Recruit Luffy at the start and build the strongest navy.

David Jones... no, I should say David D. Jones.

The progenitor of the David clan and a member of the D clan, he lived during the blank century 800 years ago.

A contemporary of Joy Boy.

His descendants, the David family, were hunted by the World Government for eight hundred years.

The former sea tyrant, Rocks D. Giebeck, was a descendant of the core bloodline of the David family; his real name should be David D. Giebeck!

During the God Valley War decades ago, Im, who was possessed by Satan, mistook Rocks for David D. Jones when he saw him.

Aside from his eerily pale skin, the Davy D. Jones before him bore a striking resemblance to Rocks in his features; he was essentially Rocks in his old age.

There are many legends about Davy D. Jones, the most famous of which is that he was cursed to be eternally submerged in the sea because of his greed.

Kyle had previously thought these legends were just things experts said, and that if you believed them, you would have them in your lifetime!

But to my surprise, David D. Jones was actually still alive.

It seems this legend is less credible than what the experts say; it's much more reliable.

After another clash that generated powerful jets of energy, the two men were forced back quite a distance before coming to a stop.

David D. Jones slightly raised his eyes, looked at the purple lightning sphere opposite him, his eyes narrowed slightly, and suddenly spoke:

"Kid, your strength... is a bit off!!"

David D. Jones's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power, reaching Kyle's ears precisely.

"Heh~ What do you think is the problem?"

Kyle asked in a soft voice, his tone utterly calm.

David D. Jones paused for a moment before speaking slowly:

"This era shouldn't have combat power at your level!"

"Um?!"

Upon hearing this, Kyle's eyes narrowed immediately.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"The literal meaning!"

David D. Jones answered calmly.

"Theoretically speaking, since eight hundred years ago, the highest level people in this world can reach is the King level!"

"But your current strength..."

"They've actually reached the pinnacle of the King level, just one step away from stepping into a new realm!"

"How strange, there's no reason for this to happen!"

David D. Jones's tone was one of bewilderment.

Kyle raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"What King-level? What are you talking about?"

David D. Jones glanced over and spoke calmly:

"The so-called 'King level' was a range of strength levels used to measure the power of strong individuals from eight hundred years ago!"

"Below that are the ranks of general and private!"

"And above that is..."

At this point, David D. Jones paused, then fixed his gaze on Kyle and uttered two words, one after another:

"God-level!!"

!!!

For some reason, upon hearing those two words, Kyle felt a tremor in his heart, as if he had sensed something in the depths of his being.

Before Kyle could investigate this anomaly, David D. Jones continued:

"Gods, kings, generals, and soldiers constituted the power structure of that era!"

"The power gap between soldier-level and general-level, and between king-level and god-level, is enormous, to an unimaginably exaggerated degree!"

"The difference between General-level and King-level is relatively small!"

"And your current strength is at the pinnacle of the King level, just one step away from breaking through to the Demigod level!"

(⊙o⊙)...

After hearing what David D. Jones said, Kyle felt slightly dazed.

no?!

This is the world of One Piece, right?

Why did they give him such a rustic thing as a god-king general?

The art style feels a bit off!

But now is clearly not the time for Kyle to slowly complain about this. If Kyle was somewhat skeptical of David D. Jones's words when he first introduced himself, it's a different story.

Now, after hearing this and having just fought with his opponent, Kyle is about 70% convinced of David D. Jones's identity.

If this person in front of me really is David D. Jones, then...

Kyle narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking he could probably learn a lot about the secrets of eight hundred years ago from the other party.

Of course, it all depends on whether the other party is willing to tell him.

Although it was only a brief exchange, Kyle could sense that his opponent's strength was definitely no less than his own, and might even be stronger.

This is an incredibly exaggerated thing. You have to understand that after so many years, he himself doesn't even know how strong he is now.

He could confidently say that, apart from Im, he wouldn't back down even if all the other powerful beings in the world joined forces against him.

That's how tough and powerful he is!

I thought I was invincible except for Im, but I never expected to encounter such a powerful opponent in the sea off Wano Country.

Fortunately, he never spoke too definitively before, and he would usually add a phrase like "a powerful figure on the surface" when he spoke.

David D. Jones has been in the ocean for who knows how long, and there is almost no information about him in the world, so he is not considered a powerful figure in the open.

"So, I'm just one step away from breaking through to the so-called god-level?"

"Kel asked suddenly."

He had previously mentioned that he felt he had hit a bottleneck and his skills hadn't improved for quite some time.

Is this the so-called bottleneck between the King level and the God level?

To his surprise, he was immediately met with a glare from David D. Jones after saying this.

"God-level?!"

"What the hell are you thinking?"

"The next step after reaching the pinnacle of the King level is demigod. If breaking through to the God level were so easy, I wouldn't have been stuck at that bottleneck back then!"

"If I had been able to break through to the god level back then, then everything..."

At this point, David D. Jones suddenly paused, and after a long while, let out a soft sigh.

"Forget it, so many years have passed, let's not dwell on the past!"

Kyle: ? ? ? ?

No?! You're really something else, always leaving things unsaid!

You don't want to talk about it, but I want to hear it!

Thinking of this, Kyle remained silent for a moment before tentatively speaking:

"Why don't you bring it up again? After all these years, it's only natural to bring it up a couple of times, isn't it?"

"As the saying goes, 'To learn something and then practice it regularly.' You should bring up past experiences more often. Even if it's useless to you, it can broaden my horizons!"

"Even if you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about me, right?"

David D. Jones: ? ? ? ?

This time, it was Davy D. Jones's turn to be completely dumbfounded...