After returning to his room, Logan sat alone on the sofa, staring blankly into space.
Because of his connection with Garp, he lived in a private single room. Compared to the six-man dormitories of ordinary Marines, his living conditions were vastly better.
Outside the window, night fell. Stars filled the sky.
He looked around the room—every object felt familiar. A trace of reluctance welled up inside him. After all, this was a place he had lived in for ten years. To say he felt nothing at all would be a lie.
Yet when he examined things more carefully, he realized that even if he left, there wasn't much he could take with him.
His gaze swept the room again and again, and every time, it inevitably settled on the same place—
The Seastone greatsword, Zhenhai.
The next day, a single piece of news threw Marine Headquarters into an uproar.
"Have you heard? That idiot Logan actually wants to get promoted to Major by fighting a Colonel. Has he gone insane?"
"Of course I heard! Since Marine Headquarters was established, no one's ever succeeded through that rule."
"Hahaha, are you trying to kill me with laughter? Logan's that white-haired idiot who only practices two sword moves. You don't seriously think he can win, do you?"
"Impossible. Even most Majors can't last five minutes against a Colonel, let alone a regular Marine soldier. This is pure fantasy."
At Marine Headquarters, not many people knew Logan's name.
But if you mentioned the white-haired fool who only practiced two sword techniques—
Everyone knew exactly who you meant.
The training ground was packed to the brim, a sea of people gathered either to watch the spectacle or, more precisely, to see Logan embarrass himself.
There were two overseers for this duel.
One was Garp the Hero.
The other was Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Ordinarily, someone of Sengoku's status wouldn't bother attending such a minor event. But today, he happened to be free.
Moreover, this kind of promotion-by-challenge duel was being carried out for the first time since the rule was established.
To demonstrate the Marines' fairness, Sengoku insisted on being present.
Besides—he had watched Logan grow up. Sengoku was genuinely curious what kind of confidence this boy had to dare challenge a Marine Colonel.
There were no referees for this fight.
Only a timer, hanging in the corner of the wall.
Logan was already prepared, smiling calmly at the man standing opposite him.
The man was tall and powerfully built, with a ferocious face—he looked more like a pirate than most pirates.
A white cloak draped over his shoulders, with two bold black characters emblazoned on the back:
JUSTICE
This was a cloak only Majors and above were qualified to wear.
Two cigars were clenched in his mouth, thick white smoke billowing nonstop.
"Kid," the man said coldly, "friendship is friendship. But in this matter, don't expect me to go easy on you. I can't afford that kind of embarrassment."
"This is not just the dignity of a Marine—
it's the dignity of a man."
"Save it, Smoker," Logan replied impatiently. "I never asked you to hold back. I chose you because you're stronger—nothing more."
In his memories, this chain-smoking bastard would beat up Luffy more than once in the future.
Today, he'd just collect a bit of interest on behalf of his little brother.
But to everyone else, those words sounded like arrogant nonsense.
Not only did the observing Marines look at Logan with disdain—even among those wearing Justice cloaks, some frowned deeply.
Smoker glanced at the Seastone greatsword in Logan's hand and snorted.
"If you think that thing will let you last five minutes against me, then you're far too naive."
Logan said nothing.
He simply tightened his grip on Zhenhai.
Seeing that both sides were ready, Sengoku spoke in a deep voice:
"The challenge… begins."
The moment his words fell—
Smoker stepped forward, jitte in hand.
The weapon tore through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
The jitte was an uncommon weapon. Near its guard protruded a short cross-prong, specifically designed to trap and restrain blades. It emphasized defense over offense.
For someone as famously unruly as Smoker to wield it as his main weapon was itself a display of confidence.
As Smoker attacked, white smoke surged outward and the ground trembled.
Sengoku gave a bitter smile.
"This guy really isn't holding back at all."
Forget five minutes—even surviving this opening move would be difficult.
The ordinary Marines were deeply shaken by the sheer pressure of it.
Tashigi stared at the field, her face pale with tension.
"Smoker, you bastard! I told you yesterday to hold back just a little—just a little! And you come out at full power?!"
At that moment, Logan faced the rapidly approaching jitte.
There was no fear in his eyes.
Instead, there was a hint of amusement.
He stepped forward, lowered his stance into a deep lunge, and raised Zhenhai high above his head. His lips moved softly.
"Armament Haki… reinforce."
In an instant, the blade transformed from stone-gray to jet black, completely coated in Armament Haki.
Logan swung downward in a single strike.
Wind and thunder roared.
From the tip of the sword burst a massive arc of sword qi, tearing through the ground like an earth dragon surging forward, screaming toward Smoker.
Ten years of silent practice—
one strike that shook heaven and earth.
BOOM!
The jitte and Zhenhai collided.
Sparks exploded in all directions.
Smoker's body flew backward like a cannonball, smashing into a wall more than twenty meters away. The wall collapsed with a deafening crash, dust and debris filling the air.
In that instant—
The entire training ground fell silent.
The air itself seemed frozen.
Everyone stared at Logan in disbelief.
Like a bolt from a clear sky.
Even seeing it with their own eyes, they couldn't accept it.
That white-haired fool who practiced nothing but two sword moves—
Had just sent Colonel Smoker flying with a single, straightforward slash?
It felt like a dream.
Smoker was a disciple of former Marine Admiral Zephyr, a notorious thorn in Marine Headquarters' side—fiercer than most pirates when he got serious.
And yet—
He was blown away by that "idiot"?
"Turns out the white-haired fool isn't a fool after all!" someone muttered in the crowd.
The silent training ground instantly erupted.
"Someone tell me this isn't real!"
"Logan—a regular Marine—just defeated Colonel Smoker with one strike!"
"That move! I recognize it! Isn't that one of the two moves he practices every day?!"
Amid the chaos, Tashigi stood frozen in shock.
She hurriedly removed her glasses, wiped them clean, and put them back on.
In her mind, the scene replayed over and over—Logan's blackened blade, that single slash, Smoker being sent flying.
She had already placed Logan's strength at her own level, believing that wasn't an underestimation.
Now she realized—
She had underestimated him by an absurd margin.
Her gaze never left the white-haired youth holding the black sword. Her lips moved slightly.
"This… isn't some kind of act, right?" an old Marine muttered quietly. "I heard Logan and Smoker are actually on pretty good terms."
Before he could finish, the officer beside him smacked him hard on the head.
"Idiot. Open your eyes and look properly."
"That was Armament Haki."
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