Chapter 262: Marine Headquarters: Meeting Garp Again

"Colonel, it's the same here... they died so miserably!"

"Everyone in the slave market is dead. These slaves said they only saw a group of blood-colored bats..."

In the lawless zone of the Sabaody Archipelago, a terrifying event occurred just a few hours ago; the slave traders, merchant guards, and Bounty Hunters throughout the entire lawless zone... were almost wiped out completely.

Aside from the slaves being sold as merchandise and some neutral factions that rarely caused trouble, every faction associated with slavery was slaughtered to the last person.

What was even more terrifying was that these tens of thousands of people died within an interval of no more than ten minutes. In other words, someone had directly massacred tens of thousands of slave traders and their subordinate forces in ten minutes.

The Marines stationed here naturally mobilized at the first opportunity, but by the time they arrived, all they saw was a ground covered in Dried Corpses. As for the slaves, some had already escaped, while others were a step too slow and were intercepted by the Marines.

"Tsk... blood-colored bats? Could it be that Blood Demon?"

"Blood Demon? Doesn't he only kill Pirates?"

"Slave traders aren't necessarily any better than Pirates... Regardless, this matter is beyond our control. Report the situation directly to Marine Headquarters!"

The Marine Colonel shook his head, his eyes still filled with a hint of terror. Those assigned to the Sabaody Archipelago were certainly not "proper" Marines; proper Marines couldn't survive in this hellhole.

Therefore, this Marine Colonel's own backside wasn't exactly clean, and he was genuinely afraid that the Blood Demon would get addicted to killing and just cut him down too.

As for the message sent to Marine Headquarters, it was like a stone sinking into the ocean. In the end, Headquarters covered it up by claiming there was no evidence and that it couldn't be confirmed as the work of the Blood Demon.

In any case, those slave traders and guards in the lawless zone were not good people, and the vast majority had criminal records. The Marines had no interest in avenging them—or rather, if not for the existence of the Celestial Dragons, the Marines would have sent all those slave traders to Impel Down at the first opportunity.

Furthermore, Uchiha Feiyu possessed great strength, and the upcoming Summit War required his contribution; the World Government did not want to fall out with Uchiha Feiyu over some lackeys who could be found everywhere.

They were just some slave traders, weren't they? As long as one had the mind to, there were plenty of replacements. Conversely, powerhouses at the level of top combatants on the sea were few and far between.

Even if they wanted to settle the score, the World Government would wait until after the Summit War ended. Moreover, as long as Uchiha Feiyu promised not to do such things again, the World Government couldn't really do anything to Uchiha Feiyu.

On a small boat not far from the Sabaody Archipelago, Uchiha Feiyu sat cross-legged with a calm expression, though his skin was completely red and wisps of white smoke rose from his forehead.

Strands of dark red blood seeped out from his pores. This blood looked turbid but emitted a fragrant scent. Once it fell into the seawater, it was frantically fought over and consumed by a large number of sea fish.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, his blood-colored pupils flashing with a cold brilliance.

He clenched his fist slightly, feeling that his body had undergone a near-rebirth. Its strength, stamina, and resilience were far beyond what they used to be; just a casual squeeze caused the air to emit a loud sonic boom.

He drew the Sandai Kitetsu and pressed it against his palm. Uchiha Feiyu applied a slight amount of force. Although it was only a slight amount, given the terrifying sharpness of this blade, even steel should have been cut by now. Yet, on Uchiha Feiyu's hand, it left no trace of a wound.

Subsequently, Uchiha Feiyu slowly increased his strength until he reached about fifty percent, at which point he felt a slight stinging sensation in his palm. He moved the Sandai Kitetsu away to reveal a tiny red dot on his palm. Uchiha Feiyu rubbed it lightly, and the red dot vanished without a trace.

"I wonder if this level is stronger or weaker compared to Big Mom's Iron Balloon? The sharpness of the Sandai Kitetsu is likely unique across the entire sea. Being able to withstand the Sandai Kitetsu is probably even more impressive than the Iron Balloon."

"And... the physical enhancement of the steel-like body after Shura Transformation is just a not-so-important part of the Shura talent. After all, Shura is a race known for its terrifying Power Level, not its defensive capabilities."

