( Today I have a gift for you, 15 chapters in one go )
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Damon's face darkened, and he turned to leave.
Vice Admiral Tsuru, quick as a flash, gripped Damon's wrist and said with a deep gaze:
"Damon, I know you are concerned about Zephyr's safety, but since we joined the army, we have been prepared to be lost at sea at any time. If Zephyr is in danger, it is all a matter of fate."
"Fate?" Damon paused, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. " It doesn't deserve to be my opponent!"
Be a teacher for one day, be a father for life.
Although such a saying may not exist on this vast ocean, Damon had been under the protection and guidance of Chief Instructor Zephyr since he came to Marine Headquarters. This kindness had long surpassed the ordinary teacher-student relationship.
In Damon's mind, the familiar, husky voice of Chief Instructor Zephyr still seemed to echo:
"Man is made of iron, food is made of steel; if you won't die from training, train until you die!"
"You are the worst class I've ever taught. Don't ever say I taught you after you graduate!"
"You come here right now! Yes, you! Don't look at me with those innocent eyes, it won't work!"
"Jokes aside, training is training. When you're training, get serious!"
Memories of his time at the naval academy flooded Damon's mind, as if it had all happened yesterday.
That was why, upon hearing that the training ship led by Chief Instructor Zephyr had been attacked, Damon turned around and left without hesitation. He borrowed Chief Instructor Zephyr's personal belongings from other naval officers and immediately left Marine Headquarters.
If he could not save Chief Instructor Zephyr's fate today, what was the point of Damon's long-standing commitment to justice?
Defend our honor with our blood!
This philosophy protected not only ordinary people, but also one's own family and friends!
The training fleet was at least 400 kilometers away from Marine Headquarters. Damon only knew the approximate location of Zephyr and his group. Even if he took the fastest warship, it would take him a day and a night to get there, let alone traveling alone.
In order to get to the scene in time, Damon did not hesitate to use the Divine Power of the Myriad Realms - the Power of Wind and Thunder. Using the principle of tempering the body with lightning, blue arcs of electricity stimulated the muscles in his legs, causing Damon to burst out with speeds far exceeding his usual speed, like a seagull soaring through the sky.
As the blue electric arcs stimulated his muscles, they continuously destroyed a large number of cells. The intense pain made Damon purse his lips tightly, and he had no choice but to turn his attention to the system prompts.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, host, for reciting a classic line from Honor of Kings. You have been awarded one chance to draw a prize. Would you like to start the prize wheel?"
A lottery wheel slowly appeared in his field of vision, displaying three categories of prizes: hero skins, runes, and hero skills.
Hero Skins: Wuling Immortal Lord, Phoenix Seeking Phoenix, Flying Balance...
Inscriptions: Hunting, Eagle Eye, Mutation...
Hero Skills: Dragon's Roar, Thunderous Dragon, Word of Power Barrier...
[Holy Light Protection]: Passive skill, restores 2% of maximum health every 2 seconds.
The three passive skills—Holy Light Protection, Dragon Roar, and Dragon Bloodline—gradually propelled Damon toward becoming the world's strongest being.
Meanwhile, under the passive effect of Holy Light Protection, Damon's superhuman cells and gourmet cells finally breathed a sigh of relief, gaining a brief respite from the continuous stimulation of electric arcs.
Damon could feel his leg muscles oscillating between injury and healing. Under these extreme conditions, the newly formed flesh and blood cells were being tempered and became stronger than before.
With his gaze fixed on the sea, Damon clenched his fists, and the three tomoe in his pupils began to spin rapidly in response to his surging emotions, showing signs of some kind of transformation.
"Chief Instructor Zephyr, you must hold on!"
The head instructor Zephyr, whom Damon had been longing to see, was now facing the most difficult challenge of his life.
The mast on the warship collapsed and crashed into the captain's cabin, crushing the backs of two unfortunate trainees. Blood splattered everywhere on the deck, and the bodies of dozens of trainees were laid out around the perimeter. Some of the bodies were even dismembered, leaving only a pile of indistinct pieces of flesh.
