Major Nate!
18: Dream City!
Major Nate!
Chapter 18: Dream City!
Major Nate!
After briefly playing the role of an understanding big brother, Nate soon finished his training, returned to the dorm, took a shower, and happily collapsed onto his bed.
Finally, he could get some proper rest.
Fun fact: whenever his consciousness entered the Dream World, his physical body was essentially asleep.
That meant both his mental energy and physical stamina could recover while he was inside.
Tomorrow’s rank ceremony had originally been postponed because of the sudden search mission, but the incident had ended much faster than expected.
As a result, the ceremony would proceed tomorrow morning after all.
‘So I still have to wake up early.’ ‘Better get as much rest as I can.’ In the next instant, Nate entered the Dream World.
He appeared high above a town.
It wasn’t particularly large, roughly comparable to a small county town from his previous life.
Its architecture wasn’t much different from what was common across the seas, but there was one major distinction.
There were no residential districts.
Instead, the entire town consisted of entertainment facilities—taverns, restaurants, casinos, amusement parks, a red-light district, a colosseum, and plenty more.
Entering the Dream World already counted as rest, so anyone who came here had no responsibilities.
They only needed to enjoy themselves.
This was Dream City.
Nate had currently divided the Dream World into three layers.
The first layer was the planet where Dream City existed.
Ordinary people who entered the Dream World lived here, though apart from the city itself, the rest of the planet was still nothing but wilderness.
The second layer belonged to core members like Buckingham, who possessed higher-level access.
Each of them had an isolated personal world, completely separate from the others.
Those worlds embodied what their owners truly desired deep within their hearts.
Every personal world was connected to Dream City.
The core members could travel freely between the two and could even bring ordinary residents of Dream City into their private worlds.
The third layer was the true Dream World, where Nate normally spent his time.
It had no fixed shape, boundaries, or scenery.
Everything changed according to Nate’s will.
It was his personal playground.
Nate spread out his senses.
Eighty-seven escapees were currently inside Dream City.
Most had entered, and if the ship weren’t still traveling through the deep sea and in need of a working crew, there would probably be even more.
Nine were drinking themselves senseless in a tavern, while four were stuffing themselves at a restaurant, taking advantage of the fact that they could never truly become full.
Seventeen were gambling wildly at the casino, and twenty-six were indulging themselves in the red-light district.
A few weren’t even particular about gender, which was enough to make Nate avert his eyes.
Everyone else was packed into the colosseum, cheering at the top of their lungs.
With a thought, Nate appeared in an empty seat among the stands.
Nobody noticed his arrival.
More accurately, nobody present had the authority to know that he had arrived.
The colosseum had been modeled after Dressrosa’s famous arena and was currently roaring with noise.
Nearly every seat was filled, with countless spectators shouting excitedly.
Of course, most of the crowd were atmosphere NPCs.
For details, see President Kaiba.
There weren’t many real spectators, but they were every bit as excited as the NPCs because the people fighting below were very real.
“Hahahaha!
Solt, is running away all you can do?!” Anthony, transformed into a gigantic Cave Bear, laughed loudly.
Every swing of his Haki-coated paw made the arena floor tremble.
“Catch me first!” Solt moved like a phantom around the massive bear, slipping past each attack while leaving cut after cut across Anthony’s body.
“Then try this!” Anthony raised both huge paws overhead.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” He smashed them into the ground.
The arena floor exploded apart, sending chunks of stone flying everywhere.
Several audience members were crushed on the spot, though they were merely NPCs and would naturally be replaced.
Solt stepped across the flying debris like the wind, closed the distance in an instant, and drove his sword straight into Anthony’s chest.
“UWAAH!” Anthony screamed.
Pain was heavily reduced inside the colosseum, but that didn’t mean it had been removed entirely.
Then a cunning grin appeared across his bear-like face.
“Got you, idiot!” Solt’s expression changed.
His sword wouldn’t come out.
Anthony’s muscles had clamped tightly around the blade.
‘What the hell?
Is this the power of a bear?!’ The enormous paw was already descending toward him.
“OOOOHHHH!!” The cheers from the stands shook the sky.
Nate watched thoughtfully.
‘Just satisfying physical desires isn’t enough.’ Even he frequently became bored.
‘The spiritual side of civilization needs to keep developing too.’ Combat, hunting, and even full-scale wars could all be arranged.
There could also be music, theater, literature, movies, and countless other forms of entertainment.
Nate could simply copy works from his previous life if he wanted to, but after enough people entered this world, it would be better to let its residents become creators themselves.
While he was thinking, a figure suddenly appeared in the aisle beside him.
“Master Nate.” Luna bowed slightly.
As the person with the second-highest authority in the Dream World, she naturally knew the moment Nate arrived.
“How’s it going?
Have you reached the New World?” Nate asked casually.
“Not yet.
We just passed Fish-Man Island.” Luna answered calmly.
They had never planned to land there in the first place.
Jinbe was still one of the Seven Warlords, and Nate had no interest in provoking a battle with a group of Fish-Men ten thousand meters beneath the sea.
“Once you reach the New World, don’t rush into anything.” Nate glanced toward Luna.
“Kizaru is still stationed there.
Hide for a while and wait until he’s rotated back to Marineford before making a move.” Luna still wasn’t strong enough.
Her defensive ability was nearly maxed out, but her offensive power lagged far behind.
It would be extremely difficult to achieve a sudden leap in strength through physical training and Haki alone.
