Inside the Marine Headquarters building, Garp was sprawled in his office chair, leaning so far back that it looked as though he might topple over at any moment. Bubbles slowly formed and burst from his nose. He was clearly fast asleep.
The Marine dispatched by Zephyr knocked on the door repeatedly, yet there was no response.
If not for the unmistakable sound of Garp's snoring leaking through the door, he would have assumed the office was empty.
Left with no choice, the Marine knocked harder.
Finally, Garp stirred. He rubbed his eyes lazily and muttered in a groggy voice,
"Who is it? Come in."
The door opened. The Marine entered, saluted sharply, and reported,
"Vice Admiral Garp, your son is at the recruitment office. Admiral Zephyr has requested your presence."
"Oh, got it…" Garp paused. "What?!"
---
At the recruitment office, Dragon had already narrowed his eyes. The air around him began to churn as a powerful wind gradually gathered, lifting dust and loose papers from the ground.
He stepped forward until he was nearly standing beside Lloyd.
"Lloyd," Dragon said calmly, "would you allow me to experience this power you speak of?"
Lloyd rolled his shoulders once and tilted his neck slightly, his gaze fixed on Dragon. A faint, unreadable smile touched his lips.
"You want to fight me?" he replied. "Very well. I'll treat it as helping Zephyr Sensei assess your strength."
He turned his head toward Zephyr.
"What do you think, Zephyr Sensei?"
Zephyr considered it briefly and then nodded inwardly.
From his perspective, Dragon was far too conceited.
Having one's own justice was fine, but arriving and immediately criticizing another Marine's justice was something else entirely. Everyone present knew that Lloyd had personally fought in brutal battles against Pirates, including the Whitebeard Pirates.
That experience alone placed him far beyond ordinary recruits.
In Zephyr's eyes, Dragon simply was not qualified to lecture Lloyd.
More importantly, this was a chance for Dragon to understand himself, to realize that there were always people stronger than him.
As for Lloyd losing, Zephyr never entertained that thought.
He knew Lloyd's strength better than almost anyone. Lloyd already possessed the combat power to defend an entire G-branch alone.
Still, Dragon was Garp's son.
After a moment, Zephyr made his decision.
"Alright. Aramaki and Kuzan will join as well," he said. "Lloyd, that won't be a problem for you, will it?"
Lloyd smiled lightly.
"Of course not. I'm happy to have a friendly spar with the three juniors," he said. "But are we starting here? They're all Logia users."
Zephyr waved his hand dismissively.
"This place will do. I'm not worried about them," he said. "You're the one who needs to hold back, especially that Shinra Tensei technique of yours."
The recruitment office contained a wide open space, normally used to test new enlistees. Lloyd and the others had skipped that process due to their special status.
Besides, this was not the Navy Academy Zephyr personally oversaw.
Even if the damage became severe, it would fall under Sengoku's jurisdiction. Kong had already begun handing over authority, and Sengoku becoming the next Fleet Admiral was an open secret among high ranking Marines.
Once Zephyr gave the go ahead, Aramaki rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath,
"Where did this hotheaded guy come from? Fighting Senior Lloyd? No way I want to get dragged into this."
He raised his hand, intending to refuse, but Kuzan had already grabbed him and rushed forward.
"Let's go," Kuzan said excitedly. "I never thought I'd get the chance to fight Senior Lloyd!"
Dragon said nothing more. His body dissolved into a violent gust of wind, surging toward the center of the open space at incredible speed.
Lloyd's figure blurred. A dark vortex twisted behind him as he vanished, reappearing at the center just a step ahead of Dragon.
Aramaki, dragged along by Kuzan, wore an expression of pure reluctance.
Before the battle even began, news spread rapidly.
One after another, Marines rushed to the scene. They had all heard that three new Logia users had joined that day.
Still, the true draw was Lloyd.
A seventeen year old Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral with actual authority.
Even for a Logia user, this was absurd.
Many held doubts, believing the newspapers had exaggerated Lloyd's feats to bolster the Navy's image. Aside from Zephyr, Garp, and Tsuru, who had briefly clashed with Lloyd before, few had seen his strength firsthand.
In their minds, Lloyd was still simply the strongest cadet.
The crowd continued to grow.
Before long, the trio of Garp, Sengoku, and Tsuru arrived together.
Zephyr froze for a moment when he saw them and stepped forward.
"Why are all three of you here?"
Garp leaned forward, peering toward Dragon on the field. Before he could speak, Zephyr cut him off.
"You don't need to say it. I know you came to see your son."
Garp fell silent.
Sengoku exchanged a glance with Tsuru before speaking.
"I wanted to see the strength of the Navy's youngest Headquarters Rear Admiral," Sengoku said. "And with three exceptional rookies involved, this is something worth witnessing."
Tsuru nodded in agreement.
Zephyr rubbed his forehead.
"With this many people, it's getting crowded," he said. "And there aren't any seats prepared."
Sengoku smiled and gestured toward the surrounding Marines.
"That's fine. Everyone can stand. There's no need for formality."
As he spoke, another group arrived.
Zephyr looked over and recognized the cadets led by Ginny.
Ginny ran over the moment she spotted him, smiling brightly.
"Zephyr Sensei, everyone wants to watch Lloyd San's fight," she said playfully. "This doesn't count as skipping class, right?"
Zephyr sighed. He had already given up resisting.
"Go ahead," he said, waving his hand. "Just don't make it a habit."
The cadets erupted into cheers and squeezed into the crowd. The generals made room without complaint, especially for the female cadets, allowing them closer to the front.
Ginny cupped her hands and shouted toward the field.
"Lloyd San, you've got this!"
Encouraged, the other girls joined in. Even Lucia, usually aloof, called out her support.
Seeing this, the male cadets were unwilling to be outdone.
Momonga, Huoshaoshan, and the others shouted together,
"Go, Captain! Show these rookies the strength of the Navy Academy!"
---