[Name: Kenji]
[Traits: Armament Haki (Dark Purple), Observation Haki (Dark Purple), Conqueror's Haki (White), Physique (Dark Purple), Hand-to-Hand Combat (Light Purple), Swordsmanship (Light Blue), Sea Beast Power (Light White)]
[Sea Beast Power: You possess immense power like a Sea Beast!]
After reading the system's explanation, Kenji still didn't quite understand.
"Power like a Sea Beast? Is there anything special about this trait?"
He felt that this so-called Sea Beast Power seemed very ordinary. After all, let alone Sea Beasts, he could easily kill Sea Kings.
After careful study, Kenji became even more confused because the system explicitly stated: The Sea Beast Power Trait is a derivative of the Physique trait and can only appear when Physique reaches a certain level, equivalent to a minor evolution.
"So it just evolved into this? Hmm, wait a minute."
"Power like a Sea Beast, human, Sea Beast... I see!"
Kenji suddenly realized the key point and understood. The system traits indicate differences in power at the species level.
For example, Garp can punch a small mountain into collapse, but he can't lift that small mountain with one hand.
"A human's base strength is weaker than a Sea Beast's. If the base strength is the same as a Sea Beast's, then the combat power after training Haki will definitely be stronger."
"In other words, I am now essentially a humanoid Sea Beast that retains all combat skills like Haki?"
Kenji casually tested it, clenching his fist and hitting the ground without much force.
Crack, crack, crack!!!
The ground instantly shattered and cracked, leaving a considerable deep pit.
This was enough to confirm that his base physical strength was comparable to a Sea Beast's. A Sea Beast's full-force strike can shatter a wooden ship, and Kenji felt he could do the same—without using combat skills like Armament Haki.
Only a very few geniuses among humans possess natural divine strength, and now, Kenji possesses it too.
"The Sea Beast Power trait's rarity is only white, so there should still be a lot of room for improvement, right?"
"Forget it, I'll look into it later."
Kenji stretched, returning to his familiar state of slacking off and preparing for retirement, walking back to Marine Headquarters Base with his hands behind his back as if strolling.
A few days ago, he was a Vice Admiral nearing retirement at Headquarters. Now that he's been promoted to Admiral, he still hasn't changed. He's still the same person who slacks off at work and waits for retirement. He's even uninterested in the tasks issued by the system.
This time, he went because he was invited by Zephyr to Marine School to give a speech and confirm the authenticity of the system's tasks and rewards, but that was all.
The system's rewards weren't attractive enough to make him 'act like a crazy youth'. The leisure of retirement was far more appealing.
"Huh? Again?"
Just then, a system prompt appeared in his vision without warning. New tasks had appeared.
[Marine School is about to begin practical drills, and you are determined to show off your skills in actual combat!]
[Task (Main): In actual combat, defeat pirates with bounties of over one million Berries!]
[Reward: Upgrade a random owned trait once]
[Task (Side): Challenge Admiral-level instructor Zephyr and make your name known outside Marine School!]
[Reward: Upgrade a random owned trait twice]
"Pirates with bounties of one million Berries..."
This line of system text brought back some unpleasant memories for Kenji.
Fifty years ago, as a Marine intern, he was chased and beaten by a pirate with million-Berries bounty. Now, he can make those pirates with million Berries bounty cry with just one finger.
However, times have changed. Even if he were to do the same thing now, he wouldn't recapture the feeling from back then. Finding those pirates with million Berries bounty would no longer be like the carefree days of youth.
"Heh, there's even a side quest, challenging Zephyr, making my name known outside Marine School... does that mean I need to break out of the circle?"
Kenji read it with a chuckle, then closed the system interface and continued back to Headquarters Base.
"This system really likes to mess with me. It didn't give me tasks when I was at Marine School, but now that I've walked far away, it appears."
"All those practical combat tasks and challenge tasks can stand aside. Now, it's past three o'clock, time for tea."
...
The news of the Marine appointing a new Admiral spread with the newspapers.
Within a few days, almost everywhere in the world that received newspapers had learned of this news. As for those who didn't like reading newspapers, there was nothing that could be done.
The latter half of the Grand Line — the New World.
A giant ship shaped like a whale was sailing at high speed on a calm, sunny sea. This was the Whitebeard Pirates' ship - Moby Dick.
On the deck, the Legendary Pirate - 'Whitebeard' Edward Newgate, with his slightly curled golden hair draped over his shoulders, stared with his mismatched eyes at the latest newspaper in his hand.
"That Kenji guy actually got appointed as a Marine Admiral... Humph! Kong's eyesight is getting worse and worse!"
Whitebeard tossed the newspaper aside, grumbling indignantly, but his eyes couldn't help but recall the scenes of Kenji chasing him when he first set sail.
"Next time we meet, I'll be serious, Admiral Kenji!"
...
Tens of thousands of meters above sea level, a certain Sky Island was in the midst of war, with groups of pirate ships surrounding the island and continuously bombarding it with cannons.
What was surprising was that all these pirate ships were floating in the air, as if they could fly, and the source of this phenomenon came from a man floating in mid-air, with golden hair dancing like a lion's mane, the Legendary Great Pirate - 'Golden Lion' Shiki, a Paramecia-type Float-Float Fruit user.
"...The Marine has officially appointed Kenji as the new Marine Admiral, code-named Shirojishi... Is that old geezer not dead yet?" Shiki bit his cigar, quite displeased with the news in the newspaper he held.
Suddenly, an excited shout came from the front line of the battle in the distance, "It's breached! The target has been breached, Captain Shiki!"
Upon hearing this, Shiki abruptly stood up, his eyes wide as he gazed at the distant Sky Island, a look of eager anticipation in his eyes.
...
In a mysterious underwater location, the Roger Pirates were searching for treasure aboard the Oro Jackson.
However, after searching everywhere, they only found a shattered giant stone and had no choice but to return to the surface.
"Rayleigh, your intelligence was wrong! There's no Poneglyph at the bottom of that sea, we were deceived!" Roger was furious, slapping his thigh in frustration.
"You can't blame me for that." Rayleigh said with a grin, leaning against the ship's railing and leisurely sipping his drink, "We didn't pay for that intelligence back then."
"Ah... that does seem to be the case." Roger slapped his head.
After realizing, he suddenly started laughing again, "If it was free, then this intelligence seems pretty good!"
"Hahaha!"
For a moment, the Oro Jackson was filled with joyous air.
"However, constantly finding the wrong targets won't do. Perhaps I should ask certain people..." Roger stroked his chin, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
Just then, a newspaper fell from the sky, and when he looked up, the news bird that delivered it had already flown away.
Roger picked up the newspaper and immediately saw the Marine Admiral's uniformed photo on the front page.
"Oh? Kenji... he's become a Marine Admiral!"
"Heh-haha! This is a big deal, I have to go congratulate him in person. Hmm, and prepare a gift, too."
"You're up to something again, Captain?!"