Sengoku was between tears and laughter as he put a stop to Garp's absurd idea.
The Impure World Reincarnation required one to die first.
Moreover, a reincarnated body was not like a previous one made of flesh, blood, and warmth. Touching one's own skin felt like touching a layer of cold, icy paper.
Sengoku would rather be truly resurrected than exchange a powerful status for the state of the Impure World Reincarnation.
Garp chuckled and dropped the subject. He had only mentioned it in passing. Given the current number of powerhouses in the Jinghai Army, there was no need for him to take action. In all likelihood, he wouldn't experience many more battles in the future.
Sengoku snatched back his senbei and asked, "Do you have a target for a fight?"
Garp's gaze swept across the crowd in the spectator stands, finally settling slowly on one spot.
Sengoku followed his line of sight, and his expression turned peculiar.
It was the Revolutionary Army's formation.
Monkey D. Dragon, Sabo, Koala, as well as Zoro and Carina.
It was impossible for Garp to fight the juniors. Therefore, it could only be Monkey D. Dragon.
Garp said regretfully, "It's a pity that brat Luffy isn't here, otherwise I'd beat both father and son together."
One became a revolutionary, and the other became a pirate. Back then, it had nearly driven Garp to death with anger. Today, he had finally found a suitable occasion to give his son a thrashing.
On the distant stands, Dragon sensed the old man's gaze. His expression stiffened slightly as he pretended to stare intently at the arena.
Inwardly, he hesitated... should he just make a run for it? If the old man called him out by name for a battle, he would only be able to go up and take a beating; he wouldn't dare strike back.
"Bang—!"
While Dragon was conflicted, a loud explosion echoed from the arena.
Sakazuki slammed into the protective shield at the edge of the stage, his body shattering into fragments of paper. These papers flew back and reformed his body. His entire head had been blown apart and shattered, and after reconstructing himself, his expression was quite grim.
He had lost.
Whitebeard's strength was a notch higher than before. Sakazuki simply couldn't withstand attacks imbued with the infusion of Conqueror's Haki.
On the rostrum, Luo Chen announced Whitebeard as the winner.
"Gu la la la la! Who else is there?" Whitebeard stood on the arena holding his great blade, laughing heartily.
He truly felt the sense of exhilaration from his youth. He could unleash his combat power at will without being held back by his body. Among the many experts of the Jinghai Army, only Rayleigh and Garp could contend with him.
Whitebeard's gaze turned toward Rayleigh. He had even ignored Garp, as the body of the Impure World Reincarnation gave the latter too much of an unfair advantage.
Rayleigh rose from his seat and drew the Supreme Grade blade "Ace" from his waist. He leaped down, landing in the arena, and laughed brightly. "I didn't expect that after several decades, you and I would have another chance to fight."
When they were young, their pirate crews had frequent frictions and collisions. Every duel had ended in a draw. Decades later, it remained to be seen who would emerge victorious.
On the arena, a grand battle erupted once more.
The duel between Whitebeard and Rayleigh represented the highest level of combat currently within the Jinghai Army. Everyone watched this battle with serious focus.
Dragon, Shimotsuki Ryuma, Hawkeye, Aokiji, Sengoku... they were not weak, but compared to the two on the stage, there was still a gap.
Garp munched on senbei, his eyes filled with nostalgia. Forty years ago, after the death of Rocks, the two strongest pirates on the sea were Rayleigh and Whitebeard. There was also "Golden Lion" Shiki. The three were Garp's perennial rivals, with similar strengths that made it impossible for any one of them to truly overcome the others.
Now, the battle between Whitebeard and Rayleigh made Garp feel as if time were flowing backward.
...
Because they possessed bodies of the Impure World Reincarnation and there was a large audience, Whitebeard and Rayleigh did not engage in a battle of attrition. Both abandoned defense and fought with all their might. Within ten minutes, the victor was decided.
Rayleigh was slightly superior; half of his reincarnated head had been shattered. Whitebeard, on the other hand, had his entire head blown apart. If not for the reincarnated body, he would have been completely dead.
Luo Chen sat on the rostrum, finding it quite interesting.
