The forest was silent. Looking up, the sunlight filtered through the leaves, twinkling like stars. It was beautiful, tranquil, and eerie.
"That's strange! Since when did the island get so quiet?"
After wandering for a long ti, Loya realized the forest—previously noisy and bustling—was now deathly silent. Not just the sounds of recruits fighting; even the insects and birds had gone silent. He knew his "Shikai" state emitted a Dragon's Majesty, but the range shouldn't be this wide. Even at Marineford, it had only covered half the recruit camp.
Loya had forgotten one thing: fear is contagious.
The initial explosions from his battle and the subsequent dragon-aura had sent the animals in the imdiate vicinity fleeing in a blind panic. Initially, predators on the periter had been delighted at the influx of prey, but after seeing beasts mindlessly charging to their deaths despite the presence of threats, they grew terrified. Is sothing even more terrifying behind them? Is it the island's King?
That thought caused a chain reaction, turning hesitation into a full-scale stampede.
"If I don't find sothing to eat soon, I'm actually going to starve to death!" Loya whined, patting his flat stomach. He was at the point where the surrounding rocks looked like stead buns.
Just as he was wallowing in misery, Vice Admiral Momonga appeared. Loya's eyes lit up, and he lunged. "Ah! A giant roasted sausage!"
CRACK!
An agonizing pain shot through Loya's head. Momonga, face black with rage, grabbed Loya by the leg and slamd him into the ground. "Who are you calling a roasted sausage?! That's my hair!"
"How dare you mock ! In the na of Justice, die, you bastard!"
After a brief scuffle, Momonga sheathed his sword. On the ship, he had heard Kuzan's claims and doubted them. He didn't doubt them anymore. Even without that "special technique," Loya's sheer Devil Fruit power was enough to hold his own among Vice Admirals.
Loya sat on the ground, rubbing his stomach, pouting. "Tch! What is your problem? I'm starving to death and you want to fight? I get it—you're trying to kill by starvation so you can win without a fight! Do you even have the face to accept that kind of Justice?!"
Ignoring the shouting, Momonga pointed in a direction. "The gathering point is that way. Due to special circumstances, the assessnt is temporarily canceled. Go report for assembly."
"Special circumstances?" Loya sneezed violently. He wiped his nose. "Eh? What special circumstances? Are there pirates on the island?"
Momonga: "..."
Loya's expression was genuine. Momonga finally understood Zephyr's frustration. He let out a long, weary sigh. "The battle you had with the Silverback Great Ape scared the animals, triggering a stampede. For the sake of the majority's safety, the assessnt has been halted."
"Ah, really?" Loya looked bewildered. "A whole island like this, and a stampede started just because of ?"
"Who else would it be?!!"
Down at the beach, several hundred recruits sat in small groups, looking utterly defeated. So were bandaged, so leaning on crutches while ship doctors tended to their wounds.
"Ah! It's Loya! Loya's back!" The scholar recruit, who had been the first to spot the ice-path snaking out of the forest, pointed.
"Yo! Good afternoon, everyone!" Loya called out with shaless cheer, oblivious to the bizarre atmosphere.
He was imdiately sward by furious recruits who tackled him to the ground.
"You bastard! Do you have any idea how close I ca to dying?!"
"Did you bring a cannon with you or what?!"
"Ow! My butt! Who kicked ?!"
Loya lay on the ground, blinking blankly, before looking at the "scholar" and the others with a devious grin. "Hey, you guys sold out, didn't you!"
Since the others didn't know the exact reason for the cancellation, only those who had been with him—the "scholar" and his friends—could have leaked the truth.
"Ice-Make: Clothesline!"
CRACK-SWISH!
Loya climbed up, clapping his hands. Behind him, the recruits were lifted into the air by ice-construct hangers, dangling in a row like laundry in the breeze. He walked over to the scholar, wrapped an arm around his neck, and asked with a smile, "So... how would you like to die?"
When the search-and-rescue Marines returned, this was the scene that greeted them: a circle of shivering recruits huddled together for warmth, and in the center, Loya casually tossing stolen rations into his mouth. Behind him, a massive ice-tree stood, its branches holding the weeping, frozen recruits.
As the wind blew, the recruits bumped into each other with a lodic clinking sound.
"Loya!" Momonga roared, lunging without hesitation. Before Loya could turn, Momonga's fist sent him flying.
"Using the Rokushiki is cheating!" Loya scrambled up, imdiately resuming his snack.
Momonga twitched but gave up on disciplining him, ordering his n to cut the recruits down. Through the window of the warship, Zephyr watched the scene with a throbbing headache.
"Kuzan, tell , if we restart the assessnt tomorrow, should I disqualify him?"
"Oh? You want to let him pass directly, Teacher? Aren't you afraid of the other recruits complaining?" Kuzan didn't even lift his head, resting it on his hands.
"I think that possibility... is very small." Zephyr scanned the beach. The quality of this year's recruits was truly abysmal. Loya had wiped out half of them single-handedly without even breaking a sweat.
Kuzan didn't respond, turning over to go back to sleep. "Decide whatever you want... after all, you're the one teaching the Elite Camp."
Zephyr's eyes glimred. A thought occurred to him, and he suddenly laughed out loud. "Heh heh heh, I have a brilliant idea."
The rescue mission concluded. Every recruit was alive, though a few were too heavily injured to continue the assessnt. That couldn't be helped—this was a dium-sized island, and even with patrols, no one could have saved everyone instantly.
Standing on the deck, Zephyr looked down at the recruits. The Vice Admirals and instructors stood in front of them. Zephyr cleared his throat. "As you all know, the assessnt was halted. But it is not over! We restart tomorrow. Three days, sa rules. Understood?!"
"UNDERSTOOD!" the recruits roared with surprising vigor.
Zephyr nodded in satisfaction. At least their fighting spirit was intact.
"Also, after much consideration, I have a decision to announce! Seventh Squad, Christopher Loya!"
"Here!"
"Step forward!"
"...Yes!"
Loya walked out of the line, scratching his face. Why does this feel like I'm about to be executed?
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