Chapter 57 - The Flamingo Cometh

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"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Daytime—at the open-air training ground of Aaron's base of operations.

Aaron stood in the center, holding his blade Demon Cry, unleashing a relentless flurry of strikes against a humanoid training dummy.

His slashing and movement speed were terrifyingly fast. Even Gabdon and the others—whose physical strength far surpassed that of ordinary people—couldn't keep up with Aaron's sword movements. All they could see were countless afterimages of both his blade and his body, engulfing the dummy in what looked like a storm of steel.

A "Blade Storm."

That was the phrase that flashed across everyone's minds. Nothing else could better describe the way Aaron's sword was tearing through the air around his target.

Within moments, the dummy was caught entirely within that storm. Sword marks appeared rapidly all over its body—especially around the throat and heart area, where the damage was most concentrated.

"Hey, Kabu, can you even see Boss Aaron's sword anymore?"

Victor swallowed hard as he watched the human-shaped dummy being assaulted by that torrent of strikes—so fast and so dense that it sounded like continuous thunderclaps. He whispered nervously to the short man beside him, Kabu.

Victor already knew just how durable those training dummies were.

He had no idea where Aaronr had managed to find them, but he'd seen bullets bounce right off their bodies without leaving so much as a scratch. Even Gabdon, swinging his naginata with full strength, could only leave faint white marks after multiple blows—and his weapon's edge had even chipped from the effort. These things were unbelievably tough.

And heavy.

Though they were roughly human-sized, each one weighed at least ten times as much as an ordinary person.

Of course, that made sense—Aaron had created them himself using his Munch Munch Fruit powers, fusing together over a dozen types of extremely hard metals. Even a Meitō—a named blade—would struggle to damage them unless wielded by someone exceptionally strong.

And yet now, Aaron was leaving visible white scars on their bodies with every strike. Each hit made the dummy shudder violently.

The sight left Victor utterly speechless.

He knew at that moment that his leader had once again grown stronger—astonishingly so. In just a few days, Aaron had mastered an entirely new form of high-speed swordsmanship.

Kabu, who had basic sword training himself, was staring at Aaron with an almost fanatical intensity. His eyes were wide open, bloodshot, and completely focused—until Victor interrupted him with his question.

"I was this close to seeing it, you idiot! Don't bother me!"

Kabu snapped irritably, quickly stepping away from the chatterbox Victor. He tried to get closer to Aaron, hoping to catch even a glimpse of his sword technique and learn something from it.

But no matter how close he got, he couldn't see a thing. The sword speed was simply too fast—far beyond what his eyes could follow.

"Cheh, just admit you can't see it," Victor muttered, smirking. Then he turned his gaze toward Lombaton and Gabdon.

Among the five squad leaders, those two were unquestionably the strongest—though Gabdon currently had a slight edge.

When Victor looked their way, both men just shook their heads.

Their hearts were filled with both frustration and excitement.

Frustration, because Aaron was growing stronger and stronger, leaving them further behind. At this rate, they might soon be completely unable to keep up with him—unable to offer any real help when facing powerful enemies.

But excitement, too—because having such a powerful leader meant they stood a much greater chance of surviving in this chaotic world.

And Aaron wasn't a harsh or stingy commander; his conduct over the past weeks had already proven that.

"Three times my normal speed—that's my current limit," Aaron murmured half an hour later.

He finally stopped his relentless assault. The dummy before him was covered in deep gashes, especially around the neck and chest, where the damage was so severe it was nearly shredded.

Sheathing Demon Cry, Aaron exhaled slowly, his breath steaming in the cold air as he reflected.

"My physical strength still needs work. If I could capture a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, I could probably boost my development speed even further."

It was thanks to the Swift-Swift Fruit that Aaron had become a master of high-speed swordsmanship just a month after obtaining the Munch Munch Fruit.

Using the swallowing ability, he didn't need to eat other Devil Fruits himself. Instead, he could send them into a separate space within the fruit's power—and borrow their abilities freely.

He had theorized that the Munch Munch Fruit could host or govern other Devil Fruits' powers.

When a fruit was "swallowed," it became something like a plug-in—integrated temporarily within that internal space, allowing the Munch Munch Fruit to channel and manifest its abilities directly.

That was how Aaron could use the power of the Swift-Swift Fruit without ever consuming it.

And in doing so, he was also steadily pushing the limits of the Munch Munch Fruit itself.

The Swift-Swift Fruit's ability was simple—acceleration.

It allowed its user to accelerate themselves or anything they touched: their body, their strikes, their movements, even the very air their swings cut through.

Of course, it had limits—determined by physical stamina and mastery of the ability.

At the moment, Aaron could push that acceleration to three times normal speed.

He could go higher, but doing so would rapidly drain his stamina, injure his body, or even shorten his lifespan.

Still, with just a triple acceleration boost, his overall strength had skyrocketed.

Now, he was confident that if he faced Horton—the Akio Gang officer—again, he could easily avoid defeat as long as his stamina held.

Threefold slashing speed made his strikes nearly invisible and exponentially more powerful.

Threefold movement speed made him appear to teleport—completely untouchable without the use of Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki).

And when applied to bullets, even gunfire became lightning-fast, almost impossible to dodge unless one had Observation Haki to predict the trajectory.

When Aaron had first understood the full potential of the Swift-Swift Fruit, he couldn't help but shiver.

If he hadn't had Observation Haki, and if Maran—its original user—hadn't been such an amateur, Aaron might've died that day.

Honestly, he thought the Marine bounty on Maran—just 50 million berries—was far too low.

With a fruit like that, even 100 million wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"At least now I've got some ability to protect myself," Aaron thought with a small smile.

"The power of Devil Fruits really is incredible. No wonder so many people chase after them—they're treasures that can instantly change one's fate."

Taking a sports drink from Victor, Aaron drank deeply, then looked up at the snow-filled sky, exhaling softly.

These past weeks had been full of pressure.

But with the Munch Munch Fruit in his hands, his power had risen dramatically.

By orchestrating a major incident to draw the attention of the powerful figures in Vilia Port away from him, he'd bought himself precious time to grow stronger—to finally breathe.

"Lord Aaron, your call."

Just as he was about to resume practicing with the Swift-Swift Fruit's acceleration, one of his subordinates hurried over, holding a ringing Den Den Mushi (Transponder Snail).

"He's here… the flamingo."

A few minutes later, Aaron set down the receiver, his face hardening as he looked toward the harbor.

Then, after giving a few quick orders to his five squad leaders, Aaron activated his acceleration ability—his figure vanishing in an instant before his men's eyes.

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