Half a month later.
Marineford, Crescent Bay Plaza.
The sea wind howled, but it couldn't disperse the suffocating and fervent atmosphere that had solidified to an extreme.
A white phalanx formed by one hundred thousand elite Marines stood like a silent forest of steel.
Everyone's gaze was locked onto the G-5 Warship slowly docking at the port.
On both sides of the red carpet, the Admiral Stars had gathered.
The Vice Admirals from Headquarters, who were usually as elusive as dragons, now all stood ramrod straight with solemn expressions, without a single wrinkle on their uniforms.
"Gulp..." A young Lieutenant Commander's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice barely audible.
"This formation... it's even more extravagant than a Fleet Admiral's inauguration..."
"Shut up! You idiot!" the captain beside him berated in a low voice, though he couldn't suppress the fervor in his eyes. "That man is the one who personally dragged the Pirate King from his throne and crushed him underfoot!"
A giant anchor smashed into the sea, the piercing sound of its chain echoing.
The breathing of the entire plaza seemed to stop along with it.
"He's here..."
Standing at the very front of the formation, the muscle at the corner of Admiral Zephyr's eye, hidden beneath his sunglasses, twitched uncontrollably.
It was the pride of a teacher, a sense of relief, mixed with a trace of... the complex emotion of watching a student surpass himself.
Click.
The cabin door slowly opened under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino were the first to walk out, spreading out in a triangular formation.
Like three guardian deities, they wore cold expressions, exuding a monstrous aura that blocked all prying eyes.
Then, that figure appeared.
Kane.
He leaned on Tensa Zangetsu, taking one "difficult" step after another.
His body was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, his left arm was in a cast, and his neck was secured by a brace.
The outline of the gruesome wound on his chest, in particular, still emanated a ghastly aura that induced phantom pain, even through layers of gauze.
And behind him.
The once-invincible Pirate King who had been a headache for the World Government for twenty years—Gol D. Roger.
Wearing Kairoseki Shackles, his hair disheveled, he was easily escorted by the "heavily injured" Kane, looking like a stray dog that had lost its home.
Roger kept his head down, and no one could see his expression.
Only he knew that the sense of absurdity in his heart at this moment was vaster than the sea itself.
This scene not only struck the retinas of the hundred thousand Marines present but was also broadcast directly to the entire world through dozens of Visual Den Den Mushi that had been set up long ago!
"KANE—!!!"
A roar, like a spark igniting dynamite.
What followed was a landslide, an earthquake, a tsunami of fervor stirred by the collective beat of one hundred thousand hearts!
"Hero! Hero! Hero!"
Countless young soldiers had tears in their eyes, not caring in the slightest that their throats were tearing from shouting.
Looking at the man who was "grievously injured" for the sake of Justice yet still stood with a straight back, the blood in their bodies boiled like magma!
Kane was already laughing his head off on the inside, but on his face, he managed to squeeze out a pained and pale smile.
He walked up to Fleet Admiral Kong, who had been waiting for a long time, and struggled to raise his cast-covered hand, attempting a standard military salute. However, due to the "excruciating pain," his body swayed violently, and he nearly collapsed.
"That's enough, Kane!"
Fleet Admiral Kong, that iron-willed tough guy, felt his eyes redden in an instant as he grabbed Kane to support him.
"Your salute is already engraved on Roger's shackles! That's enough!"
Kong's voice trembled as he looked at this young man who had practically "burned his life away" for Justice, his heart churning with scorching emotions.
"Fleet Admiral..."
Kane gasped weakly, his voice just faint enough to be picked up by the nearby Audio Den Den Mushi.
"I was fortunate to complete the mission... Although I broke a dozen bones and my lungs were shattered, as long as I could capture Roger... cough cough, I think those innocent civilians who died tragically under the pirates' blades can finally rest in peace, right?"
Boom!
This sentence was like a tear gas canister. Countless emotional female Marines on the scene covered their mouths and burst into tears.
So noble!
What kind of lofty sentiment was this!
Beside them, Sengoku pushed up his glasses, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
As the "Resourceful General," his top-tier Observation Haki vaguely sensed that although Kane's aura was chaotic... wasn't his life force a bit too vigorous?
'This kid... he couldn't be acting, could he?'
