The speaker was a boxer.
Recent news about him involved a private bar fight, resulting in his suspension from competition.
His square-jawed face was filled with a disdainful smile.
"Am I wrong?!" The boxer gestured in a circle. "Ice that isn't even as thick as my wrist—can something like that really defeat Monsters?!"
He walked toward Aokiji as he spoke, stealing a subtle glance at the filming camera.
Thinking about the eyes of everyone present—and even the countless viewers in front of their TVs—fixed on him, the boxer felt like he was back in his familiar ring, pulsing with excitement.
Aokiji looked him over with interest.
People like this, who seemed to exist solely for the sake of mockery, were usually only common in fictional worlds like manga.
He hadn't expected to actually encounter one after transmigrating.
"Aokiji, do you need me to..." Bang didn't like these arrogant types who lacked real strength.
They always reminded him of his younger self.
"It's fine. Let's just watch the show for now."
The boxer stopped a short distance away from Aokiji.
At 1.8 meters tall, if he stood in front of Aokiji, who was nearly twenty centimeters taller, his presence would naturally feel diminished.
His goal was to use the reputation of an Esper as a stepping stone to boost his own fame!
Although Aokiji was his target, he wasn't stupid enough to attack the person directly.
The lesson of being suspended for the bar fight was only a few days ago; he wouldn't forget it that easily.
The boxer's target was the ice umbrella!
If he could just shatter these ice blocks that were thinner than a wrist, then spend some money to promote the news that an Esper's power was helpless against his fists, his achievements in the Hero Association would definitely surpass anything from before!
"You can't become a hero just by relying on such flashy things!" the boxer said, acting high and mighty as if giving advice.
"This fragile stuff, I can break it with one pun—!!"
He took a professional stance and threw a punch he had practiced countless times!
In the end—
"Aaaahhh!!!"
"It's broken!! My hand!! Dammit, impossible!! Aaaahhh!!!"
His face turned the color of pig liver as the boxer clutched his fist, collapsed to the ground, and screamed in pain.
"Pfft—"
A professionally trained Association staff member couldn't help but let out a snicker.
Like a flipped switch, a jovial atmosphere instantly swept through the venue.
The other applicants didn't suppress their amusement at the spectacle at all. Laughing themselves wasn't enough; they even spread the story bit by bit to the crowd who hadn't seen it directly.
The reporter hid her hand behind her back and pinched her thigh hard, doing her best to keep a straight face in front of the camera:
"Viewers, as we can see, even an attack from a former professional boxer didn't cause any damage to the ice umbrella."
"This extraordinary-looking Esper possesses equally extraordinary strength. With such a powerhouse joining the Hero Association, the public's safety will surely be better guaranteed!"
Aokiji wasn't surprised by this result at all.
One had to consider just how far Aokiji's ability development had reached.
A group of people needed to travel to another island, a distance that would take four days on foot.
To help them...
...he activated his ability and froze the sea between the two islands, a distance of at least several dozen kilometers!
And it stayed frozen for a whole week!
If just anyone could shatter that ice...
...wouldn't the Admiral lose face?
A group of confused medical staff walked out of the testing hall.
Wasn't their job to treat people injured during the testing events?
How could someone get injured during the registration stage?
They arrived huffing and puffing and left carrying a man who was huffing and puffing in agony.
Aokiji hadn't even spoken a single word to the man.
Thus, the minor interlude came to a hasty conclusion.
Aokiji waited for Bang to finish his registration, and the two of them walked into the testing hall together.
Meanwhile, the Association staff member seemed a bit distracted after watching him walk in.
She looked up; the ice umbrella blocking the sun was emitting a refreshing chill.
Physical test... wearing only shorts... *slurp*... maybe I should find someone to cover my shift... "Ooh, Aokiji, your physique is excellently trained."
Bang nodded repeatedly, full of admiration.
A trace of a smile appeared on Aokiji's lazy expression.
His physique was something he had built himself!
The improvements from the aokiji template had only subtly adjusted his muscle form, making it more perfect.
The taller you are, the harder it is to build muscle.
The same amount of growth is obvious on a short person, but might go unnoticed on someone tall.
But correspondingly, the taller you are, the better the proportions, and the better the resulting physique looks!
Aokiji was the perfect proof of that.
"Old man, your physique is great too. It's clearly the body of a warrior who has survived many battles."
The most conspicuous thing about Bang wasn't his refined muscles, which didn't look like an old man's at all, but the scars covering his body.
They were of different sizes and depths.
The types of trauma he had sustained were also varied.
At first glance, they might seem gruesome.
But considering that after bearing so many injuries, this old man could still stand here in one piece and even wanted to join the Hero Association to continue contributing...
...the scars all over his body seemed cooler the more one looked at them!
The two of them continued their pleasant mutual flattery as they walked out of the locker room.
Aokiji scanned the entire venue.
The tests required were no different from the ones he remembered Saitama taking.
However, he did spot a few other interesting characters.
By the punch strength tester, a delinquent youth was loudly questioning the staff why he couldn't use his baseball bat to hit it!?
In the weightlifting test area...
...a massive bodybuilder with dark, shiny skin and muscles bulging like mountain peaks was lifting an incredibly heavy barbell. The floor beneath his feet was cracking under the pressure, yet he still wore a relaxed expression.
Then there was the side-to-side jumping area for testing agility.
Amidst a crowd of shirtless men, a figure wearing a white dog costume was particularly striking and conspicuous. It was a mystery how he had convinced the staff to allow that outfit.
Especially once the test began—he actually used a four-legged stance to jump back and forth so fast he created afterimages!
These three guys, who felt so far removed from ordinary people, were future S-Class Heroes—
Metal Bat, Superalloy Darkshine, and Watchdog Man.
Along with Bang, who was beside Aokiji.
In the manga plot...
...among the future S-Class Heroes, only these four joined the Association in the initial stage.
The newly formed Hero Association was a complete ragtag organization!
For a long time...
...except for Bang, who was rated as a B-Class Hero, the other three lingered in C-Class.
It wasn't until later that the Association gradually realized just how exaggerated the gap in combat power between heroes could be.
Only then was the S-Class Hero rank officially established.
However, none of this had much to do with Aokiji.
He only wanted to become stronger.
Whether it was filling up the progress bar to get a new character template...
...or training and practicing on his own.
As long as he could become stronger, he would gladly accept it.
Aokiji didn't want to experience that feeling of powerlessness while waiting for death during a plane crash ever again.
'I need to find a way to learn martial arts from Bang. I wonder what changes will occur when combined with the physical techniques from the One Piece World.'
Aokiji thought to himself.
'What excellent physical talent! If he were to learn my fist technique... sigh, he has a novel and cool superpower; would he even care for unadorned martial arts?'
Bang thought to himself.