#230 - Zhan Guo: If you work hard, I will make you a general!

"Gurgle, gurgle…"

Sounds like hot porridge boiling, constantly ringing out.

Subsequently, Akainu's entire right arm began to melt, eventually turning into flowing magma.

For a time, thick smoke billowed.

This is Akainu's Devil Fruit ability: the Logia-type Magma-Magma Fruit ability user.

After releasing his fruit ability, Akainu's aura also changed.

An unspeakable aura of肅殺(sù shā – solemnity and killing intent) appeared on his body.

Even the temperature in the surrounding air was rapidly rising!

At this moment, Akainu's sense of oppression was extremely strong.

Worthy of being the strongest Marine Admiral, the future Marine Fleet Admiral.

The next moment.

Without saying a word, Akainu suddenly raised his right arm, which had turned into magma, and roared:

"Great Eruption!!"

An enormous magma fist was launched by Akainu.

This statement is certainly an exaggeration.

But it can also be seen from this point how fierce Akainu's fist is!

Especially his "Great Eruption" is the strongest single target attack method.

Before the huge magma fist even hit, the mountain-like pressure rushed towards him.

Zhao Zheng felt as if a volcano was crashing into him.

Suddenly, Zhao Zheng smiled.

With his current speed, he could easily avoid this punch.

But he didn't!

Because Akainu's move could not threaten him now.

"Buzz!"

Armament Haki covered Zhao Zheng's right fist.

In the surprised eyes of everyone, Zhao Zheng chose to face it head-on, also throwing a punch.

Compared to Akainu's giant magma fist, Zhao Zheng's fist was pitifully small.

At first glance, it was like a matchstick hitting a large iron ball.

No matter how you look at it, Zhao Zheng was the one overestimating himself.

However.

The result produced when the two attacks collided was shocking.

"Boom!!"

At the moment of the collision, the entire deserted island shook.

Even a spectacle appeared on the deserted island!

One side was fiery red, and the other side was white.

Two colors of light clusters were colliding fiercely.

Although the fiery red side looked more violent, it could not infringe on the white area at all…

"He blocked Admiral Akainu's Great Eruption!"

"What a terrifying monster!"

"No! He hasn't used his full strength…"

Several Vice Admirals discussed among themselves.

As Vice Admirals, they were naturally insightful and could easily see the situation on the field.

Admiral Akainu was gritting his teeth, obviously going all out.

On the other hand, Zhao Zheng not only looked relaxed, but even had a faint smile on his face.

The difference between the two was immediately apparent!

…

At this moment, Zhao Zheng was indeed not using his full strength.

If, before activating "Bio-Field," he had to deal with attacks like Akainu's with all his strength.

Then, Zhao Zheng, who now possessed the Bio-Field, was far from being shaken by Akainu.

The reason why Zhao Zheng wanted to maintain the "evenly matched" state was entirely to save Akainu's face.

Judging from his performance in the original work, Akainu should not be a magnanimous person.

If Zhao Zheng easily defeated Akainu with one punch, not to mention making Akainu hold a grudge, at least it would make Akainu dislike him.

Zhao Zheng was here to strive for a higher position, not to make enemies with Akainu.

Moreover, Akainu held a high position in the Marine Headquarters, and creating hatred with him was not in line with Zhao Zheng's plan.

Therefore, there was the current situation.

Everyone could see that Zhao Zheng was letting Akainu win.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku immediately said to his old partner: "This guy is not only terribly strong, but also has many thoughts…"

Garp laughed and said, "It just meets your requirements, doesn't it? Did you want him to be a reckless fool?"

Fleet Admiral Sengoku didn't say anything else…

The two competed for a while.

Akainu on the opposite side finally noticed something was wrong.

No matter how hard he tried, the other side remained unmoved, indicating that they had the strength to win him completely, but just didn't want him to lose so badly.

Realizing this, Akainu immediately released all his attacks.

"Hoo!"

The competition between the two ended immediately.

The surroundings returned to calm.

"I lost!"

Akainu admitted defeat readily, took a deep look at Zhao Zheng, and then turned and returned to his position.

Although he, Admiral Akainu, was not a magnanimous person, he was not so bad that he could not afford to lose.

As for why Akainu didn't try to continue fighting?

He still had a killer move, "Hellhound," that he hadn't used. This move was very vicious and might have unexpected effects…

It was because Akainu felt that there was no need to continue fighting.

