"So it really is him!"
"It's actually that person…"
On the other side, Marine Colonel Trull swallowed hard, his eyes unfocused as he muttered to himself.
Beside him, one of the Marines noticed his reaction and asked carefully, "Colonel Trull, did you figure something out? Do you already know who that five-year-old boy is?"
Hearing that, Trull let out a long breath and finally came back to himself.
He stared deeply in Kai's direction.
What he saw was—
that savage, terrifying Ghost Back,
radiating an overwhelming pressure.
That near-perfect physique,
those sharply defined muscles—
despite belonging to a child barely five years old, they still exuded terrifying intimidation.
That figure was not unfamiliar to Trull.
A few days earlier, he had seen the exact same image in intelligence reports circulating across the sea.
All across these waters, people referred to that figure with a single name—
Fist Demon.
A Marine with a title of his own.
A true top-tier powerhouse standing at the summit of the sea.
Only real monsters were ever acknowledged by the world with such awe-inspiring titles.
"Fist Demon Kai!"
"It really is him!"
"That Ghost Back…"
"It's unmistakable."
"It's exactly the same as the image in the report."
Trull's lips trembled slightly.
"Fist Demon Kai?"
"Colonel Trull, are you talking about that five-year-old boy?"
"He's actually Fist Demon Kai?!"
"My god!"
The surrounding Marines were stunned.
They were naturally familiar with that name.
Recently, across this stretch of ocean, the name Fist Demon Kai had spread like thunder.
Trull took another breath, then blurted out, his voice filled with reverence and awe,
"He's a monster with a title of his own!"
"A genuine top-tier powerhouse of the sea!"
"One of the Navy's highest-level combatants!"
What did it mean for a Marine to possess a title recognized by the sea itself?
Trull knew the answer all too well.
Any Marine with a title was a publicly acknowledged top-tier powerhouse.
A true monster.
Someone who stood at the peak of the sea.
As a mere Marine colonel, Trull naturally had no right to such recognition.
Even Brigadier Generals and Rear Admirals rarely possessed titles acknowledged across the sea.
In fact, most Vice Admirals didn't either.
And yet Kai—
only five years old, without even an official rank worthy of his strength—
had already displayed enough power to earn the acknowledgment of the entire sea.
From this day onward, the title Fist Demon would follow him for the rest of his life.
Fist Demon Kai—a name that shook the seas.
"A Marine with a title of his own…"
"And the most terrifying part is that he's only five!"
"A five-year-old who already has a title all his own—what kind of concept is that?!"
"It's unbelievable!"
"Anyone on this sea with a personal title is a first-rate monster at the very top."
"But there has never been a case of someone earning one at only five years old."
"And now…"
"that impossible example has appeared."
"This is unprecedented!"
The Marines were utterly shaken.
They knew exactly what it meant for a Marine to possess a title.
"Fist Demon Kai… is that really a five-year-old with Vice Admiral-level power?"
"That's insane!"
"I heard that just a few days ago, Fist Demon Kai single-handedly defeated and captured a great pirate with combat power in the multi-hundred-million range!"
Kai's name completely ignited the shock in every Marine present.
Their eyes widened as they stared blankly at his back, taking in that savage Ghost Back in full.
It looked like the mark of a demon branded into flesh.
Even from a distance, it gave them a crushing sense of pressure.
"It's said…"
"That the pirate Fist Demon Kai captured was Whitebeard's so-called son—a monster with strength comparable to a younger Whitebeard."
"And Whitebeard is known as the World's Strongest Man."
"Just being described that way proves how terrifying that man was."
"And yet someone like that was defeated and captured by five-year-old Fist Demon Kai alone."
"To think that monster would show up here on Angel Island…"
"And for the sake of a crew like the Cerberus Pirates? Their luck is unbelievably bad."
Every Marine present was deeply shaken.
Now that they knew Kai's real identity, they could no longer suppress the turmoil in their hearts.
Who was Whitebeard's so-called son?
A monster with combat power at the level of a pirate worth hundreds of millions.
If even that kind of enemy had been captured—
then what was Morrison, a mere hundred-million-berry Logia user, in comparison?
"I finally understand now."
"Why that pirate worth a hundred million was nearly beaten to death in one punch by that five-year-old."
"So that's it…"
"The five-year-old really is Fist Demon Kai."
"The same existence who captured a monster with multi-hundred-million-level combat power."
"Compared to him, a pirate worth only a hundred million probably doesn't even count for much."
At that moment, the Marines present no longer found Kai nearly one-shotting Morrison particularly strange.
Even Whitebeard's so-called son had been captured.
What was Morrison compared to that?
"Morrison's finished."
"He probably never dreamed that, as a supposedly invincible Logia user, he'd run into a monster like this in the first half of the Grand Line."
"That so-called untouchable Logia power can't give him even a shred of confidence anymore."
"That punch just now clearly shattered his mental defenses completely."
"Now that he knows Fist Demon Kai's identity, he must be even more desperate than before."
Voices spread one after another.
Countless pitying eyes turned toward Morrison.
What a pathetic man.
A Logia user usually ruled wherever he went.
And yet today—
he had slammed headfirst into a monster terrifying enough to capture a pirate with several hundred million berries' worth of combat power.
Compared to that, Morrison's hundred million suddenly seemed pitifully insignificant.
At the same time, on the other side, Kurrin, the captain of the Cerberus Pirates, was equally caught in a storm of terror and shock.
"F-Fist Demon Kai?!"
"He's really Fist Demon Kai?!"
"T-this…"
His eyes widened.
Fear flooded his heart.
His whole body began trembling uncontrollably.
The name Fist Demon Kai had already shaken the sea days ago.
Of course Kurrin knew it well.
In fact, only a few days earlier, he had sternly warned his men that there were certain people on this sea who absolutely could not be provoked.
And among those names—
one of them had been Fist Demon Kai.
Back then, he had treated that name like a taboo and had repeatedly warned his crew not to go anywhere near that monster.
But in his wildest dreams, he had never imagined that he wouldn't need to seek Kai out—
Kai would come to him instead.
"A terrifying existence with a title of his own at only five years old…"
"A monster who personally captured a pirate with combat power in the multi-hundred-million range…"
"The strongest genius in the entire history of the Navy…"
"No—even looking across the sea over centuries, a freak so absurd has never appeared before…"
"And that very monster is standing right in front of me."
Kurrin's scalp went numb.
He wanted to scream.
What kind of sin had he committed?
Why had someone like Fist Demon Kai set his sights on him?
Why?!
He hadn't even caused that much trouble lately.
And yet the Navy had still sent a monster like this after him?
This was Fist Demon Kai!
A freak of the ages!
Using a monster like this to deal with the Cerberus Pirates—
that was pure overkill.
It was bullying.
This was a complete dimensionality drop.
The Marines were shameless.
"What exactly did the Cerberus Pirates do to deserve a titled monster coming after us personally?"
Kurrin laughed bitterly.
At last, he understood.
There was no hope left.
Then his gaze shifted toward Morrison, and pity filled his eyes.
It was over.
Morrison was finished too.
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