"Armament Haki? Full-body coverage?"
Enel frowned, quickly realizing this was to test whether Marianne's ability could be resisted by Armament Haki.
So he nodded, and in the next moment, his entire body was enveloped in a purplish-black coating of Armament Haki.
On his Armament Haki armor, there were even streaks of lightning patterns...
"You're actually preening over this?"
"Full coverage with no blind spots." Enel rolled his eyes before extending his hand again.
"Here, draw it."
"...Alright."
Marianne frowned as she looked at Enel, now completely covered in purplish-black.
She set aside the black pigment and picked up yellow instead.
Soon, a wildly grinning cat face appeared on the back of Enel's hand.
"Yellow? What does yellow represent?" Enel muttered, then suddenly his lips stretched into an uncontrollable grin as if the remark had triggered his biggest laugh reflex.
He clutched his stomach, roaring with laughter. "Yahahaha... this is just... HAHAHAHA! Too funny!"
"The color of madness—yellow induces uncontrollable laughter."
Marianne turned expectantly toward Michael, only to find him staring at her with undisguised astonishment.
"V-Vice Admiral Michael, is there something wrong?"
"Wrong? No, no! Not at all!" Michael shook his head vigorously, suppressing the urge to burst into laughter himself.
"I just think your ability is... incredibly valuable."
Valuable? Damn right it was!
This ability could ignore Armament Haki!
That alone skyrocketed its versatility!
Against clever or complex opponents, the effect might be diminished, but even the slightest influence could be decisive in evenly matched battles.
Feeling Michael's praise, Marianne instantly sensed his regard, and her nearly vanished confidence swelled rapidly.
"However... you still can't neglect physical training. You can't always rely on your comrades to protect you, right? What if you're caught alone someday?"
"...Understood."
...
Eventually, everyone finished their five laps at varying paces.
Notably, Luffy completed his ten laps faster than some managed their five.
Just from this simple exercise, seasoned veterans like Zephyr could already gauge each student's physical capabilities and strengths.
"Honestly... these are some astonishingly talented kids," Zephyr murmured.
"Truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if this youth program produces several Admirals in the future."
"Well, that's a matter for the distant future," Michael waved it off.
"Since you're so satisfied, I'll leave these youngsters entirely in your hands, Zephyr-sensei."
"Rest easy, Michael." Zephyr's eyes shone with hope and anticipation for the future.
"I believe the seas will move closer to peace because of them."
"That... let's hope so."
"Michael, as my student, I must tell you this..." Zephyr shook his head.
"If you want to do something, do it! Right or wrong... sometimes isn't the most important thing."
"...Zephyr-sensei." Michael looked at Zephyr.
As expected of a teacher who knows his students best—though Zephyr hadn't guessed his exact actions, he had sensed something amiss.
"I firmly believe everything I've done is right."
"That's good then."
Zephyr gave Michael a deep look before nodding and walking toward the youth training class.
"I am Zephyr, the Marine's Chief Instructor for new recruits!"
"Starting today, you are all my students!"
...
Cross Guild, mobile sea base.
"Yaaawn!" Gaban rubbed his sleepy eyes as he walked down the base's corridors.
"No idea what's going on, but we got urgent intel in the middle of the night."
"Troubled times lately," Rayleigh said with a smile. "After all, various factions are starting to stir again... especially the Revolutionary Army. We thought they'd quieted down after securing the Four Seas, satisfied with their gains... but now it seems they were just biding their time, gathering strength."
"I don't really get you smart folks and your schemes," Gaban smacked his lips.
"Personally, I think the Revolutionary Army's pretty great... If they'd shown up earlier, I might not even have joined Roger's crew."
"They... are indeed people with ideals and ambition," Rayleigh shook his head.
"But this world is still firmly in the World Government's grip. Even now, as their authority keeps taking hits... they're far from being overthrown."
"...Speaking of which, when's Gloriossa coming back? I've been covering for her on so many jobs!" Gaban grumbled.
"Amazon Lily's been running smoothly for ages now, and that kid Boa Hancock's made quite a name for herself! 'World's Most Beautiful Woman' and all that..."
As they chatted, the two pushed open the office door belonging to Cross Guild's three founders.
Standing in the center of the room, a woman turned to face Rayleigh and Gaban.
"What're you two old geezers muttering about? Your girl's back, ain't she? Got a problem doing a little extra work, Gaban?"
"Whoa! Gloriossa! Finally decided to show up, huh?" Gaban excitedly stepped forward.
"Listen here! You owe me at least a month—no, two months of covering your shifts! I'm taking a vacation!"
"Vacation... forget about that for now." Gloriossa's expression darkened. "I brought back top-secret intel from Shakky."
"Top-secret intel?" Rayleigh blinked. "We came to the office because urgent intel just arrived too."
"Then let's check the urgent intel first..." Gloriossa opened the report on the desk.
Her face paled the moment she read it.
"Michael... is with the Revolutionary Army."
"The Revolutionary Army? Michael?" Gaban's jaw dropped.
"Sounds crazy at first, but thinking back, Michael did often appear near Revolutionary Army waters."
Rayleigh seemed to recall something and reached toward Gloriossa.
"What about that top-secret intel? Have you read it yet?"
"Not yet... I rushed straight back." Gloriossa shook her head.
"Why?"
"Somehow, I feel... this top-secret intelligence will bring us an even bigger surprise."
Rayleigh spoke as he opened the intelligence handed to him by Gloriossa.
There was only one sentence written on it.
"Michael ..... the founder of the Revolutionary Army."
"...Gloriossa, who did Shakky obtain this information from?"
"An exiled Celestial Dragon—Figarland Garling."
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