Kuzan stood rooted to the spot, his lips moving, but he couldn't utter any words to defend himself.
Because he saw that Kenji was giving orders as an Admiral. And as the Admiral's subordinate, his only choice was to 'obey orders'.
After all, as a Marine, obeying superiors is the most basic quality.
At this moment, his direct superior had already given an order, and he couldn't refuse or evade it. In fact, he shouldn't even hesitate or waver right now. If Garp found out about this, he would most likely add a few more devilish training courses afterward.
"...I'm not mentally prepared to fight a Legendary Pirate yet." Kuzan sighed, his usual nonchalant expression quickly receding, replaced by a serious one.
"Alas, there's no helping it. This is the fate of a Marine… There will always be a day when we encounter extremely dangerous individuals."
"The life of a Marine, who knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first?"
"But… courage is the anthem written for us Marines!"
Hearing Kuzan solemnly recite that, especially those words, Kenji almost choked on his own saliva, thankfully he wasn't drinking water.
I told you to fight Whitebeard, and you're even spouting motivational quotes?
Moreover, these few motivational quotes… didn't I mention them to Garp back then?
What's going on? Garp passed them on to you?
"Counting the time, many years have passed…"
Although he found it hard to bear, after hearing these few motivational quotes, Kenji couldn't help but recall his passionate youth many years ago.
As for Kuzan, saying these words seemed to be just to boost his own confidence.
When his voice fell, there was nothing but fighting spirit in his eyes, no other chaotic emotions.
"This kid…" Kenji was slightly surprised by Kuzan's sudden seriousness.
There was no helping it, who told this kid to always act so nonchalant, useless at everything and never satisfied with what he ate. He never seemed reliable.
Now that he was on the battlefield, about to face a powerful enemy, he finally showed a hint of a strong person's demeanor.
Just looking at Kuzan's current performance, he indeed had the potential to be an Admiral.
Of course, to truly see a person's potential, one must observe their performance when facing a life-or-death situation.
Although Kuzan was about to face a Legendary Pirate, Kenji, an Admiral, was ultimately there to back him up, so it only looked relatively dangerous.
"Hoo!"
After exhaling, Kuzan pushed off with both feet, and his entire body suddenly shot out.
Bang!
Two deep footprints were left on the ground. With the help of the immense recoil, Kuzan crossed a thousand meters in just an instant.
The center of the battlefield was relatively far from the Marine's position. Kuzan's figure flashed several times before finally entering the battlefield.
"Marine?"
The Whitebeard Pirates quickly noticed Kuzan's arrival. While surprised by his speed, they all rose up, preparing to intercept him.
"Stop that guy! Don't let him disturb Pops' fight!"
"Everyone step back, let me handle this!"
"Hey! Wait! You're still just a rookie, aren't you?!"
Amidst the disgruntled shouts of the Whitebeard Pirates, a cyan figure streaked across the sky, leaving a trail of burnt flames.
In a flash, the cyan figure quickly arrived above Kuzan.
"That's… a Devil Fruit user?"
Kuzan looked up, and what met his eyes was a half-human, half-bird creature engulfed in cyan flames.
At this moment, the opponent was diving at high speed, his sharp bird claws already aimed at Kuzan's head.
"This level of strength can't stop me!" Kuzan raised a hand and pointed, using Armament Haki to block the bird claws.
Then, he spread his five fingers, grabbing the bird's leg and slamming the opponent heavily to the ground.
"Marco!"
Exclamations and hurried footsteps came from afar.
Kuzan did not linger and once again rose to charge towards the center of the battlefield.
This time, he successfully entered the center of the battlefield, only a few meters away from the fiercely battling Whitebeard and Oden.
"Hmm? Where did this Marine brat come from?"
Whitebeard glanced at Kuzan, a look of surprise and annoyance on his face, and coldly shouted, "Get lost, brat! Call Kenji over for me!"
Hearing this, a young man's spirited defiance instantly appeared in Kuzan's eyes, and he said unconvinced, "Looking down on me, are we? I'm a future Admiral!"
"Admiral? You?"
Whitebeard sneered, casually reaching out and throwing a punch at Kuzan.
This punch, however, was imbued with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power.
Rumble!
Whitebeard's extended fist suddenly surged with a white orb of light, containing an incomparably powerful tremor force.
As Whitebeard's fist struck Kuzan from a distance, cracks instantly appeared in space, and spatial fissures rapidly approached Kuzan along the air.
At this moment, Kuzan launched both fists, releasing his Armament Haki to its limit, wrapping it around his fists, and meeting the attack without fear.
The next moment.
Boom—Rumble!
The terrifying tremor wave blasted Kuzan's entire body.
Kuzan's two full-force Armament Haki fists weren't entirely useless. At the very least, they demonstrated his strength. At least they could let people know, and tell Garp, that he was no coward.
Rumble! Rumble!!
The tremors continued to erupt, affecting not only Kuzan but also the surrounding ground, which cracked into countless ravines.
At this point, the tremor wave acted on space, transmitting to Kuzan's body, allowing him to feel the power of the tremor up close.
"Whoa!"
After a moment, Kuzan finally couldn't hold on, and his entire body left the ground, being violently sent flying by the tremor force.
"Can't even withstand a casual punch?"
From a distance, Kenji watched the entire battle, shaking his head in disappointment.
"If you had used Armament Haki Emission, perhaps you could have lasted a bit longer…"
"Hmm, speaking of which, did Kuzan master the power of Armament Haki Emission?"
Watching Kuzan being blasted out of the battlefield by the tremor wave, Kenji dispatched some Marines to rescue him.
Then, he turned his gaze back to Whitebeard, thinking to himself, 'Whitebeard is indeed waiting for me… He's deliberately putting on a show, isn't he?'
'Planning to hit me hard as soon as I enter the battlefield?'
'Heh, it's just like you, Whitebeard…'
A cold sneer appeared on Kenji's lips as he recalled how Whitebeard was always the most ruthless when they used to fight in groups.
"Haha, your plan failed, are you very annoyed?"
Even from a great distance, Kenji could clearly see the look of shock and anger on Whitebeard's face.
There was a hint of exasperation starting to show.
Kenji remained where he was, calmly observing the battle, not in the least bit rushed. He decided to wait a little longer.
Before long, the system mission prompt indeed appeared.
However, to Kenji's surprise, what appeared this time was the mission completion prompt.