On the childlike faces of these corpses, the expressions of their dying moments remained frozen, alternating between shock and terror, like an oil painting by Van Gogh, full of distorted realism.
Each time his gaze swept over the corpses, Chief Instructor Zephyr's face darkened, his emotions surging like a raging storm, his eyes filled with murderous intent as he stared at the seemingly comical, tall figure before him.
Chief Instructor Zephyr's family had long since perished in the pirates' revenge. For this elderly man, who was over fifty but still devoted himself to the cause of justice, the students at the naval academy, whether unruly or obedient, mediocre or genius, were all considered his most precious family members.
How could this old man not be furious as he watched his family members die violently before his eyes?
With his arms covered in a dark, oil-like Armament Haki, Chief Instructor Zephyr clenched his fists. As a master of physical combat, he could easily create a sonic boom with every punch he threw.
"Hah!"
Chief Instructor Zephyr did not possess Devil Fruit abilities, nor had he awakened King's Haki. He had simply honed his physical skills to their peak. His Armament Haki and Observation Haki were also among the top-tier skills in Marine Headquarters.
The speed of his fists was so fast that they formed a series of afterimages.
"Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang..."
The punches, imbued with thunderous fury, landed on Edward Weevil's massive upper body, producing a series of muffled thuds like thunder.
Edward Weevil seemed to feel little pain, as if this body was not his own, or perhaps his body, covered in Armament Haki, was able to hold its own against Chief Instructor Zephyr, negating a significant portion of the damage and making him fearless.
Despite Edward Weevil's ugly and mentally challenged appearance, he possessed instincts akin to those of a wild beast when it came to actual combat.
Realizing where Chief Instructor Zephyr's weakness lay, Edward Weevil repeatedly darted between the remaining four training ships, making Chief Instructor Zephyr hesitant to fight freely, lest the aftermath of their battle sink the warship and cause the other trainees to perish at sea.
Edward Weevil, on the other hand, had no such concerns. He would often raise his hand and swing the Murakumogiri, unleashing a crescent-shaped slash nearly ten meters high, forcing Chief Instructor Zephyr to take the hit head-on.
If Chief Instructor Zephyr didn't stand up for himself, the students he cherished would perish.
The trainees, realizing they had become a burden to Chief Instructor Zephyr, were moved to tears, but also felt a strong sense of guilt and remorse, and shouted:
"Professor Zephyr, don't worry about us!"
"Shut up!"
Chief Instructor Zephyr's face was grim, and he roared without turning his head:
"I don't need you to teach me how to do things!"
Having once again withstood Edward Weevil's powerful slash with both hands, Chief Instructor Zephyr felt his arms tremble violently. It seemed that due to old age and physical decline, neither his physique nor his Armament Haki was as strong as it had been in his youth, and he was now finding it difficult to withstand the enemy's repeated attacks.
"Boom!"
Chief Instructor Zephyr was sent flying backward, smashing through two masts on the warship before crashing into a cabin. The doors and windows shattered from the impact of the battle, and a cloud of wood chips and dust filled the surrounding area.
Edward Weevil sniffed and swatted away a foolish student who tried to block his way, as if shooing away an annoying fly.
The student was suspended in mid-air, his head and neck twisted 180 degrees, and he died instantly.
But Edward Weevil's brutal actions did not deter the surviving trainees.
How could they stand by and watch their beloved teacher die tragically in front of them?
"You are not allowed to hurt Teacher Zephyr!"
Two trainees, one on each side, held swords and knives, attempting to stab Edward Weevil through the kidneys.
Behind him, three more trainees pulled out flintlock pistols and fired a series of dark, solid bullets into Edward Weevil's head.
However, these trainees had only learned one or two of the Navy's Six Powers techniques and had not yet come into contact with Armament Haki. With their eyesight, they could not even detect the existence of Armament Haki. They simply did not understand that on this sea, pirates with Armament Haki and those without Armament Haki were two completely different kinds of beings.
