Chapter 53

"No need. Who said that kid has no way to counter a Logia fruit's elementization?"

Kapi waved his hand.

"Only Haki, Seastone, or another Logia ability can counter Logia elementization—there's no other way. Is that brat a Devil Fruit user?"

Zefa frowned at Kapi.

"No, he's not."

Kapi shook his head.

Zhen Guo suddenly remembered something, turned to Kapi, eyes filled with shock:

"Kapi, could it be that kid..."

Kapi didn't answer—only grinned at him with a row of bright white teeth.

Inside the arena.

Smoker gripped Luo En's wrist,

but couldn't budge him.

The power emanating from that wrist made him realize a shocking truth.

This black-haired boy named Luo En possessed greater strength than he did!

Smoker was utterly stunned.

At that moment, the slender wrist began to exert force—Smoker's eyes narrowed, and thick white smoke poured from his body.

"Kid, just give up already. White Vine!"

White smoke, like white snakes, coiled from Smoker's body toward Luo En, who was held fast.

Quickly,

the flowing white smoke transformed into ropes, binding Luo En completely.

"You've lost."

Smoker said to him.

Just as he turned to leave, a calm boy's voice came from behind:

"Is that all the strength you have?"

Feeling the sudden surge of aura behind him, Smoker whirled around.

The white smoke ropes had shattered, dissolving into wisps that drifted away—Luo En, the black-haired boy, his hair stirred without wind, his entire body wrapped in an invisible force that made Smoker's heart tremble.

"Impossible!!"

Zefa lost all composure, eyes wide, mouth agape, expression utterly stunned—as if he'd witnessed something beyond imagination.

General He stared blankly at the black-haired boy in the arena, his heart surging with unprecedented turmoil.

"It's... Haki."

"He mastered Armament Haki in just one year...?"

Zhen Guo stared intently at the black-haired boy in the arena, his voice trembling.

"I told you he's a monster."

Kapi laughed heartily.

Luo En, wreathed in invisible Armament Haki, stomped his foot and appeared before Smoker in a blur.

"Useless..."

Before Smoker could finish speaking, Luo En's fist, coated in Armament Haki, slammed into his abdomen.

His eyes bulged instantly—the next second, his entire body was flung backward.

He crashed heavily into the wall, sinking deep into it, cracks spreading everywhere.

"How... how is this possible!"

Trapped in the wall, blood dripping from his mouth, Smoker struggled to open his eyes, staring at the distant small figure in utter horror.

"It's Haki... it's Haki even I haven't mastered!"

"That brat...!"

Envy, jealousy, resentment—unnameable emotions flooded Smoker's heart. He roared, using smoke to propel his upper body toward Luo En at high speed.

Luo En watched Smoker charge at him, raised his arm, and clenched his fist.

"Armament Haki: Hardening!"

With a sound as if Haki had solidified into substance,

his arm and fist instantly turned pitch black.

This sight stunned Zhen Guo, Zefa, and He even further.

Even Kapi stared in disbelief: "This kid... has he already reached Armament Haki Hardening?"

"Haaahhh!"

Smoker, eyes bloodshot, pushed his Devil Fruit ability to its absolute limit and charged Luo En, swinging a punch!

Luo En swung his own fist—blackened by Armament Haki—in return.

The two fists, large and small, collided.

Boom!

A torrent of wind and thick white smoke exploded outward, whipping the back of the Justice Coats worn by Kapi, Zhen Guo, Zefa, and He.

45, A Fleeting Name on the Sea (3/5)

A figure flew backward out of the white smoke.

On the wall, where Smoker had punched a hole, now yawned a far larger one, its edges crumbling inward in layers.

Smoker lay within, unconscious.

"You hit pretty hard — that kid really is as ruthless as always."

Garp said, arms folded, watching him and clicking his tongue.

And Sengoku, Zefa, and Tsuru all stared intently at the black-haired boy emerging from the gradually dissipating white smoke.

He was completely unscathed; only the sleeve above his right arm had been destroyed, revealing an entire arm with sharply defined muscle lines.

Sengoku withdrew his gaze and looked toward Zefa to ask:

"Zefa, do you still have any objections now?"

Zefa drew a deep breath, looked at the black-haired boy in the arena, and said in a low voice: "If it's this kid, I have no objections whatsoever — I agree to your special-recruiting him as a Navy trainee!"

After Zefa finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Sengoku and said with an extremely solemn, serious expression:

"Sengoku, can you hand this kid over to me to train? I can guarantee he'll become an even more terrifying monster than Kuzan, Borsalino, and Sakazuki — those three monsters!"

Before Sengoku could speak, Tsuru said:

"I'm afraid that won't work."

Zefa's brow furrowed: "Why?"

"Because he hasn't joined the Navy yet — he's still only a specially recruited Navy trainee." Tsuru glanced at him and said, "Zefa, have you considered the consequences if he ends up not joining the Navy?"

Zefa's expression hardened.

"Tsuru, what do you think we should do?"

Sengoku said, looking toward Tsuru.

Vice Admiral Tsuru, her hair streaked with white, looked at the black-haired boy not far away, thought for a moment, then looked at Sengoku and said: "Give him the right to move freely within the Navy, and allow him to voluntarily participate in missions like capturing pirates. His rank and salary will match a Captain's, but he is not permitted to access core affairs, and no one is allowed to teach him the Navy's Six Powers."

"All information involving Navy secrets will be disclosed to him only after he agrees to join the Navy and completes the corresponding assessment."

Tsuru said decisively.

"Granting freedom and restrictions — letting him see everything with his own eyes and then judge and choose for himself…"

Sengoku nodded: "I agree with Tsuru's view."

Garp yawned and said: "I have no objections."

After hearing Tsuru's words, Zefa also sobered up somewhat, but still asked a question: "Then is the Naval Academy allowed to let him in?"

"Allowed, and he's allowed to participate in cadet training, but neither you, Zefa, nor the Academy instructors may teach him anything."

Tsuru said to him, arms folded.

Zefa nodded: "Understood."

In short, this specially recruited trainee would be left to grow on his own — before he truly became a member of the Navy, whatever he could learn would depend on his own ability.

"Garp, you're not allowed to teach him anymore either."

Sengoku cautioned Garp.