An absurd thought flashed through Sengoku's mind, but he immediately forced it down.
He glanced at the fanatically adoring faces around him, then at the genuine Roger behind him.
Who cares if he's acting or not!
Roger is real, the achievement is real, and this victory that the Navy desperately needs right now is also real! That's enough!
"Puhahahaha! Good kid!!"
Smack!
Garp's loud laughter and the sound of a slap rang out simultaneously as he tactlessly smacked Kane's "broken" shoulder hard.
Everyone's pupils quaked.
"Cough..."
Kane let out a perfectly timed muffled grunt and his body went limp, falling forward.
"You bastard, Garp! Are you trying to kill the Navy's hero?!"
Staff Officer Tsuru flew into a rage, her heel, wrapped in Armament Haki, accurately kicking Garp in the chest and sending him flying dozens of meters away.
After a chaotic scramble to help Kane up, Fleet Admiral Kong took a deep breath and walked onto the high platform.
The entire plaza fell into a dead silence.
"All troops, listen up!"
"In light of Rear Admiral Kane of G-5 Base, who, during the South Blue campaign, with his indomitable will and unparalleled combat power, successfully captured the great pirate Gol D. Roger, ending a twenty-year era of chaos!!"
"By a joint decision of the highest echelons of the World Government and Marine Headquarters—"
Kong's throat bobbed. Mustering all his strength, he roared out the decision that would be recorded in the annals of history.
"From this day forth!"
"Rear Admiral Kane is promoted to—"
"The highest combat power of Marine Headquarters!"
"Admiral!"
BOOM—!
Even though they had anticipated it, when those two words were truly roared from the Commander-in-Chief's mouth, the sheer shock of witnessing history made the scalps of the hundred thousand Marines tingle!
An Admiral in his twenties!
A miracle unseen in the Navy's eight-hundred-year history!
Two honor guards walked forward, carrying a brand-new Admiral's Coat.
The coat was as white as snow, the "Justice" characters on its back were bold and powerful, and the golden tassels on the epaulets shone brilliantly in the sun.
Kane slowly turned around.
Fleet Admiral Kong personally draped this coat, a symbol of the highest authority, over his shoulders.
The moment the snow-white fabric touched Kane's shoulders.
Kane's "weak" and crumbling facade melted away silently, like ice and snow under the sun.
His slightly bent back straightened inch by inch, and the bandages on his body seemed to become insignificant decorations.
An invisible wave of pressure, with him at its center, swept through the entire plaza!
It was the oppressive might that belonged solely to a king!
Everyone present felt their legs go weak under this aura, yet the sense of protection it contained only deepened their reverence!
Kong took half a step back, his gaze burning as he looked at the youngest and strongest combat power in the Navy's history, and announced his codename.
"You are hereby granted the codename—"
"[Calamity]!"
A storm is a calamity.
This not only described his Devil Fruit ability but was also the ultimate judgment upon all evil in the world!
"Calamity! Calamity! Calamity!"
The cheers that followed the suppression were ten times more ferocious than before, almost threatening to overturn the skies of Marineford!
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have achieved "Youngest Admiral in History"!]
[Your existence has completely subverted the Navy's power structure and changed the future course of the world!]
[Comprehensive settlement... Violation Value +150,000!]
Kane fought back the urge to laugh maniacally, slowly raising Tensa Zangetsu, its black blade pointing straight at the sky.
Facing the world's cameras, he maintained his compassionate, saint-like expression, his voice clear and powerful:
"I, hereby swear—"
"My sword exists only to eradicate all evil."
"My storm exists only to cleanse this sea of all its filth."
"As long as I stand here for another day..."
His voice paused, and the corner of his mouth curled into a cold arc that no one noticed.
"Justice will never fall!"
"Calamity! Ca-lam-ity! Ca-lam-ity—!!!"
Amidst the hysterical cheers, the escorted Roger finally, slowly, raised his head.
He looked at the back of the figure bathed in endless glory and silently mouthed two words.
"Monster..."
Meanwhile, the phones at the Navy's personnel department had been completely blown up by transfer requests from all over the world.
Everyone had only one goal—
The G-5 Branch!
They wanted to follow the man who had, before the eyes of the world, single-handedly ended an era
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