One Piece: General Xuanming, Defeat the New World

"Brother, are you okay?"

"Captain, are you okay? Are you seriously injured..."

Seeing Marco's slightly depressed look, the brothers around him came forward to comfort him.

"I'm fine, I just... feel a little off."

Seeing the concerned looks on his brothers' faces, Marco quickly put on a smile and responded to the others.

"I feel like... I, I should at least be able to engage in a fight with the other party."

"In the end, I was beaten without being able to fight back. It was such a shame!"

Marco's tone became more and more excited, and the veins on his hands bulged unconsciously.

"Marco, only when you are defeated can you feel humiliated. Only when you feel humiliated can you have the motivation to move forward."

"I believe you can do it. Cheer up, train hard, and strive to defeat that bastard fair and square one day. That's the pirate way!"

A familiar voice came from my ear.

Marco looked up suddenly, and the figure of Kozuki Oden was reflected in his scarlet eyes.

Marco knew that Kozuki Oden had not been feeling well these days.

The swordsmanship he was so proud of was not even enough to threaten his opponent.

The two swords he relied on for survival were even easily taken away, and their whereabouts are still unknown.

During the day, Kozuki Oden was still chatting and laughing with his pirate brothers, drinking and eating meat, and there was nothing unusual.

But when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, I would always look at the bright moon alone, drinking bowl after bowl of wine by myself, and I had no idea what I was thinking about.

Within a few days, Kozuki Oden's spirit began to weaken, not to mention that the serious internal injuries caused by the last confrontation had not yet healed.

If this continues, his physical condition will only get worse, and Marco sees all of this.

I just can't find a good way to comfort myself.

Because that marine was too strong, so strong... so strong that he could fight back and forth with his father Whitebeard, so strong that just one punch could give people indescribable oppression and shock.

It is so powerful that even in dreams I will be awakened again and again.

What’s even more terrifying is that the young man is a strong man from the same era as himself and Oden, both of them are from the new generation.

At nineteen, he was even younger than me.

Adding all these things together, how could one possibly develop a desire for transcendence?

Because of this, even Whitebeard didn't know how to comfort Oden in a short period of time, and could only ask his sons to take care of Oden's emotions.

Therefore, Marco seemed extremely surprised at Kozuki Oden's persuasion.

Because Marco could never have imagined that Oden, his companion who was deeply trapped in his own nightmare, would come to comfort him.

Under Marco's slightly surprised gaze, Kozuki Oden exhaled smoke from his mouth, and his face became somewhat blurred under the smoke.

"Now every time I close my eyes, I seem to see Yan Mo and Tian Yu Yu Zhan."

"The demon sword that can destroy hell, the blade that can cut through the sky, in my hands, can't even break the defense of that navy."

"I could hear their silent complaints, they were complaining that they chose me and I abandoned them."

"I can still see my sword wailing under the iron fist of that navy, powerless and terrified."

"So I didn't even dare to rest. Only after I got drunk could I slowly calm down and enjoy a brief moment of forgetfulness."

"A few days passed like this. I was sober enough to know that I couldn't do this, but I also fell into depravity while being sober."

"I asked Bai Ji if we could defeat the navy if we could reach that level."

"If so, then I will try my best. I believe I have the potential."

"But no, that's not enough! The battles these days have taught me that."

"When I saw the Marine fighting Baiji, I knew that if I wanted to take back the sword and avenge my previous defeat, I would have to have more power than Baiji."

"It is precisely because of clarity that one feels desperate. What would you think if your opponent possessed such strength, Marco?"

Kozuki Oden's eyes were also bloodshot.

The despair, madness and helplessness buried deep inside made Marco terrified.

After hearing what Kozuki Oden said, Marco felt a deep despair simply by putting the character into his own experience.

His opponent, the monkey-like user of the Pika Pika Nomi, is far stronger than himself.

But the injuries inflicted on him by the other party were only superficial and could not hurt him at all.

With the development of the mythical beast-type devil fruit, one's own healing ability, recovery ability and physical strength will be greatly enhanced.

Sooner or later, he would be able to rely on his excellent healing abilities and endless stamina to ignore most of his abilities and eventually achieve a stalemate.

This is why the monkey said that he was very similar to Carsente. Marco knew this.

Precisely because the gap is not far and there is still hope, Marco was just unwilling and resentful just now.

I hate myself for not working out harder and for not being a little stronger, because if I were just a little stronger there might be hope!

From Kozuki Oden's perspective, he couldn't even see the other person's back.

Comprehensive transcendence and even crushing, terrifying mythical beasts, unrivaled will and dominance, all of these are enough to crush a person.

If you can't even see the back of your opponent in front of you, how can you possibly overtake him?

There are many people like this on the sea. In the future, the young Crocodile was so arrogant that he went to Skull Island alone and broke into Whitebeard's lair.

As a result, he was taught a lesson and even had a hand broken, and he has never recovered since then.

(The first move was thrown, but Whitebeard blocked it)

(Whitebeard hit him with the second move, and he didn't block it. It's that simple)

You should know that Crocodile was able to fight a fighter from Roger's pirate group, the devil's heir - Douglas Barrett, to a draw.

There is also Gekiko Moriah, whose pirate group was slaughtered by Kaido in Wano Country. Facing Kaido's indestructible body, nothing could break through his defense.

Since then, Moriah has fallen into permanent depression, trying to create a zombie army to deal with Kaido.

Oden is in this state now. When the gap reaches a certain level, he can no longer think of surpassing others.

In response to Kozuki Oden's question, Marco thought about it and fell silent.

I opened my mouth, totally unsure of what to say.

What if it was me? If it was me, I would probably be even more desperate...

Seeing Marco's expression, Kozuki Oden grinned and actually laughed.

"I've also figured it out. No matter how strong he is, he will be Bai Ji's opponent in the future, so I don't need to worry about him."

"Just do your best to improve your strength and block as many enemies as you can for Baiji."

"Besides, that marine already has a precious sword that is no less valuable than Yan Mo and Tian Yu Han Zan, so he will naturally give these two swords to his subordinates."

“I may be able to take it back by then!”

"But you, Marco, can't be like me."

"Your opponent is not much better than you. This failure may be an encouragement and a turning point for you."