Chapter 24: Black Arm Zephyr, Let Your Fists Do the Talking!
That's right.
By now, Roy was well aware of the situation.
The strongest military force under the World Government was, of course, the Marines.
But the Marines were not the only army.
The World Government commanded several sizable elite forces—and the famous Commander-in-Chief, 'Steel Bone' Kong, was the supreme commander of all of them.
These included the 'National Guard', responsible for wiping out mountain bandits and garrisoning the lands of many member nations, fighting revolutionaries and local threats.
There was the 'Sky Guard', responsible for guarding the 'Summit of the High West' and ensuring the safety of the Sky Island routes.
And there was the 'Holy Land Patrol', dedicated solely to patrolling the Red Line and ensuring the safety of Mary Geoise.
The overall strength of these armies was naturally far inferior to the Marines, and they were lesser-known in the world.
But they were not without their powerhouses.
As for the World Government's 'direct organizations,' that certainly referred to the intelligence agency 'CIPHER POL', commonly known as CP.
According to Smoker, all of these forces would be sending representatives to the 'Tri-Force Demonstration.'
Roy was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected his clone's little heist to cause such a massive ripple effect.
"Phew... Yeah."
Smoker exhaled a cloud of smoke and nodded.
"So, the scale of this demonstration is far beyond anything in the past. The rules are supposed to be very special, too."
There was a hint of excitement and battle lust in his voice.
"And the rewards are equally shocking. It's not quite like the 'World Military Draft' that directly selects Admirals, but they say the winner can be exceptionally promoted to 'Admiral Candidate'!"
"The top five can be directly promoted to Vice Admiral or Commodore!"
Admiral Candidate. As the name implied.
Although their rank was technically still 'Headquarters Vice Admiral,' they held a special status, could use unique Admiral-style codenames, and had greater authority.
And when an Admiral retired, as long as there wasn't a World Draft...
An Admiral Candidate was next in line for the seat.
Any man would desire fame and power.
Even Smoker was no exception. He believed his strength was sufficient to make a mark in the Tri-Force Demonstration.
As he spoke, he shot Roy a look.
"...Hey. You're not thinking of getting promoted to Commodore or Vice Admiral, and then making me your adjutant, are you?"
Roy immediately sensed the man's malicious intent.
"Phew... I wouldn't say I have to."
Smoker didn't deny he had the thought. "But this is the Tri-Force Demonstration. The number of monsters participating will be extraordinary."
"Don't worry. I definitely won't let you get into the top three," Roy said decisively.
Smoker sneered. "Try it if you can."
While the two were bickering...
"Senior Smoker."
A voice suddenly called out.
Roy snapped out of his thoughts and realized they had arrived at a Marine training ground.
There were a significant number of patrolling Marines around, and their discipline and formation suggested they were elites.
The speaker was a man dressed in a ninja outfit. He had extremely long limbs, held a twig in his hand, and carried a green nodachi and a giant kunai on his back.
If not for the Marine uniform, Roy would have thought he was an infiltrator.
But at this moment...
[Devil Fruit User 'Binz' discovered]
[Confirmed Devil Fruit: 'Paramecia-type, Grow-Grow Fruit'. Analyzing and saving to 'Fruit Encyclopedia']
[Fruit Ability: Can accelerate plant growth and control plants]
[Effects by Level]
[LV1: Gain faint fruit effect, slightly accelerate plant growth speed by 3x]
[LV2: Gain partial fruit effect, greatly accelerate plant growth speed by 10x. Requires 80 Million / 33 Million Berries for Permanent / Temporary Unlock]
[LV3: Gain full fruit effect, can instantly grow plants to maturity and control them. Requires 500 Million / 200 Million Berries for Permanent / Temporary Unlock]
[LV4: Fruit Deep-Dive Development. Can control plants for finer manipulation and transformation. Can create 'Plant Clones.' Can synchronize senses with plants. Requires 1.2 Billion / 400 Million Berries for Permanent / Temporary Unlock]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening · Verdant Life. Gain plant-like vitality. Can reconstruct body through plant growth (limb regeneration). Can absorb surrounding moisture and life force to heal self. Can grow plants far beyond normal size. Requires 7 Billion / 2.3 Billion Berries for Permanent / Temporary Unlock]
[Analysis Progress: 0%. Upon completion, will acquire LV1 of this fruit's ability.]