Which meant she needed a Devil Fruit.
Nika and the Black Dragon Fruit already had owners, while nobody even knew where the Dark-Dark Fruit was currently hiding.
That left only one powerful Devil Fruit that was relatively easy to obtain.
It was waiting on Punk Hazard.
“Understood.” Luna nodded respectfully.
After watching the fight for a while longer, Nate lost interest and stretched lazily.
“Come on, Luna.” “Play a game with me.” “Yes.” ‘PvP is the only way to make games interesting.’ ‘Let’s start a match.’ …
The next morning.
After the usual morning training and breakfast, the rank ceremony officially began.
Every recruit assembled on the training field.
Starting today, they were officially graduates.
The ceremony began with the raising of the Marine flag.
As the color guard sent the flag slowly upward, Zephyr stood beneath the flagpole and led the recruits in singing the Marine anthem.
“The sea watches over the beginning of this world.” “The sea watches over the end of this world…” It wasn’t exactly a passionate battle song, yet many recruits sang until their voices were hoarse.
Perhaps they all understood that this was probably the final time they would sing it together.
Even Binz, still standing with crutches beside Nate, had slightly reddened eyes.
Nate himself felt unexpectedly sentimental.
‘It’s already been a year since I transmigrated.’ He had spent almost all of that year here.
After today, it was finally time to say goodbye.
Once the flag ceremony ended, Zephyr began reading the official orders from Marine Headquarters.
They were Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s rank appointments.
The ceremony formally began.
“Locke!” Zephyr called the first name.
“Present!” The recruit who had carried Binz away from the battlefield yesterday answered loudly.
Zephyr read from the document.
“Recruit Locke displayed excellent performance throughout his year of training and maintained exemplary conduct.
He is hereby promoted to Sergeant!” “Come forward!” “Yes, sir!” Locke quickly stepped onto the platform.
A Commodore sent by Headquarters to witness the ceremony solemnly lifted a tray and presented it to Zephyr.
Zephyr took the insignia and attached it to Locke’s uniform, followed by his cap, neckerchief, and finally a new standard-issue rifle.
After personally straightening Locke’s uniform, Zephyr saluted him.
“Never forget why you joined.” “Fight for justice.” “Yes, sir!” Locke roared his answer and returned the salute.
One recruit after another stepped onto the platform and then returned to formation.
Most became Sergeants.
Those with better performance received Chief Petty Officer rank, while those who had fallen slightly behind were made Corporals.
Eventually, it was Ain’s turn.
“Recruit Ain displayed outstanding performance during training and worked well with her comrades.” Zephyr continued reading.
“She is hereby promoted to Ensign!” “Yes, sir!” Ain’s expression showed a hint of excitement as she quickly stepped onto the platform.
At Ensign rank, she was qualified to wear a coat of justice.
Zephyr personally draped one over her shoulders.
Beside Nate, Binz muttered under his breath.
“Ensign?” He looked increasingly uneasy.
“Fine, I already know I can’t beat Nate.
But don’t tell me I’m even going to lose to Ain.” Nate was wondering something similar.
‘If Ain is already an Ensign…’ ‘Then what am I getting?’ Binz was called immediately after her.
As it turned out, he’d worried for nothing.
He was also promoted to Ensign.
When he returned to formation wearing his coat of justice, Binz proudly tilted his chin toward Nate.
Nate wasn’t surprised.
Binz was somewhat weaker than Ain and had performed slightly worse during training, but the gap wasn’t enormous.
More importantly, he’d earned real merit during yesterday’s mission.
Several more recruits went up and returned.
Then only one person remained.
Zephyr lightly wet his lips before looking toward his favorite student standing in the front row.
“Recruit Nate!” His voice carried across the training field.
“Throughout training, you displayed exceptional performance, outstanding discipline, and served as an example to your fellow recruits.” Zephyr continued without pause.
“During the pirate attack on the return voyage from your graduation assessment, you played a decisive role.” “Therefore, you are hereby promoted to Major!” “Hiss!” Binz, who had been acting smug only moments earlier, sucked in a sharp breath.
‘Major right away?!’ At that rank, Nate could already command a base in the Four Blues.
In fact, some base commanders stationed there didn’t even hold a rank as high as Nate’s.
But after the initial shock— ‘Well…
it’s Nate.’ Somehow, it made sense.
Ain also turned her eyes slightly toward Nate’s back.
She’d expected the difference between them to be large, but seeing it laid out this clearly still felt frustrating.
‘Nate…’ ‘Just how am I supposed to catch up to you?’ Most of the recruits looked surprised, but nobody thought the decision was unreasonable.
Because it was Nate.
Under their complicated gazes, Nate strode onto the platform.
As usual, Zephyr attached his insignia, placed the Marine cap on his head, then draped a coat of justice over his shoulders.
“I originally planned to have you promoted to Captain.” Zephyr lowered his voice without changing his expression.
“But I pushed Headquarters a little harder.” “Even though yesterday ended in failure, your performance was still exceptional.” Nate lowered his voice as well.
“Only Major?” He sounded disappointed.
“I’m not exactly feeling the appreciation from above.” Zephyr’s mouth twitched.
‘This brat…’ Then he stepped back and gave Nate a formal salute.
“Never forget why you joined.” “Fight for justice.” Zephyr’s expression became solemn.
“Major Nate!” “Yes, sir!” Nate returned the salute.
‘Major, huh?’ He considered it for a moment.
‘Barely acceptable.’ … …