Linlin had grown even stronger, and a large part of the credit for that fell squarely on Ares.
If not for Tengetsu Ares crashing her "good mood" over and over, forcing her into battle again and again, always finding himself unharmed in the end while she could do nothing to him, and if not for his terrifying rate of growth…
She would never have felt that pressure.
Linlin was very clear.
If things kept going like this, with her stagnant and Ares blazing ahead, he would not only surpass her, he would eventually leave her far behind.
That was why she had finally carved out time and energy to actually train in earnest, something she had never truly done before.
In the past, with her monstrous talent in every field, she could simply crush everything in front of her by brute force.
Ares did not rush in to interrupt Kaido and Linlin's battle. Instead, he chose to watch from a distance. Right now Kaido was fully immersed in the fight. Stepping in at this moment would not be "helping," it would just ruin it for him.
Better to step in when Kaido really could not hold on anymore.
There was another reason.
Those in the game are blind, those watching from the side see clearly.
Ares wanted to see clearly how far Linlin and Kaido had grown, and pick up what he could. A familiar saying surfaced from the other set of memories in his mind.
"When three people walk together, one of them can be my teacher."
He felt that sentence contained a lot of truth.
He calmed himself and focused on observing their fight, thoughts racing.
"Kaido got his Devil Fruit not long ago. You can tell he is not fully used to handling eight kanabos yet. Right now he is relying more on sheer numbers to overwhelm, he has not formed any true form or system to his offense."
"Not that it is surprising…"
"Anyone suddenly waking up with six more arms would need time to adapt. The fact Kaido can already fold this into his fighting style this well means his talent really is exceptional."
He remembered.
Back when they had sat drinking and talking, Kaido had told him about his past.
At ten years old, Kaido had already become the "strongest warrior" of the Vodka Kingdom, a country that lived on endless war, conquering by force and pillage to amass wealth, all in order to scrape together enough to hand over the Heavenly Tribute to the World Government.
You could call it a country, but in truth, it was not all that different from a pirate crew that burned and looted.
But on these seas, as long as you had the World Government's recognition and became a member nation, you had the "right" to invade and crush other countries that were not part of the system.
That was "justice".
Justice that belonged to the World Government.
Justice that only the strong were allowed to wield.
Back to the point.
Kaido becoming Vodka Kingdom's strongest warrior at ten was not just because he was gifted. It was because he had been tempered in blood and fire from childhood.
He had clawed his way into becoming the "Ape Demon" Kaido of today one step at a time.
"Looks like… if I had not been hammering my body with extreme training since I was a kid, at this age I might not even be Kaido's match yet," Ares thought with a hint of relief.
He was glad he had focused on forging his body from the very beginning. Combined with the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit, and countless battles, that was how he had reached his current level.
He could not help but sigh inwardly.
"Hard work does get repaid. It is just that when you are laying brick by brick, you rarely see the results right away."
"But once the foundation is solid, then you can finally see what all that effort has built."
"Maybe, when the rest of that memory in my head completely returns, I will understand why I have that strange ability to replay and dissect battles over and over…"
He pulled his thoughts back.
Ares shifted his gaze fully to Linlin. Compared to Kaido, Linlin's talent was practically a bug in the system.
But that did not erase her other strengths.
Swordsmanship, hand–to–hand combat, and Haki, she had dipped her hands into all of them. With her talent and raw power, anything she used was terrifying.
"Linlin's way of attacking is crude and brutal… but she has the power to be that crude," Ares admitted to himself. "Most people could not dream of copying this style."
He himself could learn from some aspects.
But he genuinely did not like that way of fighting. Inwardly he scoffed.
"If your body reached the level of a Supreme Grade Blade, maybe this style would be fine…"
"But her body has not reached that realm at all. And on this sea, there are all kinds of bizarre Paramecia Devil Fruits. It would not be surprising if some ability could pierce that 'steel balloon' of a body."
From the bottom of his heart, Ares felt Linlin's fighting style was extremely unsafe and not worth emulating, so he did not dwell on it.
Besides…
He already had a wealth of techniques.
The Six Powers.
The swordsmanship he had learned from Golden Lion Shiki.
The hand–to–hand skills he had picked up from Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
The combat methods taught by Black Arm Zephyr and Garp.
And insights gleaned from Rayleigh, Slardar, Chinjao and many other powerhouses.
What he lacked was not techniques, but time. Given time, he could train all of these stolen techniques to a level that would shock the world.
"Captain Rocks was right. Battle."
"Battles let me master techniques faster, sharpen my combat sense, and raise my strength. But if I want to forge my body into something beyond even the Supreme Grade Blades, just fighting is not enough."
Ares knew the path he was walking was different from everyone else's. Battles alone would not cut it. He also had to grind his body to the extreme.
As for the future…
His heart was full of anticipation.
"I am still young. In the future, I will definitely forge this body into something that surpasses all Supreme Grade Blades."
Ares believed he could achieve it, and he eagerly awaited the day it happened.
At the harbor.
Thunderous booms kept ringing out. The battle of these two wild beasts had gotten a bit monotonous.
If Linlin still had her sanity, it would be different. But she had lost all reason and was fighting purely on instinct. The creations of her Soul–Soul Fruit, Prometheus, Zeus, and Napoleon, had all been sent out to search for the children abducted by CP0.
Right now, she was using only her own fists against Kaido.
Even so…
Kaido was still being driven back.
When Ares saw Kaido once again sent flying, he finally stepped forward and called out, "Kaido, leave that woman to me. Go help Wang Zhi search for Katakuri."
"Ares–aniki, you are here?" Kaido climbed to his feet, blood at the corner of his mouth as he released his Devil Fruit form.
Ares strode up to him.
"Yeah. I have been here for a bit. I saw you and Linlin fighting to a standstill, so I did not step in."
"I am still not her match…" Kaido said, a little downcast. He had thought he might be able to claw back some dignity this time, but in the end, he still fell short of Linlin.
Ares shook his head and comforted him.
"Kaido, losing is not scary. And you just obtained your Devil Fruit. You have not fully mastered or developed its powers yet."
"In the future, you will definitely surpass Linlin. You promised to stay with me and chase our dream, remember."
Kaido bared his teeth in a grin.
"Uororororo…"
"Yeah. I am going to follow you, Ares–aniki, and climb to the very peak of the world, and witness the birth of a body that surpasses the Supreme Grade Blades."
The two of them exchanged a look and smiled.
No more words were needed.
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