[TIOP] Chapter : 139

Boom—!

With a deafening crash, Ryokugyu was hurled backward like a cannonball. The ground trembled as he skidded across the battlefield. What shocked everyone even more was that Jack hadn't used any signature technique—no armament haki, no chakra, no complex moves—just the raw force of his enhanced physique.

“Did that brat eat a Zoan-type Devil Fruit too?” Garp asked, clearly surprised. “His body’s gotten ridiculously strong.”

“Remember the last time?” Sengoku said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “After that trip, he returned much more powerful out of nowhere.”

“Of course I remember,” Garp replied. “Back then, I thought he’d eaten a Devil Fruit, but he denied it.”

“When he trained at HQ, I used to check on him. Nothing seemed unusual,” Sengoku continued. “His energy system was clearly different from ours, but his training methods weren’t anything special. The strange thing is—every time he returns from a personal trip, his combat power increases dramatically.”

Garp and Tsuru exchanged glances, their expressions turning serious as they began to ponder the mystery.

Back on the island, Jack cracked a small smile. “Since you don’t seem to have any new tricks left… I guess it’s my turn.”

After all, it wasn’t every day he found an opponent durable enough to truly test his strength. Jack wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

In a flash, Jack vanished from his previous position, not even using soru, just raw speed.

“You think I came here just to be your punching bag?!” Ryokugyu roared in fury. His body began to shift again, his body bgan to become a hybrid of haki and thick branches as hard as diamonds.

This was his version of unbreakable defense: Adam tree wood body and haki coating.

Aargh—!!

With a deafening roar, Ryokugyu charged like a living tank, kicking up dirt and wind as he hurled himself at Jack.

“Good! Let’s test just how far my body can go now!” Jack grinned, refusing to use even haki. He relied solely on chakra and close-combat prowess.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Their fists clashed in a flurry of collisions. Despite his odd transformation, Ryokugyu's speed hadn't slowed in the slightest—in fact, it had increased. His body was now massive, and his defenses had grown significantly stronger.

But Jack’s smile never faded.

“As expected of a man who had become an admiral in record time… but when it comes to defense, it still can’t match a dragon,” Jack remarked coolly in his head. With another effortless punch, he sent Ryokugyu flying once again.

Ryokugyu let out a thunderous roar, shaking the whole island. The whole island started to grow trees, all of them seeming to be coated with armament haki too.

“Well now, this is getting interesting,” Jack chuckled, eyes locking onto the now-enraged Ryokugyu, whose irises had turned blood-red.

“Aokiji, they’re starting to go all out. Be ready to extract the wounded!” Sengoku ordered gravely, watching the field with narrowed eyes.

“Oh nooo~ So scary. If I get any closer, I’ll be trampled to death by those two monsters,” Kizaru complained in his usual lazy tone, clearly unenthused.

As Fleet Admiral, Aokiji naturally wouldn’t intervene unless absolutely necessary. That left only Kizaru and Akainu available for immediate action. Of course, Kizaru wasn’t exactly thrilled about that.

But neither Aokiji nor Akainu responded. As the Navy’s strongest combat force, it was expected they could at least handle a situation like this without flinching. And if Akainu didn’t even have that level of faith, he might as well retire and become a farmer. Not to mention Jack—he didn’t need any help dealing with Ryokugyu.

Jack smiled faintly. “Let’s see how you handle this!”

Red lightning seemed to erupt from Jack's eyes; red-black lightning bolts emerged from his body, smashing the trees and branches in their way; one specific bolt went straight towards Ryokugyu's body.

And then, as soon as it struck Ryokugyu's body, something astonishing to everyone happened. Ryokugyu's devil fruit seemed to be suppressed by Jack's Conqueror's Haki infusion attack. Ryokugyu''s transformed body visibly shrunk to his normal human size. He seemed to writhe in agony as he experienced Jack's Haki pressure. Then Jack arrived just above Ryokugyu and gave a conqueror's infused punch directly to his head.

Bang!!!

Rocks and boulders erupted. The whole island shook from the impact of the blow. Ryokugyu's head seemed to deform for a moment like it was caved in.

And then, through the haze of the dust and smoke, Jack walked out with Ryokugyu on his shoulder, his steps calm and measured. Ryokugyu completely passed out, from the look of it.

He looked over at Aokiji and called out casually, “Hey, Fleet Admiral. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to take care of this guy.”

It was only then that everyone noticed what had happened—Ryokugyu's body was bloodied and broken. His breath was faint, and he was completely out cold.

“So that’s the strength of Admiral Kurohyou…” one vice admiral muttered, swallowing hard. “It’s not obvious when he’s fighting other top-tier monsters, but against vice admirals, the difference is overwhelming.”

“He just had to show off again,” Sengoku said with a wry grin.

His smirk widened as he pointed out a detail—Jack’s “Justice” cloak had been torn at the corner.

A small tear, yes—but it said everything. In that clash between an admiral candidate and him, Jack had just a small tear in his cloak, nothing else; not even a speck of dust was on his body.

Several days had passed since the clash between Jack and Ryokugyu. Now fully recovered, Ryokugyu was seen moving around with Fujitora, the two seemingly quite close. Perhaps their bond stemmed from being the newest powerhouses in the Navy—both fresh to the ranks, both possessing comparable strength.

Jack, however, paid them little mind.

Initially, Jack had planned to continue his carefree days at the G1 branch, but with Fujitora now stationed there, there was no longer a need. Under Jack’s leadership, G1 had already become the Navy’s flagship stronghold in the New World. Pirates typically avoided the region altogether. And those who dared to set foot there did so in secret.

Openly revealing oneself as a pirate in G1’s territory was essentially suicide. A swift and brutal response awaited—even members of the Four Emperors’ crews weren't exempt. This zero-tolerance stance was part of the iron rule Jack had established early on. As long as G1 remained under his influence, that standard would not waver.

In the aftermath of Jack's duel with Ryokugyu, Akainu had cooled off slightly, buying Aokiji some breathing room. However, Aokiji had firmly rejected Jack’s more extreme proposals—especially one that Jack seemed particularly keen on.

“What?! You want to go after Kaido? Are you insane?!” Aokiji nearly threw his documents at Jack in disbelief when the idea was brought up.

“Listen, Jack,” Aokiji said sternly, “don’t think that just because you've gotten stronger, you’re above the world. Don’t underestimate everyone else. Even Sakazuki isn’t someone you can brush aside so easily. He didn’t pull back out of fear of you—he was worried I might back you up. If it had been a one-on-one, trust me, he wouldn’t have held back.”

Jack nodded. “I know. That’s why I want to test myself against someone truly powerful.”

Aokiji exhaled heavily. “You do realize you might not make it back alive if you take on Kaido?”

“Is he really that strong?” Jack asked, furrowing his brow.

“Kaido isn’t just strong,” Aokiji replied. “He’s a monster built for war. If you wanted to escape, sure, he probably couldn't stop you. But you? You’re the type who refuses to retreat while you still have strength left. By the time you decide it’s time to run, you’ll realize it’s already too late.”

Jack blinked. “Why is that?”