Swords and blades sparked as they rubbed against Edward Weevil's steel-like body. The explosion of solid bullets failed to harm a single hair on Edward Weevil's head; instead, it ignited the savagery deep within the pirate's bloodline.
Edward Weevil took a step forward with his slender legs. Although his speed was not as fast as the Navy's Six Powers Shave, it was still unmatched by ordinary students. He disappeared from the sight of the students in an instant, leaving only a cold and beautiful blade light flashing in mid-air.
Although the Murakumogiri in Edward Weevil's hands was not the original Supreme Grade Sword of Whitebeard Edward Newgate, it was still a divine weapon that his mother Bakkin had specially gone to Wano Country to hire a master craftsman to make at great expense. Even without Armament Haki, it could kill people as easily as killing chickens, let alone now.
Under the flashing blades, not a single person survived.
The fierce sword energy swept across the area, even affecting the other three training ships, causing numerous broken trees to fly everywhere and severely damaging the vessels.
It was a long story, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.
When Chief Instructor Zephyr emerged wearily from the ruins of the cabin, he was met with a scene that resembled hell.
Blood!
There were severed limbs everywhere!
Those students who had once affectionately called out "Teacher Zephyr" to him were now all lying in pools of blood, never to wake up again.
Chief Instructor Zephyr suffered a severe mental shock, as if he had returned to the night many years ago when his family was brutally murdered by pirates in retaliation.
While you are sick, I will kill you!
Edward Weevil didn't care about morality. Seeing that Chief Instructor Zephyr had lost his composure and was wide open, his beastly instincts propelled the big man to leap up. His Murakumogiri sword was covered in Armament Haki, and a powerful slash was unleashed.
When Damon arrived near the warship, he happened to witness this scene. It seemed as if fate had decreed that Chief Instructor Zephyr would suffer the tragedy of losing an arm after losing his students!
At that moment, Damon's pupils widened in anger, and the three tomoe in his pupils spun rapidly, forming a windmill-like pattern.
In dark times, do not let cruel fate gloat. Since fate has come to humiliate us, we should retaliate with composure. — Noland the Liar
Blood and sweat dripped from Chief Instructor Zephyr's forehead. In his slightly blurred vision, Edward Weevil's figure gradually magnified, and the Murakumogiri in his hand exuded a chilling aura.
Now, facing the prospect of losing almost all of his trainees, Chief Instructor Zephyr was once again reminded of the excruciating pain of losing loved ones years ago.
"Is this fate?"
Chief Instructor Zephyr was utterly despondent and had resolved to perish together with the enemy.
Just then, a thunderous sound came from afar.
Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a flash of lightning, a figure suddenly descended from the sky, his flaming broadsword drawing a sharp arc and unleashing a terrifying flaming strike in the air.
In that instant, a beast-like instinct reminded Edward Weevil that he absolutely could not let his guard down!
Despite Edward Weevil's seemingly lazy demeanor, he possessed unimaginable flexibility. In mid-air, he twisted his waist, simultaneously turning the blade of the Murakumogiri, unleashing a deafening slash.
A crescent-shaped slash nearly ten meters high shot into the sky, seemingly about to cleave the heavens in two.
They were locked in a fierce confrontation, neither giving an inch!
"Boom!"
The two slashes annihilated each other in mid-air, and a strong gale swept around, making the tattered military flag flutter loudly. The corpses on the deck rolled around, leaving a mottled bloodstain on the ground.
The moment the familiar figure appeared before him, Chief Instructor Zephyr could hardly believe his eyes.
"Damon? Is that you?"
Immediately, out of deep concern, Chief Instructor Zephyr, despite his exhaustion, straightened his back and walked toward Damon, just as he always had, to shield his student from the wind and rain with his strong back and broad shoulders.
This was his awareness as a teacher!