Yes, Uchiha Feiyu had now completely completed his Shura incarnation. Although it was merely a knock-off version of Shura from the One Piece World, far inferior to the genuine article, the enhancement it provided to his own body was already in no way inferior to the evolved Vampire Fruit.

Being able to possess this effect was because, after eating the Vampire Fruit, Uchiha Feiyu had achieved a higher degree of completion in his knock-off simulation of Shura, which in turn brought him such a high degree of enhancement.

"These slave traders on the Sabaody Archipelago really died for a good cause; they just happened to help me gather the final resources for my Shura Transformation..."

"Right now, I feel terrifyingly strong!"

Gripping the Sandai Kitetsu in his hand, Uchiha Feiyu felt a sense of being invincible. Although he hadn't truly fought, he felt that the current Marine Admirals and Four Emperors were likely no longer his match.

Even though he hadn't even practiced Conqueror's Haki Infusion—or to be precise, he didn't know if the bloody aura generated from killing too many people counted as Conqueror's Haki—he couldn't really control his own killing intent-infused attacks anyway.

But as long as one's basic physical stats are high enough, can't one kill people even without so-called Conqueror's Haki?

If you called Saitama-sensei from One Punch Man over, Kaido wouldn't just be using Conqueror's Haki Infusion; even if he could turn into a Super Pirate, he would still end up being knocked down with a single punch!

Calming the hot blood in his body slightly, Uchiha Feiyu looked toward the direction of Marine Headquarters and transformed into a streak of blood-colored light, flying over:

"Wait a little longer! Once I reach Marine Headquarters, I will immediately be able to see exactly what kind of strength the top combatants of the sea possess!"

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

A streak of blood-colored light descended from the sky like a red baleful star, crashing directly into the ground of the plaza. The massive momentum caused the Marines here to look solemn, and they surrounded the place where the "star" had fallen.

"Cough, cough, cough, so much smoke! Is this what it feels like for that guy Kaido to play bungee jumping and suicide every day?"

The smoke gradually dissipated, revealing Uchiha Feiyu's figure and the massive human-shaped crater he had smashed into the ground behind him. Many Marines looked at him with pale faces; just from the crater smashed out behind him, those Marines knew that the guy in front of them was definitely not an ordinary person.

At the very least, this person in front of them was not someone they, a group of ordinary Marines, could handle.

Although the Marines recalled before the Summit War were all elites, and any squad leader was a strong person who had learned a move or two of the Six Powers, it was precisely because they had some strength that they could truly realize the gap between themselves and the person in front of them.

"Who are you!! How dare you trespass into Marine Headquarters!!"

Among the Marines surrounding Uchiha Feiyu, a low-ranking officer with the highest status bit the bullet and stepped forward, shouting sternly.

"Hey, hey, hey, is this how the Marines welcome friendly forces? What do you mean 'trespass into Marine Headquarters'? It was clearly your Marine high command that invited me here!"

Uchiha Feiyu glanced at the Marines surrounding him and said unhurriedly. The Marine officer was suddenly embarrassed; he didn't know about this news and didn't know whether he should withdraw the encirclement for a moment.

"Alright, go carry out your duties! Leave this to me to handle."

A hoarse voice came, and an old lady who looked somewhat kind walked over. However, although she looked kind and approachable, when those Marines saw this senior, they all showed expressions of respect:

"Understood, Vice Admiral Tsuru!"

Marine Staff Officer, Tsuru? Uchiha Feiyu glanced at this old lady. Although she also held the rank of Vice Admiral, this old lady had a much higher status than an ordinary Vice Admiral. One could even say that apart from the Marshal Sengoku, the person with the greatest say in the entire Marine force today was none other than this old lady.

Although the current three Admirals had high enough status, they ultimately only led their own forces rather than coordinating the entire military. The ones who could truly decide the development of the Marines were still the three seniors: Sengoku, Garp, and Tsuru.

Garp goes without saying; although this old man also had moments of "great wisdom appearing as stupidity," just like Zhang Fei was described as having subtlety within his roughness, no one would ever want him to be the strategist to formulate the development strategy for the entire military. Therefore, the development direction of the entire Marine force was actually in the hands of Sengoku and Tsuru, which shows the importance of this old lady.

