“What… what just happened?!”
“Weren’t we about to die?
Why did that Sea King suddenly collapse?”
“What kind of power was that?”
The Marines stared at the sea in disbelief.
Shock, confusion, and astonishment filled every face.
None of them understood what had just happened, but that only made the sight even more overwhelming.
A massive Sea King had been taken down in an instant without anyone seeing how it was done.
The scene completely overturned their understanding of strength.
“That was a Sea King Captain Caron couldn’t even injure with his strongest attack.
How did it suddenly collapse?”
“It was over in a single instant!”
“Unbelievable…”
“I didn’t even see anything hit it.”
“Are we so weak that we couldn’t even perceive the attack?”
The entire deck erupted into noise.
Every Marine struggled to contain his shock.
“I really thought we were all going to die.”
One of the recruits wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his lips still trembling.
“Can someone please explain what just happened?”
Even Captain Caron, the commander of the Mushroom Town Marine Branch and widely regarded as one of the strongest officers in the surrounding waters, had been helpless against that creature.
Yet someone else had defeated it in an instant.
The Marines could hardly accept what they had witnessed.
“Could it have been… him?”
A hesitant voice rose from the crowd.
Everyone immediately knew who he meant.
Admiral Kizaru’s nephew.
The same privileged young man they had dismissed as a lazy freeloader.
The Marines swallowed nervously.
They recalled the moment the Sea King collapsed, then looked at Leon reclining in his chair as if nothing had happened.
The contrast was so extreme that it almost felt unreal.
Had he truly done that?
Was that seemingly lazy young man really so powerful?
He had defeated a Sea King that Captain Caron could not even scratch.
Just how terrifying was his strength?
The more they thought about it, the more shaken they became.
He was unimaginably powerful.
Perhaps thousands of times stronger than Captain Caron.
After all, Caron’s strongest slash had failed to penetrate the Sea King’s skin, proving that it was no ordinary creature.
Yet Leon had overwhelmed it without even lifting a hand.
What level of power did that represent?
“He’s incredible…”
His own strength is monstrous.”
“As expected of Admiral Kizaru’s nephew.
I feel like even an officer from Marine Headquarters at the rank of vice admiral might not compare to him.”
“He defeated a Sea King that Captain Caron couldn’t injure in a single instant.
He has to possess at least vice-admiral-level strength.”
“I feel ashamed for resenting him earlier.”
“He wasn’t avoiding training because he was lazy or unwilling to improve.
He’s simply so far beyond us that our training would be meaningless to him.”
“That has to be the explanation.”
One gaze after another settled on Leon.
They were filled with awe, admiration, and disbelief.
In their eyes, he now seemed even more imposing than a Marine vice admiral.
“He can’t be older than sixteen.”
“To possess this kind of strength at such a young age… Was even Admiral Kizaru this powerful back then?”
“Is he another monster with the potential to become an Admiral?”
“Could their family really produce two Admirals?”
The discussion continued across the deck.
Only then did Captain Caron finally recover from his daze.
“Con… Conqueror’s Haki…”
His throat felt dry.
He stared blankly ahead as the words escaped his lips.
As a Marine captain, Caron possessed far more knowledge and experience than the recruits around him.
The others might not have understood what had brought down the Sea King.
Caron did.
There was no doubt.
That power had been Conqueror’s Haki.
A terrifying ability possessed only by those born with the qualities of a supreme ruler.
It was an exceedingly rare gift.
Because Caron understood what he had witnessed, his shock far surpassed that of the ordinary Marines.
Those who knew nothing could only marvel at the result.
Those who truly understood Conqueror’s Haki knew how extraordinary it was for a sixteen-year-old to wield it with such control.
Caron knew exactly what that meant.
“There’s no mistake.”
“That power…”
He took a deep breath, but his pounding heart refused to calm.
“I never imagined Admiral Kizaru’s nephew would possess Conqueror’s Haki.”
“He possesses the qualities of a supreme ruler.”
The memory of everything Caron had said earlier immediately returned to him.
Bitterness, shame, and regret filled his heart.
What kind of monster had he been mocking?
Fortunately, Leon did not seem interested in holding a grudge.
Realizing that, Caron quietly released a breath and wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
“I should have known Admiral Kizaru’s nephew couldn’t possibly be weak.”
“But even so…”
“I never expected him to be an even greater monster than Kizaru was at the same age.”
In their younger years, Kizaru, Aokiji, and Akainu had been regarded as three extraordinary monsters among the Marines’ new generation.
Yet in Caron’s eyes, even those three might have been inferior to the young man before him.
Leon was the true monster.
At only sixteen, he could already wield Conqueror’s Haki with astonishing mastery.
“Someone even more terrifying than the three current Admirals were in their youth…”
The thought sent another chill through Caron.
He carefully glanced toward Leon, who was still lying in the lounge chair.
Afraid that Leon might notice him staring, Caron quickly looked away.
After taking some time to suppress his shock, Caron turned back toward the recruits with a stern expression.
“Enough talking!”
“Get back to training immediately!”
“Apparently, unless I exhaust every last bit of your energy, none of you know how to keep your mouths shut.”
Under Caron’s reprimand, the recruits finally quieted down and returned to their exercises.
Even so, they continued stealing glances at Leon.
Every look was filled with admiration and awe.
Caron could hardly criticize them for it.
His own emotions had yet to settle.
“Notify the cooks.”
“Have them gather some men and carve out every edible part of the Sea King.”
“Store anything we can’t finish in the cold room.
There’s no reason to waste good meat.”
“The flesh of a deep-sea Sea King of this size should be exceptionally delicious.”
“Tell the cooks not to hold back on the ingredients.
I want a proper feast tonight.”
He paused before adding with a grave expression:
“And make sure Mr.
Leon’s portion is prepared better than anyone else’s.”
“Yes, Captain.”
A short while later, Caron made his way to the stern of the warship.
He wanted to stand in the cool sea breeze and calm his still-racing thoughts.
Beside him stood his most trusted subordinate, a Marine lieutenant commander named Bart.
Even now, Bart had not recovered from what he had witnessed.
He looked toward Caron.
As the commander of the Mushroom Town Marine Branch, Caron knew far more about the world than an ordinary officer.
Unable to restrain his curiosity any longer, Bart finally asked:
“Captain Caron, do you know what kind of power Mr.
Leon used?”
“It was terrifying.”
“His strength is far beyond anything I imagined.”