"Ace…"
"Remember to protect that foolish little brother of mine."
Standing tall on the warship's deck, Kai smiled as he looked toward Ace at the harbor.
"Don't worry. He's my brother too!" Ace replied with a firm nod.
"Mr. Kai…"
"What a gentle person you are," Makino said softly from beside Ace, holding little Luffy in her arms, her smile warm.
"Gentle?"
Ace's mouth twitched. His mind immediately flashed back to the scenes of the past few days—
Kai, bare-chested, muscles taut like steel, his terrifying Ghost Back looming, each punch crushing a mountain bandit into bloody pulp.
One punch, one corpse.
Explosions of gore.
Terrifying, bloody, unforgettable.
To Ace, those images would never fade.
If those bandits could hear Makino describe Kai as gentle…
They'd claw their way out of their graves just to argue with her!
"Gentle? To them, Kai was nothing less than a brutal monster. A tyrant of muscle!" Ace grumbled in his heart.
Meanwhile, under Bogard's direction, the marines quickly finished loading all the supplies onto the warship.
In the ship's holds now sat enough provisions to feed hundreds of sailors for half a month.
With everything prepared, Bogard boarded the vessel as well.
"Old man, it's time we left."
Kai turned to look at Garp, who was still lounging lazily on a deck chair.
"Don't you want to say a proper farewell?" Garp asked, chuckling.
"No need." Kai shook his head. "It's not like I won't ever come back to Foosha Village."
Though a pang of reluctance flickered in his chest, he buried it deep.
His heart was blazing with anticipation.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford…
The place of countless possibilities.
The place where he would truly grow strong.
Ordinary hellish training could no longer push him forward.
He needed…
a new method.
A more systematic, scientific path to power.
And the Navy could give him exactly that.
"System, show me my current stats."
After days of slaughtering bandits, his body had grown stronger again. Even to the naked eye, the difference was clear.
With the Ghost Back system, and the hundredfold training effect, Kai's power increased every single moment.
Garp had seen it himself.
Each change in Kai's aura left him muttering the same thing:
I really am old now. This is the age of the young. And this boy… he's the most terrifying monster of them all.
A panel popped up before Kai's eyes:
[Host: Kai]
[Strength: 22.6 (+2.9)]
[Speed: 19.9 (+2.1)]
[Stamina: 24.2 (+3.1)]
[Willpower: 13.7 (+0.5)]
[Ghost Back Completion: 10.24%]
[Current Training Effect: 100x]
"Not bad," Kai murmured, smiling with satisfaction.
Even if the effects of ordinary training were minimal now, the 100x amplification still allowed his strength to skyrocket beyond normal comprehension.
"Set sail!"
Finally, Garp rose from his deck chair, raised his arm, and roared.
The order was given.
Marines rushed to their posts.
The massive warship began to move, sails catching the sea breeze.
Waves slapped against the hull, sending glittering sprays of seawater dancing into the golden sunlight.
Slowly, the vessel drifted away from Foosha Village's port.
The village grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
On the shore, Ace, Makino, the village elder, the gathered villagers, and even Dadan's family who lingered farther away—
all of them stood watching.
"Bring honor to Foosha Village!"
"Little Kai, don't forget to come back and visit us!"
"If things get hard out there, remember, Foosha Village will always welcome you home!"
The villagers shouted, their voices thick with genuine emotion, waving as the ship vanished further into the horizon.
"Kai… just wait."
Ace clenched his fists tight, his eyes burning.
"One day I'll set out too. When that time comes… I'll find you, and we'll fight again. And next time—
I'll be the one who wins!"
"Yah yah~!"
Little Luffy flailed happily in Makino's arms, laughing like a silver bell, as if waving goodbye to his grandfather and big brother.
"Ace, let's go home," Makino said gently, turning back.
"…Yeah."
Ace cast one last look at the endless sea.
The warship was gone now, swallowed by the horizon.
But in his heart, determination burned brighter than ever.
This day…
in the middle of July, in the year 1505 of the Sea Circle Calendar…
Kai, with Garp, officially set sail—
headed for Marine Headquarters, Marineford!
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