He was an extremely burly giant of a man, with bulging muscles on his exposed arms and chest, exuding an overwhelming sense of brute force.
Round shields hung from his arms and chest, covering large portions of his skin, making him look like a moving fortress.
Just moments ago, he had kicked open the restaurant door and swaggered inside.
After scanning the restaurant's decor with a disdainful sneer, he commanded the waiter who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion:
"Hehehe, so this is the Baratie Floating Restaurant. Doesn't look like much.
Listen up, I'm Iron Wall Paru of the Krieg Pirates. We're currently preparing food for our journey to the Grand Line.
So, from now on, this place is reserved by me. If you know what's good for you, get lost now. Don't make me say it twice!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the restaurant fell into dead silence.
The smiles on the diners' faces froze, their complexions turning deathly pale.
"The... the Krieg Pirates!" someone gasped, sucking in a cold breath. Without hesitation, they immediately ran out of the restaurant.
Some even kindly warned, "Hurry, get out! They're the overlords of the East Blue! We can't afford to mess with them!"
In just a moment, the once-packed restaurant was more than half empty, making the two groups who hadn't left yet stand out.
Paru glanced at these two groups, then grinned, revealing two rows of uneven, yellowed teeth as he sneered viciously:
"Hmph, didn't expect there'd actually be people not afraid to die.
Seems the fame of our Krieg Pirates isn't loud enough in the East Blue yet. We come to some shabby restaurant and immediately run into two groups of reckless fools who don't know their place!"
On the other side of the restaurant, Scarface trembled all over, staring at Paru with eyes full of fear, his teeth chattering.
The reason he hadn't fled with the others wasn't because he was brave, but because he wanted to join the famous Krieg Pirates.
After all, they were the overlords of the East Blue with fifty warships and five thousand pirates!
Their leader, Commander Krieg, was a great pirate with a bounty as high as 17 million Berries!
If he could just squeeze through this door, Scarface might have a chance to become a great pirate himself in the future!
Thinking this, he gritted his teeth, dragged his equally terrified, weak-kneed companion, and shakily shuffled over to Paru.
Under Paru's oppressive gaze, the two bowed deeply, almost prostrating themselves, and shouted at the top of their lungs:
"Mr. Paru, I'm Scarface with a bounty of 680,000 Berries! Please accept us and let us join the Krieg Pirates!"
Paru narrowed his eyes, looking the two over from head to toe, a mocking smile slowly spreading across his lips.
Seeing this, Scarface hurriedly put on an ingratiating smile, bowing even lower, almost ready to kneel outright.
But the next second, the smile vanished from Paru's face. He raised his thick, short leg and kicked out with a powerful gust of wind.
Thud!
After a dull thump, Scarface and his companion were sent flying like ragged sacks by a tremendous force, crashing heavily into the restaurant wall before sliding to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
Paru slowly walked forward, stepped on their chests, spat, and said disdainfully:
"With trash like you, you think you're worthy of joining the Krieg Pirates?"
Paru reached out beside him. The lackey next to him immediately understood, hurriedly handing him a long sword.
Then, under Scarface's terrified gaze, Paru grinned viciously:
"I already warned you bastards, this place is reserved by us. Since you don't understand human language, you might as well die!"
As soon as the words fell, Paru swung the long sword fiercely, creating a gust of wind as he slashed toward Scarface.
But at that critical moment, a figure suddenly rushed out from the kitchen.
The next moment, Paru only felt a numbness in his wrist. The long sword in his hand was actually knocked flying, embedding itself in the distant wall.
Sanji held a cigarette between two fingers, took a deep drag, slowly exhaled, and said sternly to Paru, whose face had turned livid:
"This is a place for eating, not for killing. Wasting food is a shameful act!"
At Sanji's feet was the food that had been scattered everywhere when Scarface crashed into it.
Hearing this, Paru's face first showed surprise, but it quickly turned to rage. He pointed at Sanji and roared:
"What the hell are you? A lousy cook dares to interfere with my business?"
His eyes bloodshot, he roared and charged at Sanji.
Just as Sanji's eyes narrowed, preparing to use his legs, he suddenly noticed a figure had appeared before him at some unknown time.
The Navy Justice Cloak on that figure fluttered without any wind. The next second, a calm, steady voice rang out:
"Paru, isn't it a bit too much to harm civilians in front of a Navy officer?"
