Chapter 24 Black Arm Zephyr, Speaking with Fists
That's right.
Loy was now naturally very clear.
The strongest army under the World Government is, of course, the Marines.
But the Marines are by no means the World Government's only army.
In addition to the Marines, the World Government also has several elite units of considerable scale – and the famous Three Armies Commander-in-Chief, 'Steel Bone Kong,' is the overall commander of all these armies.
These include the 'Allied Defense Squads,' responsible for clearing out mountain bandits and Revolutionary Army members, as well as assisting in the territorial defense of many World Government member nations.
There is also the 'Sky Guard,' responsible for guarding 'Summit of West Sky' and ensuring the smooth passage of Sky Island routes.
There is also the 'Patrol Army,' specifically responsible for patrolling the 'Red Line' and ensuring the safety of Mariejois.
The overall strength of these armies is, of course, far inferior to the Marines, and they are rarely well-known in the world.
But there are still no shortage of strong individuals among them.
As for the direct forces of the World Government, there's even less to say – this refers specifically to the World Government's direct special agency 'CIPHER POL,' also known as 'CP.'
According to Smoker, these forces will all send people to participate in this 'Three Armies Military Exercise.'
So Loy was truly shocked at this moment – he hadn't expected that his act of using clones to steal the Heavenly Tribute would lead to such an event.
Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke, then nodded.
"So the scale of this military exercise far exceeds the past, and the rules are said to be very special."
There was also a hint of fighting spirit and excitement in his words.
"And the rewards for the military exercise are also very surprising – although it can't compare to the World Conscription directly selecting 'Admirals,' it is said that the winner this time can also be promoted exceptionally to 'Admiral Candidate'!"
"The top five positions can also be directly promoted to Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral!"
Admiral Candidate, as the name suggests.
Although their military rank is still 'Headquarters Vice Admiral,' they have a special status and can enjoy the 'title' unique to Admirals, and their authority is also relatively greater.
And after an Admiral retires, as long as there is no 'World Conscription' directly selecting an Admiral.
Then the Admiral Candidates can fill the position and become Admirals.
And as long as they are men, most aspire to fame and power.
Even Smoker is no exception – he believes his strength is not weak and he has the qualifications to stand out in the Three Armies Military Exercise.
And when he said this, he even glanced at Loy.
"...Hey, you wouldn't be thinking of getting promoted to Rear Admiral or Vice Admiral, and then making me your subordinate, would you?"
Loy immediately sensed the other party's malicious intent.
"I don't necessarily have to achieve that." Smoker didn't deny that he indeed had this thought: "After all, it's the Three Armies Military Exercise, and there will definitely be more formidable participants than usual."
"Don't worry, I will never let you be in the top three." Loy said resolutely.
Smoker gave a cold snort when he heard this: "If you can, then try it."
And just as the two were arguing,
"Smoker-senpai."
A voice suddenly came.
Loy recovered from his thoughts at this moment, and only then did he realize that he had unknowingly arrived at a Marine training ground.
There were quite a number of patrolling Marines around, and batch after batch of soldiers were well-organized, looking like elites.
And the one speaking at this moment was a man.
He was wearing a ninja-like attire, with extremely long limbs, holding a branch in his hand, and carrying a green nodachi and a giant kunai on his back.
If it weren't for the Marine uniform on him, Loy would almost think the other party was an infiltrator.
But at this moment...
[Devil Fruit User 'Giberson' has been detected.]
[Devil Fruit has been confirmed to be 'Paramecia Type: Luxuriant Devil Fruit', currently analyzing and storing it in the 'Devil Fruit Encyclopedia'.]
[Devil Fruit Ability - Can accelerate plant growth and control plants.]
[Effect Levels]
[LV1: Gains weak Devil Fruit effect, can slightly strengthen plant growth speed, magnitude is 3 times.]
[LV2: Gains partial Devil Fruit effect, can greatly strengthen plant growth speed, magnitude is 10 times, requires consumption of 8000W/3300W to permanently/temporarily unlock.]
[LV3: Gains full Devil Fruit effect, can make plants instantly grow to maturity, and control them, requires consumption of 500 million/200 million Berries to permanently/temporarily unlock.]
[LV4: Devil Fruit deep development, can control plants to complete more subtle transformations and operations, can create 'Plant Clones', can synchronize perception with plants, requires consumption of 1.2 billion/400 million Berries to permanently/temporarily unlock.]
[LV5: Devil Fruit Awakening · Luxuriant Vitality, can obtain resilient vitality similar to plants, can construct a body by 'reconnecting severed limbs' through plant growth, can absorb surrounding water and vitality to heal oneself, can make plants grow to sizes far exceeding normal, requires consumption of 7 billion/2.3 billion Berries to permanently/temporarily unlock.]
