Time passed quickly.
Before anyone realized it—
It was already 2 PM.
The sun blazed high overhead.
Golden light poured down over Marineford.
Clouds drifted lazily across a dome of blue.
Under that harsh sun—
Countless Marines were still training hard.
Sweat poured.
Muscles burned.
Roars and shouts of exertion echoed from every training ground, one after another, overlapping like waves crashing onto rock.
From Kai's assigned quarters to Training Ground No. 1—
The walk took about fifteen minutes.
Zephyr had given him the exact location that morning.
So, a little before 2 PM, Kai left early and headed toward the largest training field on the base.
That—
Was the training camp's battlefield.
The place where the future pillars of the Marines would be hammered into shape.
On the way—
He could still hear Marines talking about him.
Specifically:
About the morning's "incident."
About the three dorms.
About the tens of thousands of Marines who'd gone down like dominos.
"…So that was all done by some four-year-old?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"They say it was Admiral Garp's grandson…"
"It was Conqueror's Haki, apparently…"
Their voices were full of disbelief and awe.
Kai's expression twitched slightly as he walked past.
…Didn't think it'd blow up this much, he thought.
I really wasn't trying to target anyone.
If you want to be mad…
Go yell at Zephyr, not me.
He's the one who insisted I unleash it there.
He lowered his head a bit and walked straight past them without stopping.
Behind him—
The Marines paused mid-conversation, frowning in confusion.
"Huh? Since when did Headquarters have a kid that young?" one of them muttered.
"Did the recruitment standards drop?"
"Even a four-year-old can walk into Marineford now?"
"I remember I nearly died trying to qualify for this place…"
The others nodded, equally puzzled.
Then one of them suddenly stiffened.
"Wait a second," he said carefully. "Did you guys forget something?"
"We were literally just talking about a four-year-old monster…"
Silence.
They all froze.
Slowly—
They turned their heads in unison to stare at Kai's retreating back.
"Hold on, hold on…"
"Don't tell me…"
"That little kid just now…"
"Was him?"
"The one who wiped the three dorms?"
"The one who knocked out tens of thousands of Marines in one hit?"
"At that age?!"
"Think about it," another Marine said, throat dry. "Have you seen any other four-year-old on base?"
"Besides the one everyone's talking about today?"
"Garp's grandson… that four-year-old monster?"
They looked at each other—
Then all of them swallowed hard.
Gulp.
The more they thought about it—
The colder their backs felt.
"A monster who casually wipes out tens of thousands of Marines…"
"Just walked right past us…"
"And we didn't even say hello…"
A chill crawled up their spines.
It felt like they'd brushed past a walking natural disaster.
Training Ground No. 1.
By the time Kai arrived—
The massive grounds were already filled with young Marines.
Most of them—
Were in their late teens to early twenties.
Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…
Up to around twenty-three at most.
Anyone older—
Wasn't eligible.
If your age was too high, your potential ceiling was already considered limited.
There was no point investing in you as a "core seed."
And this place—
Was for elite seeds only.
Every single person here…
Had clawed their way in through brutal selection.
No dead weight.
No ordinary recruits.
Only the very best of their generation.
The famed "training camp" Zephyr had built up over the years had supplied Marine Headquarters with an endless stream of powerful officers.
Elegant strategists.
Monster fighters.
Future Vice Admirals—and even future Admirals.
Every generation of Marines had been shaped around graduates of this camp.
For that reason—
Training Ground No. 1 was the largest in all of Marineford.
A concrete symbol of just how much value the Marines placed on Zephyr's work.
It sat in the southeast section of the island.
Mountains at its back.
A broad lake out front.
Forest to the left.
And, about five kilometers to the right—
Training Ground No. 2.
As Kai stepped into the area, he quietly scanned the gathered trainees.
By his rough estimate—
There were around seventy of them.
Not even close to a full hundred.
But every single one—
Was sharp-eyed and solidly built.
A hundred nobodies wouldn't compare to this handful.
"That's the whole class?" Kai thought. "Not a lot."
"But quality beats quantity."
Typically, each training camp intake had fewer than a hundred people.
Zephyr didn't like bloated classes.
The more bodies he had, the thinner his attention and resources would be spread.
He preferred to focus on a small, elite group and hammer them properly.
If too many tried to get in—
He'd simply eliminate the weaker half.
Mercilessly.
Harsh.
But that was how you forged the future backbone of the Marines.
As Kai approached the central open area—
He spotted a familiar figure.
Zephyr.
At almost the same time—
Zephyr saw him too.
"Admiral Zephyr," Kai called, raising a hand in greeting.
"Brat, get over here," Zephyr barked.
Kai walked over quickly to stand at his side.
The moment he appeared—
The seventy trainees' attention snapped to him.
One by one—
They turned to stare.
Curious.
Confused.
A bit stunned.
Training Ground No. 1 was their exclusive territory.
Random recruits didn't get to wander in here.
So naturally…
They were puzzled.
What was a child doing in their camp?
"Who's that kid?"
"Whose son is he?"
"Don't talk nonsense, you know Teacher Zephyr's fam—"
The voice abruptly cut off.
Everyone around him fell silent.
No one wanted to poke that wound.
Zephyr's family—
Had been killed by pirates.
Everyone here knew.
Everyone also knew—
That was the one subject you never, ever brought up.
They all respected him.
Admired him.
And, frankly—
Were terrified of him.
Zephyr was strict, severe, and demanding.
But he was also fair.
He pushed them hard—
Because he wanted them to live.
The trainees themselves were a mix of men and women.
Roughly eighty percent male.
Twenty percent female.
All of them young.
All of them the best of their respective intakes.
Now—
All of them were staring at a four-year-old who'd just walked up to stand beside their terrifying instructor.
Whispers began to ripple quietly through the crowd.
"Who is he?"
"Did someone get special treatment?"
"Is he a mascot?"
"Is he really just four…?"
Zephyr's face darkened.
"Silence!" he snapped.
The murmurs cut off instantly.
Every trainee straightened reflexively.
Zephyr folded his arms and jerked a thumb at Kai.
"Listen up," he said, voice firm and carrying.
"The kid standing next to me is named Kai."
"He's four."
"Starting today, he's one of you."
"The newest member of the training camp."
"Got that?"
For a moment—
The training ground was dead silent.
Then—
The eyes.
Dozens of eyes.
Every single one swung back to Kai.
If they'd been surprised before—
Now they were utterly dumbfounded.
A… four-year-old Marine?
Joining our training camp?
Is this a joke?
Can a kid that age even walk through our training regimen?
Is Teacher Zephyr messing with us…?
Their worldviews were wobbling.
This place was supposed to be an elite crucible.
Every one of them had nearly died in the selection process.
And now—
A four-year-old was being dropped in?
Like it was nothing?
They couldn't help feeling:
A little offended.
A little unconvinced.
"Is he really strong enough?"
"Or is this just some special treatment?"
"A four-year-old… in the same camp as us?"
An invisible pressure slowly formed.
A complicated mix of doubt, curiosity, and competitiveness.
And at the center of it—
Stood Kai.
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