Paru looked at Ivan disdainfully, a vicious grin spreading across his face:
"What's a mere Navy officer? Our Krieg Pirates have slaughtered countless Navy men! Today, you'll die here too!"
As he spoke, he swung his shield, aiming to smash it into Ivan's face.
But the moment he moved, a blur suddenly flashed by. Immediately after, he felt an irresistible, tremendous force strike his chest, sending him flying backward.
His body shot out like a cannonball, knocking over several pirates before landing in the sea opposite, sending up a huge splash of water.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing? That bastard was my opponent!" Seeing his opponent sent flying, Sanji didn't feel grateful. Instead, he shouted at Ivan in dissatisfaction.
Hearing this, Ivan turned his head and smiled at him:
"Civilians should just stay behind the Navy. Dealing with pirates is the Navy's job!"
These words made Sanji freeze for a moment.
Hadn't he seen plenty of Navy officers before?
Hiding behind the name of justice, yet doing things no different from pirates—plundering villages, dining and dashing, bullying others with their power. Their actions were even more despicable than those pirates who burned, killed, and looted.
But this guy in front of him...
He really did seem a bit different!
Sanji wanted to say something more, but his shoulder was suddenly gripped firmly by a rough, powerful hand.
He instinctively tried to break free, but that hand was like an iron clamp welded to his shoulder. No matter how much force he exerted, it didn't budge an inch.
"Stop, Sanji." A low voice sounded in his ear. "Leave these pirates to Lieutenant White Dove."
Sanji whipped his head around and realized it was the old geezer who had stopped him.
But for some reason, Zeff's expression was unprecedentedly grave at this moment.
A faint layer of cold sweat beaded on his temples, and his gaze was locked intently on White Dove, not daring to look away for even half a second.
This puzzled Sanji. He said impatiently:
"Old geezer, let me go right now! I have to teach that food-wasting bastard a lesson!"
But Zeff's grip only tightened further, with no intention of letting go at all.
Staring at White Dove's back, he lowered his voice, his tone carrying unprecedented seriousness:
"Behave, Sanji. From now on, keep your eyes wide open and watch White Dove's fight carefully.
If I'm not mistaken, that guy... is a powerhouse who could even stand his ground in the Grand Line!"
"Huh?" Sanji was stunned. He looked at White Dove's back, his face full of disbelief. "White Dove? That guy who's said to only capture pirates with bounties under two million Berries?"
"Have you forgotten the head of the Alvida Pirate Crew's vice-captain?" Zeff's expression was extremely solemn. "What White Dove was like before, I don't know. But the current him... is terrifyingly strong!"
Back when he was adventuring in the Grand Line, Zeff had also heard of the existence of Observation Haki, and had even trained hard in it for a long time.
Although he ultimately failed to truly awaken Haki, that experience had made his senses far sharper than an ordinary person's.
And right now, in his perception, the aura emanating from Ivan's body was far more ferocious than anyone else present!
That invisible pressure was like a Sea King Species ready to devour its prey!
Sanji looked doubtfully at Ivan's back, unable to see how this guy could be strong at all.
But he always had to listen to the old geezer's words, so he didn't have any thoughts of going to teach Paru a lesson anymore.
As for Paru, after being kicked flying by Ivan, he struggled and finally crawled out of the seawater.
He stood on the Baratie's deck, wiped his nose, and roared viciously:
"Ahhh, danger, danger, danger! Life is in danger!"
As he spoke, the shields on his body burst into flames. White-hot flames enveloped his entire body, turning him into a man of fire.
At that moment, his underlings shouted in terror, "Oh no, it's happening! Mr. Paru catches fire when he gets excited!"
Hearing his underlings' terrified cries, Paru felt very pleased. He sneered viciously at Ivan:
"You bastard, you actually made me bleed! So die!
Flame Paru, Grand Display!"
Paru swung his arms forcefully, and flames shot out from them, rushing toward Ivan.
Paru threw his head back and laughed maniacally, watching this scene with satisfaction. Under his flames, this Navy officer was definitely dead!
"These flames aren't even as good as the Flame-Flame Fruit. How embarrassing."
But to Paru's surprise, even though Ivan was surrounded by flames, his voice showed no sign of pain. Instead, it was filled with disdainful mockery.
Paru's pupils suddenly contracted. He said in disbelief:
"How is this possible? Under my flames, how can you be completely unharmed?!"
Ivan had his hands in the pockets of his Navy cloak, lazily walking out of the flames as he said nonchalantly:
"Probably because I'm strong."
