"Hell?"
"Then please, let me see it for myself!"
Seeing Catarina Devon transform into the human-beast form of a Nine-Tailed Fox, Rosen—witnessing the transformation of a Mythical Zoan for the first time—felt a faint surge of red rise behind his eyes. A trace of surprise flickered across his face.
Compared to the former CP0 commander who had eaten the Tori Tori no Mi, Model · Quetzalcoatlus, Catarina Devon's aura, after entering her Nine-Tailed Fox form, was clearly stronger.
It wasn't because Catarina Devon was inherently stronger, or that she had developed her Devil Fruit to a higher level. It was because both were Zoans, both had transformations, both entered their human-beast forms—but the amplification of the Mythical Zoan was on an entirely different level than the Ancient Zoan.
Let alone the ordinary Zoan types.
"Mmmmmm!"
A sharp and piercing laugh rang out, and a strange purple mist rose from Catarina Devon's body.
The mist came suddenly and dissipated just as fast—gone in the blink of an eye.
Gone, too, was her appearance, her figure, the fox ears, tails, the entire Nine-Tailed Fox form—completely vanished.
And in her place stood a towering man, broad-shouldered like an iron mountain, draped in a cloak of justice, his hair a dark, rich purple.
"Zephyr-sensei."
Borsalino couldn't help but glance sideways at the man beside him.
At this, Rosen's pupils shrank slightly.
Yes.
Catarina Devon had transformed into Zephyr.
And not the post-retirement instructor of the Marine Academy—but Admiral Zephyr in his prime.
Only Shiryu remained expressionless, as if he had seen this outcome from the beginning.
"Hehahahaha!"
"How is it?"
"Come over here and call me Teacher Zephyr!"
Not just the face, but the figure, the clothes, the voice—even the laughter had become indistinguishable from Zephyr's.
Swoosh—
Just as Rosen showed a ripple of reaction—she moved.
"Shave!"
With a sonic boom, Catarina Devon vanished from her spot, moving like a bullet streaking forward, dragging a piercing shriek through the air, reappearing in front of Rosen in the blink of an eye.
Her bloodshot eyes locked onto his, the corners of her mouth cracking open toward her ears, making Zephyr's normally solemn and majestic face twist into something grotesque and eerie.
"Black Wrist!"
A voice identical to Zephyr's rang beside Rosen's ear.
At the same time.
Catarina Devon raised her arm high—fingers clenched into a fist—wrapped in Armament Haki, black and gleaming, the entire arm hardened like obsidian. With a roar, she launched a punch that tore through the air, a spiraling shockwave spinning toward Rosen's throat.
Clang!
Rosen calmly unsheathed his unreleased Zanpakutō from his waist, coated the blade in Haki, hardened it into jet-black steel, and slashed forward to meet the thunderous iron fist.
Boom!!
Blade met fist.
Like two Sea Kings clashing beneath the sea.
A deafening shockwave erupted from their collision, the air distorting and exploding in concentric rings around them.
"That Shave just now wasn't a coincidence."
"She didn't happen to learn the Rokushiki from some Marine."
"It's the Nine-Tailed Fox The Mythical Zoan form grants her the skills of whoever she transforms into."
"But…"
"The strength of her Haki and physical techniques remains her own. And Devil Fruit powers can't be duplicated."
Rosen felt the force surging through his Zanpakutō. After a single exchange, he had already pieced together a rough understanding of the Nine-Tailed Fox's power.
It wasn't just shape-shifting.
It was total imitation—appearance, aura, voice, combat techniques, swordsmanship, even instinctual movement—everything aside from Devil Fruit abilities.
But strength remained unchanged.
If her Haki level was low before the transformation, then even if she became Whitebeard, her Haki would still be low.
And if the person she imitated had Devil Fruit powers? She couldn't replicate those.
At that moment—
Catarina blocked the Zanpakutō with one fist and swung her other one directly toward Rosen again, her arm once more coated in blackened Haki.
In response, Rosen calmly raised his elbow and met her strike head-on.
Boom!!
Fist and elbow crashed.
Like two iron meteors colliding mid-air, the shockwaves from their strikes stirred another furious gale across the sixth floor.
"Black Arm Tornado!"
Just as their limbs clashed, Catarina Devon suddenly roared, and both her fists erupted into violent, spiraling torrents of compressed wind and Haki.
Like a fusion of Tempest kick, Iron Fist's shockwave, and high-level Armament—heavy, sharp, and overwhelming.
BOOM!
Caught off-guard by the close-range eruption, Rosen's figure shook slightly. His boots scraped against the cold, stone floor, skidding backward in a streak—ten meters in one go.
This was the first time, aside from the fight with Brynndi World on the first day, that Rosen had been forced to retreat after exchanging blows with a prisoner.
"She can even replicate Zephyr-sensei's signature move…"
"The sixth floor monsters really are something else."
Borsalino shook his head with a sigh.
No wonder Zephyr had crossed out fourteen names and jumped straight to Catarina Devon.
Compared to all the prisoners before, this one was far ahead in physical power, Haki, and fruit ability.
"Zephyr-sensei's punch."
"How does it taste?"
Catarina didn't pursue it. Instead, standing in place with the face of a younger Zephyr, she smiled at Rosen.
Rosen braced his feet against the ground, stabilizing his stance.
His face was calm.
"That punch?"
"I didn't see Zephyr-sensei's fist."
"All I saw… was a monkey trying to paint a tiger."
"That's all."
Though her strike had come fast and furious like a storm, with his Blut Vene (Calm Blood Dress), Rosen hadn't taken a scratch. He'd only been knocked back.
"…Is that so?"
Catarina's smile stiffened. A cold, sinister gleam flickered in her eyes.
As a Devil Fruit user—especially one with a special ability—being told she was a pale imitation was the ultimate humiliation.
Even if it was true.
The Nine-Tailed Fox's ability allowed her to imitate thousands of faces, borrow countless techniques—but her power, her Haki, her strength—was always her own.
Even if she transformed into Zephyr, the legendary Admiral who stood at the summit by sheer will and raw power—she couldn't replicate that inner strength.
"What about this one, then?"
Her voice turned ice-cold.
With Rosen's words still hanging in the air, Catarina was already covered in that strange purple mist again.
Poof!
The mist faded.
Zephyr was gone.
In his place stood another towering Marine.
Cloaked in justice, built like a mountain—this time with jet-black hair.
But it was the face that made every pirate on the Grand Line pale.
The moment he appeared, the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
"Vice Admiral Garp."
Rosen narrowed his eyes.
So this time—
Catarina Devon had transformed into the Marine hero.
Monkey D. Garp.
...
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