"To sum it up."
"A 23-meter Sea King can't possibly be this weak. It's not weak—Raifeng is just that strong!"
"Getting one-shot? That result makes perfect sense."
Koby laid out his conclusion with absolute conviction.
Unlike the other marines buzzing around them, he didn't blindly jump to the easy answer—that the Sea King must've been a pushover.
If Sea Kings were truly weak, they wouldn't have haunted sailors' nightmares for centuries. They wouldn't be crowned the "overlords of the sea" for hundreds, even thousands of years.
Everyone knew the truth.
The ones who truly terrified sailors on the open sea were never pirates, never the Marines—not even humans. It was the Sea Kings.
So if this massive creature had been deleted in an instant, it wasn't because it was "trash."
It was because the one it faced… was Raifeng.
"Yeah…"
After hearing Koby's reasoning, Helmeppo nodded automatically.
His gaze was unfocused, still locked on the small figure standing by the stern railing—hands gripping a sharp katana, posture calm and terrifyingly composed.
The gap was too big.
They weren't even the same species.
Raifeng was only seven—
and he had casually pulled off something absurd: one-shotting a large Sea King.
Before today, neither of them would've dared imagine it.
But Raifeng didn't just do it.
He did it in the most brutal way possible.
A single strike.
Instant kill.
What kind of swordsmanship—and what kind of strength—did that even take?
"A Sea King's scariest trait isn't its attack power," Koby continued, still shaken.
"It's their defense and vitality. That's why they're the ocean's apex predators."
"Breaking their hide is hard enough."
"Killing them is even harder."
"But Raifeng's slash didn't just pierce it—he crushed every last bit of life inside that body."
"Honestly… it's beyond shocking."
Koby couldn't cool down. The awe in his chest refused to settle.
The gap was overwhelming.
At this moment, he finally understood it on a deeper level:
Between him and Raifeng was a canyon—wide enough to swallow hope.
And the cruelest part?
Raifeng was seven.
Koby was sixteen.
Raifeng hadn't even entered the age where strength exploded during growth… and yet he already displayed power and talent this ridiculous.
Some people really were born different.
"A monster…" Koby muttered under his breath, staring at Raifeng's back as if he were looking at something unreal.
Around them, the marines erupted into waves of stunned chatter.
No one had predicted this outcome.
A ferocious Sea King—the kind that should terrify an entire ship—had been erased with one slash.
As the chatter grew, people slowly corrected themselves. The stupid thought—Sea Kings are weak—was being stomped out before it could root.
Because if they sailed with that mindset, they'd die without even understanding how.
Sea Kings were weak?
What a joke.
The only reason this one looked pathetic was because the person standing opposite it was too terrifying.
"Vice Admiral Garp's grandson is absurdly strong!"
"One strike—instant kill on a 23-meter Sea King. At that level, he's probably comparable to Headquarters ensigns or even lieutenants—no, maybe higher!
Out on the sea, the enormous corpse floated on the surface. Countless eyes remained fixed on it, unable to calm down.
The waves gradually settled.
The jagged split in the ocean—carved open by the Flying Slash—began to close as the residual force faded. Water poured back into the gap until the sea looked whole again.
But the memory didn't heal.
That image—the ocean being cleaved apart—would brand itself into the minds of everyone present.
The sea… had been cut open.
What kind of power was that?
"The sea… it's back to normal…" someone whispered, dazed.
When they'd seen that split, that impossible rift, it had felt like their minds had frozen.
"For a second I thought I was hallucinating."
"Did we really just watch the ocean get torn open?"
"That wasn't a hallucination," another answered, voice shaking.
"That was reality."
"Raifeng cut the sea—then one-shot a large Sea King."
"Insane…"
"And the scariest part is—he's only seven."
Once the topic returned to Raifeng's age, the shock came rushing back even harder.
Seven years old, and already this terrifying.
Give him time… and what would he become?
No one could even guess.
At first, nobody believed a seven-year-old with a sword could handle a 23-meter Sea King.
But the result landed like a sledgehammer across every skull in the crowd—leaving everyone glassy-eyed and buzzing.
Seven years old… and capable of one-shotting a large Sea King.
It made grown men feel like their entire lives had been wasted.
"That's some terrifying swordsmanship," Bogard said, exhaling slowly as he finally steadied his breathing.
Clearly, Raifeng's sword skill had surpassed even Bogard's earlier assessment by a wide margin.
"Effortless…" Vice Admiral Garp murmured, staring at Raifeng's back.
That one word was the perfect summary.
Clean. Decisive. No hesitation. No wasted movement.
A large Sea King… deleted.
"At this rate," Garp thought, "the kid's talent in swordsmanship is downright frightening."
"When we get back to Marineford, I'll have to find him a proper swordmaster."
As Raifeng slowly lowered his katana, he finally noticed the way the marines were staring at him—faces pale with awe and disbelief.
"That was an outstanding performance," Bogard said, clapping Raifeng's shoulder without restraint.
"If I had to describe it in four words…"
"Flawless."
Bogard wasn't exaggerating. He meant it.
By any fair standard, Raifeng's performance truly was without fault.
Raifeng smiled modestly.
"That Flying Slash could've been cleaner. My current level can't reach that ideal yet—kind of a shame."
"If I'm judging myself…"
"I'd say it was just… so-so."
Bogard's smile froze.
So-so…?
Kid.
Do you have any idea what "so-so" means?
You just cut the sea open and one-shot a massive Sea King—and you're calling it so-so?
And you're seven.
Seven!
Do you have to be this harsh on yourself?
How is anyone else supposed to live?
Bogard felt like he'd taken a ten-ton emotional crit to the chest.
Somehow, as a Marine officer, he was getting flexed on—again and again—by a seven-year-old.
He'd said it before, and he'd say it again:
He hated geniuses.
He hated monsters even more.
And Raifeng… had a whole collection of different ways to casually inflict psychological damage.
Worst of all?
Bogard couldn't even argue back.
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