Only then did Paru finally see why his flames had failed.
There, floating quietly beside Ivan, was a deep blue sphere.
The moment those flames got close to him, they were immediately swallowed by the deep blue sphere, utterly unable to harm him in any way!
"You... you're a Devil Fruit user!"
Paru was, after all, a great pirate with a bounty of seven million Berries. He naturally knew Devil Fruits weren't just legends. Seeing this scene, he immediately realized Ivan's identity and shouted in terror.
Realizing this, he didn't hesitate. He turned and ran, wanting to jump onto a nearby pirate ship.
Most Devil Fruit abilities were bizarre. Any Devil Fruit user had strength worth at least ten million in bounty.
He most likely wasn't Ivan's match. So run! As long as he could get back to his ship and bombard the Baratie Floating Restaurant with cannons, he could definitely drown this Landwalker!
Unfortunately, his plan was good, but his speed was too slow!
Just as he turned his head, ready to flee, he suddenly noticed a figure had appeared beside him at some unknown time.
Immediately after, a large hand grabbed his neck, lifted him up, and then kicked him again.
The moment that foot made contact, the shield on his chest shattered with a loud crash under a tremendous force.
The next moment, his entire body became a blur as he flew out, crashing right into one of the Krieg Pirates' ships.
His body shot out like a cannonball, smashing the ship's deck to pieces. Some unlucky souls happened to be beneath him and were immediately crushed into pulp by his body.
Even he himself was severely injured. That kick had definitely broken at least a few of his ribs, and his whole body was covered in wounds from the impact.
At this point, he had completely lost his ability to fight.
"Lord Paru, are you alright?"
Right then, several lackeys scrambled over, pulling Paru out of the flames and frantically asking about his injuries.
Paru's face was bruised and swollen. He laughed maniacally:
"Hahaha, fool! What a huge fool!
Instead of taking the chance to kill me, he kicked me back onto my own ship!
Men, aim the cannons for me! Blast that shabby restaurant to hell!
Today, I'm going to make all those bastards on that ship sink to the bottom of the sea!"
"Yes, sir!" The other pirates, hearing this, immediately shed their panic, their expressions turning bloodthirsty and vicious.
That's right! Even if he's a Devil Fruit user, so what? He's still a Landwalker.
As long as they sink that ship, that Devil Fruit user is definitely dead!
Before the words had even fully faded, all the pirates sprang into action.
They shouted at the top of their lungs, deftly loading cannonballs and aiming the dark, gaping muzzles of the cannons squarely at the floating restaurant, Baratie.
A biting sea wind carrying the smell of gunpowder swept over them. Battle was imminent!
This scene also fell into Sanji's eyes. His face darkened as he angrily strode up to Ivan and yelled:
"What the hell is wrong with you? You were about to win, and you let their boss go.
Now they're going to bombard us! What are we supposed to do?
Forget it, come with me, quickly! We have lifeboats, they're fast. If we leave now, we might still escape!"
Sanji tried to pull Ivan away, but found Ivan didn't move an inch.
Frowning his curly eyebrows, he looked at Ivan in confusion. Ivan just said lightly:
"Don't worry. They're just some cannonballs. For a true powerhouse, even natural disasters are nothing.
Although I haven't reached that level yet, protecting this ship from cannonballs is still simple."
Sanji: "???"
Are you kidding me?
But Ivan had no intention of explaining. Sanji at this stage, after all, had limited experience. How could he imagine that his future self could even kick away lasers, defying the laws of physics?
Ivan raised his eyes to look at the sea, his gaze falling on the three pirate ships whose size far exceeded ordinary warships. He took a deep breath.
After pulling off this act, the system's approval rating should increase significantly, right?
By then, he might be able to unlock even more powerful skills!
Thinking this, Ivan calmly extended his arm, palm facing the nearest pirate ship. His voice suddenly turned cold:
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"
Hum!
Hum!
Hum!
A massive amount of stamina was consumed wildly. Invisible vibrations rippled through the air. A deep blue light
gathered and compressed in his palm.
Finally, it grew brighter and denser, transforming into a translucent, deep blue sphere!
Ivan gave the sphere a light flick with his finger.
The next second, the sphere became a blur, moving so fast that no one present could track it. In an instant, it crashed onto the deck of that pirate ship!
And so!
A blinding blue light shot into the sky. A deep blue sun rose above the sea!