Roya's all-out punch produced a sonic boom in the air. At the instant it struck the instrument, the data on it spiked violently. Sparks flashed continuously, and then, with a loud boom, the device exploded into pieces.
The stench of scorching drifted across the plaza.
"Pfft!!"
Vice Admiral Yamakaji, who had been speaking with another Marine Headquarters advisor, saw this scene and immediately spat out the half cigar in his mouth.
The other Marine Headquarters advisor beside him fell completely silent, eyes widening as he stared at the scene, nearly dislocating his jaw.
Smoker and the others watched, the muscles on their faces twitching uncontrollably.
Tsk!
Roya himself had not expected the thing to be so useless. Originally, he had thought that if it couldn't be measured, then so be it—he would just throw a full-power punch and be done. Instead, he had blown it up with a single strike.
Shoddy construction.
This really isn't my fault. Roya shook his head inwardly, withdrew his fist, scratched his hair, and asked the Marine Headquarters advisor standing beside him in a daze:
"So… how is this supposed to be calculated?"
Marine Advisor: "…"
Vice Admiral Yamakaji: "…"
Smoker and the others: "…"
---
"The previous test assessed instantaneous explosive power. Next, we will test sustained attack power."
In another area of the plaza, Vice Admiral Yamakaji stood beside several massive black stones and addressed Roya and the others.
This time, Yamakaji did not dare let an advisor handle the instructions. He personally took charge, and only one advisor remained beside him.
As for the other advisor, Carl… he probably would not be coming back today.
"These stones are not seastone, but they are still an extremely hard type of rock. You must completely destroy one within one minute. If it is not destroyed within one minute, you will be deemed unqualified."
"The results of this test will be determined by the speed of destruction. Weapons may be used."
At this point, Yamakaji could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth as he glanced at Roya.
If only this test had been conducted first. Who could have imagined that a mere recruit would be monstrous enough to use Armament Haki? Even for a recruit from the elite camp, this was far too exaggerated.
Instructor Zephyr had truly produced yet another incredible student.
"Then the second test begins now. The first candidate—"
Under Yamakaji's supervision, Shu and the others from the elite camp stepped forward one by one to undergo the second physical test.
Although the hardness of the black stones was inferior to seastone and also inferior to the stone used to construct the Marine Headquarters fortress, they were still extremely sturdy. Each block measured a full cubic meter.
Such a large and extremely hard stone—even though the standard for complete destruction did not require pulverizing it into powder, merely ensuring that no fragments above a certain size remained—was still very difficult to deal with.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Shu and the others stepped forward, and this time everyone used weapons.
Even those who usually relied on their fists picked up heavy blunt weapons. They were not Roya, who could use Armament Haki. Facing stone with hardness just below steel, no one would smash it barehanded.
The booming sounds of impacts echoed continuously, accompanied by the clatter of flying stone fragments. From afar, some Marine officers and soldiers who did not know what was going on even thought a demolition project was underway.
The elite camp recruits carried out the test one after another.
This was Marine Headquarters. They were the monsters of the Marine Headquarters' recruit camps—the elite camp members. Although there was a huge gap when compared to Roya, compared to recruits from the ordinary camps, the situation was completely reversed.
In this test, most people completed the destruction within thirty seconds. Even the slower ones finished within forty seconds. Everyone passed.
"Roya, it's your turn."
By now, Yamakaji had fully "recognized" Roya. After recording Smoker's data, he turned and spoke to Roya.
"Alright."
Roya stepped forward, calmly drawing Engetsu.
Chi! Chi! Chi!!
Smoker and the others only saw a wisp of crimson afterimage, accompanied by silvery-white lines. In the blink of an eye, it flashed an unknown number of times. Almost instantly, Roya had already sheathed his sword.
"Proceed to the next test."
After sheathing Engetsu, Roya turned directly and walked toward the third testing area.
Vice Admiral Yamakaji took a deep look at the black stone in the field, which seemed unchanged at first glance, then nodded and said to Smoker and the others:
"Let's go."
The Marine advisor beside Yamakaji wore a look of uncertainty and suspicion. Unable to resist, he reached out and lightly touched the black stone.
Crash—!
In an instant, the cubic-meter stone collapsed into countless neatly cut stone blocks. Every single piece met the standard for complete destruction.
Shu watched this scene and could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
"I think we should've waited a day before applying for the graduation assessment."
Another person beside him smiled bitterly and said, "Yeah… this is just too demoralizing."
For this kind of black stone, they had to smash it like driving piles, striking it desperately who knew how many times just to break it. Even after breaking it, they still had to keep smashing fragments that didn't meet the standard until everything was reduced to sufficiently small pieces.
But Roya had practically just waved his hand, and it was completely reduced to rubble.
Although none of them had any intention of competing with Roya directly, this kind of disparity was still far too discouraging, making them want to question their own existence.
---
The physical assessment consisted of a total of eight items.
These covered strength, speed, instantaneous explosive power, sustained attack power, endurance, and more. The endurance test in particular consumed a great deal of time. Including Roya, a total of nine people from the elite camp participated in this graduation assessment. It took an entire day to finally complete all the tests.
The results showed that all nine passed. Four received a "Good" rating, and three received an "Excellent" rating.
As for Roya's results… almost every metric was at the extreme limit!
Such results had appeared before in history—for example, with the three Admirals: Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu.
As long as even one metric was not at the extreme limit or full marks, the evaluation would be "Excellent." However, if all metrics reached the extreme limit or full marks, the evaluation would no longer be "Excellent," but rather—
"Perfect."
"A perfect evaluation… it's been a long time since I've seen one."
Vice Admiral Yamakaji looked at the results and evaluations in his hands, a trace of emotion appearing on his face. He could not help but take another deep look at Roya.
"With talent and strength of this level, I wonder if he can also obtain a perfect evaluation in the second stage of the assessment?"
This thought flashed through Yamakaji's mind, but he then shook his head slightly.
Too difficult!
The first stage of the assessment had a highest-tier perfect evaluation, and naturally, the second stage did as well.
However, the second stage involved going out to sea with the Marine forces to hunt pirates with bounties exceeding one hundred million, engaging in a full-scale battle against an entire pirate crew. The difficulty of achieving a perfect evaluation was far beyond what could be compared with the first stage's simple physical tests.
Historically, only three people had ever received a perfect evaluation in the second stage of the elite camp's graduation assessment.
Aokiji, Kizaru, Akainu.
Thinking of the three current Marine Admirals, Yamakaji let out a bitter smile, shook his head, and stopped dwelling on it. Holding the graduation assessment results, he turned and left together with the Marine advisor.
Seeing the assessment conclude, Smoker and the others also dispersed, each returning to their quarters to prepare for the upcoming second stage of the graduation assessment.