The atmosphere in the office grew heavy in an instant.
Faced with Akainu's visible displeasure, Zephyr found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
"Akainu, settle down for a moment!" Sengoku snatched the résumé out of Garp's hands.
"According to Zephyr, this recruit—Luo Yu—has a Doriki value exceeding 4,000, has mastered the Navy's Six Powers, and even reached the level of unleashing its secret techniques."
"That already surpasses Rob Lucci, who was once hailed as the strongest war machine CP9 had produced in the past 800 years!"
"I trust no one here doubts Rob Lucci's strength?"
Almost everyone's expression shifted dramatically.
Under the World Government, there were three central pillars: Marineford, Enies Lobby, and Impel Down.
If Marineford's current generation had Sakazuki (Akainu) as its most iconic figure, then Enies Lobby's shining star was undoubtedly Rob Lucci.
At just fifteen years of age, Lucci had wiped out an entire royal guard unit single-handedly for the sake of a mission.
He even annihilated several pirate crews on his own—an absolute monster.
Even some Vice Admirals within Marineford had to admit they couldn't match him.
So when the Fleet Admiral himself compared a new recruit to Rob Lucci—and went so far as to say Luo Yu surpassed him—it could only mean one thing:
Sengoku already believed Luo Yu was qualified for the rank of Vice Admiral.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, are you saying… he's suitable for the position of Admiral?"Akainu's face darkened, though his voice lacked the anger from before. He seemed… somewhat convinced.
Still, the notion of a rookie skipping ranks to become an Admiral didn't sit well with him.
Though none of the officers present voiced opposition, all turned toward Sengoku, clearly awaiting a more concrete explanation.
"Akainu, don't worry. I rose through the Admiral ranks myself. I know exactly how you feel," Sengoku said with a grave tone.
"As Zephyr already stated, Luo Yu is merely being nominated for Admiral—not promoted outright."
"In this process, we still require approval from the World Government. Additionally, I will personally arrange a series of trials. Only if he passes them and earns everyone's respect will he be eligible to officially take the rank."
"But it's rare for Marineford to see such a prodigious talent. We can't afford to let our newest rising star feel disheartened."
"Therefore, I plan to exercise my authority as Fleet Admiral and promote Luo Yu directly to Vice Admiral, while retaining his status as an Admiral candidate. I assume no one here has any objections?"
Vice Admiral?
Many officers' expressions shifted again.
Even though Luo Yu wasn't being granted Admiral rank outright, jumping directly from rookie to Vice Admiral was seismic.
Once news got out, it would send shockwaves through the entire sea.
Especially with the added title of "Admiral Candidate"—and the formal evaluations Sengoku promised—it meant one thing:
If Luo Yu passed those trials, Marineford would soon welcome a fourth Admiral.
A historic moment.
All eyes turned, almost instinctively, to Akainu.
"As one of the three Admirals, your opinion holds weight. Speak freely," Sengoku said again.
"Heh… I'm not interested in dealing with this sort of headache," Kizaru chuckled lazily, already returning to his half-hearted loafing.
Aokiji tilted up his sleep mask and said lazily, "I've got no issue with it. Let Sakazuki handle it."
"You're all hopeless," Sengoku snapped, his face darkening. "Akainu—what say you?"
"I don't mind him becoming a Vice Admiral. Time is the best measure of a man's worth,"
Akainu said coldly.
"If he can't live up to the title, he'll fall from grace and shame only himself."
"But if he fails to meet the standard for Admiral, it'll be Marineford's name on the line. That's why—" his voice hardened, "I want to personally oversee this trial."
You?
Zephyr's expression shifted slightly.
He knew Akainu's style all too well.
"Zephyr, don't take offense," Sengoku said after a pause. "Every Admiral must prove themselves worthy. If Luo Yu can withstand Akainu's trial, not just Marineford—but even the World Government—will have no grounds to object."
"Garp, you heard everything. If you've no objections, bring Luo Yu in. He'll face Akainu's trial tomorrow."
All eyes turned toward Garp.
Zephyr also turned toward him—and froze.
"Garp… don't tell me that brat actually left already?" Zephyr blurted.
"Haha! Zephyr, you're sharp as ever!" Garp laughed heartily, flicking his finger in mock pride. "Today's technically a rest day, after all. The overtime pay you promised—I already fronted it. You owe me later!"
"I told you already—that kid's got the makings of an Admiral!"
"Admiral my ass! That brat's as unreliable as you are!" Sengoku bellowed, his face darkening further.
"We've said all this—yet the kid hasn't even shown his damn face!"
"What the hell was the point?!"
Elsewhere, following the earlier uproar—
The new recruit orientation ended in a rush.
Luo Yu had returned to his temporary quarters, cracked open some peanuts, and started sipping on his homemade brew.
After a couple cups, he finally pulled out the 700,000 Berries in overtime pay Garp had given him.
Not long ago, his system had notified him: his punch-in zone had been upgraded from the Four Blues to Marineford HQ.
He was now only 20,000 Berries away from unlocking the Million Berry Salary Honor.
And since he'd just freeloaded that 700k…
It was the perfect chance to find out what the system would reward for hitting the million mark.
"System, convert these 700,000 Berries into system points."
Ding! Host, please hold…
Ding! Conversion complete. Current system points: 1.6 million. Congratulations on achieving the Million Berry Salary Honor.
Ding! Would you like to redeem your one-time-only Million Berry Salary Honor reward now? You have 24 hours to claim it.
The prompt rang in his ears.
Luo Yu raised an eyebrow and glanced at the silver treasure chest beside him.
Originally, he'd planned to save up one million Berries to try his luck on a silver chest and maybe score a rare item.
But he hadn't expected the honor achievement would actually consume the Berries he'd worked so hard to collect.
Still, watching the countdown begin…
Luo Yu quietly abandoned the idea of exchanging for the silver chest.