As the violent wind howled beside his ears, Roy’s peripheral vision caught Zephyr’s left fist sweeping in from the side.
Meanwhile, Smoker off to the side flashed a rare look of gloating amusement.
Having undergone Zephyr’s training himself, he knew full well that this scene was a mandatory ritual for any disciple Zephyr taught.
After all, those selected from the recruits to be trained by Zephyr were without exception the most brilliant Marine prodigies of their batch.
And wherever there were prodigies, arrogance was bound to exist.
This strike from Zephyr was designed both to assess their physical endurance and reaction speed, and to crush their arrogance.
In Zephyr’s own words: “Those without resolve cannot undergo my training.
This is the ‘Fist of Resolve.'” In fact, Smoker still remembered the punch he had received back then.
At the time, he had indeed been extremely cocky due to his Logia Devil Fruit ability, and that punch had indeed…
“Hurt like hell.” Cigarette in mouth, he remained expressionless, but memories flooded his mind.
Yet in the very next instant…
Reality shattered his memory.
Because right now— *What a fast Sori!
I can’t dodge this.* Roy had already made his assessment: Zephyr’s Sori was too fast for him to dodge.
However, he did not panic.
Because— *His fist is infused with Haki, but it isn’t remarkably strong…
Is this a test?* *If it’s only this much…* With a shift of his mind: [Fruit Slot Loaded] [Dragon-Dragon Fruit · Quetzalcoatlus Form LV3 Loaded] [Ox-Ox Fruit · Giant Rhinoceros Form LV2 Loaded] [Paramecia · Strong-Strong Fruit LV2 Loaded] Roy didn’t try to dodge.
He simply turned around to face Zephyr head-on.
And then: “If we’re letting our fists speak, Admiral Zephyr—allow me to say a word as well!” Beneath his Marine uniform, his skin took on the faint hue of dragon scales and rhino hide, while his muscles exploded with unimaginable force.
Under the disbelieving eyes of Smoker and Binz, he threw his own fist and slammed it straight toward Zephyr!
At the exact moment their fists collided— Even the former Admiral, who had weathered countless tempests, showed clear astonishment on his face.
In the next instant— *BOOM!* A thunderous roar exploded throughout the training ground.
A visible circular shockwave of white vapor burst outward, centering on the two figures and spreading in a flash.
“White Shield!” “Lush Wood · Wall!” Smoker and Binz unleashed their Devil Fruit powers without hesitation.
A shield of smoke enveloped Smoker, while the twig in Binz’s hand rapidly grew into a massive wooden wall to shield him.
Yet even so, the white smoke and wooden wall groaned and crumbled under the violent onslaught of the shockwave!
“So…
so strong!” Binz watched the surging air currents around them in shock.
“Roy, you bastard…” The perpetual scowl on Smoker’s face finally gave way to unbelievable shock.
He had sparred with Roy both in the past and recently.
He thought he knew Roy well and respected his potential and strength.
In his estimation, Roy possessed extraordinary strength and talent, but was still supposed to be weaker than him.
But now…
*What kind of power is this?!
You bastard, how deep were you hiding this?!* Gazing at the figure locking fists and grappling with Zephyr in the arena, Smoker almost bit his cigar in half.
Right at that moment— “You didn’t even coat your fist in Haki, yet your pure physical power reached this level?
Impressive!” “No…
remarkable would be an understatement!” The astonishment on Zephyr’s face had long since vanished.
In its place was excitement and unreserved praise—the look in the eyes of a master teacher encountering an unprecedented prodigy.
This absurd physical strength almost made him wonder if the person he was clashing fists with was even human.
At that thought, the grin on his lips grew even more boisterous.
“Kid, I heard your resolve loud and clear!” “However, as your instructor—don’t you dare look down on me!” As he spoke, an even more oppressive aura surged from his body.
“Are you ready?” Zephyr grinned wildly.
Along with his words, Roy saw the muscles in Zephyr’s left arm bulge and swell.
The Haki on his fist grew increasingly potent, turning his left fist a shade of black so deep it verged on purple.
“Of course, old man—bring it on!” Roy grinned back.
*BOOM!* In the next instant, Roy’s body flew backward.
Like a cannonball, he slammed violently into the thick iron wall at the edge of the training arena!
Accompanying the crash and thick clouds of dust was a crisp…
*CRACK!* …sound of shattering.
Binz, who was already dumbfounded, turned toward the sound.
He saw spiderweb-like cracks spreading rapidly across that wall.
“Hey, hey…
you’ve got to be kidding me.” Seeing this, Binz’s expression turned to sheer horror.
