After Ain spoke those three words, a bitter smile appeared on her face.
Just one person had turned the entire recruit training camp upside down.
It was like a slap across the face of every Marine stationed here.
"Hm?"
Zephyr frowned.
He had considered many possibilities, but he had never expected the intruder to be alone.
"It's Kairos," Ain said quietly, lowering her head slightly.
A sharp glint flashed through Zephyr's eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, he rushed out of the office and headed straight for the coast.
He remembered what Garp had once told him over the Den Den Mushi not long ago.
"That brat Kairos is strong, but he's obsessed with sparring. If it means getting a fight, there's nothing he won't do. Hahaha! People are already calling him 'Madman Kairos' now!"
Garp's words echoed repeatedly in Zephyr's mind.
At the time, Zephyr had not fully understood what Garp meant.
Now he did.
For the sake of a fight, Kairos had actually gone mad enough to invade a Marine recruit training camp alone.
At the coast—
Rumble…
Thunder roared again and again.
A pale-golden bolt of lightning raced across the shoreline.
Its movements were simple.
Direct.
Without unnecessary tricks.
But no Marine present could defend against it.
Because it was too fast.
When an attack became so fast that people could neither react nor defend against it, that speed itself became a form of invincibility.
And right now, this bolt of lightning had reached that level.
Crackle!
Electric light flashed like a river of thunder.
Every time it moved, several Marines were instantly defeated.
No one could stop it.
"Where is he—"
Before one Marine could finish speaking, he was struck heavily and sent flying.
"Ahhh!"
His scream rang out.
The Marine beside him felt his scalp go numb at the sight.
He wanted to dodge, but his body could not keep up.
Sizzle…
Lightning flashed once more.
Marines were blasted into the air like drifting dandelion seeds.
"Ah!"
"Call for support, quick—ugh!"
Screams echoed across the coast.
But most of them ended the moment they began.
The Marines who cried out collapsed onto the ground, electricity surging through their bodies and numbing them until they could no longer move.
By now, over sixty percent of the Marines on the coast had fallen.
The ground was covered in flickering electric arcs.
There was almost nowhere left to step.
The entire shoreline had become a sea of thunder.
"Kairos…"
Suddenly, a deep voice rang out like a heavy bell tolling through the battlefield.
Along with it came a tall, powerful figure.
Zephyr had arrived.
A crimson glint flashed through his eyes.
Observation Haki activated.
In Zephyr's vision, the lightning racing across the coast gradually slowed.
At last, he saw the figure hidden within it.
Black coat.
Wooden sword.
A broken-looking blade.
Zephyr instantly matched the appearance with the information he knew.
The one moving like lightning was undoubtedly Kairos.
Zephyr's footsteps grew heavier.
A deep and powerful aura surged from his body.
The Marine coat draped over his shoulders slowly lifted in the wind.
Kairos also noticed Zephyr's arrival.
He stopped moving, electric arcs still flickering around him.
"I've been waiting for you."
Kairos opened his narrowed eyes and revealed a faint smile toward Zephyr.
"Fight me before your arm gets broken."
He remembered clearly.
About a year and a half later, Zephyr would be attacked at sea by Edward Weevil, and his right arm would be severed.
After that battle, Zephyr's combat strength would decline dramatically.
Kairos had no interest in fighting that version of Zephyr.
Now was the perfect time.
Thinking of that, intense battle intent flashed through Kairos' eyes.
Black Arm Zephyr.
A former Admiral.
And right now, Zephyr had not yet truly grown old.
He was exactly the kind of opponent capable of giving Kairos a satisfying fight.
But when those words reached Zephyr's ears, his brows furrowed slightly.
Before his arm gets broken?
What was that supposed to mean?
"Are you trying to disturb my thoughts with words?"
Zephyr spoke coldly.
"If so, you've miscalculated."
The moment his words fell—
Zephyr moved.
His foot slammed into the ground.
A force like a roaring lion swept across the battlefield.
The hard bluestone instantly shattered apart, and countless fragments shot into the air.
Even the electric arcs covering the ground were extinguished in that instant.
Lightning erupted around Kairos again.
He transformed into a rushing river of thunder and collided head-on with Zephyr.
At the same time—
more and more people from the recruit camp were still rushing toward the coast.
The officers had all arrived.
Kairos was challenging the entire recruit training camp alone.
At the same time—
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside a spacious conference room.
The Marines were currently holding a routine meeting.
Many Headquarters Vice Admirals sat around the room, each one imposing and powerful.
"If anyone has suggestions regarding the recent development of the Marines, feel free to speak."
Sengoku sat at the head of the table, hands folded before his chest as he pushed up his glasses and spoke calmly.
After Sengoku finished speaking, several Vice Admirals, including Momonga and Doberman, began voicing their opinions.
The discussion was gradually becoming heated when—
a heavy knock sounded at the door.
A Marine soldier pushed the door open and walked inside.
His expression was respectful, but also filled with shock and tension.
He came to Sengoku's side, saluted, and reported,
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, a pirate has attacked Recruit Training Camp Number One!"
The moment those words fell, the entire conference room fell silent.
"What?"
Sengoku's expression instantly turned serious.
His first question came immediately.
"What are the casualties?"
The recruit training camp represented the future foundation of the Marines.
Every recruit lost was a loss Sengoku did not want to see.
That was what he cared about most right now.
The other Vice Admirals widened their eyes and listened closely.
Even Garp, who had been dozing in the meeting room, sat up immediately.
His expression turned grave as he looked toward the reporting soldier.
"Three hundred and seven injured…"
The Marine soldier swallowed nervously.
"And deaths…"
"Zero."
The moment that number was spoken—
the conference room fell into dead silence.
An eerie silence.
So quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could have been heard.
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