For the next month, Ivan simply stayed in Loguetown.
He needed to recover from his injuries there, and he also needed to wait for Headquarters to send over the exchanged Devil Fruit.
Apart from that, he had a more important task: honing the techniques he had created.
The essence of Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue was the manipulation of infinite spatial distance, while its outward manifestation was gravity.
Unfortunately, the Gojo Satoru template he inherited was incomplete. He didn't possess the Six Eyes, which allowed for precise control of cursed techniques, so he couldn't manipulate that violent gravity with finesse.
However, fortunately, the physical constitution in the One Piece world was far stronger than in the Jujutsu Kaisen world.
He could rely entirely on his stronger physique to bear the load of the gravity. Even if his control was slightly rough and clumsy, he could still unleash the power of this force to the extreme!
To put it bluntly, it was "brute force makes bricks fly"!
Relying on the synergy between Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and his robust physique, Ivan fumbled his way into creating quite a few practical techniques.
For example, his usual swordsmanship merged perfectly with Blue, deriving new sword skills like Blue Slash and Blue Draw Slash.
Taijutsu was also combined with Blue, creating powerful moves like Blue Iron Fist and Blue Distortion Field.
Besides these, the best combinations with Blue were the techniques Ivan developed later: Blue Moonwalk (Geppo) and Blue Shave (Soru)!
In Jujutsu Kaisen, Gojo Satoru could already rely on Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue to achieve rapid movement, even attaining the effect of teleportation.
Ivan could also rely on gravity to move quickly, achieving even faster Moonwalk and Shave.
It was just that his proficiency wasn't high enough yet. If he had sufficient proficiency, he could achieve high-speed flight even in the One Piece world.
Of course, because he didn't have the Six Eyes, Blue would tear his body apart. This required his physical fitness to reach an extremely high level.
In a flash of thought, Ivan clenched his fist. The azure light in his palm grew increasingly intense, carrying violent gravity as it smashed toward a nearby hill.
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the hard rock crumbled in response. A massive crater ten meters in diameter was forcefully smashed into the ground, with gravel and dust falling rustlingly.
Looking at the blue light dancing on his fist again, it was much deeper than at the beginning of the month, and the force of his punch had surged several times over.
This month of bitter training had not been in vain. He had long since polished all his newly created moves to perfection.
If he were to fight Smoker again now, as long as the opponent didn't rely on the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's elementalization to dodge, he could even firmly gain the upper hand.
After all, he hadn't mastered Armament Haki yet!
Just as Ivan's practice was getting better and better, Tashigi came running over in a hurry.
Coincidentally, at this moment, Ivan punched the mountain body.
The small hill, which had already been riddled with holes from abuse, could no longer withstand this violent impact force. It exploded with a bang, countless stones flying in all directions wrapped in the strong wind.
Tashigi's expression changed. Without time to think, she immediately drew her sword. The bright sword light wove a dense net in front of her, shattering all the oncoming stones.
When the surroundings calmed down, Tashigi looked at the scene before her and swallowed.
The original small hill had completely disappeared, turned entirely into rocks of varying sizes.
Since eating the Devil Fruit, Ensign Ivan's power had become stronger and stronger.
Ensign Ivan's current strength probably surpassed Captain Smoker's!
"What's wrong, Tashigi?" Ivan noticed Tashigi approaching and asked in confusion.
Tashigi snapped back from her shock, hurriedly raised her hand in a standard military salute, and said with adoration:
"Ensign Ivan, good news! The Devil Fruit you applied for has arrived, and Headquarters has also heard of your recent achievements and plans to promote you!"
Hearing this, a gleam flashed in Ivan's eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly:
"Oh, it's finally here... Then it seems it's time to take a trip to the Conomi Islands."
...
Ivan pushed open the door and walked into the office. As soon as his foot landed, a fruit with a surface covered in twisted patterns flew straight at him.
He raised his hand and caught it steadily, hearing Smoker's voice from behind the desk:
"This is the Devil Fruit Headquarters approved for you. Unless something unexpected happens, it should be a Zoan type.
If you plan to give this thing to your subordinates, remember to pick a guy who's good at Taijutsu.
Zoan fruits can enhance vitality and physique. Being good at Taijutsu allows for maximum utility."
Ivan gripped the Devil Fruit, suppressing the urge to recharge it into the system, and nodded:
"Yeah, I know."
Smoker took a deep drag on his cigar, a rare smile tugging at the corner of his mouth:
"Besides that, because you wiped out the Alvida Pirates and killed the Krieg Pirates' cadre Pearl, your accumulated military merits have long met the standard, so your rank has also been promoted.
From today on, I should call you Major Ivan."
Ivan didn't care about the promotion in rank.
In this world where power reigned supreme, military rank was always just an accessory to strength.
As long as one held enough tyrannical power, the corresponding position would naturally come knocking.
Just like the future Fujitora and Ryokugyu; both entered the Marines holding the high position of Admiral, relying not on distinguished military service, but on possessing Admiral-level strength themselves.
Ivan picked up the Devil Fruit and examined it curiously.
This Devil Fruit was different from the one he had before. It was a banana with many patterns on it.
Its appearance was somewhat similar to the Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giraffe, but its skin wasn't yellow, but green.
Ivan had also read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, but there was no record of this Devil Fruit in it.
However, this was quite normal.
After all, there were many types of Devil Fruits, and the records in the encyclopedia were incomplete to begin with. New varieties that had never been recorded often popped up in the world, and the one before him was likely one of them.
Ivan put away the Devil Fruit and was about to bid farewell to Smoker when the latter raised a hand to stop him.
Smoker's cigar trailed curling blue smoke. He pondered for a moment before asking:
"Ivan, are you planning to go out to sea to hunt pirates again?"
"That's right." Ivan answered crisply, without a hint of hesitation.
Hearing this, Smoker frowned almost imperceptibly, his tone deepening:
"But you should know, because you've repeatedly left the waters under Loguetown's jurisdiction without authorization recently to hunt pirates in other branches' territories, quite a few people, both at Headquarters and in other East Blue branches, are already dissatisfied with you..."
Before Smoker could finish, Ivan raised his hand to interrupt him:
"Smoker, let them report me. My steps will never stop because of that."
He pushed open the office door, and the biting wind wrapped in the salty smell of Loguetown rushed in.
As he turned, burning emotions surged in the young man's eyes, and he said with conviction:
"I will not betray the justice in my heart. The justice I believe in is more absolute and more fervent than Admiral Akainu's!"
Smoker watched Ivan's striding back, the fingers holding his cigar pausing slightly, and sighed.
He had always considered himself the most unruly one in the Marines, doing as he pleased and following his heart.
But compared to Ivan, he wasn't worth mentioning.
At least he would still obey his superiors' orders, whereas Ivan treated those orders as nothing.
Burning Justice, huh...
Smoker looked at the figure gradually receding outside the window, his eyes dark.
Hopefully, this kid can really walk this path to the end.
...
After saying goodbye to Smoker, Ivan walked straight toward the newly modified warship at the port.
This warship, modified from the Krieg pirate ship, was far larger than the original warship, and the interior decoration was more comfortable.
To decorate this warship, Ivan had used up his last Beli and military merits, but it was all worth it.
He went to the captain's office, hesitated not at all, and directly ate the green-skinned banana.
The next moment, the system's notification sound rang out.
[You have obtained one draw chance!]