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Vice admiral material.
Someone with that level of strength was never someone you could afford to ignore.
These people had survived countless battles and pushed their bodies or Devil Fruit abilities to terrifying extremes.
Inside the Navy, someone this strong could already be considered a future admiral.
But what Sengoku absolutely couldn't believe was this: how long had Kyle been with the Navy?
A month? Two?
And then…
His thoughts spun in circles as he lowered his eyes to the file on his desk, his brows slowly tightening.
"Case of the Nobles' Murder."
"Celestial Dragons."
After a moment of silence, Sengoku flipped open the folder, scanning the final column. The line written in blood-red ink stood out sharply.
"Primary suspect: former garden servant of the Bokan family, Kyle."
"Kyle, male, age seventeen."
"Purchased at the Shabaody Archipelago auction ten years ago by Bokan Yongle for one million berries."
Sengoku kept reading.
"Place of birth: West Blue, unconfirmed."
"Hometown: Ohara, unconfirmed."
"Parents likely killed twelve years ago by the Berry Pirates."
Everything was recorded in detail. Over the past month, with the intelligence division deliberately digging, Kyle's background had become completely clear.
Some of these details might not have been known even to Kyle himself.
After a long silence, Sengoku picked up a red pen and heavily crossed out the suspect line.
Then he wrote his approval.
"A gardener with the ability to slaughter the entire Bokan family? Ridiculous."
"Continue the investigation."
He let out a soft snort.
"And what does 'gardener Kyle' have to do with 'Navy Kyle' anyway?"
He muttered under his breath.
"Kuzan, you old fool, I really saved your hide this time."
He tossed the document aside. Then he casually ripped up the report about offending the Celestial Dragons, not bothered in the slightest.
Cases like that happened so many times the Navy simply couldn't keep up.
A moment later, another document sat in front of him.
"Major Calen of Shabaody Archipelago. Criminal investigation report."
Sengoku opened it, skimmed a few lines, and smiled faintly.
"Letting Kyle handle this man himself might give us an unexpected result."
As an old Navy veteran, and one who often assisted Fleet Admiral Kong, Sengoku was more than skilled at dealing with people.
Originally, this matter wouldn't have mattered much to him. But once that black-haired boy revealed his frightening potential and power, everything changed.
Saul's voice kept rambling on through the Den Den Mushi, but Sengoku had narrowed his eyes, already thinking about how to make this promising young officer feel the warmth and justice of the Navy.
Find talent, keep talent, help talent. That was how the Navy grew stronger.
The greatest difference between them and the pirates was that the Navy had a real system for raising its future pillars.
Meanwhile, Kyle's battle with Rayleigh was still raging.
It went on for a full seven days and seven nights. Only when the noise at the center of the island finally faded did it end.
"Hey, kid, aren't you going to check on your teacher?"
Rayleigh was panting heavily, his body covered in wounds and his eyes tired.
"Haha, if you want to check on your captain, you better hurry."
Kyle laughed loudly.
"You brat."
Rayleigh shook his head with a tired grin, sheathing his sword.
From watching the boy grow to actually fighting him head-on, Rayleigh vaguely felt like he was watching a student he'd personally raised. And at the same time, he felt that rare recognition that only existed between fighters of the same caliber.
He looked around. Aside from a few still standing, the others were either unconscious or sleeping soundly from exhaustion.
Very few could endure seven days and nights of intense fighting.
"Come on. Those two idiots should be at their limit too."
Rayleigh called out.
Kyle nodded, looked down at his shredded clothes, then tore them off, leaving his torso bare.
Sunlight fell on his bronze skin and sharply defined abs, a sight that had a strong visual impact.
As he followed Rayleigh toward the inner island, the powerful back muscles on his shoulders rose and fell like mountains, full of explosive strength.
His only flaw was that he'd only recently joined the Navy, so he was still a little lean.
Reaching the center, the two immediately saw Roger and Garp lying there snoring like thunder.
Judging from the blood-streaked wounds all over their bodies, their fight had clearly been just as intense.
"Well then, kid. Until we meet again."
"I'll be waiting for our next fight."
Rayleigh said with a smile.
"Next time, you won't be my match anymore, Rayleigh."
Kyle grinned.
"Hahahahaha."
"You arrogant brat. You're still far off."
Rayleigh laughed, hoisting Roger over his shoulder and turning away.
Kyle lifted Garp onto his own shoulder.
The battle was over.
The survivors on both sides silently carried their injured back to their respective ships.
"Roger's condition is bad."
"And this might be Vice Admiral Garp's last all-out fight."
When the final person was loaded, Bogart leaned on the railing and let out a sigh.
"Yeah…"
Kyle paused, glancing at Garp who was snoring loudly, covered in scars but still smiling. He nodded quietly.
"You should rest too."
"Fighting that old Rayleigh must've drained you."
Bogart said.
"It really did."
Kyle laughed.
The adrenaline from battle had masked everything, but now a crushing wave of exhaustion washed over him. His eyelids became unbearably heavy.
The very next second, his head tilted and he fell asleep on the spot.
Bogart chuckled at the sight. He went below deck and came back with thick blankets, covering everyone.
They slept for three entire days and nights.
When they finally woke one by one, the warship was already docked at G5 Fortress.
Amid the noisy chatter, Kyle slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Garp, wrapped in bandages, drinking and stuffing meat into his mouth with a huge grin.
"Hahaha, brat, you're finally awake."
"Once we finish resupplying, we're heading back to HQ."
"You really earned yourself a good one this time."
"And those brats like Kuzan did pretty well too."
Garp laughed while munching on another piece of meat.
Kyle blinked, then sat down with the others as Kuzan waved him over. He started eating just as heartily.
"By the way, Sengoku contacted me earlier. Because of your performance, HQ has decided to promote you to Rear Admiral."
"Your actual post will be assigned after you graduate from the Naval Academy."
Garp said, mouth still full.
"Naval Academy?" Kyle asked in confusion.
"Of course. You think being a Navy officer is just about strength?"
"That's only part of it. You still need to study and learn."
Garp replied.
Kyle was speechless.
"And one more thing."
Garp paused, swallowed his food and continued with a more serious tone.
"Before we return to HQ, you need to go to the Shabaody Archipelago."
Kyle looked at him, puzzled.
"We've finished gathering evidence on Calen and his men."
"HQ wants you to handle them yourself."
Garp said.
Kyle froze for a moment. Then his eyes sharpened.
"Alright."
"..."
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