"Marine golden age?" His eyes lit up, visibly excited. "Just thinking about that kind of era—it makes your blood boil, doesn't it?"
Even if the Marines were often called the World Government's lapdogs, most of them still carried a sense of justice in their hearts.
That justice may come in many forms, but one couldn't deny the contributions the Marines made toward peace on the seas.
Without them, pirates would run even more rampant and arrogant.
As for the minority within the ranks…
Some would stray, becoming corrupt, becoming villains. That sort of thing was bound to keep happening no matter what.
On the island.
Rampaging Bear stopped in his tracks. Sweat-drenched skin, glossy and slick, was now coated in dirt, making him look a little ragged.
"Conqueror's Infusion… damn, that hits hard—"
"In just a few short years, his Haki has gotten so thick and overwhelming it's honestly hard not to feel inferior!"
Sensing Klein rapidly approaching, he drew in a deep breath.
"Rokushiki Secret Art—Black Bear King!"
"TATAKAE!!"
Rip—!!
Fabric tore violently. His legs, bulging like iron beams, burst straight through his pants.
His thighs swelled massively, each muscle group standing out in jagged relief, like a body sculpted purely from sinew with no fat at all.
It was pure explosive power.
Unlike the usual top-heavy builds seen throughout the pirate world—massive chests and shoulders paired with chopstick legs—Rampaging Bear's physique was the exact opposite.
Those 'chopstick legs' might just be one of Oda's little jokes, honestly.
Rampaging Bear, once around four meters tall, swelled even larger. His back and neck muscles jutted out like mountains, like he was carrying a boulder on his back.
He looked like a humanoid beast—
Scarier than Muscle Devil Man himself.
The pressure he gave off was crushing.
"Rokushiki Secret Arts… The old generation of Marine Admirals really went deep into body techniques," Klein muttered, eyes narrowing in thought.
In later years, it was almost a given that all Marine Admirals were powerful Devil Fruit users—most of them, nearly 80%, Logia-types.
"Wahaha!!" Rampaging Bear let out a thunderous laugh, pounding his massive chest.
"Come at me, Klein! Taste the aesthetic beauty of MUSCLE!!"
BOOM—!!
The ground beneath him shattered as he charged like a bulldozer, roaring toward Klein with the force of a raging dragon.
His arm muscles twisted like bundles of steel cables.
A dark purple aura of Conqueror's Haki enveloped his entire body—chilling, yet heatless.
"Full Power: Frenzied Bear!!"
The Armament Haki on his arms surged like a dam about to burst.
It brimmed with devastation.
Klein, darting forward at lightning speed, red gleam flashing in his eyes, whizzed past scenery like a speeding bullet. He grinned:
"I'm the kind of guy who likes to meet expectations."
"If I go too far, don't come crying later."
"I don't guarantee I'll pull my punches."
His aura spiked sharply, and even more intense waves of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward. Black-and-red lightning surged, spiraling around him like furious dragons.
The arcs of lightning danced, seemingly alive, as they converged around his arms, surging toward his fists like rivers to the sea.
"Fistbone: Galactic Impact!"
BOOM—!!
Like a bear gone berserk and a dragon unchained, the force exploded outward in blinding light.
The ground ruptured beneath them.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the island, threatening to tear the whole place apart.
"KNEEL!!" Klein barked, a wild gleam in his deep eyes. "Rampaging Bear! You're relying too much on your muscles—"
"Muscle power... leads nowhere!!"
His Conqueror's Infusion burst outward, forcefully suppressing Rampaging Bear's Armament Haki.
"NO!"
Rampaging Bear roared like a beast, veins popping in his neck.
"A human body holds limitless potential! I will dig it all out!"
"Every fiber of muscle, carved like steel, gives me not just strength—"
"—but a will harder than iron!"
"To endure isn't just about results—it's about overcoming yourself!"
His muscles surged again like a tsunami, flooding his arms with strength.
Blood thundered through his veins with a rushing roar.
His words rocked Klein to the core.
'Human power… really might be limitless. But…'
"In this world, it's Haki and Devil Fruits that open the gates to true power."
Sure, Roger, Rayleigh, Red-Haired Shanks, Garp—
All of them were non-Devil Fruit users.
Roger even became Pirate King.
But even they—
Would still be stepping stones for the Sun God. Grindstones. Supporting cast.
In Klein's view, Joy Boy and Imu were the very definition of Haki fused with Devil Fruit power.
Those who specialized in the body…
Tended to lose. And lose badly.
And yet...
Rampaging Bear had carved his own name into legend as the strongest master of Tekkai illusions.
"Mr. Lincoln… you really are impressive," Klein admitted, looking at Rampaging Bear with new eyes.
Gone was the "dumb musclehead" stereotype.
Indeed—prejudice is a mountain.
"I take back everything I said before. So let's fight—no holding back."
Klein's attitude shifted. The playfulness faded. He got serious.
In the past, he'd had a narrow view of battle.
But now? Now he understood a little more.
Still not enough, though—
He had to keep fighting, to find his own answers.
He finally grasped the truth his mesmerizing ancestor once told him:
"What's learned from books is shallow. You only truly understand through doing."
"Wahahaha!!" Rampaging Bear let out another wild laugh, looking every bit the excited grizzly. His face beamed with primal masculine energy.
"I can feel your seriousness. If this fight can change something, even a little…"
"Then it has meaning!"
There was a note of approval in his savage eyes.
From the very beginning, he'd admired Klein. Even wanted to recruit him. Train him himself.
Who would've thought? In just three years, Klein had grown into a formidable opponent.
One about to stand beside him as one of the Marine Admirals the world revered.
BOOM BOOM BOOM—
BOOM BOOM BOOM—
Klein's feet dug into the earth like the roots of an ancient tree as he swung his fists again and again, clashing with Rampaging Bear in a raw brawl of power.
"Wahahaha!!"
"THIS is what a fight should feel like! Like getting forged on an iron anvil!"
Klein's fist slammed into the left side of Rampaging Bear's face, distorting his features.
Rampaging Bear's massive fist smashed into Klein's right cheek, rearranging his muscles.
It was chaos. Wild punches flew with no rhythm or form—just primal instinct.
The searing Armament Haki pain finally jolted Klein back into clarity. He smirked to himself:
"Sheesh… body reactions like this—they're engraved in your genes. You end up on autopilot without even realizing it..."
"Damn bastard dragged me into his kind of fight without me noticing!"
Suddenly, Klein's pupils contracted. A red gleam spread across his iris like glowing threads.
"This kind of fighting—this isn't MY style!"
"Hasshoken!"
"Dragon Claw Fist!"
Dual-wielding techniques—
Hasshoken, known for its expanding shockwave effect, pierced through defenses with penetrating force.
Now empowered with Conqueror's Infusion, the destructive power skyrocketed.
Meanwhile, Dragon Claw Fist used pinpoint grip and finger pressure to crush and tear.
The sudden shift in rhythm caught Rampaging Bear off guard.
With a crack, his left arm twisted unnaturally. His right bicep was slashed by claw marks—
Blood sprayed through the air as he flew like an arrow, body hurtling backward.
"He's too good!"
"No—he knows too damn much!!"