"The na Loya… it sounds very familiar."
"Have you forgotten? He's the guy who was taken in as a disciple by Admiral Kuzan and killed the Silverback Great Ape during the Elite Assessnt."
"Oh~ so that's the monster rookie!"
The Elite Camp mbers muttered amongst themselves, glancing toward the crater.
"Indeed… he is quite short."
Perhaps before transmigrating, Loya's height of 175cm wouldn't have been called "short" by any fair-minded person. But in the world of One Piece, that height was awkward. Never mind giants like Whitebeard, Moria, or Bartholow Kuma—even Empress Hancock was nearly two ters tall.
Aldo calling Loya short wasn't an attempt at banter; with his brain, he likely couldn't pull off such a sophisticated move. He was simply stating a fact—a fact that was very hurtful to Loya, and ultimately, very hurtful to Aldo himself.
Aldo lay at the bottom of the crater, hissing in pain. Loya stood over him, pinning him down with his foot to keep him from moving, while holding a pair of ice tweezers and plucking Aldo's lush chest hair one by one.
"'Shorty,' is it?"
"You've got so nerve!"
"Tough talk, huh? Argh!"
Aldo struggled desperately, but his strength was no match for Loya's. He turned a humiliated shade of red. Those watching couldn't quite describe the scene, so they collectively looked away and stared at Zephyr instead.
Zephyr picked at his teeth and waved his hand listlessly. "I didn't see anything."
He turned around, ignoring Aldo's muffled moans, and began introducing the camp to Tony and the others. "From today on, you may call Teacher Zephyr. This is where you will be staying from now on. Of course, you are also free to move in here."
"From the mont you step foot in here, I expect you to stop thinking of yourselves as re recruits. You are Marines—true soldiers!"
"In our Elite Camp, besides daily training, you will accept real combat missions! These are different from your sparring or exams. No one will protect you, there are no retreats, and you will engage in life-or-death battles with pirates! Do you understand?!"
Zephyr subconsciously exerted his presence. Combined with the iron-blooded atmosphere of his words, those with weak resolve would have been scared out of their wits. Tony and his group were certainly nervous, but not fearful. Since the day they joined the Navy, they had known they carried the label of the "worst recruit batch." Who would be content with such a humiliating title?
Today's admission to the Elite Camp was the best possible answer to their efforts!
The three locked eyes, straightened their backs, and roared, "Yes, sir!"
That single roar stripped away two years of humiliation and resentnt. From today on, they were the Elite Camp!
Watching this, Zephyr smiled with satisfaction. "Good! Rember what you said today!"
His tone softened as he began to explain the differences between the Elite Camp and the standard Recruit Camp. When he got to the subject of graduation exams, he paused abruptly, vanished instantly to Loya and Aldo's side, grabbed them by the scruff of their necks, tossed them out of the crater, and proceeded to beat them senseless.
"It never ends with you two! I'm talking about the graduation exam, so pay attention! Especially you, Aldo!"
"Yes, sir!"
The two, bruised and battered, sat upright and nodded respectfully.
The graduation standards for the Elite Camp were completely different from the Recruit Camp. In the latter, one simply had to pass a battery of tests on the field, and upon eting the requirents, they were cleared to graduate and be assigned according to the bigwigs' wishes.
For mbers of the Elite Camp, graduation was far more troubleso. Their exam consisted of three stages, and failing any one of them ant they could not graduate.
Stage One: Physical Fitness Test. This focused on basic attributes like speed, strength, and endurance. One had to hit a certain threshold to proceed.
Stage Two: Live Combat Test. They would randomly draw a bounty from the Marine Headquarters boards to serve as their target—arrest or execution were both acceptable. While most of the truly terrifying high-bounty threats were excluded, the difficulty of the remaining targets still fluctuated wildly.
Stage Three: The Prison Deathmatch. This was the most important stage, unique to the Elite Camp. As the na implies, the aspiring graduate had to engage in a deathmatch within a specially constructed colosseum. Their opponents could be captured pirates, powerful wild beasts, or even Marine officers. There were ten rounds in total, and one had to win four to pass.
Only by completing these three steps could they officially graduate. The only silver lining for Elite Camp mbers was that these stages only needed to be completed sequentially; they didn't have to be completed consecutively, as long as they were finished within three years.
"Although you are free to apply for the graduation exam at any ti… I do not want to see anyone failing repeatedly due to insufficient strength, do you understand?"
Zephyr looked like he was about to eat soone, though Loya was thankful it wasn't him. Aldo nodded weakly. "Understood…"
The situation was clear: Aldo was the very guy Zephyr had just described—the one who lacked the strength but kept failing over and over.
However, how was that possible? Of all the Elite Camp mbers, Loya knew Aldo best. His reputation as the "Master of Iron Body" wasn't just hot air. Was his strength really not enough to graduate? Besides mastering Tekkai (Iron Body), one of the Six Powers, Aldo's family-taught Cannon Fist Style wasn't weak either.
As if sensing Loya's thoughts, Zephyr swept a glance at him. "Aldo's strength is decent; by all accounts, he should be able to graduate. However, his speed rating is only D-grade. Does he plan on being a target dummy after graduation?"
Loya was stunned. That seems… accurate.
Was Aldo slow? No, he was incredibly fast compared to a standard recruit. But he was a mber of the Elite Camp, and by that comparison, he moved like a tortoise. When Loya's strength had surged, it was his speed—several tis higher than Aldo's—that allowed him to tie the guy up and beat him before Aldo could even react.
Loya looked at Aldo with sympathy. The latter hung his head, looking like a salted fish.
Loya raised his hand. "Uh, Teacher Zephyr, I recall Aldo has been in the Elite Camp for over two years. If his three-year ti limit expires and he still hasn't passed, what happens?"
Aldo's expression went even darker; Loya's question was essentially rubbing salt in his wounds.
"What happens? Heh!" Zephyr sneered. "According to the regulations, a mber who hasn't graduated after three years can still graduate, but they will start as the lowest-ranking utility sailor as a disciplinary asure… However!"
Zephyr raised his volu. "In all my years as Chief Instructor, I have never had a situation where a student could not pass. If that were to actually happen… heh heh heh…"
Aldo, built like a brown bear, shivered like a chick. He shouted, "I will definitely pass the exam! Please rest assured, Teacher Zephyr!"
The implication behind Zephyr's final chuckle was clear. If Aldo truly reached that point, Zephyr might just take it upon himself to "extinguish" him first to avoid Aldo saring the reputation of the Elite Camp.
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