Warm-up is Over, Let's Fight!(9/10)

Thank you so much to all, We've reached 14 members on my P@treon, and to celebrate, I'll be mass releasing 10 chapters! I hope you enjoy them!

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"Don't joke around, Sanders!"

"There's no way I would become a pirate."

Aokiji (Kuzan) said this expressionlessly.

"Alright." Sanders smiled and withdrew his right hand.

He didn't expect to recruit Aokiji with just words. After all, anyone who could become an Admiral had an unshakable will and wouldn't be swayed by a few simple sentences.

What Sanders aimed to do was plant a seed in Aokiji's heart. Maybe, when the time was right, that seed would grow into a towering tree.

Admiral-level combat power on the sea was an incredibly valuable resource.

To be honest, Sanders felt a bit frustrated at this point. Despite his efforts, none of the people he tried to recruit had joined his crew. After all this effort, he was still all alone.

Part of it was because his standards were too high. He had no interest in trash or weaklings.

"So, are you going to arrest me for killing a Celestial Dragon, Aokiji?"

"Of course!" Aokiji nodded, still expressionless, with half of his body already covered in ice, radiating cold air.

As an Admiral of the Marines, there was no way he could ignore a pirate with a bounty issued by the Marines. Additionally, Fleet Admiral Sengoku had instructed him to assess Sanders' true strength.

No amount of guessing or speculation could match the insight gained from a direct confrontation with an Admiral.

"You should make sure to create a proper battlefield. This isn't land, after all." Sanders gestured toward the sea. "Also, have those ships back off."

He glanced toward the Marine ships in the distance.

Since Aokiji's arrival, several Marine ships had come nearby, but they kept their distance, only watching from afar.

"Ice Age!"

Without hesitation, Aokiji activated his Devil Fruit powers, freezing the entire sea surface in an instant, creating a battlefield. The cruise ship and Sanders' boat were both frozen in place.

The Marine ships in the distance, seeing the sea begin to freeze, quickly gave orders to steer clear of the area.

"That's quite an impressive ability," Sanders praised, looking at the frozen surface.

He opened up his interface and switched his simulated fruit abilities to the Logia-type Ice Fruit.

[Simulating Kaido's Mythical Zoan-type Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon form. Estimated time: 4 years, 334 days, 7 hours (paused).]

[Simulating Aokiji's Logia-type Ice-Ice Fruit ability. Estimated time: 5 years!]

The simulation time remained five years. If he stayed around Aokiji for more than three days, it would reduce to one year. But if they were apart for three days, it would go back to over four years.

This meant that being in close proximity increased the simulation speed by five times compared to being apart.

Simulating abilities was like downloading resources from the internet—the closer the distance, the faster the speed.

Fighting and watching someone fight were like signing up for a membership or getting a boost from others. Who knows if a single battle would be enough for him to fully acquire the Ice Fruit?

Probably not. Unless they fought at full strength like Aokiji and Akainu did, which lasted ten days and nights.

Sanders licked his lips, excitement gleaming in his eyes. Lightning sparked and crackled around his body.

Boom!

A few low rumbles of thunder echoed in the sky, and the sea breeze intensified. The sky, which had been filled with sunlight, began to darken as clouds gathered, with flashes of lightning snaking through them.

Has he developed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to this extent? Aokiji's expression grew serious as he watched the changing weather.

Just by seeing how Sanders' power could affect the weather, Aokiji was convinced that his fruit had awakened.

How many years has it been? Aokiji thought.

From the time Sanders joined the Marines until now, it had only been five short years. And Sanders had spent three of those years locked up in Impel Down, restrained by Seastone.

On the distant Marine ships, several Marines wearing "Justice" capes had serious expressions.

"That Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability is terrifying. Do you think Admiral Aokiji will be able to capture Sanders?"

"Of course! Admiral Aokiji is one of the strongest in Marine Headquarters. Sanders is only 19 years old. There's no way he's stronger than Aokiji."

As discussions broke out on the ship, Sanders made the first move.

In an instant, he appeared in front of Aokiji, raising his fist as if to say hello.

This punch carried no lightning, no Haki—just pure, raw physical strength.

Although Sanders' stats showed Admiral-level power, he still wanted to test it out.

Aokiji's Observation Haki sensed the attack coming. Without hesitation, he met the punch with his own.

He didn't understand why Sanders was doing this, but since his opponent wasn't using any powers, he wouldn't either.

An Admiral still had pride to maintain.

Their fists collided.

"What the...?"

At the moment of impact, Aokiji felt an overwhelming force.

Boom!

Aokiji's body was sent sliding backward across the ice, stopping only after a considerable distance.

"Seems like the ice is a bit slippery, Kuzan!" Sanders chuckled.

With just that brief clash, Sanders could clearly sense Aokiji's strength.

Aokiji's physical combat abilities were also high-level. If Sanders didn't account for the giant's strength that he had simulated, Aokiji's physical prowess might have been a bit stronger than his.

But when adding in the simulated giant strength, Sanders now surpassed Aokiji.

"What did you do during your time in Impel Down?!" Aokiji exclaimed in shock.

He had just lost in a contest of pure physical strength.

He was an Admiral of the Marines, at the peak of his physical condition, in his forties. And Sanders? He was only 19!

"Training, of course! What else would I be doing?" Sanders grinned. "Everyone in Impel Down is talented and speaks well. I really enjoyed my time there."

Sanders laughed mischievously and lunged at Aokiji again, fists swinging with relentless force.

Boom, boom, boom!

Each punch was packed with raw power, the sound of flesh colliding reverberating through the icy battlefield.

Aokiji grew more and more shocked as they fought. Even as he brought his full strength to bear, Sanders' physical strength and combat abilities continued to outmatch his, if only slightly.

With just brute strength and Haki alone, Sanders could defeat most Vice Admirals in Marine Headquarters.

How could he have grown this powerful in just a few years?

"You're not secretly a giant or some other special race, are you?" Aokiji asked, stepping back after landing a punch on Sanders.

"Take a guess!" Sanders grinned as lightning sparked around his body.

Now that the test of physical strength was over, it was time to get serious.

If he wanted to speed up the simulation of the Ice-Ice Fruit, Aokiji had to start using his abilities.

In the past, Sanders had sparred with Aokiji, but at that time, he had focused on developing his Rumble-Rumble Fruit, thinking that quality was more important than quantity. He hadn't tried to simulate Aokiji's ice powers.

Now, with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit already awakened, he was eager to simulate other abilities.

In Sabaody, he had even wanted to simulate Rayleigh's skills, like his Haki and swordsmanship. But the old man had always used his age as an excuse not to fight, so Sanders had given up on it.

"Aokiji!"

"The warm-up is over!"

Sanders' hands crackled with lightning. With a wave, a bolt of lightning shot toward Aokiji!

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T/N:

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