In his previous battles, his Flying Slashes had mostly relied on the gravitational enhancement of Cursed Technique: Cursed Spirit Manipulation. His own swordsmanship realm had not yet truly reached the threshold of a Swordsman Master.
But now, an unprecedented insight was sprouting within him—he could faintly perceive the Breath of All Things!
The reef beneath his feet, the gentle breeze brushing his skin, the white clouds overhead, and the distant sea—all seemed to emanate deep, resonant breaths.
This strange perception shook Ivan to his core.
Ivan ceased enhancing his strikes with Cursed Technique: Cursed Spirit Manipulation's gravity and instead swung his longsword using his own strength.
Swish!
The blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle, but aside from that, no other changes occurred, let alone a Flying Slash!
Yet Ivan showed no sign of discouragement. He lowered his arm slightly and swung again.
Once, twice, thrice… After countless attempts, Ivan finally felt his spirit merge completely with the blade.
In the next moment, everything around him became crystal clear!
Ivan exhaled a turbid breath. Though he hadn't swung his sword yet, he had an intuition.
The next strike would be profoundly different!
Thus, Ivan swung his sword…
Boom!
A piercing shriek tore through the sky as a Flying Slash, far more ferocious than any before, erupted from the blade!
The slash cleaved through the sea's surface, splitting towering waves in two and forcing the seawater to violently retreat on either side. In its wake, it left a scar on the ocean that refused to heal for a long time.
At this moment, Ivan finally heard the Breath of All Things clearly and stepped into the realm of a Swordsman Master!
Sheathing his sword, Ivan's tense body suddenly relaxed, his eyes brimming with excitement.
Three full years since transmigrating to this world, he had become a true Swordsman Master!
What excited him even more was that once the Swordsman Master realm was combined with his newly developed Black Cang, his combat power would undoubtedly multiply several times over.
This was an absolutely transformative and immense improvement!
After unleashing that slash, Ivan didn't stop practicing. He continued swinging his sword, striving to fully master the Breath of All Things and solidify his Swordsman Master realm.
But half an hour into his practice, his Den Den Mushi suddenly rang.
Answering it, Smoker's smoky voice came through: "Ivan, come to my office immediately. There's important news for you."
Hanging up, Ivan's heart stirred as he realized.
This was likely the final verdict from Marine Headquarters regarding his handling of the Arlong incident.
How would Headquarters deal with him?
Reward, or punishment?
After weighing the possibilities, Ivan felt a reward was more likely.
After all, he had eradicated the long-troublesome Arlong Pirates. Such decisive action would likely appeal to many high-ranking officials at Headquarters.
With their support, he probably wouldn't face punishment.
When Ivan arrived at Smoker's office, he found most of the officers from Loguetown already present.
As Ivan took his seat, Smoker took a deep drag from his cigar and said gravely, "Ivan, Headquarters' decision on your case has come down."
"Oh? What is it?"
Smoker gave Ivan a complicated look. "You're being promoted. Headquarters has decided to appoint you as a Headquarters Captain. You must report to Marineford within a month."
It could be said that Smoker had watched Ivan climb from a mere marine to his current rank.
He had originally thought Ivan was a hardworking but talent-lacking soldier.
Smoker had seen plenty of such people—after all, not everyone could become a monster or a protagonist of this era.
He had assumed Ivan would be no different, destined at best to reach a captain's rank and live out an unremarkable life in the East Blue.
But unexpectedly, in recent times, Ivan had brought him immense surprises.
His strength had multiplied, and Smoker believed that if Ivan could just master Haki, even he would have to take him seriously.
Looking at Ivan, who had just turned eighteen, a bold thought surfaced in Smoker's mind.
Could it be that this kid would one day join the ranks of the era's top monsters?
Unaware of Smoker's thoughts, Ivan showed no surprise upon learning of his appointment as a Headquarters Captain, merely teasing:
"Captain Smoker, I'm a captain now too. You'd better step up your game, or you'll have to call me 'sir' soon."
Smoker's face darkened. Indeed, if Ivan maintained his current rate of improvement, it wouldn't be long before he'd have to address him as "sir."
Pushing aside this annoying thought for now, Smoker shifted his attention and announced the next matter: "Soon, Vice Admiral Garp will arrive in the East Blue and will take you to Headquarters along the way."
This news immediately stirred up the conference room. After all, every marine was a fan of the Navy Hero.
The fact that Vice Admiral Garp would soon arrive in the East Blue delighted the officers present.
This also surprised Ivan. Why would Garp come to the East Blue soon? What was his purpose?
Could it be that because Ace had gone astray, he wanted to correct his only grandson who hadn't yet?
Garp would likely be disappointed—all three of his grandsons had long since gone astray, especially Luffy, the destined future Pirate King!
"And the last piece of news?" Ivan asked.
At this, Smoker's expression turned peculiar:
"The Krieg Pirates learned of your killing of Pal. Not long ago, they threatened me to hand you over, or they would attack Loguetown and slaughter everyone in it."
Ivan: "Huh?"
Who gave him the courage?!
Currently, the Krieg Pirates were at their peak and would soon enter the Grand Line, only to be chased down by Hawk-Eyes after seeing him relieving himself on a small boat right after entering.
It seemed Krieg wouldn't live long enough to witness Hawk-Eyes' bathroom break. Ivan decided to send him to his death soon!
Confirming there were no further matters, Ivan stood up immediately, his tone cold and resolute: "Since there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. Before Vice Admiral Garp arrives, I'll go deal with Krieg first!"
Smoker slowly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and said gravely, "Do you need help? Keep in mind, the Krieg Pirates number five thousand."
Ivan turned his head, his expression confident and bold: "No need. Remember, I'm plenty strong."
[Due to your confidence, the Gojo Satoru Template's approval increased by 2%.]
[Template: Gojo Satoru · Echo (Approval: 45%)]
…
Soon, the townspeople at the port watched as the warship that had just docked slowly sailed out of the harbor again.
They all sighed, Major Ivan just couldn't stop; he was such an outstanding Marine!
After leaving Loguetown, Ivan immediately ordered his Marine subordinates to head toward the last known location of the Krieg Pirates.
Upon learning where the Krieg Pirates had appeared, Ivan's expression turned strange.
The intelligence report stated that the Krieg Pirates were chasing the Floating Restaurant Baratie.
It seemed that the incident of killing Pal and others at the Floating Restaurant Baratie last time had ultimately brought trouble to those chefs.
However, Ivan wasn't worried about them. After all, the Floating Restaurant was full of talented individuals, with Zeff being a pirate who had once firmly established himself in the Grand Line.
Given their strength, even if they couldn't handle the Krieg Pirates, they were certainly capable of defending themselves.
What concerned Ivan was something else: during the Krieg Pirates' pursuit of the Floating Restaurant Baratie, they encountered a green-haired bounty hunter.