Chapter 32: Aokiji

Kado decisively refused, leaving Barok visibly stunned. He didn't understand why Kado wasn't taking his threats seriously. According to logic, Kado should have been afraid of his strength and wealth and should have surrendered immediately.

"Since that's the case, then you can die," Barok said, stepping forward to attack Kado. "You're just a small pirate worth sixteen million. I want to see what makes you so arrogant—because of that devil fruit you just acquired?"

"Hmph, I don't need the devil fruit's power to deal with you, you bought-and-paid-for navy major," Kado replied fearlessly, extending his fists to meet the towering Barok.

The two fists collided with a tremendous impact, sending a shockwave through the surrounding area, scattering dust in all directions. The nearby guards quickly retreated, not wanting to be caught in the fight between these two monsters.

"Bang!"

The fists clashed powerfully, and Kado stood firm, but Barok, who looked much more muscular, shook slightly from the impact.

At a disadvantage, Barok swung his right leg like an iron rod, aiming to strike Kado. The terrifying force caused the air around it to screech.

Kado seemingly ignored Barok's attack and suddenly pushed with his legs, charging into Barok. Before Barok's attack could land, Kado's charge disrupted his balance, forcing him to pull back his right leg and stumble backward.

Once he regained his footing, Barok massaged his chest where Kado had collided with him, then grinned coldly. "Your strength is impressive, your real power should be far beyond sixteen million. But when it comes to power, you're not a match for me." As Barok finished speaking, dark, coarse hair began to sprout all over his body. His muscles twitched violently, as if there were worms under his skin. His height also began to grow, soon reaching over four meters, transforming him into a monstrous figure.

"Hahaha, this is my Devil Fruit ability!" Barok laughed, revealing his mouth full of sharp teeth, then shouted to the sky. "It's the Zoan-type Devil Fruit, the 'Bear-Bear Fruit, Black Bear Form!'"

"This kind of strength, this terrifying size—it's intoxicating! Only with this kind of power can I protect my wealth and even rob others of theirs," Barok said, admiring his huge, furry bear paw. The paw was enormous, with four one-foot-long, sharp claws gleaming like large cleavers.

Barok slammed his massive bear paw onto the ground, causing a massive shockwave, as if an earthquake had struck. The ground beneath him cracked like shattered glass, sending fissures in all directions.

"How about it? Does this kind of power terrify you? I'll give you one last chance—surrender or die!" Barok roared at Kado.

In contrast to Barok's gigantic form, Kado, like a mantis before a great cart, charged toward him first, shouting angrily, "Scum, die!"

Reaching Barok, Kado jumped into the air and unleashed a whip-like kick aimed at Barok's head.

Barok's thick bear arm easily swatted him away, as if swatting a fly, sending Kado flying with no place to brace himself in mid-air.

"Thud!"

Kado hit the ground hard, rolling several meters away from the impact.

Plunging his hands into the earth, Kado carved a long trench as he absorbed the shock.

"Damn it, this power is probably greater than Fily's!" Kado wiped the dust off his head, his eyes flashing with light as he stared at the massive Barok. He tried to find a weak point. After Barok transformed into a bear, his fur was a foot thick, not to mention the resilient fat underneath. It seemed that ordinary attacks would be ineffective. Although Barok's head was his weak point, Kado had already tested it. To attack his head, Kado would have to leap into the air, with no place to brace himself. Not only was his attack power insufficient, but it would also be difficult to dodge Barok's attacks.

After a moment of careful observation, Kado's eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at something between Barok's thick bear legs and a smile appeared on his face.

"Heh heh, now that this guy's height has increased, his little 'buddy' is about the same height as mine. This is just like a punching bag," Kado grinned mischievously, and rushed towards Barok.

Moving quickly, Kado reached Barok in an instant. He extended both hands upward and grabbed Barok's black, furry, undercarriage. With a loud roar, Kado yanked it downward. "You're going to be castrated, bastard!"

"Aaaagh!" Barok let out a terrible scream as his bear paw swung down to swipe at Kado, sending him flying again.

After stabilizing himself, Kado looked at the bear holding its "little buddy," shaking the fur from his hands in disgust. "Damn it, there's even bear fur on it!"

"You lowly, shameless bastard! I'll make you wish you were never born!" Barok shouted, furiously rubbing the skin where the fur had been torn off, and glared at Kado.

"Hahaha, come and try if you dare! I'll rip all your bear fur off!" Kado taunted, circling Barok and waiting for an opportunity to strike at the bear's underbelly.

"Die!" Barok roared, covering his underbelly with one hand while swiping at Kado with the other.

Because Barok had to protect his underbelly with one hand, his movements were slowed, and Kado easily dodged the attack, grinning as he stared at Barok's vulnerable spot like a hunter eyeing his prey.

"Kid, aren't you going to use your Devil Fruit ability?" Barok asked, panting heavily.

"Heh heh, I told you before, I can take you down without using my Devil Fruit power," Kado mocked.

"You'll regret this!" Barok yelled, swiping at Kado again, but still guarding his underbelly.

...

