Around the training ground, members of countless Beasts Pirates gathered to watch.
In the high stands, Kaido laughed while drinking, "I hope I get to see a wonderful battle!"
Flame Calamity King, who stood like a javelin, didn't say a word, merely observing calmly below.
In contrast to King, Plague Queen, who was talkative, looked down at the scene and laughed.
"I don't see anything special about that Alastor.
He doesn't have a special bloodline, he hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit, and he doesn't have a big, muscular body like mine!"
Queen was a big, fat man, with fat all over his body. He wasn't ashamed of it, in fact, he was proud, thinking that his size was a symbol of his popularity.
However, when he was in the illegal scientific organization MADS with Vegapunk, he had been very thin. After joining Kaido for some unknown reason, he became what he was now.
"Jiehaha, Queen, this time I actually agree with you."
Several figures emerged from below, one of them being Who's-Who, who was wearing red.
Queen looked at him. "Who's-Who, I'm your superior—talk to me with respect!"
Who's-Who grinned. "What 'superior'? I've had my eye on your disaster position for a while now. It's normal in the Beast Pirates to prey on the weak."
Queen opened his mouth wide, his expression exaggerated, and shouted, "Are you really thinking of taking my spot? What a worthless subordinate!"
The rest of the Agents, except for Black Maria, Sasaki, and Ulti, all spoke mockingly to the three disasters and even urged Kaido to give them a chance to challenge them.
Flame Calamity King spoke coldly, "Before talking big, make sure to weigh your own strength first."
Kaido, who had long been accustomed to such scenes, not only didn't stop them but encouraged it. He wanted to build the most ruthless and violent army in the world, and naturally, his subordinates would clash fiercely.
Kaido said, "Don't worry, Who's-Who, Sasaki. When you're strong enough, I'll give you a chance for promotion, just like I did for Alastor."
"Then we can look forward to it, Boss Kaido."
After the brief exchange, everyone turned their attention to the center of the training ground.
Alastor and Page One were already standing there.
"Pay pay, come on, don't embarrass your sister!" Ulti shouted.
Upon hearing this, Page One's mouth twitched.
Can you save me some face, sister? Stop calling me 'Pay pay'! You're ruining my aura!
Page One couldn't help but say, "Sister, please stop calling me that."
Ulti, hearing this, got angry and snapped, "What are you saying, Pay Pay! You ungrateful brother! You take your sister's love for granted!"
Page One's face showed helplessness. Whether he liked it or not, this childish behavior was too much. But he knew he couldn't say more, or his mischievous older sister would ruin his challenge.
"Your sister really cares about you," came a voice from the opposite side—Alastor's voice.
Page One's face darkened.
He could only helplessly deal with his sister, but when it came to his enemies, he was wild and ruthless.
Alastor had chosen him as the challenger, clearly underestimating his strength, and Page One was already annoyed.
"It's none of your business! Just be prepared to be torn apart!"
Page One's tone was cold and filled with killing intent.
A challenge in the Beast Pirates was a life-or-death matter, just like how Alastor had killed Holdem.
Page One wanted to prove his strength, and he planned to tear Alastor apart in order to frighten the rest of the real fighters who might challenge him.
Alastor stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly unaware of Page One's murderous intent. He smiled slightly.
"I've already prepared for this, Pay Pay."
"Bastard! Don't call me Pay Pay! Damn it, take that back! You're not qualified to call me that!"
Page One seemed particularly sensitive to the name "Pay Pay." His face turned purple in anger.
Ulti also angrily shouted, "Only I can call him Pay Pay! You're too presumptuous! Pay Pay, teach him a lesson!"
The battle began instantly, and Page One, unable to hold back, took the initiative to attack.
"I'm going to tear your mouth apart!"
Page One immediately transformed into a Spinosaurus, opened his sharp claws, and swiped at Alastor.
Alastor stood still and used the system to check Page One's defense.
In Spinosaurus form, his defense was 1,300 points, 100 points higher than Alastor's.
A difference of 100 points wasn't significant.
Alastor remained calm, waiting until Page One's claws were almost upon him. He stretched out his hand to stop them.
"Arrogance!"
Page One roared in fury, increasing the strength of his claws.
In the stands, Queen pinched his mustache and said, "Does he really not need to use Armament Haki? No matter how you look at it, Page One's an Ancient Zoan user."
Who's-Who remarked, "The defense of an ordinary person isn't on the same level as that of someone with an Ancient Zoan. Using Haki for defense would be okay, but if he doesn't, he'll be torn apart in an instant. I don't know if that guy is overly confident or just plain reckless."
Alastor's unexpected move even surprised Kaido.
Only Drought Jack didn't panic; he knew that Alastor's body was far tougher than ordinary people's.