He certainly couldn't win Zhao Zheng.

Because he was inferior to Zhao Zheng in terms of speed, Haki, and defensive ability… This could be seen from Kizaru's defeat earlier.

Even his powerful attack, which he was proud of, could not shake Zhao Zheng…

In other words, Zhao Zheng was completely crushing him from all angles.

Although Akainu's personality was a bit extreme, he was not a fool.

Knowing that he could not possibly win against Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Zheng had already given him face and held back before, and continuing to fight would only make him lose face.

…

A moment later.

All the high-level Marines returned to the Marine Headquarters.

Zhao Zheng also came back with them.

The strength test for Zhao Zheng had ended.

Many high-level officers still felt like they were dreaming.

Their eyes looking at Zhao Zheng were very complicated, with fear, worry, curiosity…

The strength that Zhao Zheng showed was really scaring them. They didn't understand where this terrifying monster came from at such a young age and why he was so unreasonably strong.

Even Admiral Kizaru and Admiral Akainu had been defeated by him one after another.

The Marine Admirals were the highest combat power of the Marine Headquarters!

Especially Admiral Akainu, whose strength was close to the Four Emperors.

Although everyone was very curious about this, no one asked.

Because there was something more important to do right now.

That was, how to arrange Zhao Zheng!!

An exceptional promotion was certain.

It was just that they didn't know what level to promote him to?

…

At the same time.

There were many old Marines at the Marine Headquarters leading the newly joined Marine recruits, familiarizing themselves with the venue.

After all, the final battle with the Whitebeard Pirates was about to begin tomorrow, and these Marine recruits must be familiar with the terrain, otherwise it would definitely not work.

Don't lose face if you can't even find the way to receive instructions by then.

When many high-level Marine officers returned from the deserted island on warships, two new recruit teams happened to meet in the square.

One team was Song Haitang, Jiang Hebin, and others.

The other team was Ma Jun and others from Jingda.

Seeing Song Haitang, Ma Jun immediately showed a dissatisfied expression.

They didn't know why they were not convinced by Song Haitang, but they were just not convinced!

Especially Ma Jun!

As fellow users of Natural系 Devil Fruit abilities, his Devil Fruit had even greater potential than Song Haitang's. However, their achievements were completely opposite.

He had long been left far behind by Song Haitang.

When the two sides met, Ma Jun immediately said, "Song Haitang, we meet again. This time, I..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a voice.

"What do you want to say? That you definitely won't lose this time? Please! Can you come up with some new lines?"

It was Wang Fei who spoke.

Since becoming Zhao Zheng's lackey, Wang Fei had also risen in prominence. Seeing Ma Jun seemingly wanting to provoke "Sister-in-law," he couldn't help but speak out.

Hearing this, Ma Jun's expression changed, and then his old face turned red.

He probably also felt that, with such a clear gap between them, saying those words again was indeed a bit embarrassing…

After a moment of hesitation, Ma Jun still said, "I received news that many people are preparing to target you. You might encounter big trouble. You… be careful!"

Song Haitang: "Thank you."

Her response was merely out of politeness.

As for what Ma Jun said, she wasn't worried at all…

Just then.

The indigenous veterans walking in front suddenly shouted:

"It's the Fleet Admiral… and the Admirals!"

"Attention! Salute!"

Seeing Fleet Admiral Sengoku and others walking off the warship, many Marines on the square, regardless of their position, stopped and saluted.

Such a formation immediately scared the new recruits, who also followed suit and saluted.

Then, they watched as a group of big shots walked across the square.

Suddenly.

Ma Jun noticed that a husky seemed to have mixed into the group of big shots… No, it was a new recruit, and a very familiar new recruit.

"Isn't that guy Song Haitang's lover? How is he so close to those big shots?"

Someone next to him whispered.

Ma Jun was confused. He also wanted to know the answer to his teammate's question.

It wasn't until Fleet Admiral Sengoku and his group had walked away that the Marines on the square lowered their hands and returned to normal.

"Damn! Brother Zhao is awesome, he's already become one with the Marine big shots so quickly," Wang Fei said excitedly.

Chen Kai also had a smile on his face, and exclaimed, "It's so easy to clear Spirit Realm instances with Zhao Zheng."

Song Haitang just smiled when she heard this.

