"Are there… pirates on this island?!"
The recruits looked toward the island. Hearing the roars of ferocious beasts echoing from time to time, unease appeared on their faces.
The Marine rear admiral sneered and said, "Fight pirates? You're still far too green for that! Fighting pirates is extremely brutal. Compared to that, this place is far more suitable as a site for your live-combat assessment!"
"Your assessment mission is to set foot on this island and hunt all living creatures. There are no restrictions on weapons, but when it comes to firearms, you may carry at most a flintlock."
"For every creature you kill, you will earn points. Stronger creatures are worth more points than weaker ones. You may hunt repeatedly; points stack. Teaming up is permitted, but points earned from kills will be divided equally."
At this point—
The rear admiral's expression suddenly became much more severe, causing the atmosphere to turn eerily quiet.
Although none of the recruits from Marine Headquarters' recruit camp were ordinary people, hearing this still sent a chill down many spines.
Only a handful—such as Drake—remained expressionless.
Roya, however, showed a trace of surprise. "So the live-combat assessment isn't fighting pirates, but hunting vicious beasts?"
Garp should have known this. Roya simply had not asked, and Garp had not told him—whether he forgot or deliberately kept it from him, the latter seemed more likely.
The rear admiral appeared fairly satisfied with the recruits' reactions. After a brief pause, he continued, "This island is covered with surveillance devices—everywhere, including the sky."
"These devices will record and tally every creature you kill. They also have a protection function. If they detect that you've fallen into an irreversible crisis, officers will be dispatched to rescue you—but your score will be reset to zero!"
"However," the rear admiral said solemnly, "this does not guarantee everyone's safety! If you encounter the island's strongest monsters, you could be torn to pieces in an instant!"
"The assessment will last three days. For the next three days—good luck."
After speaking, the rear admiral's expression returned to calm as he began distributing two days' worth of rations to all recruits.
Ordinary Marines would never undergo such an assessment. But for Marine Headquarters' recruits—the future elite—this was a necessary baptism. Without experiencing blood and fire, one could never become a true elite.
Soon, all recruits disembarked onto the island.
Most carried firearms. Only a small number did not—among them Drake and Roya.
Drake carried only a sword and an axe. Roya carried nothing but his katana, Engetsu.
Those without firearms naturally drew attention. When most recruits saw Drake, they showed looks of admiration and respect.
Drake's strength was widely acknowledged. Not carrying firearms was seen as confidence, and indeed, ordinary guns were useless to him.
At that moment, Roya also stepped off the warship.
Many recruits glanced at him casually, then froze in astonishment—Roya also carried no firearm, only a sword!
The same choice, made by different people, was perceived very differently. Drake's was confidence. Roya's… was arrogance.
Did he not know that this live-combat assessment was dangerous—that people could die?!
Many recruits wore strange expressions. Some even looked at Roya as if he were an idiot.
"Hey, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Hina saw this as well and could not help but speak up as she passed Roya. "Hina suggests you bring a gun. This is a live-combat assessment. People will die."
Her sudden warning made Roya look at her more closely. She seemed familiar. Then he recalled—wasn't she Hina, the future Cage-Cage Fruit user?
At least for now, it seemed she had not eaten a Devil Fruit yet.
"Sorry, I don't need that," Roya said casually, shrugging at her.
While many top-tier fighters in this world did use firearms, Roya's chosen path clearly did not involve them. Moreover, given his current strength, ordinary guns truly were of little use to him.
"You—!"
Though Roya was simply stating the truth, to Hina it sounded unbearably foolish. She snorted, said nothing more, and walked into the forest.
Her reaction made Roya roll his eyes in helplessness. He had done nothing but tell the truth.
Shaking his head, Roya also entered the forest.
---
On the warship.
It was an extremely spacious room, filled with projected images and monitors displaying every part of the archipelago—an observation center overseeing the entire assessment.
More than twenty Marine officers were present, watching the feeds. Nearly all the commanding officers were here, tallying scores while standing by to launch rescue operations at any moment.
Former Marine Admiral and chief instructor of the recruit camp, Zephyr, stood with his hands behind his back, scanning the screens. Garp, meanwhile, was munching on rice crackers as he watched.
"That must be your nephew, Roya," Zephyr said, casually pointing at one of the figures on the screen.
"That's right," Garp replied indistinctly through a mouthful of crackers. He seemed indifferent, but in truth, he was paying closer attention than anyone.
"I heard you trained him quite well over the past month," Zephyr said. "But he used to be the worst. Judging from this, entering the elite camp will probably still be very difficult."
Watching Roya move through the forest on-screen, Zephyr shook his head.
One month was far too short in Zephyr's eyes, and Roya's starting point had been far too low. Even with a month of Garp's special training, he likely would not have improved that much.
That said—
Since he was Garp's nephew, if his final results were decent, Zephyr would not mind bringing him into the elite camp for further instruction. After all, he and Garp had decades of friendship.
"Bwahahaha! Zephyr, that kid is far stronger than you think," Garp said loudly after swallowing his cracker.
"Oh? Then I'll be watching with interest," Zephyr replied with a faint smile, offering no argument as he continued to observe the screens.