Garp walked in front, Karens behind him, both moving quickly.
At this moment, the major stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago felt extremely uneasy, his heart filled with tension.
After hearing the full account of Alex's situation, Vice Admiral Garp did not explode in anger on the spot. Instead, he wiped the smile from his face and ordered Karens to lead the way.
A young man who had suffered under noble slavery and abuse, then killed the noble in fury and escaped—such a personality perfectly suited Garp's preferences, completely opposite to Karens'.
Thinking carefully, the group of marines currently following Garp possessed exactly this kind of temperament as well—reckless and fearless.
Though their casualty rate was somewhat higher, since they fought vicious pirates every single day.
Just as the two approached the training ground, their steps suddenly halted. Karens raised his head blankly, and a look of horror rapidly spread across his face, visible to the naked eye.
"Buzz!"
A domineering and overwhelmingly oppressive aura spread from ahead, as though the very air itself had begun to distort.
"Conqueror's Haki?"
Karens exclaimed in shock.
He stared forward in disbelief, unable to imagine that this aura originated from the body of that black-haired youth.
Inside the training ground, Alex—his head submerged in an iron basin filled with seawater—suddenly lifted his head.
Gunfire, strangulation, hanging, decapitation, burning, cannon bombardment, poison—every execution method capable of easily killing any ordinary person had been used on him.
Death after death caused the points on his system panel to surge instantly to sixty.
This meant that since arriving in this world, he had already died sixty times in an incredibly short span of time.
Such frequent deaths caused the anger within him to erupt into the world in another form entirely.
"Why?"
"Why must I suffer such injustice? Why did I arrive in this world only to face death immediately?"
"Why, after so many deaths, can no one kill me?"
"Why must I feel this pain?"
Alex snapped.
No method could kill him—but the pain of death, the suffocating sensation, was something he felt clearly every single time.
In other words, he truly had died again and again, only to revive repeatedly.
Creating the illusion that he was unkillable.
When all the pain, unwillingness, rage, and madness gathered together at this moment and burst forth at once, something deep within his body—within his consciousness—seemed to break open and surge outward.
"Buzz!"
The air trembled and warped as a terrifying aura spread outward like a tidal wave, the first to bear its impact being the marines who had been desperately trying to figure out how to kill him.
Thud!
Four of them rolled their eyes back. Their weapons fell from their hands as they collapsed limply to the ground, unconscious.
Then the aura swept outward at astonishing speed, causing surrounding creatures to faint. Even plants and flowers bent downward as though submitting under pressure.
After the sudden release ended, Alex raised his head, his entire body trembling.
A line of information appeared on the panel before his eyes.
"Conqueror's Haki LV0+."
His emotions quickly settled, and Alex realized what had happened.
Driven by rage and madness, he had unintentionally awakened Conqueror's Haki. At the same time, his gaze fell upon the sixty points displayed on the panel.
At that moment, a deep voice filled with anger sounded nearby.
"Karens, you actually tried to execute such an outstanding young man."
"The one who deserves to die is you!"
Alex looked up and saw two figures walking toward him.
The man in front was tall, square-faced, with short black hair, his entire body radiating ferocity and overwhelming strength. As he walked, he continuously punched Karens' head behind him.
Karens clutched his head in pain before collapsing to the ground with a thud.
"Damn it, Karens—you've truly become a dog of the Celestial Dragons!"
Garp strode forward, his expression dark as he looked at Alex.
The lingering Conqueror's Haki still filled the air, its immense pressure creating ripple-like distortions throughout the surrounding space.
"Boy, what's your name?" Garp shouted.
Alex's lips moved slightly. Drawing on memories from his previous life, he recognized the man before him.
"Alex."
"Good. From today onward, you'll follow me."
Garp declared loudly.
Not far away, Karens' body trembled as he scrambled up in panic.
"That's not allowed, Vice Admiral Garp! That will offend the Celestial Dragons!"
"Shut the hell up!"
Garp roared as he turned his head.
Alex said nothing. Silently, he tapped the "+" beside Conqueror's Haki on his panel.
The next second, an even more powerful aura burst outward, slamming directly into Karens and causing his eyes to roll back as he completely lost consciousness.
"Good kid! You can already control Conqueror's Haki right after awakening it!"
Garp said in surprise.
He then helped Alex to his feet.
"I heard you can't be killed?"
Alex pressed his lips together. "So far… that seems to be the case."
"But I can't rule out the existence of other special methods."
Not only could he not be killed, but every death increased his points. After his recent experiment, he had confirmed those points could enhance the abilities he possessed.
Anything that failed to kill him would only make him stronger.
For now, it seemed that after arriving in this world, he had obtained a rather strange cheat ability.
"Is it a Devil Fruit power?" Garp asked.
Alex shook his head.
Although he roughly understood Garp's personality from the anime in his previous life, this was reality. Without fully understanding the other party, he had no intention of revealing too much.
Garp appeared delighted. Encountering a youth with special abilities who had also awakened Conqueror's Haki clearly fascinated him, and he kept asking questions one after another.
Yet what puzzled him was that the boy's responses were limited to nods or shakes of the head.
He clearly had little interest in conversation.
"From today onward, you'll come with me. I'll arrange for you to join the Marines," Garp said with a grin.
"I offended the Celestial Dragons. That might cause you trouble," Alex said hesitantly.
"You don't need to worry about those pieces of trash," Garp replied disdainfully.
From this brief exchange, Alex made a judgment. The Marine hero was currently at the peak of his youth—far more forceful and reckless than he would be in the future.
And equally careless.
Because Garp barely paid any attention to the unconscious Major Karens before removing Alex's shackles and bringing him toward the harbor, where the dog-headed warship awaited.
"Hahahahaha!"
"If Sengoku finds out I picked up such a promising recruit, he'll definitely be thrilled!"
After boarding the warship, Garp laughed loudly.
Clearly, in Garp's logic, someone who had awakened Conqueror's Haki possessed extraordinary talent. He paid no attention whatsoever to the fact that Alex's abilities in other areas were practically close to zero.
Alex remained silent and gave no reply. Instead, he tapped the "+" beside Conqueror's Haki nine more times, raising its displayed level to 10.
At the same time, a strange sensation swept through his entire body.
He immediately realized that his mental strength had increased, its range expanded, and his control had become far more refined.
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