Chapter 21

-Near the waters of Sabaody Archipelago.

The golden colors of the morning sun showered the blue sea and sparkled the ocean surface with beautiful layers of silver like textiles. As the picture was painted, Victor who stood next to the ship's railing, embraced it to its entirety, then perfected it with the sensation of the salty sea breeze that rubbed against his skin.

He had expected something along the lines of hard training, however, only during the first day of the journey was there any action. And that too was just Victor demonstrating his mastery over some of the Rokushiki techniques.

There were a lot of gasps from the observing soldiers, even expressions of surprise and unbelief. After all, a 15-year-old boy was executing the most elite of the battle techniques.

It didn't take long for him to be marked as a monster genius in the hearts of these soldiers. A monster genius who had the admiral as his backer, the admiral as his family, and all this led to the initial gasps change into envy, then later respect. Now, over this small period of time, all of the ship's soldiers had recognized Victor.

However, unlike the gasping soldiers, Zephyr showed a more composed expression. But if one could read Zephyr's thoughts, it would be a different perspective entirely. When Victor executed the Geppo, Tekkai, Shigan, Rankyaku and Soru skillfully, even Zephyr could not help but expose some telltale signs and failed to keep his composure at best.

Apart from this, the rest of the days went by with only learning, learning and more learning. The many theoretical lessons from Zephyr turned out very fruitful. He got to revise some parts of the marine Rokushiki Knowledge, the files he acquired 14 years ago.

As Zephyr preached, Jaya would now and then prompt to revise her database. Notably, the Kami-e skill, the only one out of the six he had not yet comprehended. Even Jaya had difficulties processing its data.

In addition, there were two more, not mentioned in the shipwreck's files. The "Rokuogan" and "Seimei Kikan." And Victor had grasped the opportunity to dig plenty until Jaya had collected enough data for processing.

*BOOOM!*

Victor's thinking suddenly got interrupted by the sound of an explosion.

"There, to the east…" He heard one of the soldiers shout, pointing at a black spot which was difficult to see because of the rising sun blinding the view.

Following the direction, "Jaya, is that dot in my sight within your scannable range?" Victor asked as he got ready for action.

None of the soldiers on board was anxious, after all, Zephyr was here. The only reason whoever had attacked must have been because they did not recognize this battleship, or they were just straight-up death seeking idiots.

And even if Zephyr was not here, Victor wouldn't have panicked. Although physically Victor was weaker than Zephyr, he could very well generate the same or more destructive power using pure energy. But that's something he would not demonstrate to anyone, not yet, and not as Victor von Doom.

[3.1 Kilometers east, highest power level detected 19,658. There is another with 11,947 and 76 others ranging between 120 to 1,900.]

While listening to Jaya's message, Victor followed along with the soldier's routine and got ready for combat.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

The cannons came swooshing and landed near the ship, making the vessel plunge along with the follow-up waves.

And as the pirate ship got closer, "They're jolly roger belongs to the Bull Horn pirates…," one of the soldiers shouted, holding firmly to the railing. The warship did not stop one bit, and the soldiers all had excited expressions. After all, it's not every day they get to witness an admiral level combat power demonstration. Or so they thought.

*Squeek*

"Admiral, we're under attack…"

Shouted a soldier, immediately after seeing Zephyr stepped out of the door. He had a moody expression, much like anyone who was forced to get up in the morning.

*Step* ... *Step* ... *Step*

He came and stood next to Victor; the gloomy expression changed into a half-smile, before his gaze locked with the now more visible pirate ship.

A burly man about eight feet tall, wearing red pants and red shoes, had a bare upper body, a helmet-like thing worn on his head that had two black horns coming out from the sides, stood at the bow, showing all his teeth, like a hungry tiger.

Ignoring the approaching pirate's fearsome expression, "How much is their bounty?" Zephyr asked one of the soldiers.

"Reporting admiral! The man standing at the bow is the Bull Horn pirates captain, Rakas-the-bull, who ate the Cattle-Cattlele Devil-Fruit, Model Bull, with a bounty of 67 million. Their vice-captain Jeff has a bounty of 32 milli-"

"Victor!" Zephyr cut in the soldiers' never-ending explanation.

A bit startled, at the same time quickly thinking what Zephyr wanted with him, Victor hastily gave a "Yes!" following a standard marine salute.

He was a soldier in his previous life, and for that reason, he had no difficulties portraying himself as a respectable marine.

Moreover, just because he was now considered Zephyr's family doesn't mean he would be arrogant.

No, on the contrary, he would act more approachable, all for the master plan that would come into fruition many decades from now.

Looking at Victor's behaviour, Zephyr nodded with another half-smile of approval. He was a bit spectacle at first, about how quickly Victor adapted to the marine conduct, but, he kept it to himself. He was more pleased than to question something so trivial.

"The other day, you mentioned defeating all of the Black Anchor Pirates by yourself…"

It was obvious what Zephyr was asking. "Does he want me to act alone against these thugs?" Thought Victor, before answering, "Yes, admiral."

Following the answer, "Lieutenant Binz!" Zephyr called out, getting another response of a similar, "Yes Admiral."

He was lanky, tall, as tall as Victor, with pink hair, large lips and broad shoulders that appear disproportional to his long arms. He was wearing a sleeveless, standard marine soldier uniform that had a blue tie around its collar with the marine symbol printed on the back.

"No wonder Zephyr called him; he was a key figure in Film Z after all…" Victor thought while observing the said man. He has had some interactions with Binz over the past two weeks, and to his surprise, the guy's personality was nothing like on Film Z. He was really an outgoing, funny guy.

"Too bad there's no Ain yet… She should still be too young and must have not joined the marines yet…" He pondered more while thinking about one rather exquisite, yet cold female.

"You're both about the same age. Binz! Utilize your devil fruit to support Victor, and Victor, use the Rokushiki you had learnt and demonstrate to us how proficient you are using it in battle." Zephyr ordered.

"Yes, Admiral!" The two answered in unison.

In Zephyr's mind, these two are still young, and do not have the capability to handle an entire pirate group. More importantly, a captain that has 67 million as his bounty. However, he just wants to see Victor's combat capabilities and how he favors working along with other marines.

Of course, he knows it's dangerous to let them both go alone. He would observe the battle like a hawk, and when there comes the time they could no longer hold on, that's when he would move. He is a man that believes real-life battle is the best remedy for getting stronger. And he would let all his students reap this advantage whenever possible.

===========xxxxxxxxxxx===========

[A/N: Please read the auxiliary chapter I had published to clear any misunderstandings you may have, regarding Power Level in this universe.]