The next day.
In the enormous harbor directly in front of Marine Headquarters, large warships were lined up one after another as squads of Marine recruits boarded them.
There were ten large warships in total, enough to accommodate all the recruits from the Regular Camp.
In addition to the recruits, each warship had Marine Vice Admirals stationed aboard.
Although they were only recruits from the Regular Camp, they were still Marine Headquarters recruits and would eventually become part of the Marines’ elite forces.
Sending them out to sea for a practical combat assessment was no trivial matter.
At the very least, their safety during the voyage had to be guaranteed.
Soon, the warships began leaving the harbor one after another and sailed toward the open sea.
Strangely, however, nine of the warships departed first, while the final warship remained docked at the harbor, showing no signs of setting off.
The recruits aboard this warship were initially quite quiet.
But as time passed, they gradually became restless.
Under normal circumstances, the discipline among them would not have been this poor.
But over the past few days, they had already been growing increasingly restless and anxious about the upcoming recruit assessment.
Someone frowned and muttered under his breath,
“Why haven’t we left yet?”
“The other squads have probably already started their assessments by now.”
Quite a few recruits gradually began showing signs of dissatisfaction.
Although no one caused an outright disturbance, discussions and complaints began spreading throughout the ship.
And then—
A figure approached from the shore, seemingly arriving quite late.
After reaching the ship, he immediately boarded.
It was Roya.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
Roya spoke casually before walking straight to a corner and sitting down.
He couldn’t be bothered to explain why he was late.
He had never been particularly sociable, and he had little in common with these recruits he didn’t even know.
Although Roya had changed considerably over the past month, most of the recruits recognized him almost immediately.
After all, during his month at the recruit camp, Roya had attracted considerable attention.
The conversations among the recruits abruptly stopped the moment Roya arrived.
They stared at one another in bewilderment.
The warship had been waiting because it was waiting for Roya?!
After a brief silence, dissatisfied voices suddenly erupted.
“What the hell?!”
“We’ve been waiting here all this time just for him?
Didn’t I hear that he’d already withdrawn from the recruit camp?!”
“Even if he’s Vice Admiral Garp’s nephew, isn’t this going too far?!”
Most of the recruits looked indignant as they glared at Roya.
They were already restless and nervous because of the upcoming practical combat assessment.
With the slightest provocation, their pent-up dissatisfaction immediately erupted.
Only a handful of people remained calm.
Among them was Red Flag X Drake, regarded as the strongest recruit in the Regular Camp.
He was also aboard the ship, although a faint trace of surprise flashed through his eyes as he looked at Roya.
This guy…
has changed so much.
Drake had never paid particular attention to Roya before.
But after seeing him again, he sensed an enormous change, as though Roya had undergone some kind of transformation.
However—
Although Drake could tell that Roya seemed to have become much stronger, he didn’t take it particularly seriously.
Roya had originally been the weakest recruit in the entire camp.
Even if he had undergone some kind of transformation during this past month, how much stronger could he possibly have become?
After all, Drake’s goal was to take first place in this practical combat assessment.
And not merely first place in the Fifth Squad.
He wanted to be number one in the entire camp.
After sizing Roya up for a moment, Drake withdrew his gaze and ignored him.
Just as the recruits’ complaints grew louder, a Marine Rear Admiral aboard the warship suddenly shouted at them.
“All of you, quiet!”
Following the Rear Admiral’s sharp command, the warship instantly fell silent.
Most of the recruits shut their mouths, though traces of dissatisfaction still remained on their faces as they looked toward Roya.
But in the very next moment, all of that dissatisfaction vanished.
Every officer aboard the warship, including the Marine Rear Admiral, suddenly turned toward the distance and saluted in unison.
Two figures wearing Marine coats bearing the Justice insignia were walking side by side toward them.
Under the countless gazes filled with awe and admiration, they slowly approached.
One of them was Garp.
The other had short purple hair.
With every step he took, an imposing aura seemed to emerge naturally from him.
Even from a distance, his presence instinctively inspired respect.
He was the head instructor of the Marine Headquarters recruit camp.
And also…
Former Marine Admiral Zephyr!
“No wonder we were waiting here.
We were waiting for Admiral Zephyr and Vice Admiral Garp.
I was wondering why they’d possibly wait this long for some guy who ranked near the bottom.”
When the recruits saw Zephyr and Garp, all traces of dissatisfaction disappeared from their faces.
They immediately understood what was happening.
As the two approached, the recruits all revealed expressions of respect.
No one paid any further attention to Roya.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Garp and Zephyr boarded the warship.
After stepping aboard, Garp swept his gaze across the recruits.
His eyes did not linger on any of them before finally settling on Roya.
Only then did he pause for a moment and slightly grin.
He then walked into the upper cabin with Zephyr.
After Zephyr and Garp left, the Marine Rear Admiral turned toward the recruits and spoke sternly.
“Vice Admiral Garp and Chief Instructor Zephyr will personally observe this practical combat assessment.
All of you had better perform well!”
“Yes, sir!”
The recruits answered in unison.
Seeing Zephyr and Garp board the ship, the recruits became visibly excited.
From the looks of things, the two legendary Marines were actually going to personally observe the practical combat assessment.
Only Roya remained seated in a corner, completely unmoved.
He couldn’t even be bothered to pay much attention to these recruits who might not survive past the next two episodes.
He merely glanced over the recruits aboard the ship.
After sweeping his gaze across them, one person caught Roya’s attention slightly more than the others.
Drake.
In fact, Roya had noticed Drake back when he had first entered the recruit camp.
It wasn’t because Drake was the strongest member of the Fifth Squad—or perhaps even the strongest recruit in the entire Regular Camp.
Rather, it was because Red Flag X Drake was one of the Eleven Supernovas from the same generation as Luffy in the original story.
But right now, he was merely a Marine recruit.
In the original story, Drake eventually became a Marine Rear Admiral before defecting from the Marines for reasons Roya did not know and becoming a pirate.
“I wonder if this guy has already eaten an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit.”
Roya shook his head slightly before withdrawing his gaze and paying no further attention to him.
…
After leaving Marine Headquarters, the warship accelerated to full speed and soon entered the Calm Belt on one side of the Grand Line.
Various gigantic Sea Kings inhabited these waters.
Every so often, Roya could see enormous eyes—larger than the warship itself—suddenly emerging from the distant sea before disappearing beneath the waves again.
This large warship was equipped with turbine-powered propulsion, allowing it to navigate the Calm Belt with ease.
Moreover, with Garp and Zephyr aboard, even the Calm Belt posed no real obstacle.
The journey was largely uneventful.
Before long, they arrived at an archipelago within the Calm Belt.
It consisted of countless small islands.
Dense, luxuriant vegetation covered the islands, while terrifying roars occasionally echoed through the area.
No one knew what kind of monsters those roars belonged to.
Just hearing them made one’s heart tremble.
The nine other warships had already anchored at different locations.
The warship carrying Roya soon came to a stop along the edge of one of the smaller islands in the archipelago.
“This is the location where you will conduct your practical combat assessment!”
After the warship docked, Garp and Zephyr did not appear again.
Instead, a Marine Rear Admiral aboard the ship stood before all the recruits and addressed them with a solemn expression.