"S-so strong!"
"Just now… that move Kai used—wasn't that the Navy's Rokushiki?"
"He's mastered Rokushiki too?!"
"And he one-punched a pirate worth nearly fifty million berries!"
"This guy is way too strong!"
Lucci stared, mind blank, at the scene of Sword-Lion Gart being blasted away by a single punch. He was stunned. From start to finish, it had never crossed his mind that a four-year-old like Kai could wield the Six Powers with such polish.
"Not only that once-in-a-million Conqueror's Haki…"
"Now even Rokushiki—used this skillfully!"
"This guy… is terrifying."
"What kind of world-shaking talent is he packing?!"
Lucci's throat went dry.
He'd never really believed in "geniuses." And if the world insisted they exist… well, that word had always been used on him. Rob Lucci—the once-in-eight-hundred-years prodigy.
But he had always believed everything he was came from relentless work. As for "genius"? He scoffed at it.
Until this moment.
After seeing Kai, Lucci began to believe.
This world does have talents that defy common sense.
For example: the four-year-old standing right in front of him.
"A four-year-old who can one-punch a pirate with nearly fifty million on his head…"
"Unheard of. Completely unprecedented."
Lucci was deeply shaken. He stared at Kai's back—those ropes of muscle, that oppressive demon-back sigil—and felt his spirit rattled to its core.
The image of Kai one-punching Gart replayed in his mind, bringing a violent kind of visual ecstasy.
Wild. Overwhelming. Heart-pounding.
This is a man's battle.
A man's brawl.
Blood surging. Blood boiling.
"I finally get it."
"This world truly does have geniuses… and terrifying ones."
"As for me?"
"I'm no genius. Not in the slightest."
"Compared to the person in front of me…"
"At best I'm ordinary. Maybe not even that."
Lucci let out a bitter laugh.
He'd once been hailed by countless people as a once-in-eight-hundred-years prodigy—he'd almost believed it himself.
But today, seeing Kai, he woke up.
His so-called "genius"… was nothing.
Compared to this, he wasn't even one-tenth.
"I'm not the genius…"
He is.
"A once-in-a-century monster of a talent."
"A rarity among rarities."
From the bottom of his heart, Lucci rendered judgment. In that instant, he was completely convinced—and convinced by force.
He was thirteen, carrying the "once-in-eight-hundred-years" label—yet he had no confidence he could take down a near fifty-million pirate.
And that very same pirate had just been one-punched by a four-year-old.
What is a genius? What is a monster?
This. Exactly this.
"I submit," Lucci murmured. "Completely."
He'd thought the Navy sent a four-year-old just to hold him back.
Who knew the Navy had sent… a monster?
An unprecedented monster—one who, at four, had already grasped Conqueror's Haki and Rokushiki.
At that moment, even the two CP0 officers lurking in the dark were rattled by the sight of Gart getting one-punched.
"Good grief…" Joelph whispered. "He's downright terrifying."
"He even wields Rokushiki like a veteran."
"Scary strong."
"You're sure the one he floored was worth nearly fifty million?" Reis asked, still stupefied. "A four-year-old… one-punching someone at that level?"
A four-year-old with Conqueror's was already absurd.
But mastering Rokushiki on top of that?
"This monster… must be the Navy's darling," Joelph said.
A talent like this—of course the Navy would cradle him like treasure. Even in CP, someone like this would be a once-in-history prodigy, the kind the entire World Government would fight to protect.
"How about we… recruit him?" Reis ventured.
"Are you insane?" Joelph blanched. He flicked a fearful glance at the small figure not far away, then hissed to his partner, "Don't you dare."
"A once-in-a-century prodigy like this is the Navy's beating heart. You try to poach him into CP and the entire Navy will come for our heads."
"Don't provoke them. We just watch. Whether to recruit him or not is for the people above us to decide."
"There's no universe where we meddle."
"You're right," Reis sighed. "A treasure like that won't be pried from the Navy. Shame, though…"
"With training, he's a future Admiral-class powerhouse."
On the battlefield—
RUMBLE—
From the rubble that had buried Gart came a deep, rolling thunder. Shattered stones erupted upward, dust billowing.
A moment later, a huge shape strode out of the wreckage—broad-shouldered, towering, casting off debris.
Head lifting, Gart fixed Kai with a murderous stare.
Now, he had activated his Devil Fruit—his body transforming into a Sword-Lion.
As a Zoan user, this was his strongest form. His human form was not even half of it.
He'd assumed his human form would be enough to crush a four-year-old.
But being sent flying by a single punch had taught him otherwise.
If he didn't go all-out… he'd be torn apart by that child.
Transformed, Gart stood nearly eight meters tall—like a giant warrior—thick with golden fur from mane to limbs, four powerful clawed legs under a maned torso. Two saber-like fangs, half a meter long, jutted from his jaw—savage, terrifying, radiating pressure.
His clothes had long since torn to rags.
A feral aura burst from him like a storm front, pressing on every chest.
"Now I'm at my peak," he growled. "Brat… I'm going to tear you apart!"
His eyes gleamed red; killing intent poured off him in waves. The punch had wrenched and bruised his arms; even transformed, pain stabbed through both forearms.
He stamped forward.
BOOM.
Each step cratered the floor. Thunderous booms rolled through the vast warehouse. The surface cracked and sank in a spreading web.
Right now, Gart charged with frightening speed, a juggernaut hurtling straight for Kai—choosing to attack first.
"Your strongest form?" Kai's lips curled. "I'm actually looking forward to it."
"And that line you spat just now—I'll return it to you, word for word."
"Next—I am going to beat you to a pulp."
The onrushing bulk brought a tidal wave of pressure, but Kai's face didn't change. He smiled, a red gleam flickering in his eyes. A cold, feral wrath surged up from his core.
Head tipping slightly, Kai watched Gart bear down on him—
"Soru."
Rokushiki flashed—and Kai's figure vanished from where he'd been.
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