Convert it to cash!"
Kane blinked his big eyes and said righteously: "I won this reward with my own ability. I chose not to take the physical item and instead exchange it for equivalent currency. That's very reasonable, right? I've already thought it through. After I get this money, I'll first go to Sabaody Archipelago to buy a manor, and then hire dozens of maids... ahem, I mean hire dozens of sparring partners to temper my Haki day and night."
"Reasonable? I think you want to go meet God!"
Zephyr finally reached the end of his patience. Veins popped on his forehead, and a roar echoed through the sky.
"I'll give you noble and selfless! I'll give you Haki transcends everything!!"
Boom!
With a loud bang, Kane was kicked away by Zephyr like a meteor, turning into a bright star on the horizon.
"Wake those three bastards up! The fruits belong to them! And send that scoundrel Kane to the solitary confinement room to reflect for 3 days!!"
In the sky, Kane's receding screams could still be heard:
"If you won't give the money, then forget it! Why are you hitting me! I'm going to the World Government to file a complaint against you!!"
[Ding! Publicly soliciting a bribe from an Admiral, treating top-tier strategic materials as a monetary transaction! Severely profaning the sanctity of Justice! Gained a huge amount of discipline points: +5,000!]
...Half an hour later, in the Marineford infirmary.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled into the ward.
Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan sat together, each holding a Devil Fruit with a strange pattern, their expressions complex.
They had lost.
They had lost completely.
But the man who beat them had thrown this power, which was enough to trigger wars on the sea, to them like trash.
"Only Haki... is the truth that transcends everything?"
Sakazuki looked at the Magma Fruit in his hand, his eyes dark. Although he was unwilling, he had to admit that the sentence that guy said had a heart-shaking boldness.
"It's really annoying," Kuzan scratched his hair. "It makes it feel like we're just picking up his leftovers."
"Yeah~ he's truly a scary man."
Borsalino held the Glint-Glint Fruit, looking thoughtful. "Preferring to trust his own body rather than take a shortcut... I'm ashamed to say I can't match that level of resolve~"
At this moment, although the three still felt resentment toward Kane, there was an added sense of respect that they didn't want to admit but definitely existed.
That man, perhaps he really did it to spur us on... Just then, a bruised figure with a limp was passing by the window, grumbling.
"Damn Zephyr, he really hit hard... If you won't give the money, then don't, but was it necessary to kick me in the face? No, this is a huge loss. I must sneak into his office tonight and steal all those boxes of special-supply cigars he's been hoarding!"
The voice drifted clearly into the ward.
The originally heavy and moving atmosphere in the room vanished instantly.
Crack.
The apple in Sakazuki's hand was crushed.
The three looked at each other, several black lines hanging from their foreheads in unison.
Moved, my ass!
This guy is indeed still that piece of scum!
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