Chapter 25: Smoker: What Kind of Power is This?
As the roar of the gale hit his ears, Roy finally caught sight of Zephyr's left fist coming from his side.
Beside them, Smoker wore a rare expression of schadenfreude.
Having gone through Zephyr's training himself, he knew this scene all too well. It was a mandatory rite of passage for all of Zephyr's disciples.
After all, anyone selected from the countless Marine recruits to be trained by Zephyr was invariably a genius among their peers.
And geniuses were always arrogant.
Zephyr's punch served two purposes: to test their physical limits and reaction speed, and to shatter that arrogance.
As Zephyr would say:
"Those without resolve cannot handle my training. This is the 'Fist of Resolve'!"
Smoker still remembered the punch he took back then. He had been extremely proud of his Logia ability, and that punch had indeed...
"Hurt like hell."
Smoker chomped on his cigar, expressionless, as the memories flooded back.
But in the next instant...
Those memories were shattered by reality.
Because...
"That Soru is too fast. I can't dodge it."
Roy had already made the judgment—Zephyr's Soru was too fast. He couldn't evade this strike.
But he didn't panic.
Because...
"His fist is coated in Haki, but it's not overwhelmingly strong... Is it a test?"
"If that's all it is..."
Roy's mind moved.
[Fruit Slot Loaded]
[Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Quetzalcoatlus LV3 - Equipped]
[Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Rhino LV2 - Equipped]
[Paramecia: Strong-Strong Fruit LV2 - Equipped]
Roy didn't dodge. He turned to face Zephyr head-on.
And then...
"Since we're letting our fists do the talking, Admiral Zephyr... let me say a few words too!"
Beneath his Marine uniform, his skin took on the faint hue of dragon scales and rhino hide. His muscles exploded with unimaginable power.
Then, under the incredulous gazes of Smoker and Binz, he threw a punch of his own, meeting Zephyr's fist head-on!
At the moment of impact...
Even the face of the former Marine Admiral, a man who had seen everything the seas had to offer, showed clear surprise.
The next moment...
BOOM—
A sound like thunder detonated within the training ground.
A visible, ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward from the two figures.
"White Shield!"
"Grow-Grow Wood: Wall!"
Smoker and Binz reacted instantly, activating their abilities. A shield of dense smoke wrapped around Smoker, while Binz's twig rapidly grew into a wooden wall to protect him.
But even so, the smoke was scattered and the wooden wall splintered under the violent shockwave!
"So... so strong!"
Binz stared in horror at the churning air currents.
"Roy, you bastard..."
Smoker's eternally grumpy face finally showed disbelief.
He had sparred with Roy in the past and recently. He thought he knew Roy's potential and strength.
In his judgment, Roy had superhuman strength and talent, but he was still weaker than him.
But now...
"What kind of power is this!? You've been hiding this deep!?"
Watching the figure locked in a stalemate with Zephyr...
Smoker nearly bit his cigar in half.
At that moment...
"No Haki, just pure physical strength reaching this level? Impressive!"
"No... I should say, it's incredible."
The surprise on Zephyr's face had vanished.
In its place was excitement and unabashed admiration—the look of a master teacher who has found a student of unprecedented talent.
This exaggerated physical strength almost made him question if the boy was human.
His grin widened.
"Kid, I hear your resolve!"
"But don't look down on your instructor!"
As he spoke, an even more oppressive aura rose from him.
"Ready?"
Zephyr grinned.
As he spoke, Roy saw the muscles in Zephyr's left arm ripple and expand. The Haki coating his fist deepened, turning a dark, purplish black.
"Of course, old man. Bring it!"
Roy grinned back.
BOOM!
The next instant, Roy was sent flying.
His body was like a cannonball, smashing heavily into the thick iron wall at the edge of the training ground!
Along with the impact and the thick cloud of dust came...
Crack!
A sharp, crisp sound of breaking metal.
Binz, already stunned, looked toward the sound.
He saw spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the wall.