Jiang Hebin and the others were full of envy and didn't know what to say.

Last night, they had learned the whole truth from Chen Kai and Wang Fei… and then, they became even more envious, jealous, and hateful of Chen Kai and Wang Fei.

They only regretted not trying to replace those two guys in the first place!

"Was that Zhao Zheng just now?"

At this time, Ma Jun walked over and asked, "What's going on with him? How can he be so close to those high-level big shots?"

"Yeah!" Another person said, "Moreover, I noticed that many Vice Admiral-level big shots seem to have a bit of… awe towards Zhao Zheng?"

Regarding the questions from the Jing University people.

Chen Kai and Wang Fei just smiled faintly.

Wang Fei even said inscrutably, "You'll understand tomorrow…"

…

A group of high-level officers came to the Fleet Admiral's office again.

Mainly the Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office, the space was large enough, like a small square.

Only such a space could accommodate those Marine high-level officers who were comparable to giants.

"Zhao Zheng, I will now make specific job arrangements for you!"

"With your strength, even serving as a Marine Admiral would be more than enough…"

Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked at Zhao Zheng and said, "However, you don't have any military merits, and you haven't even joined the Marines for a day! And the Marine Admiral is the highest combat power of the headquarters, and it's an important position, so I can't let you serve as an Admiral. For now, I can only give you the rank of Vice Admiral. Can you accept that?"

On the way before coming, Fleet Admiral Sengoku had already thought about the arrangements for Zhao Zheng.

In addition, he was the Marine Fleet Admiral, the highest commander of the Marine Headquarters, and had the power to appoint anyone.

Therefore, for Zhao Zheng's arrangements, he didn't need to ask for other people's opinions, he could decide for himself.

Hearing Fleet Admiral Sengoku's arrangements, everyone else was indifferent.

It was estimated that they had already guessed such a result.

And this arrangement was indeed the most appropriate.

Although Sengoku had the power of appointment, forcibly promoting someone who hadn't even joined the Marines for a day to the Marine Admiral level would definitely be difficult to convince the public.

Promoting him to the Vice Admiral level was already considered an exception.

It was Zhao Zheng himself.

He was very satisfied with this appointment.

Because his original goal was just to become a general, even a Rear Admiral would be fine.

Being able to get the rank of Vice Admiral was a pleasant surprise.

"I accept! Thank you, Fleet Admiral!!"

Zhao Zheng said loudly.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku nodded and said again, "Tomorrow is Fire Fist Ace's execution day. At that time, the Whitebeard Pirates will definitely appear. A war is inevitable! I hope you can perform well on tomorrow's battlefield. If you can obtain enough military merits, I will promote you to Marine Admiral after the war."

These words were not just drawing a big cake for Zhao Zheng.

But Fleet Admiral Sengoku already had the idea of retiring and planned to resign from the position of Fleet Admiral after this battle.

He and Whitebeard were people of the same era and were also very old. It was time to give way to future generations.

After he retired, the new Marine Fleet Admiral would inevitably be promoted from the current three Admirals. He personally preferred Admiral Aokiji to take over…

No matter who took over as Marine Fleet Admiral, by that time, the position of Marine Admiral would be vacant.

With Zhao Zheng's strength, he was qualified to take on the role!

"Understood!"

Zhao Zheng agreed in a deep voice and also gave a military salute!

Although he would leave this world after the war… However, he would come again in the future.

At that time, having the identity of a Marine Admiral would be more convenient to carry out tasks.

…

Thus.

Zhao Zheng's rank was temporarily set like this.

As for his position and the subordinates he would lead, they would be discussed later.

No one had any objections to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's arrangements.

Then, was it possible that Zhao Zheng was a spy sent by the enemy?

Everyone had thought about this question.

But after thinking about it for a moment, they knew it was impossible.

With Zhao Zheng's strength, going to the Grand Line would make him a proper Yonko-level powerhouse. Who could drive such a powerhouse and order him to be a spy?

The Whitebeard Pirates?

If the Whitebeard Pirates had such a powerhouse, then they wouldn't need to play any conspiracies or tricks. As long as Zhao Zheng and Whitebeard joined forces and pushed forward, they could crush the entire Marine Headquarters!

Whitebeard would be crazy to send such a powerhouse over to be a spy.

It was purely taking off his pants to fart, superfluous!