The information from the Encyclopedia confirmed the man's identity, and also confirmed who Smoker was taking him to see.
"Binz. Why are you alone? Where's Ain? Where's Instructor Zephyr?"
Smoker's words confirmed Roy's thoughts.
Zephyr. Former Marine Admiral. The former Chief Instructor of the Marines.
A comrade-in-arms who enlisted at the same time as Garp, Sengoku, and Tsuru.
Once famous across the seas for his powerful Armament Haki, having defeated countless pirates, he was known as 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
Later, after his wife and son were killed by pirates in retaliation, he became disheartened and resigned as Admiral, turning to train new recruits. He raised countless powerful Marines.
The current Three Admirals—Aokiji, Akainu, Kizaru—were all his prized students.
Incidentally, Smoker was also his student. Roy was not. After boot camp, the elite recruits could receive Zephyr's training, but Roy had already applied for the Detention Unit, missing the chance.
But clearly, Vice Admiral Viroth was giving Roy a chance to make up for that regret.
"Ain is out on a mission. As for Teacher Zephyr, he went to the SSG (Special Science Group). He should be back soon."
The man named Binz answered Smoker, then looked at Roy. "This must be Major Roy?"
"Yes."
Roy recovered from his surprise. "Vice Admiral Viroth found me... Admiral Zephyr as an instructor? But I heard he..."
He didn't finish, but Binz and Smoker understood.
Four years ago, the training ship Zephyr was leading was attacked by a pirate.
Most of the students he had painstakingly raised were killed. Zephyr lost an arm and was severely wounded.
Since then, he had completely withdrawn from the front lines.
"Yes. Since that incident, Teacher hasn't taught new recruits for a long time," Binz said solemnly.
He was one of only two survivors from that ship.
"But he and Vice Admiral Viroth are old friends, so he accepted the special request."
Binz gave a simple explanation. "Follow me."
He turned and walked deeper into the training grounds. Roy and Smoker followed.
Soon, they arrived at a distinctly unique training area.
There was no standard equipment. Instead, it was surrounded by massive iron walls. At the end of the enclosure stood a building marked with a unique 'Z'.
"Teacher Zephyr asked you to wait here. He'll be back shortly."
Binz sat down cross-legged and fell silent.
Roy and Smoker followed suit.
"Don't mind him. Binz is a good guy, he's just... quiet, because of what happened four years ago," Smoker explained, surprisingly.
He was a rebel, but he genuinely respected Zephyr.
"Understood."
Roy didn't mind. In fact, he was quite happy.
"The Grow-Grow Fruit... not a bad ability. Could be amazing in certain terrains."
"It's a pity Ain isn't here... I remember her ability is pretty broken too."
Watching the progress bar on his Encyclopedia tick up, Roy recalled.
Ain, the other survivor of that attack.
Her fruit was the 'Return-Return Fruit', capable of reverting the age of anything she touched. It was one of the few fruits Roy knew of that touched upon the domain of time.
Just as Roy was thinking about how he definitely needed to get his hands on the Return-Return ability later...
"Oh? You're already here!?"
An aged but still booming voice rang through the training ground.
A figure strode in.
His face was rugged, his body tall and muscular. He wore a dark purple sleeveless vest and a Marine coat draped over his shoulders.
Time and battle had left deep scars on him, but they had not diminished the aura of a top-tier powerhouse.
Most striking was his right arm. It was severed at the shoulder, now fitted with some kind of mechanical prosthetics.
It was... 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
"Admiral Zephyr."
Seeing the former Admiral, Roy stood up to salute.
But before he could speak...
"So you're the kid, Roy?"
He saw Zephyr grinning.
"Viroth told me about you. Said you're the most promising young man in the entire Detention Unit... But I don't trust words!"
As he spoke, Roy saw the former Admiral's figure vanish with a swish.
It was Soru—and faster than anything Roy had ever seen!
And then...
"My rule is—let your fists do the talking!"
Roy felt the gale force wind exploding beside his ear.