Meanwhile, on the beach at Honeymoon Island, Sanchi struck a cool pose as he was about to confess to a beautiful woman.

"Beautiful lady, do you like tasting delicious food?"

"Of course, who doesn't like good food?" The lady rolled her eyes at Sanchi.

Excited to finally show off his talent, Sanchi pulled out a small booklet from his back pocket and waved it in front of the lady. "Look, look at this! This is a medal only the number one chef from the West Blue can earn! And this—this is a gold medal from the BBQ competition, and this is the champion's medal from the platter competition, and this is an honorary medal from the Four Seas Chef Alliance..."

Sanchi kept talking excitedly, introducing each award. After a long time, he realized the lady hadn't said a word and was just staring out at the sea with hearts in her eyes, drooling and mumbling, "So handsome..."

"That damn guy stole my spotlight! I'm going to duel him!" Sanchi grumbled, following the lady's gaze to the sea. To his surprise, even Sanchi was stunned, his jaw almost hitting the ground.

A tall man in casual clothes with naturally curly hair was leisurely riding a bicycle across the sea, heading toward Honeymoon Island.

"Is this an illusion?" Sanchi rubbed his eyes and saw the unbelievable sight of a bicycle crossing the sea. He couldn't help but mutter, "So cool."

"Wow, handsome! How can you ride a bicycle on the sea? Please teach me!" When the cyclist reached the beach, Sanchi rushed up to him excitedly, thinking, "If I can learn this, I'll definitely win over girls and beat that despicable Kaido."

"You won't be able to," the cyclist smiled and politely declined.

"It must be your bike's secret. Let me try!" Without waiting for the cyclist's permission, Sanchi hopped onto the bike and sped toward the sea.

"Splash!"

As expected, Sanchi returned soaking wet, looking dejected. "You must have some secret, please teach me!"

The cyclist asked, "Do you know where the Bakrov family estate is? I need to go there."

"Oh, of course I know!" Sanchi paused for a moment before nodding eagerly. "I'll take you there, but you have to teach me how to ride a bike on the sea!"

Without waiting for an answer, Sanchi ran over to the lady and asked, "Miss, where's the Bakrov family estate?"

The lady blinked, wiped the drool from her mouth, and gave Sanchi a disgusted look before pointing in the right direction.

Eager, Sanchi enthusiastically led the cyclist toward the Bakrov estate.

....

At the same time, at the Bucklov family estate, a comedic scene unfolded.

A giant black bear, four to five meters tall, was covering its underbelly with one hand while using the other to pound the ground, leaving deep pits everywhere. Next to it was a thin figure bouncing around, looking like a beast tamer commanding his pet to perform various actions.

.....

On the other side, back at Honeymoon Island, a conversation took place:

"Hey, wasn't that the Vice Admiral Aokiji from the Navy Headquarters?"

"Idiot, of course you weren't mistaken. It must be Vice Admiral Aokiji, who else could have the strength to ride a bike on the sea?"

"Yeah, but how does he do it? It's so cool!"

"I don't know, it's too far to see clearly. It didn't seem like anything special, but he just casually rode over."

"Why is he here? Did he come on vacation?"

"I heard it's related to Bakrov family's Young Master Barok getting promoted to Rear Admiral."

"I heard Vice Admiral Aokiji is about to get promoted to Admiral soon!"

"That explains it! With that kind of power and looking so handsome, I must marry him!" said the lovestruck girl.

Once Aokiji and Sanchi walked further away, the nobles on the beach began discussing among themselves, some of them were quite knowledgeable about the navy.

As they walked towards the Bakrov family estate, Sanchi kept asking Aokiji about the secret to riding a bicycle on the sea.

Aokiji, feeling helpless, didn't explain much, simply saying there was no secret.

Of course, Sanchi didn't believe him. When Aokiji rode the bicycle onto the beach, Sanchi had carefully observed it. The bicycle appeared completely ordinary, and the sea didn't seem any different from usual. If there wasn't some secret to it, how could he be riding a bicycle on the sea?

To avoid disturbing others with his frozen sea surface, Aokiji had already thawed the water by the time he reached the beach. Even if a small portion of the water had turned into ice, it was almost indistinguishable from the sea water in color, much like the ice in a winter pool at home. That's why Sanchi didn't notice anything strange and was eagerly asking Aokiji for the secret.

At the Bakrov estate, the battle between Kado and Barok was intense, with Barok relentlessly attacking while Kado circled him.

Not long after, Sanchi and Aokiji arrived at the Bakrov estate's entrance.

Seeing the massive black bear, Sanchi's eyes lit up. He took out a large kitchen knife and excitedly said, "This giant black bear, imagine how delicious a secret recipe bear paw would be."

Kado, noticing someone approaching, turned his head and froze when he saw Aokiji, a tall man with curly hair, lazily standing beside Sanchi. Taking advantage of Kado's shock, Barok knocked him flying.

At the same time, Barok saw Aokiji and was delighted. Pointing to the stunned Kado, he shouted, "Vice Admiral, please help me catch this guy, he's the notorious pirate, the Big Thief Owl 'Kado', with a bounty of 16 million!"