The results of the competition were as expected. First place was Rayleigh. Second place was Whitebeard. Although the others had not fought them yet, they were likely no match for these two.
"A Whitebeard with no injuries and abundant stamina is undoubtedly stronger than Akainu."
Luo Chen glanced at the expressionless Akainu and smiled inwardly. Only when Akainu awakened Conqueror's Haki would he have a chance to defeat Whitebeard.
Next, the battles continued.
The Admirals who wanted to push for a higher ranking challenged Whitebeard one after another. Dragon, Aokiji, Shimotsuki Ryuma, Hawkeye, and Barrett all lost their matches. Sengoku, Issho, and Kizaru had no intention of challenging him, perhaps knowing they couldn't win.
Garp's only move during this ranking battle was to challenge his own son, Dragon. Dragon was beaten until his face was bruised and swollen, not daring to fight back, and finally conceded with a bitter smile.
Aokiji, Kizaru, and even Akainu did not launch a challenge against Garp. After all, Garp was a senior of the Marines and required a certain level of respect.
Aokiji and Akainu took turns challenging Monkey D. Dragon. In the end, both lost. Dragon had also awakened Conqueror's Haki, and his Devil Fruit was the staggering Logia-type Hurricane Fruit. His strength was vaguely a sliver stronger than Akainu's, but not by much.
After multiple battles, the top five Admiral seats were basically confirmed.
The First Admiral: Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
The Second Admiral: Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
The Third Admiral: Monkey D. Garp.
Garp's strength as an Admiral was slightly inflated, but not by too much. The elderly Garp was somewhat inferior to Dragon and Akainu in raw power, but neither would challenge him. No one else had the inclination to challenge Garp either, so he became the Third Admiral.
The Fourth Admiral: Monkey D. Dragon.
The Fifth Admiral: Akainu.
Those who launched challenges afterward all started from Akainu in the fifth seat. If they couldn't beat Akainu, they certainly couldn't defeat the four above him. Aokiji, Shimotsuki Ryuma, Hawkeye, Issho, and Barrett all took the stage to challenge him. In the end, no one could defeat Akainu.
The two World's Greatest Swordsmen from different eras respectively locked in the sixth and seventh Admiral seats. Because Shimotsuki Ryuma had witnessed Luo Chen's swordsmanship many times, he defeated Hawkeye by an extremely narrow margin to rank as the Sixth Admiral.
Hawkeye was the Seventh Admiral.
Following closely behind was Aokiji, the Eighth Admiral. His strength was actually not much different from Hawkeye and Shimotsuki Ryuma. Furthermore, the two World's Greatest Swordsmen frequently sparred with each other, and their strength had improved compared to before. Aokiji only fell slightly behind, securing the eighth seat.
Behind Aokiji was Kizaru. Luo Chen estimated that if Kizaru truly wanted to compete, the probability of him seizing the sixth seat was not low. With his strength, he could likely defeat Shimotsuki Ryuma, Hawkeye, and Aokiji. However, Kizaru had no intention of putting in the effort. He simply coasted along and stayed in the ninth seat.
The Tenth Admiral was Barrett. "Fujitora" Issho became the Eleventh Admiral. Sengoku was the last, the Twelfth Admiral.
Luo Chen looked at the final results and nodded with a smile. The rankings were basically accurate. Garp's position was a bit inflated, but it didn't affect the overall picture. There was some suspense regarding the strength of Barrett and Issho at tenth and eleventh. Issho, considering himself a newcomer to the Jinghai Army, did not fight hard for it. Barrett, meanwhile, had shown obvious progress. During this period, he had frequently challenged the resurrected Rayleigh and Whitebeard, making him much stronger than when he had first left Impel Down. If the two truly went all out in a fight, the result would likely be similar.
Sengoku had no intention of fighting for a rank and sat in the final twelfth position.
"Ryokugyu" Aramaki had challenged both Issho and Barrett in hopes of squeezing into the Admiral ranks. His strength was not weak, but he was indeed a sliver short compared to Issho and Barrett. For the time being, Luo Chen had no plans to increase the number of Admiral seats, so he let Ryokugyu remain in the rank of Admiral Candidate.
Would you like me to translate another chapter or perhaps create a character profile for one of these ranked Admirals?
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]