Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1522.
Marineford — Marine Headquarters.
The sea breeze slowly picked up, waves crashing endlessly against the shore.
For most of the male Marines stationed here, daily entertainment amounted to watching Logan practice his swordsmanship.
Not out of admiration—
but with the same look one might give a fool.
After all, for ten whole years, this idiot had practiced day after day, yet only ever used two moves.
A vertical slash.
A horizontal sweep.
That was it.
Meanwhile, the female Marines' gazes were largely fixed on Logan's handsome face. Whether they were watching his sword practice or shamelessly admiring his body… that was hard to say.
At that moment, Logan advanced step by step, wielding a broad sword forged from Seastone, every movement precise and methodical. His eyes never left the blade.
The boy—just eighteen years old this year—wore a standard white Marine uniform. He was tall and slender, with short silver-white hair that shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight.
His features were so striking they barely seemed real. Especially his eyes—upon closer inspection, a faint golden hue glimmered within them.
That youthful yet handsome face had earned him exceptional popularity among the women of Marineford.
With every step he took, sweat rolled down his forehead, dripping onto the scorching stone tiles and evaporating instantly.
"Sixty thousand and one…
Sixty thousand and two…"
Swinging his sword seventy thousand times a day had long since become an unshakable routine.
Just these two most basic techniques—he had trained them relentlessly for ten years.
Because of that, most people at Marine Headquarters looked at him as if he were mentally deficient.
Logan had never cared.
You laugh at me for being stupid?
I laugh at you because you couldn't survive a single strike from me.
Besides, how could he possibly explain to them that this was all part of daily sign-in training?
He knew very well that with his current strength, cutting down a dozen of them with one swing would be effortless.
As for exactly how strong he was, even Logan didn't have a clear answer—he had almost never fought true powerhouses.
Whenever Logan practiced, there was always a cluster of starry-eyed women nearby.
Among them stood a petite girl wearing red-framed glasses, watching him with concern.
She was small in stature, dressed in the same white Marine uniform. Her delicate features and short black hair made her look especially spirited.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and blocked Logan's path, irritation flashing across her face.
She handed him a bottle of ice-cold water.
"Drink something and rest. If you keep training like this, you'll dehydrate. Are you trying to kill yourself?"
Logan stopped and looked at the girl, about his age, smiling faintly.
"Tashigi, didn't I tell you? You shouldn't drink water immediately after intense exercise. It's bad for your body."
Tashigi snorted. "I don't believe that."
The surrounding male Marines looked on with naked envy—each of them wishing they could snatch the water away and drink it themselves.
Logan sighed helplessly.
How could a two-dimensional character possibly understand modern scientific knowledge from my world?
He certainly couldn't explain that after intense sweating, the body loses large amounts of salt, and drinking excessive water alone would lower blood osmotic pressure, disrupt fluid balance, impair normal physiological functions, and even cause muscle cramps.
If he actually said all that, he'd be labeled insane and locked up on the spot.
That's right—Logan was a transmigrator, a man from the modern world.
Twelve years ago, after arriving in this world, he awakened a Sign-In System and appeared in Foosha Village.
There, he became sworn brothers with Sabo, Ace, and Luffy.
Being the oldest, he naturally became the eldest brother among the four.
Later, the system issued its first task:
Sign in at Marine Headquarters for ten years.
Still a child back then, Logan had begged Monkey D. Garp to bring him to Marineford, making him the first among the four brothers to leave Foosha Village.
Along with that task, the system's beginner gift granted him a Seastone greatsword. As long as he practiced the vertical slash and horizontal sweep daily, his physical strength would continuously improve.
Logan named the sword "Zhenhai"—Sea-Calming.
No one questioned where the Seastone sword came from.
After all, the man who personally brought him to Marine Headquarters was Garp the Hero, the Marine who once cornered the Pirate King himself.
Giving a child a Seastone greatsword?
That sounded perfectly reasonable.
Because of this, even though people mocked Logan for a decade, no one foolish enough dared provoke him.
Today marked his final sign-in day.
Unexpectedly, the system rewarded him with Armament Haki—and Kamehameha.
Armament Haki allowed the body or weapons to harden and turn black, enhancing both offense and defense. Most importantly, it enabled one to strike the true bodies of Devil Fruit users.
As for the second reward—
Kamehameha.
Logan was intimately familiar with it.
A signature technique from the world of Dragon Ball, used by Son Goku himself. It had been Logan's childhood dream to master it.
Now, all he wanted was to find a place to test just how powerful his Kamehameha was.
Once his breathing finally steadied, Logan took a small sip of ice water. A refreshing chill spread through his body.
"I'll probably be leaving Marine Headquarters tomorrow."
"Leaving?" Tashigi asked in confusion. "Are you going out to sea on a mission? Someone like you shouldn't have any assignments soon."
"No," Logan said with a smile. "I'm leaving the Marines."
Tashigi's eyes widened in shock.
"Why? There are pirates everywhere out there! You're still weak—this is the safest place for you."
Logan let out a bitter laugh.
This year was 1522.
If his memory was correct, the Summit War of Marineford would erupt by the end of the year.
And when that happened, Marine Headquarters would become the most dangerous place in the world.
Not long ago, news had spread of Marshall D. Teach—Blackbeard—defecting.
That meant Ace had likely already begun pursuing him.
If nothing changed, Ace would soon be captured by the Marines—his execution used to deter the increasingly restless pirate world.
With his current strength, participating in the Summit War would make him nothing more than cannon fodder.
The best course of action was to stop Ace before he ever chased Teach.
With the sign-in system backing him, Logan was confident that reaching the level of a Yonko wouldn't take long.
His fist clenched unconsciously.
As long as I'm here…
Who dares touch Ace?
Seeing him lost in thought, Tashigi continued persuading him.
"Besides, you're already a Marine. You can't just leave whenever you want."
"When majors or colonels leave, it's called resignation. You're just a regular soldier—if you leave, that's desertion."
Logan didn't care.
He casually hoisted Zhenhai onto his shoulder and resumed swinging the sword, his tone calm and indifferent.
"Then I'll just become a Major first… and resign after that."