Under the spotlight, Alastor's unarmed hand met Page One's sharp claws.
An astonishing scene unfolded.
Page One's claws couldn't tear through Alastor's palm. The two were evenly matched, like two pieces of steel clashing and sparking.
"How can this be?"
Page One's pupils shrank.
"How can your skin be so hard?"
He couldn't believe it. The other person clearly wasn't using weapons, nor was he an animal-type Devil Fruit user.
"Asshole! What the hell is your body made of?"
Page One yelled, pushing his strength to the limit. He finally managed to push Alastor back, leaving a bloodstain on his palm.
[The host receives slight damage, defense +4]
Alastor's defense increased by 4 points, bringing him closer to 1,300 points.
Alastor licked his lips with excitement.
"Well done, Pay Pay. Keep it up."
When these words reached Page One's ears, his eyes went red, and he angrily yelled:
"Don't call me Pay Pay!"
The Spinosaurus roared and launched a frenzied attack.
Claws, dragon tail, teeth—all targeted Alastor.
[The host receives slight damage, defense +5]
[The host receives slight damage, defense +4]
[The host receives moderate damage, defense +15]
As his defense continued to rise, Alastor kept resisting with his body, never once drawing his sword.
Page One grew angrier and more frustrated with every attack, finally dealing a moderate injury to Alastor.
A long scar appeared on Alastor's chest, blood spilling out. It looked terrifying, but to Alastor, it was nothing.
He casually wiped the blood from his chest and said to Page One:
"That last attack was quite powerful. Keep going."
Page One was panting heavily. The series of attacks he had unleashed had drained a lot of his physical strength.
Although the attacks had been effective and caused injuries to his opponent, Alastor didn't seem to take them seriously at all and even continued to provoke him!
Page One was furious, but at the same time, he was even more shocked.
He no longer dared to underestimate Alastor. The man in front of him was simply a freak!
"Master Page One is really powerful! He's already injured the other guy like this!"
"That guy, Alastor, used to be unknown, but he became a real fighter by luck. I don't know why Boss Kaido gave him the chance to challenge Page One."
"Exactly, he's no match for Page One, and he's been on the receiving end the whole time."
"I think he'll lose soon!"
There were many members of the Beast Pirates watching, most of them ordinary minions, but there were also quite a few small captains and real fighters.
The squad leaders and real fighters were jealous that Kaido had given Alastor the opportunity to challenge Page One, so seeing Alastor getting beaten all over his body, they felt quite relieved.
However, their limited vision and strength meant they couldn't understand the nuances of the battle.
Only the powerhouses in the stands could see what was really happening.
Kaido, who had been drinking and was already a little drunk, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he watched Alastor's movements.
"Hey, this kid is interesting."
Beside him, King pondered, "His defense is very unusual. Although Page One's attacks have been effective, they've only caused minor injuries, and Alastor doesn't seem bothered at all. It's really strange."
Even King couldn't figure out how Alastor, with an ordinary body, could withstand Page One's Spinosaurus form so well.
Plague Queen, who had previously thought Alastor was mediocre, now stared in surprise, exaggerating his reaction:
"I was wrong. This kid really has some skills. His body—like mine—isn't a human transformation, right?"
Queen, being a scientist, reasoned that Alastor must have undergone some form of human transformation to possess such a strong defense, since he didn't have a Devil Fruit or special bloodline.
Queen himself was a reformer.
In this sea, the most famous reformers were the Vinsmoke family of Germa Kingdom. After Vinsmoke Judge's transformation, his children all gained exoskeletons and their bodies became extremely hard.
In the original story, Sanji was able to defeat Queen because he awakened his bloodline factor, which helped compensate for his own lack of defense.
"Pay Pay, what are you doing? Didn't you eat breakfast? Hurry up and tear that guy apart!"
Ulti shouted angrily.
She didn't care what was unusual about Alastor; she was only upset that Page One was performing so poorly.
In the middle of the training field, Page One's face turned a mix of blue and pale. He couldn't bear the humiliation of being scolded by Ulti.
He took a deep breath, fixed his eyes on Alastor, and said:
"I admit I underestimated you. Your body is tougher than I thought. But I cannot lose this battle, so get ready!"
After speaking, Page One suddenly threw his head back and let out a roar. His body began to change.
The massive form of the Spinosaurus slowly shrank, its torso becoming more humanoid, but it still retained its tail, claws, and fangs. Page One had entered his human-beast form.
The human-beast form combined the flexibility of a human with the power of a beast, making it the strongest mode for animal-type Devil Fruit users.
After shifting into this form, Page One's confidence soared. With a powerful stomp, he propelled his body forward like a bullet.