"Beep, beep, beep!"
A series of urgent whistle blasts rang out.
The previously quiet girls' dormitory instantly became noisy.
"Esdeath, wake up, Esdeath."
She nudged Esdeath next to her. She had promised a massage, but ended up falling asleep while giving it. She couldn't possibly wake Esdeath up again, could she?
"Hmm? Is it time to eat?"
She opened her eyes groggily and saw a nervous Tashigi calling out to her.
"Morning training has started! Wake up quickly, Esdeath."
After waking Esdeath, Tashigi quickly washed up. If they were late, the instructor had said there would be punishment.
"Just five more minutes, only five minutes."
Esdeath clearly hadn't adjusted from her previous life's habits. She glanced outside and saw that it was still dark.
Why wake up so early?
"No, Esdeath! We'll be punished!"
Seeing Esdeath about to fall back asleep, Tashigi used her blanket-flipping technique and then continuously shook Esdeath's body.
She simply wouldn't give her a chance to go back to sleep!
"Alright, alright, I'm getting up, I'm getting up."
Unable to resist Tashigi, she had no choice but to get up. After all, the blanket had been thrown off, so there was no point in sleeping anymore.
"Let's go quickly, follow me!"
Looking at the beautiful Esdeath, who was still dispirited and yawning continuously, it was quite a striking contrast.
Soon, the two arrived at a place that looked like a training ground. On a platform stood a man with a purple mohawk.
His body was covered in strong muscles, and he looked sternly at the scattered crowd below the platform.
"Quiet! Stand straight!"
Without any amplification equipment, he simply used his voice to halt the chaotic crowd.
Although his expression was serious, he was happy to see the fresh blood of the Marine, but he couldn't show it. He had to maintain the image of a strict teacher.
Esdeath looked at the man on the platform; it was actually the legendary man, Zephyr!
Esdeath held immense respect for this man. In her heart, there were not many who truly embodied the Marine.
Zephyr alone stood out!
He dedicated his entire life to the Marine, and even when his wife and child were killed by pirates, he did not break his principle of not killing!
Was this pedantic?
No! In fact, it was more about faith, because killing pirates was indeed simple, but Devil Fruit users would reappear after death.
Furthermore, it gave pirates hope, just like the purpose of a siren is to warn perpetrators, giving them a chance.
It's like this: if the Marine killed pirates upon encountering them, then pirates would certainly fight to the death and cause even greater harm!
This was also the meaning of the existence of Impel Down!
It wasn't simply to imprison pirates, but to restrict them!
Compared to lazy justice, extreme justice, and ambiguous justice, his justice was purer.
Even if he eventually went to extremes, his goal was to completely annihilate the great pirates of the New World, which was beyond doubt.
Even Garp had his own stain. For Roger's child, Garp hid everything from everyone, leading to the slaughter of all children born that year!
The deceased numbered tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands!
Perhaps Zephyr wasn't the strongest, but he was definitely the most righteous.
As for Edward Weevil severing his arm, some say it was due to insufficient strength, but that's nonsense.
As an Admiral, Zephyr was already middle-aged and suffering from illness at the time. Plus, he had to protect the lives of many students, so he couldn't fight freely. It was entirely reasonable.
However, Zephyr's arm hasn't been severed yet, so if she could help, she would. After all, true soldiers are rare in this world.
"Morning training begins!"
After seeing everyone quiet down, Zephyr gave an order, and everyone began to run.
Around Marineford!
One lap, two laps... five laps... ten laps!
Even with the enhancement of Demon's Extract: Devil's Extract, Esdeath was a little overwhelmed, let alone the others.
Only a handful of people could keep up!
Tashigi was struggling a bit, falling behind by a full lap.
But she still kept up tightly and didn't fall behind.
Esdeath even saw some familiar faces in the team: Ain, Binz, Sadie-chan, Domino.
However, only Ain and Binz could keep up with the front row; everyone else was far behind.
It's important to know that Marineford was much larger than it appeared in the anime. These people hadn't even been trained yet, so being able to run like this was already quite strong.
"Tashigi-chan, keep going!"
She slowly came alongside Tashigi.
"Esdeath."
Tashigi's bangs were wet with sweat. She looked up at the slightly relaxed Esdeath, a smile appearing on her face.
"I got it!"
After regaining her spirit, Tashigi didn't speed up, but she still followed closely behind Esdeath.
"Oh? There's actually a good prospect."
As an instructor, Zephyr naturally ran with the new recruits. Esdeath's posture naturally caught Zephyr's eye.
His purpose in coming was to select excellent Marine students for the elite training camp.
He originally thought there wouldn't be too many surprises, but he didn't expect to actually encounter one.
Esdeath's eyes lit up. She definitely had to get first place this time. This was all about fame!
For the sake of becoming stronger!
"Then I'll go ahead, Tashigi-chan!"
There were still a few people around her, so now was a good time to speed up and overtake them.
She then started to accelerate, passing them with astonished looks from the crowd.
"She can actually speed up."
Zephyr nodded, but this level wasn't enough; she needed to show more talent. However, first place this time would definitely be Esdeath.
"Finish line!"
After crossing the finish line, she looked back. No one could keep up with her pace. Only Ain and Binz were closest to her.
Unfortunately, "closest" was relative to the others.
"Not bad!"
Before Esdeath could be happy, a tall figure appeared behind her. She turned her head and saw it was Zephyr.
"General Instructor Zephyr!"
She gave a standard military salute.
"You did well, young lady. Tell me your name!"
Although being called a "young lady" was a bit annoying, the fact that she had become a female was something she couldn't refute.
"Esdeath!"
"Good, I've noted it down!"
After Esdeath, many others slowly reached the finish line, and they couldn't help but show envious expressions as they watched Esdeath chatting with General Instructor Zephyr.
"Next training item..."
For an entire day, besides resting during meal times, they were training.
What was terrifying was that she didn't even feel that tired. The physiques of the people in Pirate King were simply terrifying!
"But this completely fails to achieve the effect of training!"
Lying on the bed in the dormitory, Esdeath couldn't help but sigh.
Her Demon's Extract would definitely need training to be better activated.
"Tashigi-chan, do you want to go for extra training with me?"
Esdeath looked back at Tashigi, who was flipping through a small book, and asked.
If nothing unexpected, it should be that book about famous swords in the world.
"Ah! Sure!"