"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, just who exactly is this Ye Chen you mentioned?"
Aokiji was the one who spoke first. In this room, only he and Tsuru had actually seen Ye Chen in person.
However, Tsuru, stationed at headquarters and frequently receiving reports, had some understanding of Ye Chen.
Aokiji, on the other hand, had been traveling outside for a while. If it weren't for Sengoku urgently summoning him back this time, his knowledge of Ye Chen would still be limited to the Celestial Gold incident.
Suddenly, Aokiji noticed the atmosphere in the room turn heavy, all because of his question.
"Someone who acts beyond the law."
Sengoku remained silent for a moment before slowly answering. From his tone, it was clear he spoke about Ye Chen with great caution.
"Beyond the law?" Aokiji's expression grew serious. There were many lawless people in this sea, and half of the pirates were like that.
But for Sengoku to speak so cautiously, there were only a handful of people in the entire world worthy of that description.
"Let Kizaru speak. He has fought Ye Chen twice and knows him best."
At that moment, Garp suddenly spoke up.
As soon as the words left his mouth, all eyes in the room turned to Kizaru. Surrounded by bandages all over his body, Kizaru gave a bitter smile.
"He's very strong."
After a while, Kizaru finally said that one sentence.
"Obviously, we already know he's strong," Aokiji rolled his eyes at Kizaru.
He had hoped Kizaru would say something useful, but all he got was this vague statement after a long pause.
If Ye Chen weren't strong or dangerous, would they all have gathered here to discuss? They could just send the fleet and bomb him directly.
"Get to the point, Kizaru," Garp said sharply.
"What a pain." Kizaru pouted.
"The point." This time, Sengoku shouted.
Seeing Sengoku and Garp both show their authority, Kizaru stopped being lazy and spoke seriously, "The first time I met Ye Chen was at the Sabaody Archipelago, and the second time was also there. But the two fights were completely different."
"What difference?" Sengoku pressed.
Garp furrowed his brows, as if suspecting something.
Kizaru took a deep breath, his expression grave:
"The first fight, he hadn't learned Armament Haki yet. Though his swordsmanship was exquisite, his physical condition was lacking. If it weren't for that red dragon protecting him, I would have definitely captured him then."
"Then why did you say last time that his strength was equal to yours, and that the red dragon was only at admiral level?" Akainu's face was full of anger as he stared coldly at Kizaru.
It was because of Kizaru's words in the last meeting that Akainu went to provoke them and ended up grabbed by that red dragon and thrown into the sea.
Such an embarrassing incident all stemmed from Kizaru's remarks, otherwise, Akainu wouldn't have acted so rashly.
Actually, it wasn't entirely Kizaru's fault. Zephyr and Kizaru were both severely injured, while the other side was unharmed.
Looking at it logically, Marine Headquarters was clearly being suppressed. If it were Aokiji, he definitely wouldn't intervene.
But Akainu was different. He foolishly charged forward, got caught, and ended up in the sea, causing this embarrassing mess.
Now many at Marine Headquarters mocked Akainu, calling him:
"The least useful admiral."
"It was like that in the beginning," Kizaru said awkwardly, only able to mutter in response to Akainu's questioning.
"Akainu, let Kizaru finish for now," Sengoku shot Akainu a glare.
Akainu snorted coldly and folded his arms, sitting down.
"Kizaru, continue," Sengoku gestured.
Kizaru went on, "The second time we fought, I thought he was the same as before, so I was confident I could capture him. But when I actually fought him, I found out he had already mastered Armament Haki."
"Impossible. Learning Armament Haki in half a month? That's nonsense," Zephyr stood up abruptly to refute.
Others nodded in agreement with Zephyr.
All present were not unfamiliar with Armament Haki; they had trained it for decades, with Zephyr and Garp being especially skilled.
So when Kizaru said Ye Chen learned and mastered Armament Haki in half a month, they found it hard to believe.
Even the genius Garp took a full month to master it.
"But do you think without Armament Haki he could hurt me?" Kizaru looked troubled.
He knew it was hard to believe, but this was his firsthand experience.
"Could it be that he was holding back and didn't use it initially?" Tsuru proposed.
"That's possible," Sengoku agreed.
"If he was holding back at first, that would explain everything," Zephyr said softly.
"I agree. Learning and mastering Armament Haki in half a month is nearly impossible," Garp added.
Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, Kizaru also considered that Ye Chen might have been hiding his true strength.
"Damn brat, he tricked me," Kizaru thought bitterly.
"If Ye Chen's strength is enough to severely injure Kizaru, then he definitely has admiral-level power, maybe even... the Four Emperors," Sengoku said slowly with a grim expression.
"The Four Emperors."
Only they could understand the weight behind that name — a title earned by treading over countless corpses.
After a long pause, Kizaru said bitterly, "I agree with Fleet Admiral Sengoku's assessment. As you can see, my wounds speak for themselves."
Everyone was silent.
"Ye Chen's strength is basically confirmed. Now, only that red dragon and the woman remain. Zephyr, Garp, who wants to go first?" Sengoku looked at the heavily bandaged Zephyr and the serious Garp.
"I'll go first," Garp raised his head and said slowly.
As soon as he spoke, all eyes focused on him.
"That red dragon... its strength surpasses even the admirals."
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