"You?"
Zephyr staggered.
He had been about to move forward and test Weevil's strength—only to forcefully stop mid-step. Turning his head, he stared at the child beside him with a face full of disbelief.
He didn't doubt Kai's talent.
Kai was strong—everyone acknowledged that.
But…
"Whitebeard's son" Edward Weevil wasn't some ordinary pirate.
He was a true top-tier monster of the sea.
Letting a five-year-old kid go up against Weevil?
That wasn't brave.
That was insane.
It was suicide.
That man was said to possess combat power comparable to Whitebeard in his youth—a freak of nature.
And Kai was only five.
No matter how exceptional a five-year-old was… how far could that strength really go?
Zephyr didn't believe—he couldn't believe—that Kai had what it took to contend with Weevil.
"Keep these cadets safe. Watch them like a hawk."
"As for you going to fight him—if something happens to you, I'll have no face left to answer to Garp."
"That old bastard will tear me apart. And Fleet Admiral Kong, Sengoku… I'd become the Navy's criminal."
"Don't force it!"
"This pirate—Weevil—his strength is said to be on par with Whitebeard in his prime years. If you charge in recklessly, you could really get yourself killed."
Zephyr's tone was grave.
Even he didn't have absolute confidence he could take Weevil down quickly.
At least Kai being here meant the cadets wouldn't be threatened.
Otherwise, Zephyr wouldn't even have the freedom to engage Weevil—he'd be chained down protecting the students.
"Teacher Zephyr…"
Kai smiled.
"Do you remember what I told you a few days ago, on the road after leaving the Science Division?"
"Hm?"
Zephyr frowned, searching his memory.
He'd forgotten.
So Kai reminded him calmly.
"I said I already had the combat power of a Vice Admiral."
"But you didn't believe me. So I told you…"
"Teacher Zephyr—you might have a massive misunderstanding about my strength."
"Today's a good chance to let you see it for yourself."
"I wasn't lying that day."
Before Zephyr could respond—
"Geppo!"
Kai kicked the air.
Using Rokushiki's Sky Walk, he launched himself upward—step after step—rising tens of meters into the sky, running through the air as if the sky itself had turned into solid ground.
Each step seemed to rip the air apart.
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosive cracks rang out like glass shattering.
In the blink of an eye, Kai had left the warship entirely, suspended high above the sea—walking through the open sky.
Every cadet on deck saw it clearly.
Their faces froze in shock.
None of them expected Kai to personally take the field.
Zephyr's expression changed. Instinctively, he wanted to chase after him.
But the moment he remembered the seventy inexperienced cadets beside him, he forced himself to stop.
"Dammit, you little brat…"
"You're too reckless."
"That 'Whitebeard the Second' has strength that's easily on the level of pirates worth hundreds of millions of berries."
"You're just a five-year-old kid!"
"Are you charging in to die?"
"How could a monster like that be something a five-year-old can handle?"
Zephyr clenched his fists, anger and worry twisting together.
He was furious at Kai's impulsiveness—
yet the fear for Kai's safety was even stronger.
Whitebeard's "son"… Weevil's strength spoke for itself.
Kai was five.
No matter how Zephyr tried to imagine it—
it was hard to picture Kai shaking that monster.
Almost impossible.
"Teacher Zephyr… is Weevil really that strong?"
Smoker asked quietly.
"Even I don't have one hundred percent certainty I can take him down," Zephyr said, voice heavy.
"Now tell me—do you think he's strong or not?"
He looked at the cadets around him—faces pale, eyes anxious—and forcibly suppressed the urge to pursue Kai.
He couldn't abandon these students.
If it came to the worst, he'd still step in and pull Kai out.
But not now.
"How the hell does a pirate like 'Whitebeard the Second' show up in the first half of the Grand Line?"
"He should be in the New World!"
"Damn it!"
"Our intelligence division is eating dirt—bunch of useless trash!"
Zephyr's anger flared.
He hadn't expected to encounter a pirate of this level on a training voyage.
If it were a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't fear Weevil.
But he was "dragging family"—seventy elite cadets—so he couldn't move freely.
"This pirate Weevil…"
"His strength is at least on the level of a two to three hundred million berry-class pirate."
"In the first half of the Grand Line, he's standing at the very top."
"In this sea, pirates stronger than him are rare. You could count them on one hand."
Zephyr's tone was grim.
"So strong…?"
Tina's refined face tightened with worry.
"So that means… Kai is in danger?"
The other cadets felt the same.
Kai was terrifyingly strong in their eyes—
but they still couldn't believe a five-year-old could contend with a monster at that tier.
"Can he really do it…?"
"Kai's too impulsive."
"That's a pirate with the combat power of someone worth hundreds of millions."
"Even Teacher Zephyr isn't fully confident he can win—yet Kai's going alone?"
"And did you hear what he said?"
"He claims he has Vice Admiral-level combat power—he's lost it."
"A five-year-old with Vice Admiral strength? I don't buy it."
"He probably doesn't even understand how strong Headquarters Vice Admirals really are."
The whispers spread.
All eyes turned upward—to that tiny figure striding through the air.
Zephyr. Smoker. Tina.
Every one of them carried the same fear.
As the massive pirate ship drew nearer, Kai closed the distance rapidly.
Finally—
when the pirate ship was less than a kilometer from the Navy warship—
Kai arrived above it, hovering dozens of meters overhead.
He stood there, supported only by his Sky Walk, looking down at the entire vessel.
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