As one of the only two survivors from four years ago, he was Zephyr’s right-hand man and knew the details of this training ground well.
“That’s the ‘Z-Alloy’ custom-made by the Science Group for Master Zephyr to test his new mechanical arm…
and yet…” He couldn’t help but swallow hard.
“Master Zephyr’s punch…” He realized— This punch from Zephyr had clearly surpassed any “test” he had ever seen before.
This was a serious punch.
“Major Roy?
He’s not dead, is he?!” Binz panicked slightly and made to step forward.
But before he could make a move— “Hah…” He heard a deep exhale echoing from the dust.
Then— As the dust settled, Roy’s figure strode back out.
“That had some real punch.
As expected of Admiral Zephyr…
terrifyingly strong.” He cracked his neck, covered in scrapes and with bruises on his knuckles.
Yet behind him, the custom “Z-Alloy” wall had been dented into a human-shaped crater by his impact!
“…” Binz was struck speechless.
What rendered him even more speechless was the condition of Roy’s body at this moment.
The bruises on his knuckles and the abrasions on his body faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
By the time he walked back before Zephyr, his injuries were already largely healed.
“Not just physical strength, but even your self-healing and durability are this insane?
You’re the one who’s terrifying, kid.” Seeing this, even the veteran Zephyr couldn’t help but marvel.
The admiration in his eyes grew clearer and clearer.
Although he had heard from Vice Admiral Bilos that this kid was strong, he had never imagined he would be *this* strong.
In fact, a bold thought took root in Zephyr’s mind right now.
“Kid…
I heard you’re also proficient in a special fist technique.” Zephyr spoke again.
“…” Hearing this, Roy immediately shot a glare at Smoker—*You sure got a big mouth, didn’t you?* Smoker quietly turned his head away, refusing eye contact with Roy.
That’s right.
Naturally, it was Smoker who had told Zephyr about the Surge Fist after learning about Roy’s feats.
His intention had been good—he wanted Roy to demonstrate greater strength so Zephyr wouldn’t underestimate him.
But right now, Zephyr clearly had no interest in paying attention to Roy and Smoker’s petty squabbling.
He simply stared at Roy.
“Kid, if I’m going to train you…
I need to get a full picture of your strength.” “Come on—don’t hold back!
Show me what you’ve got!” Since things had reached this point, Roy hesitated no longer.
[Fruit Slot Loaded: Ox-Ox Fruit · Giant Rhinoceros Form → Human-Human Fruit · Buddha Form] *Whoosh!* In the next instant, Roy’s figure vanished with the signature wind-shearing sound of Sori and reappeared right in front of Zephyr.
And his fist was already bursting forward.
“Your mastery of Sori is proficient enough, but your speed still isn’t fast enough—” Zephyr instinctively dodged to the side—even though this was merely a test of Roy’s strength, he wasn’t about to stand there like a target dummy and take hits.
Testing under such conditions would be meaningless in actual combat.
But just as the former Admiral was praising Roy’s proficiency with Sori— “Hmm?” Surprised astonishment flashed through his voice.
*Hummm!* Because in the next instant— terrifying shockwaves surged from the fist he had just dodged, sweeping over his entire body!
*BOOM!* The ground caved in almost instantly into a crater, and the massive shockwave sent both Roy’s and Zephyr’s Marine coats fluttering wildly.
“Surge Fist: Circular Seal.” Roy softly uttered the name of his technique and pulled back his fist.
Both Smoker and Binz could clearly see faint red marks appearing on Zephyr’s body.
Yes—this former Admiral and martial arts master known as “Black Arm”…
was actually injured right now.
Though the injury was minor compared to his monstrous constitution, it was still enough to drop Binz’s jaw to the floor.
As for Zephyr himself, he widened his eyes in disbelief at Roy.
He didn’t care about the minor scratch on his body.
What truly shocked him was…
*Even though I dodged the fist, the shockwave inflicted internal damage directly…
That’s virtually identical to Sengoku’s ability!* That thought flashed through Zephyr’s mind almost instinctively.
As a veteran who had enlisted in the Marines alongside Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Zephyr had fought side-by-side with Sengoku countless times and knew his powers inside out.
Without a doubt, the shockwave generated by Roy’s punch seemed extremely similar to Sengoku’s ability, the only difference being that its power was much smaller.
If Fleet Admiral Sengoku delivered a full-power palm strike in his Golden Buddha form, the resulting shockwave could completely shatter an island from within.
But…
“Kid…
are you *really* not a Devil Fruit user?” So even though Zephyr had already heard about Roy from Vice Admiral Bilos, he couldn’t refrain from asking this question out loud.