"What?! A talking bear!" Sanchi's jaw dropped to the ground. Then, he realized what was going on. Putting the knife away, he muttered, "Damn it, he's a Devil Fruit user. I thought I had finally found an unexpected ingredient." After hearing Barok's words, Sanchi's jaw dropped again. He turned to Aokiji, "You're a vice admiral of the navy?" He raised a frying pan defensively and took a few steps back, looking wary.

"Sanchi, run! We're no match for them. If we can escape, we should," Kado shouted as he stood up and ran toward the distant forest.

Before Kado could get far, he felt his vision blur, and Aokiji appeared before him in an instant, like teleportation. Covered in cold sweat, Kado immediately activated his haki and prepared his Devil Fruit powers, raising his defenses to the maximum. Though he knew he couldn't defeat Aokiji, he refused to surrender easily.

"Don't be so tense, Mr. Kado the Saint Hand," Aokiji said lazily.

"You know me?" Kado asked, surprised that Aokiji recognized him.

Barok, hearing Aokiji refer to Kado as "Saint Hand," quickly explained, "Vice Admiral, this guy also goes by the name 'Big Thief Owl Kado', the leader of the Night Owl Pirates. He uses both his pirate and bounty hunter identities to commit all sorts of crimes. You must catch him."

"I certainly know you. Part of the reason I'm here is because of you, Saint Hand Kado," Aokiji said.

When Kado heard Aokiji call him "Saint Hand" and mention his bounty hunter role, a strange thought crossed his mind. It seemed Aokiji didn't intend to harm him. This thought made Kado relax. He knew he didn't have the strength to fight Aokiji anyway. He might as well go along with it. Even if captured, he'd probably get out again through his connections with Nami. It would only be a bit painful.

"Of course, your case is a small part of the reason. The main reason is," Aokiji turned to Barok, "The navy received a tip-off that former Navy Colonel from East Blue, Barok, colluded with pirates to eliminate his competitors and get nominated for the position of Rear Admiral, which led to his promotion. I'm here for this."

Kado and Sanchi were stunned by this revelation, while Barok's face turned pale with fear. "No, this is all lies! You have no evidence! You can't arrest me!" Barok kicked a stunned Loklav off the ground and sighed in relief when the evidence he was holding turned to ashes.

Aokiji disappearing again. This time, he appeared right in front of the giant black bear, placing a hand on its body, speaking softly, "I don't need evidence."

"No, without evidence, you can't arrest me! You can't!" Barok continued to struggle, but no matter how strong he was, he couldn't stop the ice from spreading over his body.

Moments later, the massive black bear was encased in a huge ice sculpture. Kado was shocked. This was the power of a naval admiral. A foe he had to use all his strength to deal with was frozen by Aokiji with a single move. The strength was terrifying.

The cold air from the ice calmed Kado. He realized that he had no chance against Aokiji at the moment. However, once he grew stronger, he was sure he would be able to defeat Aokiji. Kado clenched his fists, his desire for strength burning more fiercely.

"Saint Hand Kado, born in Cocoa West Village in East Blue, incredibly strong, comparable to a Navy Rear Admiral. Recently acquired a Devil Fruit ability. Strength unknown. Wanted for killing a group of thugs and declared a criminal by the navy. Pirate alias Big Thief Owl Kado, later established the Night Owl Pirates. Currently has two crew members: Andre, the last of the Andre family's noble bloodline, and Sagris Jean, a chef fanatic. So far, the Night Owl Pirates have never harmed any civilians," Aokiji said, reading from the Navy's files.

Kado was astonished by how thoroughly the Navy had investigated him. But then he remembered, if the Navy could investigate something as secret as Ace being Roger's son, they would surely know about him too.

"So, are you going to arrest me?" Kado asked with a smirk.

Aokiji shook his head. "Sometimes the Navy's methods may seem cruel, but we strive for justice. We hope for peace across the seas and that no pirates remain. We won't wrongfully accuse anyone, and we won't let the bad ones go."

"Oh, really? Because I heard that the Navy, to cover up a secret, issued a buster call order and destroyed an entire island, leaving no survivors," Kado sneered.

Aokiji fell silent for a moment. "I don't agree with the Navy's methods either, but unfortunately, I'm not one of the Five Elders."

Kado chuckled and didn't say anything more. Yes, Aokiji wasn't one of the Five Elders. The best he could do was let Robin go.

"I have another mission here. The Navy is forming the Seven Warlords of the Sea," Aokiji continued.

"If I refuse, will you arrest me?" Kado asked.

"I won't. After all, bounty hunters also deal with pirates," Aokiji replied.

"Heh, then I refuse," Kado said, then ran up to Sanchi and punched him in the arm. "So your real name is Sagris Jean? You tricked me into thinking your name was Sanchi!"

"I didn't trick you!" Sanchi defended himself. "The first letters of my last name and first name together sound like 'Sanchi,' and I think it sounds better. Besides, if I told you my real name, every beautiful girl on the street would want my autograph, and I'd be exhausted!"

"Get lost, you shameless guy. With that face of yours," Kado laughed angrily.

End of chapter

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