"Hey, hey, you're kidding, right?"
Binz's expression turned to horror.
As one of the two survivors from four years ago and Zephyr's right-hand man, he knew exactly what this training ground was made of.
"That's 'Z-Alloy,' specially made by the Science Unit to test Teacher Zephyr's new arm! And it..."
He gulped. "Teacher Zephyr's punch..."
He realized it.
Zephyr's punch had far exceeded any previous "test" he knew of.
This was a serious punch.
"Major Roy? Is he dead!?"
Binz panicked and started to rush forward.
But before he could...
"Hah..."
A loud exhalation came from within the dust cloud.
And then...
As the dust settled, Roy walked out.
"That's got a kick to it. As expected of Admiral Zephyr... terrifyingly strong."
He cracked his neck. His body was covered in scrapes and bruises, and his knuckles were discolored.
Behind him, the special 'Z-Alloy' wall had a deep, human-shaped indentation caved into it!
"..."
Binz was speechless.
What made him even more speechless was Roy's condition.
The bruises on his fists and the scrapes on his body were healing at a visible rate.
By the time he walked back to Zephyr, the injuries were basically gone.
"Not just physical strength, but regeneration and durability too? You're the scary one... kid."
Seeing this, even the experienced Zephyr couldn't help but marvel.
The admiration in his eyes grew.
He had heard from Viroth that the kid was strong, but he never imagined he was this strong.
In fact, a bold idea was forming in Zephyr's mind.
"Kid... I heard you're also proficient in a special martial art."
Zephyr continued.
"..."
Hearing this, Roy immediately glared at Smoker. You got a big mouth, don't you?
Smoker looked away, refusing to meet Roy's eyes.
Yes. He had told Zephyr about the 'Wave Fist Style.'
It was out of good intentions—he wanted Roy to show more strength so Zephyr wouldn't underestimate him.
But Zephyr had no interest in their silent bickering.
He looked at Roy. "Kid, if I'm going to train you... I need to know your full strength."
"Come on. Don't hold back. Show me your power!"
Since it had come to this, Roy didn't hesitate.
[Fruit Loadout: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Rhino -> Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu]
Swish!
The next instant, Roy appeared in front of Zephyr with the characteristic sound of Soru.
Roy's fist was already flying.
"Your use of Soru is proficient, but not fast enough..."
Zephyr instinctively dodged to the side. Even though he was testing Roy, he wasn't going to be a punching bag. That wouldn't test anything useful for combat.
But just as the Admiral was praising Roy's Soru...
"Hm?"
Surprise flashed in his voice.
VMMM!
Because in the next moment...
From the fist he had dodged, a surging shockwave erupted, engulfing him.
BOOM!
The ground instantly caved in, forming a massive crater. The powerful shockwave whipped Roy and Zephyr's coats around them.
"Wave Fist: Circle Seal."
Roy whispered the name of his technique as he retracted his fist.
Both Smoker and Binz could see the faint red marks appearing on Zephyr's body.
Yes—the 'Black Arm,' the master of Taijutsu, the former Admiral... had been hurt.
Although the injury was trivial compared to his toughness.
It was enough to make Binz's jaw drop.
Zephyr himself stared at Roy, eyes wide.
He didn't care about the minor injury. What truly shocked him was...
"I dodged the fist, but the shockwave still caused internal damage... It's almost exactly like Sengoku's ability."
The thought flashed through Zephyr's mind instantly.
As the oldest veteran, who had joined the Marines at the same time as Fleet Admiral Sengoku...
Zephyr had fought alongside Sengoku countless times. He knew Sengoku's ability intimately.
And without a doubt, the shockwave from Roy's punch felt... very similar to Sengoku's, just much weaker.
If it were a full-power palm strike from Sengoku in his Daibutsu form, the shockwave would have pulverized an island from the inside out.
But...
"Kid... are you really not a Devil Fruit user?"
Even though he had heard about Roy from Viroth, Zephyr couldn't help but ask.