Two days later, inside the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters.
"The pursuit failed, and one Headquarters warship was destroyed. All thirty-two officers and soldiers on board died in the line of duty."
"Gion, do you have any explanation for this mistake?"
The man sitting behind the massive desk was the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Steel Bone Kong.
His muscles, as if forged from steel, stretched tightly against his Admiral's uniform.
His voice rang out like a great bell, filled with absolute authority.
"I have no explanation," Gion answered calmly, standing perfectly straight.
"The deaths of our comrades are entirely my responsibility. This happened because I failed in the pursuit."
"Hmph." Kong let out a cold grunt. A crushing pressure instantly filled the entire office.
"Your responsibility? Thirty-two lives and a warship, and all I get is a casual 'responsibility'?"
He pulled a new appointment file from his drawer and threw it onto the desk.
"Starting today, you are temporarily removed from all field missions. You are reassigned to the Elite Training Camp as a specially appointed swordsmanship instructor."
"When you learn to put away that self-righteous pride of yours, you can return to sea!"
"Yes, Fleet Admiral." Gion saluted without arguing.
However, as she turned to leave the office, that cold sword aura from the island instinctively surfaced in her mind again.
The two-week wilderness survival training officially came to an end.
After Aiden dealt with the remnants of the Skull Crusher Pirates, the next two days passed peacefully. No other incidents occurred.
When the instructors' transport ship arrived as scheduled, all the recruits looked... full of energy. To be more precise, they looked radiant.
After returning to Marineford, all the recruits gathered once more at the central training ground.
Zephyr stood on the high platform. His eyes were sharp as lightning as he slowly swept his gaze across every recruit.
He had expected to see a group of survivors who looked worn out and battered, but with determined eyes.
Instead, he saw a group of recruits with healthy, glowing complexions and high spirits. In fact... they had all put on a little weight.
Zephyr struggled to keep a serious expression on his face.
He paused, then followed the usual procedure and spoke in his booming voice:
"Very good. It seems that during these two weeks, you all... ate quite well."
He had originally wanted to say "suffered quite a lot," but looking at those glowing faces, he simply couldn't bring himself to say it.
The scene became awkward for a moment.
The recruits below all wore embarrassed expressions.
Many of them instinctively touched their slightly rounded bellies. Their eyes quietly drifted toward the calm figure at the back of the line.
This was supposed to be "wilderness survival," but it was hard to suffer when someone literally brought a kitchen with him.
They had different meals every day, and sometimes there was even dessert.
Life on the island had been better than life at Marineford. It would have been strange if they hadn't gained weight.
"Ahem!" Zephyr coughed again and forcibly changed the subject. His serious expression returned.
"However, your performance this time was very good. Everyone came back alive, and there were no casualties. This is a first in the history of our Elite Training Camp!"
Zephyr didn't say a word about the patrol warship on the outer edge of the island, or the Marines who died protecting them.
On this ocean, sacrifice was nothing unusual.
Looking at the recruits, who were a little heavier but clearly more steady in spirit, Zephyr finally nodded.
"You are, barely, a group of Marines worth looking at."
He paused, and his voice suddenly grew much louder and more forceful.
"Since you have learned how to survive, starting today, you will begin learning how to fight!"
"The upcoming courses: Marine Rokushiki, marksmanship, and practical swordsmanship!"
"Your detailed schedule has already been posted on the bulletin board in the dormitory area! Tomorrow morning at six, your new hell begins on time!"
"Now, dismissed!"
The morning after the survival training ended, the Elite Training Camp returned to its usual routine.
Inside a massive indoor training hall, hundreds of recruits sat cross-legged on the cold floor. The place was silent.
After two weeks in the wilderness, they were actually looking forward to these group lessons.
Fitness instructor Shuzo walked to the front of the formation.
His loud, powerful voice echoed through the empty hall.
"Listen up! Starting today, you will begin to touch the realm of true 'superhumans', the Marine Rokushiki!"
"Your first lesson will be the one that tests your willpower and body control the most, Tekkai!"
Shuzo didn't waste time explaining mysterious theories.
Instead, he explained the core of the technique in the most direct way possible.
"Listen carefully! The principle of Tekkai is to instantly accelerate the blood flow throughout your entire body."
"You pour your will into it and use every muscle fiber to perform a synchronized compression and hardening beyond your normal limits!"
"This gives you iron-like defensive power on a purely physical level!"
He took a deep breath and suddenly dropped into a horse stance. Every muscle in his body tightened instantly.
"Tekkai!"
With a loud shout, the skin on his bare upper body instantly took on a dark metallic sheen.
Another instructor standing nearby raised a heavy wooden sword.
With all his strength, he brought it crashing down onto Shuzo's arm.
CRACK!
The wooden sword snapped on the spot, sending splinters flying everywhere.
And yet, there wasn't even a white mark left on Shuzo's arm.
This incredible sight made all the recruits gasp. Their eyes immediately filled with excitement.
"I see," Aiden thought as he sat at the back of the line.
"I remember the manga from my previous life mentioning this. The core of Tekkai is a form of extreme physical 'Armament.' It's basically a weaker, entry-level version of Armament Haki."
"For someone like me, who has already mastered [Top-tier] Armament Haki..."
With a thought, he looked at his system interface.
The moment the instructor finished explaining the theory, he saw a new icon appear in his [Skills] list: Tekkai (Beginner).
In the next second, something happened that surprised even him.
The skill level of [Tekkai] began rising at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Tekkai (Beginner) → Tekkai (Intermediate) → Tekkai (Advanced)
In a single instant, the skill level stopped at [Advanced].
Aiden immediately understood why.
"The Marine Rokushiki are basically just basic physical techniques pushed to their limits, then packaged with special tricks to make them easier to teach and standardize."
"For someone who has already mastered the superior version, Armament Haki, low-level skills like this don't even need points invested in them. They hit the cap instantly."
Thinking of that, Aiden wanted to see how many Crime Points it would cost to break through to [Top-tier].
A second later, he received a system notification:
Individual Rokushiki skills have a maximum cap of [Advanced].
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