[Analysis progress: 0%, after analysis is complete, LV1 of this Devil Fruit ability will be obtained.]
The information from the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia confirmed the identity of the other party for Loy, and also thoroughly confirmed who Smoker had brought him to meet this time.
"Giberson, why are you alone – where's Ain? Where's Instructor Zephyr?"
At this moment, Smoker's words also indeed confirmed his thoughts.
Zephyr – former Marine Admiral, former general instructor of Marine recruits.
A battle buddy who joined the service at the same time as Marine Hero Garp, Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and Marine Grand Advisor Tsuru.
He was once famous throughout the sea for his powerful martial artist's Haki, once suppressed countless Pirates, and was known as 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
Later, due to his wife and daughter being retaliated against and killed by Pirates, he became disheartened, resigned as an Admiral, and instead began to instruct Marine recruits, training a large number of Marine strongmen.
For example, the three current Admirals 'Aokiji', 'Akainu', and 'Kizaru' were all his proud disciples.
Incidentally, Smoker was also once his disciple, but Loy was not – after the recruit training ended, a portion of elite recruits could receive Zephyr's training.
At that time, Loy had already actively applied to serve in the Detainment Unit, so he didn't have the opportunity to receive Zephyr's instruction.
But it was obvious that Vice Admiral Bilos was now making up for Loy's regret.
"Ain is out on a mission, as for Instructor Zephyr, he went to SSG (Marine Special Science Group), he should be back in a while."
The man named Giberson answered Smoker's question while also looking at Loy: "Is this Major Loy?"
"Yes." Loy also recovered at this moment, saying with some doubt: "Did Vice Admiral Bilos arrange for me to meet Admiral Zephyr? But from what I know, he should have already..."
His words were unfinished, but Giberson and Smoker obviously understood.
Four years ago, the practice fleet led by Zephyr was attacked by Pirates during a mission.
On the entire ship, most of the disciples he had carefully trained died, and Zephyr also lost an arm and suffered serious injuries.
From then on, he completely retreated to the second line.
"Yes, after that incident, the teacher hasn't taught new recruits for a long time." Giberson said in a deep voice.
He was one of only two Marines who survived the ship at that time.
"However, he and Vice Admiral Bilos are old friends, which is why he specially accepted the request." Giberson briefly introduced: "Come with me."
He turned and walked deeper into the training ground.
Loy and Smoker naturally followed closely behind him.
Soon, they arrived at a clearly special training ground.
The training ground was not surrounded by usual training equipment, but rather enclosed by gigantic iron walls. At the end of the walls was a building with a unique 'Z' symbol on it.
"Teacher Zephyr wants you to wait for him here, he should be back soon." After Giberson said this, he immediately sat down cross-legged, no longer speaking.
Seeing this, Loy and Smoker also followed suit.
"Don't mind him, Giberson is a good guy, he just doesn't like to talk much because of the incident four years ago." At this moment, Smoker surprisingly offered an explanation.
He was a rebellious fellow, but he was truly grateful to Zephyr.
"Understood." Loy naturally didn't care about these minor details.
To be precise, he was even happy about it at this moment.
"Luxuriant Devil Fruit... this ability isn't bad, it might have miraculous effects in some special terrains."
"It's a pity Ain isn't here – I remember that girl is also an Ability User, and her ability is quite unique."
Loy recalled, looking at the constantly growing numbers within the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
Ain, the other person who survived that attack four years ago.
Her Devil Fruit is the 'Reversal Devil Fruit,' and its ability is to make the age of all touched objects reverse – this is a Devil Fruit that Loy knows rarely touches the time domain.
And just as Loy was thinking that he must get his hands on the 'Reversal Devil Fruit' ability when he returns,
"Oh? You've already arrived, have you!?"
An old but still powerful voice echoed within the training ground.
A figure stepped into the training ground.
His face was stern, his build tall and sturdy, wearing a dark purple sleeveless vest and draped in a Marine coat.
Years and battles had left deep marks on his body, but they did not diminish the aura of a top-tier strongman in the slightest.
What caught attention was his right arm; his right arm was severed from the shoulder, and now only some special metal components remained.
That was precisely... 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
"Admiral Zephyr." Upon seeing this former Admiral, Loy also naturally stood up, preparing to salute.
But before he could speak,
"You must be the kid Loy, huh?"
He saw that Zephyr's face had already split into a smile.
"Bilos mentioned you to me; he said you were the most promising young man in the entire Detainment Unit... But, I don't believe words!"
As he spoke, Loy saw the former Admiral's figure disappear from its original spot with a "whoosh."
That was Shave – and its speed was the fastest Loy had ever seen!
Then,
"My rule here is – speak with fists!"
Loy felt a fierce wind coming from beside his ear.
(end of chapter)