"Boom... Boom..."

  In the first half of the New World, at Marine G-1 Fortress, behind the iswo abandoned warships, two figures—e and one small—were repeatedly pung and striking those warships.

  "Hey, Kaido, didn’t you used to look down on using warships as pung bags?"

  Sweating profusely, Garp delivered a powerful punch to one of the warships, then turo look at the silent boy beside him—who was relentlessly striking the same vessel—and grinned.

  "So what brought you here?"

  "Heh, he went off, brimming with fideo challenge Zephyr. But Zephyr didn’t even bother using his Logia abilities and still gave him a proper beating!"

  Not far away, Vice Admiral Prodi strolled hing loudly.

  "Shut up... That bastard Zephyr—I’ll crush him sooner or ter!"

  The boy, who had a slightly mature fad small budding horns on his head, tinued pounding the already-cracked warship with his fists, sending splinters flying. He turo Garp and shouted, "Hey, Garp, this warship feels tile. Even without using Haki, it’s about to break under my punches... Got aer ways to train?"

  "You brat," Garp replied, "with a body the size of a small giant and that ridiculous natural strength, these warship ‘pung bags’ really aren’t built for monsters like you."

  He stopped pung and g the warship Kaido had already smashed to pieces in no time, his eye twitg. Pointing to a small hill, Garp grinned.

  "I heard that Fallen Angel El often trains by using the solid rock walls of the Red Line as a pung bag. Why don’t you try using that hill instead?"

  After all, these inhuman monsters—with physical attributes on a pletely different level from normal humans—didn’t o limit themselves to warship pung bags.

  "Hahaha, using a hill as a pung bag? That’s ridiculous!" Prodi burst out ughing, tears in his eyes.

  But in the very moment, his ughter froze. Kaido, not yet fully grown but already t at four or five meters, abahe warship and charged straight at the hill, unleashing a barrage of frenzied punches.

  "Boom... Boom..."

  Dust and rocks scattered everywhere as the ground shook under Kaido’s relentless assault.

  "This guy..."

  Prodi was dumbfounded, staring at the flying debris, especially since Kaido showed no iion of stopping.

  "Hey, Kaido..."

  A tall, white-haired figure approached, carrying a small box in his hand.

  "Fleet Admiral Kong?"

  Kaido, Garp, and Prodi all turned in surprise. It was her than Marine Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong.

  "Hey, I heard you’re about to get a promotion?" Garp teased, grinning broadly.

  "The current Fleet Admiral, William, is getting old and pns to retire..."

  Sengoku, who had apanied Kong, adjusted his cap, smoothed his afro, and sighed.

  "The Wover, sidering his long servid achievements, is creating a new position for him—Supreme ander of the Wover’s Armed Forces—so he retire with honor. When that happens, Kong will bee the new Fleet Admiral. As for who will fill the vat Admiral position... Garp, since you’ve refused the promotion again, and Zephyr’s qualifications aren’t quite there yet, it’ll probably fall to me."

  Fleet Admiral Hammons William wasn’t especially old in years, but the relentless events and pressures caused by the Fallen Angel Pirates had aged him rapidly. At just over seventy, his body had deteriorated to the point of someone in their eighties, f him to submit his resignation to the Five Elders.

  "Kaido, this is for you."

  Suppressing his plicated thoughts, Sengoku hahe small box to Kaido.

  "Huh?"

  Kaido opehe box to reveal a peculiar Devil Fruit, golden and shaped like a bear paw, causing his pupils to tract.

  "A Devil Fruit?" Garp and Prodi both looked surprised.

  "This is a gift from Fleet Admiral William," Sengoku expined. "After hearing that you awakened queror’s Haki in a ret fight against pirates, he went to great lengths to obtain this from the Wover."

  "What kind of power does it have?"

  Kaido asked, suddenly ied, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the fruit.

  "It’s the Paramecia-type Paw-Paw Fruit," Sengoku answered pinly.

  "The Paw-Paw Fruit?"

  Kaido, Garp, and Prodi all looked fused.

  "What exactly does it do?"

  inally full of anticipation, Kaido’s expression darkened as disappoi set in.

  "I thought it might be a Logia or a Mythical Zoan..."

  "You brat, don’t pin when yetting a good thing!"

  Sengoku snapped, gring at Kaido. "This Paw-Paw Fruit isn’t just any Devil Fruit. Its user gee paw-like pads on their palms that repel anything they touch—even air itself—allowing near-instantaneous movement. You could cross huge stretches of o and reach distant isnds in no time."

  "That powerful?"

  Kaido’s eyes lit up with excitement. His mood lifted dramatically as he clutched the fruit, uo hide his amazement.

  Even Garp and Prodi were momentarily stunned by the fruit’s incredible ability.

  "The Wover inally wao reserve this fruit for the Holy Knights," Sengoku said, his tone growing serious. "It took siderable effort from Fleet Admiral William to secure it for you. Don’t waste his goodwill."

  He tinued in the same grave tone, "Giveential you’ve shown so far, even if you don’t bee Fleet Admiral iure, you’ll undoubtedly rise to the rank of Admiral. But if it weren’t for the current precarious situation and the growing threat of the Fallen Angel Pirates, those arrogant officials in the Wover wouldn’t have agreed to give up this Paw-Paw Fruit."

  Bleam