Apart from Roya and Hina’s rankings, there was another particularly strange aspect of the overall camp ranking.
The top three recruits from Roya’s Fifth Platoon happened to occupy the top three positions in the entire camp.
But the fourth-ranked recruit from the Fifth Platoon had suddenly dropped to somewhere beyond fiftieth place in the overall ranking.
And the farther down the list one looked, the worse it became.
Apart from Roya, Hina, and X Drake, almost everyone else from the Fifth Platoon had placed absurdly low in the overall camp rankings.
“I didn’t expect my overall camp ranking to be this low.”
“My ranking is pretty low too.
Looks like that forest fire interfered with us quite badly.”
“Fortunately, the fire didn’t continue spreading.
The instructors must have discovered it and put it out immediately.
Otherwise, things probably would’ve been even worse.”
“I wonder how that fire started in the first place.”
Whenever the recruits mentioned the forest fire during the previous practical combat evaluation, many of the Fifth Platoon recruits still wore lingering expressions of fear.
Even the recruits from the other platoons had heard more or less about the incident.
After noticing the Fifth Platoon’s overall results, they couldn’t help exchanging strange looks and discussing it among themselves.
Among the crowd, Roya looked at the overall camp ranking and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Looks like part of my score was shared with Hina?”
“But I didn’t expect X Drake to still place third in the entire camp under those circumstances.”
Roya narrowed his eyes slightly.
“This guy, who will eventually stand alongside Luffy among the Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation, really isn’t an ordinary person.”
Even after Roya had swept through the Vicious Beasts almost single-handedly, X Drake’s results had still only fallen behind Roya and Hina, allowing him to maintain his position near the top of the camp.
That made Roya regard him with slightly greater interest.
The corner of his mouth curled upward.
“Looks like this combat evaluation won’t be boring.”
…
“The overall ranking from the previous practical combat evaluation has now been announced.”
Zephyr’s voice drew the recruits’ attention back from the overall ranking.
“Based on those rankings…”
“The full-camp combat evaluation begins now!”
Almost the instant Zephyr announced the beginning of the evaluation, a voice rang out.
“I, Moz, challenge Roya!”
Someone was actually challenging immediately?
Hearing this, many recruits froze for a moment.
There was no limit to the number of challenges a recruit could make, and challenges couldn’t be avoided or refused.
Therefore, someone could simply wait until everyone else had finished their challenges before making their own move.
That would give them a considerable advantage in terms of stamina and energy over those who had already fought several battles.
For someone to issue a challenge immediately after the evaluation began was extremely rare.
And the person being challenged was actually the first-ranked recruit in the entire camp!
That made the other recruits even more puzzled.
They checked Moz’s ranking.
He was ranked somewhere beyond two hundred.
A recruit ranked beyond two hundred was challenging the first-ranked recruit?
What was going on?!
Although it seemed highly unusual, the challenge completely complied with the rules.
After the Marine Rear Admiral overseeing the evaluation briefly narrowed his eyes, he announced:
“First match: Moz versus Roya!”
The crowd parted, and a somewhat heavyset Moz walked out.
Moz had been thinking about exposing Roya from the very beginning.
So when Zephyr announced the start of the combat evaluation, he had instinctively shouted out his challenge.
In truth, he regretted it somewhat immediately afterward.
Even if he defeated Roya, there was no way he could hold onto first place.
Someone else would undoubtedly defeat him and take the position.
But now that he had already issued the challenge, there was no turning back.
As long as he could expose Roya’s true level, that would be enough!
Moz was in the same platoon as Roya.
He knew all too well that Roya had ranked near the bottom—or even failed outright—in virtually every physical assessment.
“Am I really the first match?”
On the opposite side of the crowd, Roya stretched lazily and pursed his lips.
He wasn’t surprised by the result.
It was easy enough to guess why Moz had challenged him.
If that was the case…
It was time to raise his presence a little.
Roya stepped out from the crowd and walked toward the center of the arena, a roughly twenty-meter-wide open area.
He stopped opposite Moz.
“Someone ranked beyond two hundred is challenging the first-ranked recruit.
Can someone tell me why?”
One of the recruits looked at the scene with an extremely strange expression and couldn’t help asking the person beside him.
“Heh.
Looks like you don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?!”
“It’s like this.
That first-ranked recruit, Roya…”
There were quite a few recruits from Roya’s own platoon present.
Several of the recruits who had always looked down on Roya couldn’t resist exposing his so-called “background” to the others.
The information quickly spread throughout the crowd.
Many recruits showed expressions of surprise and sudden realization.
So that’s why this strange situation had occurred!
Apparently…
Roya’s ranking had been manipulated through connections and internal influence?!
And Zephyr hadn’t even done anything about it?
But then again, when they thought about it carefully, perhaps Zephyr and Garp had been friends for decades.
Could it be that Zephyr had simply turned a blind eye to the matter because of his relationship with Garp?
Regardless of the truth, Roya’s supposed behavior was certainly enough to make people look down on him.
Once the rumors about Roya’s past spread through the crowd, most recruits remained skeptical.
But some believed them.
Their gazes toward Roya consequently became somewhat strange.
On the field.
Moz’s memory of Roya was still stuck in the period when Roya couldn’t even keep up with the platoon’s weighted runs.
Looking at Roya standing before him, Moz spoke in a low voice.
“Let me give you some advice.
Just admit defeat now.
Otherwise…”
Roya wasn’t angry.
Instead, he looked at the man who had become the first person to challenge him with an amused smile.
“Otherwise, what?”
“Hmph!”
Moz snorted.
“Otherwise, don’t expect me to go easy on you.”
After the supervising instructor announced the start, Moz immediately charged toward Roya.
Whoosh!
Moz’s weapon was a standard-issue Marine longsword.
Holding it with both hands, he rushed in front of Roya and swung the blade fiercely.
The sword tore through the air with a sharp whistle, as though he intended to cut Roya down with a single strike.
Yet faced with Moz’s sudden attack, Roya didn’t move.
He neither charged forward nor retreated to evade.
He simply placed one hand lightly on the hilt of Engetsu.
Silent.
Then, in the next instant, countless people felt their vision blur.
A crimson line suddenly appeared in Roya’s hand.
It swept lightly through the air and collided with Moz’s sword.
The crimson line was none other than Engetsu, now drawn from its sheath.
Roya held the sword in one hand.
Apart from moving his arm, the rest of his body remained completely still.
The slash appeared almost casual, as though he had merely waved the sword effortlessly.
Shing!
The blade swept from left to right, tracing a perfect half-circle through the air.
Even when it collided with Moz’s sword, Engetsu encountered no resistance whatsoever.
It seemed to have transformed into an invisible thread that simply passed straight through.
Clang!
Accompanied by a crisp ring of steel, half of the standard-issue Marine sword suddenly flew into the air.
It traced an arc before crashing onto the ground in the distance.
Moz’s sword had been cut cleanly in two!
Apart from the sound of the broken blade hitting the ground, the entire arena fell silent.
“Using a 21 Great Grade Blade against an ordinary Marine steel sword…”
Roya glanced sideways at the broken half lying in the distance.
“Isn’t that a little unfair?”
In reality, even if Roya had been using an ordinary standard-issue Marine steel sword, he could have produced exactly the same result with his current strength.
At this moment, Moz was completely stunned.
He stared at the broken half of the sword in his hand.
He had never imagined that things would turn out this way.
For a moment, he was utterly bewildered and didn’t know what to do.
The recruits outside the arena were equally stunned.
They stared at the scene with bewilderment, unable to understand what had just happened.
What…
was going on?!