"Koby possesses the qualities needed to become a Marine Admiral."
"Helmeppo has what it takes to reach the rank of Admiral."
"Lucas is a candidate worthy of the title of Admiral."
"Garp, what kind of nonsense is this?" Zephyr roared, waving the recommendation letters in his hand. "Every single one of these says ’has the potential to become an Admiral.’ Do you think Admirals grow like cabbages on the side of the road? Aren’t you worried Sakazuki and the others will hear about this and take offense?"
At the Marine Headquarters, Marineford, inside the Recruit Training Academy—
Thousands of elite Marines from bases all across the world had gathered here.
Each of them hoped to use this opportunity to earn a promotion into Marine Headquarters.
On the raised platform, Zephyr grabbed Garp by the collar. The Hero of the Marines was standing there fast asleep, a bubble inflating and deflating from his nose.
"Garp!"
Beside them, Koby and Helmeppo, who were waiting for their assessment, instantly looked embarrassed.
Seeing that Garp still hadn’t woken up, Koby hurriedly explained,
"Chief Instructor Zephyr, please don’t misunderstand! Mr. Garp drank a little too much while writing the recommendation letters yesterday. He must have made a mistake."
"Helmeppo and I definitely don’t deserve to be called future Admirals!"
"You’re Koby, right?"
Zephyr glanced at the documents in his hand before smacking Garp on the back of the head.
"I knew you were unreliable, Garp! If Bogard hadn’t been cleaning up after you all these years, someone would’ve sunk you to the bottom of the sea already."
"Take these recommendation letters and rewrite them. I want the corrected versions back before lunch!"
"Hahaha! So it’s you, Zephyr," Garp laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was wondering who had the guts to hit me."
"Recommendation letters are just for people who like putting on a show. You’re the type who judges with your own eyes."
"But I can say with absolute confidence that the people I recommended really do have Admiral potential. These two brats have only trained under me for a year, yet they’ve already mastered Soru, one of the Six Powers. With proper training, they’ll definitely become pillars of the Marines."
"They learned Soru in just one year?"
A trace of surprise crossed Zephyr’s face.
Among the Six Powers, Soru was considered the easiest technique to learn, but it was also one of the most practical.
Being able to master it within a year meant their talent was already above average.
"N-No, Chief Instructor Zephyr!" Koby hurriedly waved his hands.
"Don’t listen to Mr. Garp! If people like us are considered to have Admiral potential, then that would only cheapen Lucas’s talent. He’s the one who truly deserves that evaluation!"
Helmeppo nodded frantically in agreement, the lingering fear still visible on his face.
"Lucas?"
Zephyr flipped to the last recommendation letter and looked at the name.
"You’re saying this Lucas is the one with real Admiral potential?"
He scanned the crowd.
"Where is he? Is he stronger than the two of you?"
"Why isn’t he here? Did something happen?"
The rapid-fire questions made Koby visibly nervous.
He glanced anxiously at the pocket watch clutched tightly in his sweaty hand before looking pleadingly toward Garp.
"Ahem."
Garp scratched the back of his head.
"Zephyr, you’ve always said that every genius has a few quirks. That kid Lucas is indeed a little stronger than these two. You could honestly call him a genius."
"He just has... a tiny flaw."
"He’s unusually particular about work hours."
"If my timing is right... he should be arriving any moment now."
A genius?
With a flaw?
Obsessed with working hours?
What kind of nonsense was that?
Zephyr’s expression darkened as he glared at Garp.
"Garp... are you treating me like an idiot?"
"If someone can’t even show up on time, I don’t care how talented he is—I’ll throw him out!"
His fist clenched tightly as he swung a punch straight at Garp.
Garp casually ducked.
Boom!
The Douriki measuring machine, which resembled a giant punching machine, took the full force of Zephyr’s punch instead.
It shot backward like a cannonball.
In the blink of an eye, it flew dozens of meters toward the recruits assembled below.
The recruit standing at the front of the formation froze.
No one had expected such an accident.
During the orientation, they had been told this machine was capable of withstanding 4,000 Douriki worth of force.
Now that Zephyr had sent it flying with a single punch, the impact behind it was unimaginable.
How could any recruit survive taking that head-on?
"I messed up!"
"Get out of the way!"
Zephyr immediately realized what had happened.
He hadn’t expected Garp to dodge so shamelessly as always.
He moved to save the recruit—
—but it was already too late.
Bang!
A heavy collision echoed across the training ground.
The flying Douriki machine suddenly stopped dead in midair.
It looked as though it had slammed into an immovable wall.
The crimson numbers on its display rapidly climbed...
4000
Then—
Crack!
The display exploded into countless fragments.
Shards scattered through the air.
Every recruit stared with eyes wide open.
The entire training ground fell silent before a chorus of gasps erupted.
Zephyr’s punch alone had maxed out the machine’s measurement.
That was shocking enough.
But what truly stunned everyone—
Was that someone had caught the machine bare-handed.
Was that really... a recruit?
"Chief Instructor Zephyr."
A young man in a Marine recruit uniform stepped out from in front of the petrified recruit.
He wore his hair cropped short and let out a lazy yawn.
The massive Douriki machine hung casually from one hand as though it weighed nothing.
With an effortless flick of his wrist, he tossed it aside.
Then he pulled out an old pocket watch.
After checking the time, he looked up.
"It is currently 8:57 AM."
"There are exactly three minutes before official working hours begin."
"To be precise..."
"Two minutes and fifty-eight seconds."
"As a Marine recruit, my monthly salary is 300,000 Berries."
"Subtracting eight weekend days, I work twenty-two days per month."
"That comes to 13,636 Berries per working day."
"A workday is eight hours."
"That’s 480 minutes."
"If you expect me to start working right now..."
"Then please pay me triple overtime."
"Which comes to..."
"255 Berries."
Everyone on the training ground was dumbfounded.
His entrance had been unbelievably cool.
Yet somehow...
He immediately ruined the atmosphere by arguing over...
Three minutes of overtime pay.
255 Berries.
No matter how they looked at it, that tiny amount of money simply didn’t match the overwhelmingly impressive image he had just established.
"Hahaha!"
Garp burst into laughter.
"Lucas, you brat, you’re finally here!"
"I’ll pay your three minutes of overtime myself!"
"Now hurry up and let Zephyr see what you can do!"