Kazi gestured with his hand, signaling to Kalmande that he could bring it on.
“Then I won’t hold back.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Kalmande rushed forward quickly, throwing a punch straight at Kazi’s chest.
Kazi smiled, showing no intention of dodging at all, and Kalmande’s fist passed right through Kazi’s body, easily evaded by his elementalization.
“Not bad, quite a lot of spirit.”
Taking advantage of Kalmande’s momentary shock, Kazi kicked him directly in the face, sending him flying into the sea and creating a splash over ten meters high.
Zero points!
A few seconds later, Kalmande returned to the shore in a sorry state, the expression on his face far more serious than before.
“I didn’t expect to run into a Logia Devil Fruit user in a place like the East Blue; that truly caught me by surprise.”
Kazi hadn’t expected Kalmande to be so knowledgeable, so he immediately said, “Since you already know the gap between us, why don’t you just surrender?”
“As it happens, my ship is missing a navigator, and I think you’d be quite suitable.”
“Don’t speak too soon!”
Kalmande didn’t say anything more; he braced his legs and charged forward fiercely again.
This time, his speed was significantly faster than the first; it seemed his opponent was finally getting serious.
“This is…”
After closing in on Kazi, Kalmande’s right fist was wrapped in a layer of black Haki.
The punch, whistling with force, arrived in an instant; he was determined to catch Kazi off guard.
“I really did underestimate you.”
Kazi didn’t stand on ceremony either, coating his fist with Armament Haki for a collision between real men.
Boom!!!
Unsurprisingly, it was still Kalmande who went flying.
Kazi was superior to Kalmande in both physique and Haki.
Furthermore, Kalmande only knew how to use basic Armament Haki coating and lacked the more advanced application techniques, so it was perfectly normal for him to be sent flying by a single punch from Kazi.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch~”
The first thing Kalmande did upon getting up was blow on his fist.
He never expected that having been invincible back home, he would encounter such a powerful enemy only a few days after setting sail.
It seemed he still wasn’t strong enough.
Seeing that Kalmande still had no intention of giving up, Kazi stopped holding back and utilized the power of the Space-Space Fruit, raining punches down on Kalmande as if they were free.
Kalmande couldn’t cope with Kazi’s attacks at all; the power of the Space-Space Fruit wasn’t just about simple speed.
Plus, with direct Space Displacement, Kazi could appear in any direction to attack him.
There were no traces to follow, making it impossible to defend against.
In Kazi’s view, the essence of the Space-Space Fruit lay in its concealment; Space Displacement gave him greater mobility than even the Glint-Glint Fruit or the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Moreover, other purely spatial attacks were also very difficult to detect, making them impossible to guard against.
“Stop, stop hitting me.”
“I’ll join your crew.”
Kalmande had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender.
He was the one who proposed the duel, and he was the one who ended up getting beaten; Kalmande truly felt like crying without tears.
The outside world is too dangerous; I want to go back home!
“Hahaha, that’s more like it.”
“My name is Hel Kazi, that’s the name of your future Captain, my navigator!”
Kazi reached out to pull Kalmande up, pretending to brush the dirt off his body.
It was as if he wasn’t the one who had just beaten Kalmande to a pulp.
Kalmande rubbed his aching face, cursing Kazi in his heart for a long time.
This bastard, he specifically targeted my handsome face; doesn’t he know I make a living off my looks?
“My name is Dripus Kalmande, hailing from Nuka Town in the East Blue.”
“My dream is to personally circumnavigate the world and draw a world map with my own hands.”
Kazi took out the map he had just bought and checked it, discovering that Nuka Town wasn’t very far from there.
“Kalmande, you just set sail too, right?”
Kazi looked at the map, then at the small boat Kalmande had arrived in.
“Yeah, and I ran into a freak like you right off the bat.”
“Damn it, the old man clearly told me that my skills were already among the best in the East Blue.”
Kalmande was extremely depressed; having been the strongest in his hometown for so many years, only to become a total novice the moment he stepped out—anyone would feel terrible in his shoes.
“The old man?”
“A relative of yours?”
Kazi was actually quite interested in the “old man” he mentioned.
It seemed he was a knowledgeable person who knew exactly where Kalmande’s skill level stood in the East Blue.
He was indeed among the top few, after all; with decent martial arts and Haki, he was already at the level of an East Blue minor hegemon.
As long as he didn’t run into experts like Kazi, Garp, or Hawkeye, who was chasing someone in the East Blue while on a self-driving tour, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state.
Kalmande’s whole body ached intensely, so he simply sat down on the ground and said, “That’s right, the old man is my father.
He was a pirate when he was young, and he even went to the New World.”
“My martial arts and Haki were taught to me by him; he said that if I wanted to achieve my dream, I couldn’t do it without strength as a foundation.”
Kazi nodded; no wonder.
Having a father who had ventured into the New World teaching his son explained everything.
It was likely someone who had grown old and returned to the East Blue to live in seclusion.
Most people like this spent their youth chasing their dreams, and only chose to live in seclusion in the Four Blues after either succeeding or hitting setbacks.
As for those who became pirates for the sake of slaughter and wealth, they wouldn’t live in seclusion; they would continue to burn, kill, and plunder endlessly.
“Your father is right; on the sea, if you want to obtain what you seek, power is the only foundation.”
“The sea is fraught with danger.
Do not pin your hopes on the kindness of others; you must make them fear you so much that they dare not even try to stop us.
That is the true sea.”
Kalmande also agreed with Kazi’s words; otherwise, he wouldn’t have accepted his father’s training.
“Let’s go; there’s medicine for bruises on the ship.
I’ll apply some for you, and you’ll be fine in a few days.”
“Alright, then I’ll be in your care from now on, Captain Kazi.”
“Hahaha, sounds good, I love hearing that, say it a few more times!!”
Kalmande:…
Kalmande’s small boat was pulled ashore by Kazi using the power of the Space-Space Fruit and left on the beach, waiting for some fated person to find it.
If someone needed it, they could take it; it was better than leaving it in the water, where who knows when the rope might come loose, letting it drift out to sea and eventually sink to the bottom.
Kazi and Kalmande boarded the ship and set sail.
To express his apology, Kazi cooked a big meal, which opened up a whole New World for Kalmande.
“Captain, I didn’t expect your cooking to be so delicious!!!”
Kalmande wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.
He had always eaten his father’s cooking, which was decent, but compared to Kazi’s culinary skills, it was like comparing a hill to a mountain.
He felt that even the food he occasionally ate at restaurants wasn’t as good as what the Captain made.
He was definitely staying on this ship; no one could kick him off.
A Captain who could cook well, was immensely powerful, owned a big ship, and was filthy rich—what kind of god-tier, dream start was this?
During their chat earlier, he had heard the Captain say he planned to go to Water 7 to trade for an even more luxurious and sturdy ship.
He felt that gaining a few dozen pounds on the journey to achieving his dream would be a sure thing.