Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

Layers of air currents blew outwards from Zefa's body.

Sweat beaded on the flying squirrel's forehead; he looked like a little rabbit being stared at by a fierce tiger.

The threat of death constantly tormented his spirit.

"Is this the strength of an admiral?"

The flying squirrel was envious; such breathtaking power was something everyone dreamed of.

"Now, watch closely."

Zephyr's speed suddenly increased, becoming more than three times faster than before, and in the blink of an eye, the flying squirrel lost its lock on Zephyr.

"In the back."

Behind the flying squirrel's body, a tall figure appeared, completely blocking out the sunlight.

"When?!"

The flying squirrel's pupils dilated sharply, and its body rolled forward at a speed that exceeded its brain's reaction time.

boom!

A tremendous roar resounded, and the spot where the flying squirrel had just stood was now a crater ten meters in diameter.

A dense spider web extends outwards from the center to both sides.

As the dust settled, Zefa's tall figure stood in the center, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Not bad, your reaction time is pretty quick."

"But all you can do is run away, flying squirrel?"

Instead of speaking, the flying squirrel covered Dojigiri Yasutsuna with Armament Haki.

"One-Sword Style: Swallow Slash".

The flying squirrel charged toward Zephyr without hesitation.

This battle was merely a test of his growth by Zeff; constantly running away would only make Zeff look down on him.

The blade sliced ​​through the air, and the man moved with the blade, appearing before Zephyr.

clang!!!

Sparks flew as Zephyr's wrist firmly blocked the flying squirrel's blade.

"Flying Squirrel, that's a pretty good move."

Zephyr looked relaxed, not seeing the flying squirrel as a threat, and was even commenting on the flying squirrel's moves.

However, the flying squirrel raised its face and smiled at Zephyr.

Zefa sensed something was wrong and was about to throw the flying squirrel away when he felt a stinging pain in his wrist.

Zefa remained calm; his extensive experience allowed him to react correctly immediately.

Ignoring the flying squirrel's blade, he used his right leg as a fulcrum and kicked out heavily with his left leg.

The flying squirrel naturally didn't think it could defeat Zephyr; injuring Zephyr was enough to achieve its goal.

He didn't intend to fight Zefa head-on; instead, he crossed his arms and used Zefa's kick to retreat.

Zephyr raised his right wrist for a closer look and saw a barely visible scar on the skin covered in Armament Haki.

His Armament Haki was broken; the flying squirrel had just left a small wound on him.

"Hahahaha! Well done, flying squirrel."

Zefa didn't care about such a minor injury at all; his powerful physique would heal itself in just a few more minutes.

He has suffered injuries a hundred times worse than this in battles against pirates.

However, being injured by a colonel was a pleasant surprise for Zefa.

"You've already reached such a level in the Iron-Cutting Realm. I think it won't be long before you break through to the Flying Slash and enter the Sword Master Realm."

Zephyr had a deep love for the Navy.

The stronger the navy, the more gratified he felt, especially as his disciples became increasingly successful.

"Use whatever other moves you have. If this is all you've got, then this fight is over."

In fact, Zephyr was already quite satisfied with the test. His honest disciple had mastered the Six Styles of the Navy and had also made great progress in swordsmanship.

This has far exceeded Zephyr's expectations.

The flying squirrel nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then said:

"Zeff-sensei, I also ate a Devil Fruit, so I'm now a Devil Fruit user. I'm going to unleash my full power now."

He wasn't worried about Zefa being unable to handle him, but rather about Zefa scolding him.

The main reason is that both Zephyr and Garp believe that Devil Fruits are not good things; eating them prevents you from swimming, making them too useless.

They still prefer to focus on physical strength, improving their power through mastering physical techniques and domineering aura.

As expected, Zephyr's face darkened when he heard that the flying squirrel possessed a fruit.

He even cursed:

"I've said it so many times, Devil Fruits aren't all that great. Only powerful Devil Fruits can provide any help."

"But a weak Devil Fruit won't improve your strength much, and it will also hinder your mastery of physical skills and swordsmanship. You can't bite off more than you can chew."

"You little brat, I was just praising you, and now you're doing this to me? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

Zefa was indeed very angry.

Because at this time, apart from some powerful Devil Fruits, the other Devil Fruits could only really bully newcomers.

Fleet Admiral Kong, Zephyr, Garp, and even Roger Rayleigh from the pirate side are all powerful individuals who do not eat Devil Fruits.

They were not weaker than so-called "ability users" in terms of strength.

When encountering a Devil Fruit user, aside from some very strange Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.

Most of the time, they can easily deal with the situation by virtue of their unparalleled physical skills and domineering presence.

Devil Fruits seem to allow a person to grow rapidly, reaching the strength of a commodore in a very short time.

However, there are only a few powerful Devil Fruits, which are either owned by the World Government and the Navy or by pirates.

A second Devil Fruit will not appear while those powerful beings are still alive.

This means that the flying squirrel likely ate a useless Devil Fruit.

That's why Zephyr was so angry; he was worried that the flying squirrel was going astray and wasting too much time on trashy Devil Fruits.

The flying squirrel didn't speak; he knew it once he accepted it.

Only through strength can we break the prejudice of the older generation against Devil Fruits.

His body slowly spread outwards, and wisps of white mist covered the island.

This also trapped Zefa's body in place.

"A smoke-type Devil Fruit, a Logia type?"

Zephyr spends most of his time at headquarters and is quite proficient in Devil Fruit abilities.

Even if he didn't know the name of the Devil Fruit, he could guess its abilities from some details.

"As expected, it's the fruit of garbage."

Zefa was somewhat frustrated; he felt sorry for a promising young player.

"Zeffe-sensei, watch out!"

The sounds of flying squirrels echoed from all directions through the thick fog, making it impossible to pinpoint their location.

"Developing this level of ability only obstructs one's vision and is not very useful."

Zephyr closed his eyes and scanned everything in the thick fog with his Observation Haki.

Front...back...left...right...

found it!

In Zephyr's Observation Haki, the flying squirrel's figure was rapidly and silently approaching.

He even predicted the flying squirrel's next attack using his Observation Haki.

"That's enough, flying squirrel."

Zephyr's strong right arm muscles bulged again, and after being covered with Armament Haki, it looked like a sculpture cast in steel.

He punched into the depths of the thick fog, and the airflow suddenly dispersed the surrounding white mist.

"Um???"

When the thick fog cleared, Zephyr discovered that the clear image of the flying squirrel in his Observation Haki had turned into a white fog.

A punch to it only dispersed the humanoid white mist.