Splash! Splash!
The terrifying shockwaves born from the battle churned the sea into chaos.
The currents rolled violently as if a storm had descended, and wave after wave spread outward across several kilometers of ocean.
One kilometer away from the pirate ship, a large Navy warship remained anchored.
On its deck, Zephyr stood with Smoker, Tina, and the other elite cadets, all of them staring at the battlefield ahead with eyes wide in shock.
"Good grief…"
"This is insane."
"Those two are monsters."
"That Whitebeard 'son' being this strong, I can understand. After all, they say he carries the bloodline of Whitebeard—the strongest man in the world."
"But can someone explain to me why Kai is this strong too? Even if he carries Vice Admiral Garp's bloodline, he's only five!"
"A five-year-old fighting a pirate whose combat power is basically on the level of a several-hundred-million-berry monster—and fighting him to a standstill?"
"That's insane!"
The cadets were all deeply shaken.
Their faces were pale, and their bodies trembled.
Smoker and Tina were no exception. Both were frozen in place, full of disbelief.
"I remember Kai saying earlier…"
"that after a year of training, his current strength was already no weaker than a Vice Admiral's."
One cadet spoke in a dazed, shaken voice.
"I thought he was just talking big because he didn't understand how terrifying Vice Admirals really are."
He swallowed, then continued.
"But I never imagined…"
"that he might actually have Vice Admiral-level combat power."
"After all, a pirate said to possess power comparable to Whitebeard in his youth can't do anything to him right now."
"Doesn't that already prove everything?"
"He wasn't lying."
"We were the frogs at the bottom of the well."
"Kai really might have Vice Admiral-level strength… at age five."
The moment those words fell—
the entire deck went silent.
Dead silent.
After a long pause, the silence finally broke.
The whole group was shaken again.
Every cadet stared at Kai's figure, their eyes filled with awe, admiration, and shock they could no longer hide.
"V-Vice Admiral level?"
"A five-year-old with Vice Admiral-level combat power?"
"My god…"
"Can somebody tell me I'm not dreaming?"
"That monster Kai used only one year to train himself to this level?"
"Unbelievable."
"This is a true freak."
"He's a complete monster."
The cadets were all stunned beyond words.
Beside them, Zephyr was no different.
Watching that violent battle, even he hadn't expected things to go this far.
He had never imagined that five-year-old Kai could be this strong.
Even after Weevil activated both Armament Haki and Observation Haki and began fighting seriously, Kai still didn't fall behind at all.
That was completely beyond Zephyr's expectations.
"Vice Admiral-level…"
Zephyr's eyes lost focus for a moment.
Was that really all?
Could an ordinary Headquarters Vice Admiral fight Whitebeard's 'son' this evenly?
Probably not.
A standard Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters would never be able to match Weevil like this.
Only someone among Vice Admirals who stood extremely close to Admiral level might have a chance to fight a monster like Weevil on equal footing.
So, after thinking it through, Zephyr reached a shocking conclusion.
"That little monster…"
"His combat power probably isn't just ordinary Vice Admiral level."
"A normal Vice Admiral could never fight Whitebeard's 'son' like this."
"In other words…"
"Even among Vice Admirals, Kai would absolutely rank among the best."
"What a terrifying thought."
"He's only five, and his strength has already reached such an absurd level."
Zephyr sighed in amazement.
Back in his own day, when he finally reached the level of a Vice Admiral, he had already been a grown man for decades.
It had taken him countless years of hard training.
The process had been brutally difficult.
Every Vice Admiral-level fighter had to pour in time, blood, and sweat over many years to reach that level.
At least a decade.
And yet what was he seeing now?
A five-year-old at Vice Admiral level?
No—
to be more precise, a five-year-old who had not only reached Vice Admiral level, but was already one of the strongest among them.
If he hadn't witnessed it personally, Zephyr never would have believed such a thing could exist.
He let out a long breath and forced himself to calm down.
Then he looked up toward the battlefield, admiration and disbelief filling his eyes as he watched that tiny figure battling a giant on even terms.
"Most people need decades to grind their way up to Vice Admiral level."
"But Kai…"
"He did it in one year."
"He really is a once-in-a-century genius."
Zephyr was full of emotion.
At this point, he could finally stop worrying about Kai's safety.
He believed that even if Kai ultimately lost this battle, he still wouldn't die at Weevil's hands.
The gap between them was too small.
Either side defeating the other would be extremely difficult.
And if Kai did lose, Zephyr would still have time to step in and intercept.
At that point—
a worn-out Weevil facing Admiral-level Zephyr…
the outcome was obvious.
From the moment Weevil ran into both Kai and Zephyr, his fate had already been sealed.
If he had encountered Zephyr alone, he could have retreated safely.
With his strength, he might not have been able to beat Zephyr, but escaping would have been easy enough.
And with cadets to protect, Zephyr wouldn't have been free to chase him.
In that case, Weevil could have escaped unharmed.
But instead—
he ran into a warship carrying both Zephyr and Kai.
Zephyr alone would have been bad enough.
But there was also Kai—
a five-year-old already standing at top-tier Vice Admiral level.
A fighter whose strength was in no way inferior to Weevil's.
And with Zephyr holding the field in reserve, even if Kai lost, Weevil would still have no strength left to resist Zephyr afterward.
So Weevil's fate was obvious:
capture.
As for his mother, Miss Bakkin—
she wouldn't escape either.
Her strength wasn't much. She only had experience and a sharp tongue.
Even Smoker would likely be enough to deal with her.
Let alone Zephyr himself.
"Teacher Zephyr…"
"Do you think Kai can win?"
One of the cadets finally asked.
"Win?"
Zephyr narrowed his eyes.
For a moment, even he couldn't judge it.
If someone had asked him at the start of the fight, he would have rejected the idea immediately.
But now—
Kai had shown far too much.
He was fighting Weevil evenly.
That alone made the outcome uncertain.
It had become a genuine unknown.
"Garp, you old bastard…"
"You must've burned enough incense for ten lifetimes to end up with a grandson this monstrous."
Zephyr felt genuine envy toward his old comrade.
Still—
a once-in-a-century genius like this was also his student.
And that alone gave him plenty of pride.
Even if…
he had only taught the kid for a single day.
In just that one day, everything Zephyr had to teach had already been squeezed dry.
But so what?
What did length of time matter?
If Kai had been his student for even one day—
then he would always be his student.
That was what Zephyr believed.
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