Chapter 9: The Forbidden Power of the Sea...

Seeing Zephyr leave them and head straight for Red Leaf Island, Vice Admiral Kadaru was stunned.

The ship hadn't even docked yet, but the highest-ranking officer on board had already rushed off—what was going on?

Was it really necessary for an admiral of the Navy Headquarters to personally engage with a group of insignificant pirates?

"Get the warships to Red Leaf Island's port immediately, and relay Admiral Zephyr's orders to the other ships."

Watching Zephyr's figure recede into the distance, Kadaru sighed in frustration. With Zephyr gone, the responsibility of command now fell on him.

After all, besides the admiral, he was the highest-ranking officer there.

A pirate with a 20 million Berry bounty might not seem like much to Kadaru, but he couldn't forget that at least eighty percent of the personnel on these three warships were untrained recruits.

Now that Admiral Zephyr had rushed off to the island alone, if anything happened to those recruits, Kadaru would be the one to take the fall.

Meanwhile, on Red Leaf Island, Wood stood with both hands gripping his sword, its blade still dripping with blood. Around him lay the lifeless bodies of Iron Arm Pirate members.

A rough count showed around twenty to thirty bodies—nearly half of the entire Iron Arm Pirate crew.

However, Wood himself was not unscathed. His body bore numerous wounds, and his left arm hung limp at his side.

The bones in his left arm were clearly broken. Although such an injury would only take a few days to heal in the world of pirates, it was still affecting Wood's combat ability at the moment.

Clutching his sword in his right hand, Wood shook off the blood to prevent it from making the hilt slippery.

As he did this, Iron Arm Cook, standing a short distance away, glared at Wood with murderous rage, as if he wanted to tear him apart on the spot.

But compared to Wood, whose left arm was limp, Cook wasn't faring much better. The prolonged battle had drained much of his strength.

A vicious sword wound on his right eye had not only impaired his fighting ability but also left him weak from blood loss.

Yet, the pain in his eye was nothing compared to the hatred he felt toward Wood.

The Iron Arm Pirates had set sail from the South Blue with dreams of grandeur, growing stronger along the way, and planning to venture into the New World.

But who would have thought that after entering just the first half of the Grand Line, they would be nearly annihilated on this tiny island by a kid who hadn't even fully matured?

"You've killed so many of my crew, I won't let you die so easily, brat! You probably think that with my eye injured and my strength almost depleted, I'm no longer a threat.

But you're not the only one who knows how to hold back. On this vast sea, there exists a forbidden power. Today, I'll let you witness it firsthand."

Wood had intended to end the battle quickly and go assist the residents of Red Leaf Island, who were still fighting the remaining Iron Arm Pirates.

The islanders had formed a group to help him after seeing him get injured.

But armed with pitchforks and axes, how could ordinary residents stand a chance against bloodthirsty pirates?

Even though the Red Leaf Island residents outnumbered the Iron Arm Pirates, the initial clash had already resulted in heavy casualties.

Wood had hoped to quickly finish the fight on his side and then rush over to minimize the islanders' losses.

However, Cook's words made Wood tense up immediately, realizing that the pirate might have another trick up his sleeve.

"A forbidden power of the sea… could it be…?"

As if to confirm Wood's suspicions, Cook's body began to change.

His once human skin started sprouting fur, and his already large frame seemed to grow even taller in a matter of moments, as if he had been injected with some kind of growth hormone.

His once well-defined muscles were now covered in short fur, while his arms and legs thickened unnaturally.

Though his mohawk remained, his rugged face began to resemble that of a bipedal creature.

A creature Wood had seen in his previous life—a kangaroo!

"Tch, so he's a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user…"

Cook, now transformed by his Devil Fruit powers, looked smug, ready to boast as was customary. But to his surprise, Wood immediately recognized the "Devil Fruit" and even correctly identified its type.

"That's right, the forbidden power of the sea. Those who consume a Devil Fruit are cursed by the ocean.

The fruit I consumed is the Zoan-type Mouse Mouse Fruit: Kangaroo Form.

Zoan-type Devil Fruits naturally enhance the user's physical abilities, and kangaroos are excellent boxers by nature. Do you know what that means?"

It wasn't surprising to Cook that Wood knew about Devil Fruits, given that they were already in the first half of the Grand Line.

Unlike the backward Four Blues, the people of the Grand Line were more knowledgeable and didn't react as dramatically to the sight of a Devil Fruit user.

Zoan-type Devil Fruits typically granted three forms: the normal human form, the hybrid human-beast form, and the full beast form.

Cook was a newcomer pirate with only a 20 million Berry bounty; Wood didn't believe he could have fully mastered his Devil Fruit powers.

However, it was undeniable that the situation, which had seemed to be in Wood's favor, had now become uncertain with the sudden revelation of Cook's abilities.

In his half-human, half-kangaroo form, Cook lunged at Wood with explosive speed. His muscular arm, clad in iron gauntlets, swung a punch that tore through the air toward Wood's head.

Boom!

The massive fist shattered the ground where Wood had been standing just moments before, sending black strands of hair flying. Wood had already moved several steps away, looking at the spiderweb cracks in the ground with a sigh of relief.

After using his Devil Fruit powers, Cook's jumping ability and punching power were far greater than before—by no small margin.

"Tch, my stamina has been drained to this extent? If I were at full strength, that punch would have turned your head into mush!"

Cook grumbled as he examined the deep crater his gauntleted fist had left in the ground, clearly dissatisfied.

In the past, in this form, a full-strength punch from him could punch through a small Navy warship.