"This one must be Mr. Uchiha Feiyu! A pleasure to meet you; I have long admired your name."

"I have also long heard of the name of Staff Officer Tsuru. Back in the day, you chased many Great Pirates until they were terrified and fled in panic."

Uchiha Feiyu and this Marine Staff Officer exchanged a few polite pleasantries, and then Vice Admiral Tsuru led Uchiha Feiyu toward the Marine building. In terms of treatment, he was much better off than that group of Seven Warlords of the Sea.

After all, no matter how legal the Seven Warlords of the Sea were, they were still Pirates. As long as a Marine had any spirit, they wouldn't give the Seven Warlords of the Sea a good look.

But Uchiha Feiyu was a reinforcement purely from an allied nation, so naturally, the Marines would be more cordial toward him.

As for the incident Uchiha Feiyu caused on the Sabaody Archipelago, although it had reached the Marine high command, the high command didn't take it to heart. In the Marines, being intolerant of evil was never a shortcoming, and being ruthless was even welcomed by those radicals.

After entering the Marine Headquarters building, before Uchiha Feiyu could even look at the decorations inside, he heard a familiar "Hahaha" laugh. Uchiha Feiyu turned his head and happened to see an old acquaintance, the Marine Vice Admiral Garp who had taught him Two-Color Haki.

"Long time no see, Vice Admiral Garp. You look as healthy and robust as ever!"

Uchiha Feiyu greeted him. Although he praised the other party for being healthy and robust, Uchiha Feiyu could see that Garp's current state was not very good. On the surface, there was no difference and he could still laugh heartily, but in reality, his spirit and momentum had both slipped somewhat.

This should not just be the decline in strength brought about by age; it was likely also due to the fact that Ace was about to be executed, leading to this old man's internal mental struggle and decline in will. Once Ace was executed, it was feared that this old man's strength would decline even further.

"Long time no see, kid. Your strength actually surprises me a bit. In less than a year, you've practically been reborn!"

"Just lucky, I happened to obtain a powerful Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit."

Uchiha Feiyu laughed it off and spoke. Basically, anyone who had seen the speed of Uchiha Feiyu's growth in strength would likely feel like their worldview was being challenged, and a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit was a pretty good excuse.

"This isn't just the power of a Devil Fruit; your own talent is also absolutely top-tier."

Garp looked Uchiha Feiyu over and couldn't help but praise him:

"Judging by your aura, this old man feels like he might not even be your match anymore!"

Although Garp's Observation Haki was not as monstrous as his other two types of Haki, it was definitely world-class. He could completely sense the terrifying pressure Uchiha Feiyu brought him. In fact, Garp even felt that facing Uchiha Feiyu was more stressful than facing that Rocks!

One must know that back then, Rocks had died after being besieged by several powerhouses working together. If Garp were to fight Rocks one-on-one, the one to die would definitely be Garp.

(But how is this possible? Even with a Mythical Zoan fruit, it would be the absolute limit for the kid to have strength approaching a Marine Admiral Candidate right now. Haki can be elevated through bitter battles, but the tempering of one's physique is not something that can be completed overnight... It seems I really am getting old.)

Shaking his head inwardly, Garp still leaned toward the idea that he had been exhausted lately, his strength had regressed, and Uchiha Feiyu's killing intent was too heavy, which was why he had made such a misjudgment.

"Do you want to have another fight? Old Man Garp, I remember being beaten up pretty badly by you back in the East Blue."

Garp widened his eyes and looked at Uchiha Feiyu:

"You've got some nerve, kid! You want to take revenge on me so soon?"

"Old man, you said yourself that you might not be my match. If I don't take this opportunity to get revenge, when should I wait for?"

"Besides, Old Man Garp, you aren't young anymore. You're nearly 80 now, right? In a few more years, even if I wanted to fight, I might not even be able to find you."

Garp picked his nose; he didn't feel offended by Uchiha Feiyu's words, but instead said with a face full of disdain:

"Kid, since you want to get beaten up so badly, I'll grant your wish! Let me test just how much you've grown since leaving the East Blue!"

Vice Admiral Tsuru showed a helpless expression and said:

"Take it easy when you two fight; this is Marine Headquarters."

"Don't worry, dealing with this kid shouldn't take much effort!"

(End of chapter)