Major Karens hurried away in haste. To him, this visiting Vice Admiral was far more important than a boy already destined to die.
Under the watch of a squad of marines, Alex had no opportunity whatsoever to escape.
This only made him appear even more silent, despite people repeatedly asking for his name, age, and other details.
After escaping from the noble's estate, he had quickly figured out what kind of world he had arrived in—a hugely popular anime from his previous life.
A world filled with freedom, dreams, passion, friendship, kindness, and countless beautiful ideals. It sounded like happiness itself.
But reality struck him like a heavy blow, forcing him to truly understand how cruel and cold the deeper layers of that "beautiful" world actually were.
Nobles held supreme authority, tightly controlling the fate of the lower classes. The Celestial Dragons, standing high above all, were like gods who could execute civilians at will.
Darkness and bloodshed were the true colors of this world.
Before long, Alex was escorted to the base's training ground.
Realizing they could extract no useful information from his mouth, the marines gave up questioning him directly and instead began investigating through other means.
Moments later, Seastone shackles were fastened around his ankles.
"If he's an ability user, this shot will be enough to execute him," one marine said.
"Kid, don't be so impulsive in your next life. Remember not to offend the Celestial Dragons," another sighed.
Even they felt pity for the boy.
Stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago, incidents like this happened far too often.
Sometimes the Celestial Dragons' personal guards handled matters themselves; other times, they handed the executions over to the marines.
Many soldiers felt anger burning in their hearts. They had joined the navy filled with passion to uphold justice, only to end up as the lapdogs of the World Nobles.
"Let's send him off quickly. Honestly, he's lucky. If he'd fallen into their hands, who knows what suffering he'd go through," a marine muttered, raising his rifle with a sigh.
Then he fired without hesitation.
Smoke curled into the air. The gunshot quickly faded, leaving silence behind.
The marines surrounding Alex shrank their pupils, mouths slowly opening as shock and disbelief once again spread across their faces.
"What… what is wrong with this kid?"
"He's… not an ability user?!"
Looking at Alex—completely unharmed and still silent—everyone was overwhelmed with shock.
This outcome exceeded even Major Karens' expectations and left them utterly unable to understand.
"If we can't kill him, the unlucky ones will be us," one marine said with a trembling voice.
They had served as marines for years and fought pirates countless times, yet they had never witnessed something so bizarre. A completely ordinary-looking boy who simply could not be killed.
Alex pressed his lips together as he glanced at the system panel. The number of points had increased again, now reaching 34.
That meant he had already experienced thirty-four deaths.
"Bring out the cannon."
Taking a deep breath, a marine captain shouted the order.
A trace of panic had appeared in his eyes. A boy who could not be killed, combined with pressure from the Celestial Dragons, stirred an inexplicable fear within him.
At first, they assumed Alex was some strange ability user. But now that it had been confirmed his condition had nothing to do with Devil Fruits, that eerie fear began to grow rapidly.
At the same time, inside the base office.
Karens composed himself slightly before gently pushing the door open.
The moment he saw the man seated at the head position—a square-faced man with short black hair—his nervousness intensified.
"Vice Admiral Garp, what brings you here?"
The muscular man before him, whose physique seemed ready to burst with power, was none other than the navy's current legendary hero whose reputation stood at its peak—Garp.
"You've really gone backwards in life, Karens!"
"To think you've fallen so low as to become servants of those scum—the Celestial Dragons."
Garp's voice boomed as he looked up at him.
At this time, the Marine hero showed none of the signs of aging he would possess in the future. His cropped hair was jet black, and his entire body radiated strength, dominance, and iron-blooded intensity.
"Iron Fist" Garp referred not only to his fists, but also to the way he conducted himself in his youth.
Karens' body trembled slightly as he replied helplessly, "I don't have a choice, Vice Admiral Garp. Being stationed somewhere like the Sabaody Archipelago… some things truly can't be avoided."
"How about transferring me away? Or letting me follow you to hunt pirates would be fine too."
Garp laughed.
"You wish. Promotions and transfers are Fleet Admiral Kong's responsibility."
"And with your personality, you're not fit to follow me anyway."
Karens looked even more helpless, a faint sadness appearing on his face.
He understood clearly. Although Garp had once taught him and they shared a teacher-student relationship, the Vice Admiral had always despised his submissive attitude—his tendency to bow and flatter nobles.
"Sorry. I accidentally said something hurtful again."
"I just happened to pass by, so I came to take a look."
Garp waved his hand casually, showing no sign whatsoever of actual apology.
"I'll arrange supplies for your ship," Karens said cautiously.
"What I hate most is that attitude of yours. As a marine, you're always bending your back without any backbone of your own!"
As he spoke, Garp seemed to grow angrier. He grabbed a delicate ornament from the desk and hurled it fiercely.
Karens shrank back. The ornament flew past his ear and crashed onto the floor behind him with a loud bang, startling him into stiffening completely.
"Don't ever say you were my student again!"
Hearing those words, Karens sighed inwardly, bitterness filling his heart. The things he had done at the Sabaody Archipelago had clearly reached Garp's ears.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Garp calmed down shortly afterward and began chatting casually with him.
About half an hour later, hurried footsteps sounded outside the office.
Garp looked up, and Karens reacted immediately as well.
"Major Karens, something's wrong!"
The knocking and the anxious voice came almost simultaneously.
"That kid… he really can't be killed!"
Karens' expression changed slightly. Across from him, a look of curiosity appeared on Vice Admiral Garp's face.
"Can't be killed? Who can't be killed?"
The door opened. The marine outside took a deep breath, preparing to report, but the moment he saw Garp sitting there openly, his entire body stiffened.
"V–Vice Admiral Garp!"
Garp waved casually, clearly interested.
"Go on."
"Since capturing that kid until now, he hasn't spoken a single word."
"But through indirect investigation, we've already uncovered his information."
The marine lowered his head, not daring to look directly at Garp as he spoke nervously.
"The boy's name is Alex. He was originally a servant of the Bokan family in the Sabaody Archipelago. Ten days ago, he suddenly went berserk, killed the entire Bokan household, and escaped."
"Today, he offended a Celestial Dragon and was captured by us."
"We've attempted gunfire, cannon bombardment, burning, hanging, and seawater execution."
After taking a deep breath, the marine's voice began trembling.
"But none of it could kill him!"
Karens froze upon hearing this.
Garp grew even more curious. "A Devil Fruit user?"
The marine answered immediately.
"No. From start to finish, he wore Seastone shackles during every execution!"
Garp's expression instantly turned astonished.
Karens' face darkened. If that boy couldn't be dealt with, the Celestial Dragons would deal with him instead.
And now, Vice Admiral Garp was here as well.
This situation had just become far more troublesome.
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