The next day.
The shock across Marineford had finally begun to cool.
Yesterday's graduation trial had shaken all of Marine Headquarters.
After a full day, the atmosphere slowly settled down.
But Kai's name had been deeply carved into the minds of countless Marines.
A five-year-old with Vice Admiral-level combat power.
That fact alone was enough to make every Marine remember him.
Discussions about Kai continued to spread through Marineford.
That morning.
Fleet Admiral Kong sat inside his office, silently studying the piles of documents on his desk.
After a long while, he picked up one stack and began flipping through it.
These documents contained the detailed information of every trainee from the latest graduating class.
Kai's file was there.
So were the files for Smoker, Tina, and the others.
Naturally, the files had been submitted by Zephyr.
As the chief instructor of the training camp, Zephyr understood his students better than anyone. The records he prepared were detailed and accurate.
After organizing them, he had submitted everything to Kong.
Now, as Fleet Admiral, Kong had to decide where each graduate would go.
Who would remain at Marine Headquarters?
Who would be sent to Marine branches across the Four Blues?
The authority to decide rested in Kong's hands.
Even Admiral Zephyr had no right to interfere.
"This is troublesome…"
"There are too many excellent recruits this year. I can't keep all of them at Headquarters."
"Some of them need to be assigned to the branches."
Kong rubbed his temples.
Marine Headquarters did not need so many new combatants at once.
On the other hand, with pirates increasing in number year by year, the Marine branches across the Four Blues were badly short on capable officers.
East Blue.
West Blue.
North Blue.
South Blue.
Many branch bases were in need of strong Marines.
Because of that, Kong could not leave every graduate at Headquarters.
"Two-thirds will go to the Four Blues."
"One-third will remain at Headquarters."
Kong soon made his decision.
Those assigned to branch bases would need to serve for a set period before they could be transferred back to Headquarters and promoted.
It was also a form of trial.
A way to temper them.
Only a small number of trainees were qualified to remain at Marine Headquarters.
Before long, Kong finished sorting most of the files.
He had decided the paths for the majority of the graduates.
That included Smoker and Tina.
Smoker would be sent to Loguetown in East Blue.
The town of the beginning and the end.
The birthplace of the Pirate King.
And the place where he was executed.
Every year, Loguetown attracted countless pirates.
Therefore, it required a powerful Marine to guard it.
Smoker was a perfect fit.
As a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, he would be nearly invincible in East Blue. Ordinary pirates would pose no threat to him.
With him stationed there, Loguetown's stability could be guaranteed.
"Let Smoker guard Loguetown for a while."
"Hopefully, he'll temper his temper there."
Then Kong looked at Tina's file.
After some thought, he decided to keep her at Marine Headquarters.
Roughly half an hour later, Kong finally finished arranging every trainee's future.
Two-thirds were assigned to Marine branches across the Four Blues.
One-third would remain at Headquarters.
He exhaled heavily and stretched his arms.
With most of the work finished, his body relaxed slightly.
But his gaze remained fixed on one final file.
Kai's file.
Only Kai deserved special consideration.
"What should I do with this kid?"
Kong felt a headache coming on.
Kai was too outstanding.
Far too outstanding.
At only five years old, he could briefly clash with Zephyr. His combat power was clearly no weaker than most Vice Admirals, and among Vice Admirals, he would already be considered one of the stronger ones.
There was no question.
Kai had to stay at Marine Headquarters.
Sending a monster like him to the Four Blues would be a waste.
Besides…
Kai was still too young.
That made Kong uneasy.
If he sent Kai away to guard a branch base, what if the boy changed as he grew older?
What if something unexpected happened?
Kong could not guarantee anything.
The safest choice was to keep Kai at Headquarters.
That way, he could be watched, guided, and protected.
If the Marines lost a once-in-centuries monster like Kai…
Kong felt uneasy just imagining it.
"Kai must remain at Headquarters."
"If I keep him here, I don't have to worry about him developing thoughts of leaving the Marines."
"Especially…"
"This kid has that troublesome father."
Kong was worried.
If Kai left Headquarters, Dragon might come and try to pull him away.
If Dragon succeeded…
Kong did not even want to think about what that would mean for the future of the Marines.
After all, he understood perfectly well what kind of monster Kai was.
If someone like him became an enemy of the Marines in the future…
that would be a nightmare.
"Since I've decided to keep him at Headquarters…"
"the next question is…"
"What position should I give him?"
Kong fell into deep thought again.
Kai was different from the other trainees.
The others had joined the Marines step by step, entered the training camp after being selected, studied under Zephyr, graduated, and now awaited assignment.
Everything was normal.
Everything followed procedure.
Only Kai was different.
He had joined halfway.
More importantly, before officially joining the Marines, Kai had already created shocking achievements one after another.
He had destroyed countless pirate crews.
Captured famous pirates.
Sent powerful criminals to Impel Down.
Simply put, among all the trainees, Kai was the only one who entered the Marines carrying a mountain of achievements and battle records.
When the others still had blank resumes…
Kai had already captured countless great pirates.
Kong could not ignore that.
Even if Kai had not officially been a Marine at the time, his merits were still real.
A Marine's achievements could not simply be dismissed.
Doing so would chill the hearts of countless Marines.
"This kid really gave me a huge problem."
"What rank should I give him?"
"What rank would be appropriate?"
"What rank would convince the entire Marine force, avoid unnecessary criticism, and not disappoint him?"
Kong felt another headache coming.
The more he thought about it, the harder the decision became.
Should he make Kai a Vice Admiral?
That clearly was not suitable.
Kai absolutely had Vice Admiral-level strength.
But every Vice Admiral had climbed through seas of blood and corpses to earn that rank.
Letting a five-year-old become a Vice Admiral…
would definitely cause endless discussion.
A five-year-old Vice Admiral?
If that news spread, not only the Marines, but even pirates across the sea would find it hard to accept.
"But if I don't give him a satisfying position…"
"With that kid's personality, he definitely won't let it go."
Kong leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes in thought.
After considering it again and again…
an idea gradually formed in his mind.
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