Based on his calculations, the system had already classified him as a pirate.
In that case, the things he did as a “pirate” could earn him rewards through a sort of bug-exploiting loophole.
So, as a “pirate,” casually taking things from his Marine colleagues or finding strong Marines to act as sparring partners was undoubtedly pirate-like behavior.
Killing pirates and fighting them fit the underlying logic of pirate behavior even better.
He was essentially getting the best of both worlds.
Having figured this out, Raizen was in a great mood.
He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to carefully review the ‘Life Return’ training insights he had obtained earlier.
Once he successfully mastered Life Return, he would be able to perfectly control every part of his body.
He could also rapidly restore his bodily functions by eating massive amounts of food.
It was an incredibly practical skill.
Half a month later.
Raizen sat cross-legged with his eyes closed on the dog-head figurehead of the warship.
The biting sea breeze made his clothes flap wildly.
Suddenly, Raizen snapped his eyes open, a red glint flashing in his pupils.
At the same time, he clenched his right fist.
His arm muscles bulged, and a cluster of crimson flames enveloped his fist.
The next moment, he threw a heavy, powerful punch toward the sea.
“Fist Bone: Dragon Flame Strike!”
This was one of the results of his training over the past half-month.
After completing his Life Return training, he began combining his techniques with his Devil Fruit powers, resulting in this ‘Dragon Flame Strike’.
The principle behind it was to combine the external emission of Armament Haki with his dragon flames, giving the flames a powerful concussive force.
The effect was no different from an explosion.
It was one of the minor techniques he had developed.
As Raizen threw his punch, a massive, dragon-shaped phantom of fire lunged from his fist, roaring as it swept across the ocean.
Wherever it passed, the intense heat generated by the dragon flames evaporated the nearby seawater, creating a brief vacuum zone.
A moment later, an explosive burst of fire lit up in the distance.
It took quite a while before the sound of the explosion reached them.
A Marine on the ship exclaimed in awe, “Did Mr.
Raizen spot another pirate ship?
The range of his Observation Haki is so vast!”
“Yeah, this is the ninth pirate ship we’ve encountered, right?
Mr.
Raizen is incredibly strong.
As expected of Vice Admiral Garp’s disciple!”
Raizen turned around, waved at them, and smiled.
“It’s the Kali Pirates.
Their captain, Kali, is a pirate with a bounty of eighty-five million Berries.
Please organize a team to go check if there are any survivors.”
Hearing this, the Marine immediately stood at attention.
“Yes, sir!”
Watching the Marines hurry off, Raizen chuckled softly.
Compared to Armament Haki, his mastery of Observation Haki was actually much deeper.
Fourteen years of living like a wild survivor on an isolated island had made his five senses incredibly sharp.
After arriving at Marineford, he only needed a little guidance to develop Observation Haki with an extremely long range, prompting Zephyr to call him a monster.
Returning to the deck, Raizen took out his cigar box, handed one to Bogard, and casually lit it for him.
“Instructor Bogard, are we there yet?”
He was only fifteen right now and couldn’t smoke cigars at all; he just used them to build connections.
Bogard clamped the cigar in his mouth, his tone brisk.
“Soon.
We’ll rendezvous with Admiral Sakazuki by tomorrow night at the latest.
Speaking of which, your strength is pretty impressive now, kid.”
He had seen that punch just now.
The kid had already mastered Life Return and showed traces of Vice Admiral Garp’s style, but it was mostly Raizen’s own unique flair.
Without a doubt, Raizen’s personal strength had experienced an explosive surge, far surpassing what it was when he first met the kid a year ago.
At this point, the only thing Raizen was likely missing was life-and-death combat experience against top-tier powerhouses.
What was even more astonishing was that Raizen was only fifteen.
When Bogard was fifteen, he was just a brat who only knew how to swing a sword all day.
Compared to Raizen, he was miles behind.
Thinking of this, Bogard took a drag of his cigar and let out a sigh.
“What a…
monster.”
Not to mention, these special-issue cigars for Admirals were fantastic—much better than his own.
He heard the kid had a whole box of them.
It wouldn’t be too much to ask for a pack later, right?
He had spent the last few days passing down his lifelong swordsmanship to Raizen.
Trading that for a pack of Admiral-exclusive cigars was more than a fair deal.
On the other side, Raizen was casually swinging a standard-issue Marine longsword.
Intense Armament Haki coated the blade, masquerading as a Black Blade, but Raizen wasn’t satisfied with just this for now.
The foundation in swordsmanship Bogard had given him was very solid.
Now, he wanted to see if he could combine his Devil Fruit powers with his sword techniques as well.
With a slight shift in his thoughts, flames instantly engulfed the standard Marine sword.
The intense heat made the surrounding space look slightly distorted.
The next moment, the flames turned into lightning, crackling and buzzing with electricity.
Following that, the lightning turned into flowing water, the water into formless wind, and the wind into heavy rock…
Raizen was having a blast playing around until, finally, the standard Marine sword let out a sharp crack and shattered directly into fragments.
Seeing this, Raizen shook his head and sighed.
An ordinary standard-issue sword simply couldn’t withstand such violent and volatile energy.
He still needed to find a high-quality Meito, preferably a Supreme Grade blade, that could endure both his Haki and his ever-changing elemental powers.
Raizen grabbed another standard Marine sword.
He had an idea now and needed to test it out.
But right then, his Observation Haki fed back an extraordinary commotion.
“Instructor Garp,” Raizen walked over to Garp and said softly, “Those guys who just went out seem to have run into a big-time pirate.
I’m going to head over and take a look.”
Garp was sound asleep on his lounge chair, snoring loudly as if he hadn’t heard Raizen’s words at all.
Raizen wasn’t surprised by this.
He simply nodded at Bogard, then turned and leapt into the air.
He transformed into a massive, brilliantly golden dragon, its scales shimmering under the sun.
In that moment, it was as if he had stolen all the light in the world, becoming the very center of it!
Raizen soared in the direction his Observation Haki had sensed.
In just a few moments, he arrived above a pirate ship that was still engulfed in flames.
Reverting to his human form, he plummeted straight down toward the deck.
Meanwhile, on the pirate ship, several Marines stood back-to-back, gripping their standard swords.
They looked nervously at the pirates surrounding them.
“Don’t panic!
Mr.
Raizen has definitely noticed the situation here.
As long as we hold on for a little bit, Mr.
Raizen will rush over!”
“That’s right!”
The other Marines chimed in in agreement.
At this moment, the leading pirate opposite them, wielding a spiked club, put on a look of utter disdain.
“Raizen my ass!
Listen up, Marines!
I am the ‘Mad Dog of the Sea’ with a bounty of two hundred and twenty million Berries—the great Jelaka!
Ahahahaha!
You Marine runts can all go to hell!”
As his words fell, he raised his spiked club and swung it heavily toward the Marine at the very front.
But the next moment, a figure descended from the sky, pressing a single hand against his spiked club and stopping it dead in its tracks!