This Is One Test I, Feng Lei, Accept!!

Inside the Fleet Admiral's Office.

Sengoku was holding a report on Feng Lei.

Sixteen years old!

He had mastered the Six Powers, defeated Don Krieg, and wiped out more than a dozen pirate crews single-handedly.

Based on that information alone, Sengoku could judge him to be a Marine of decent strength.

But for a [Special Recruit], that level of strength was far from enough.

After all, the Marine Academy had been founded to train the Marines' top combat forces.

Feng Lei would never be able to win everyone's acceptance.

So.

After learning that Garp had returned, Sengoku decided to meet Feng Lei and judge for himself before considering whether to grant him the status of [Special Recruit].

Otherwise, if Feng Lei wasn't strong enough to pass the assessment, it would not only tarnish the name of [Special Recruit] but also have a negative impact on both Feng Lei and Garp.

"Ahahaha! Sengoku!"

Bang!

As a rough voice rang out, Garp kicked the office door open.

"Garp!!"

"How many times have I told you not to kick the door when you come in? That's the eighteenth door already!"

Looking at the shattered door, Sengoku felt a headache coming on.

"Hahahaha!"

"Sengoku, don't worry about the details. Didn't you want to meet my disciple? Here, I've brought him!"

Garp, however, didn't care in the slightest.

Sengoku gritted his teeth but had no choice but to stop pursuing the matter. His gaze fell on Feng Lei beside Garp.

In just one second.

Sengoku's expression turned cold, and he couldn't help frowning.

Through his Observation Haki, he found that Feng Lei wasn't very strong.

"Feng Lei, was it?"

"Although Garp recommended you as a [Special Recruit] at the Marine Academy, I don't believe you meet the standard, so..."

"You'll start as an ordinary student. Once you're strong enough, I'll give you a place as a [Special Recruit]!"

After pondering for a moment, Sengoku voiced his decision.

However.

Garp's eyes widened, and he roared in considerable displeasure.

"Sengoku, you promised me! And now you're going back on your word?"

Sengoku frowned. "Garp! I'm doing this for your sake!"

"He's your disciple. If he fails the assessment, what will everyone else think? They'll only think you're playing favorites, undermining fairness at the Marine Academy!"

"I don't care what they say!"

Garp snorted.

"But I have to ensure fairness!" Sengoku refused to give an inch.

"Sengoku..."

Just as Garp was about to continue arguing his case, Feng Lei, who had remained silent, spoke up.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, wasn't there supposed to be an assessment? It hasn't happened yet, so what makes you so sure I don't meet the standard for a [Special Recruit]?"

Garp immediately chimed in. "Feng Lei's right, Sengoku. You're looking down on him too much!"

Hearing that.

Sengoku felt a headache coming on.

Why were this master and disciple both so stubborn?

He wasn't looking down on anyone; he was thinking of the two of them!

After Garp recommended Feng Lei as a [Special Recruit], the people at the Marine Academy had tailored an assessment for him. Sengoku had seen it, and it was extraordinarily difficult!

That was what worried him.

"Garp, calm down!"

As he spoke, Sengoku took a document from his drawer and tossed it in front of Garp.

"The Marine Academy has tailored an assessment for him. He has to capture a pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million!"

Capture a pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million?

Garp was slightly taken aback.

Perhaps pirates with bounties of over a hundred million were no more than ants to them.

Although Garp knew Feng Lei was strong now, he was bound to face grave danger against a great pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million.

Even Garp couldn't guarantee that nothing would go wrong.

"Isn't that assessment a little too harsh?" Garp frowned.

"Isn't it because you were the one who recommended him?!"

Sengoku pressed a hand to his forehead.

No one in the Marines could match Garp's prestige!

Thus, in the eyes of the people at the Marine Academy, anyone Garp had taken a liking to and recommended as a [Special Recruit] had to be extraordinary.

Naturally, they had unconsciously raised the assessment standard considerably when tailoring it.

Quite a few people now wanted to see how Garp's disciple would perform!

As the saying went, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

If he failed the assessment, there would surely be a storm of public opinion!

And that.

Was what gave Sengoku a headache.

If he sent the assessment standard back, it would damage Garp's prestige, as people would think Garp had exerted pressure to lower the standard and let his own recommendation pass.

The best choice was for Feng Lei to give up the status of [Special Recruit] himself.

Garp hadn't expected that recommending Feng Lei would instead create such a huge obstacle for him.

Just as he was about to speak and persuade him.

Feng Lei spoke first. "Teacher Garp, I accept this assessment!"

He could open Five Gates of the Eight Gates and use them alongside Earth Release: Earth Spear and the Sharingan. A mere pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million was well within his ability to handle.

Hearing that.

Sengoku frowned. "Have you thought this through? You have to complete the assessment alone, with no one to help you! Those pirates are nothing like Don Krieg."

"When does it start?"

Feng Lei asked directly.

Seeing Feng Lei's determination, Sengoku couldn't very well try to dissuade him.

"Since you're confident, I won't try to talk you out of it. Victoria!"

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

Victoria adjusted her glasses and walked in.

"Take him to the Marine Academy and arrange his [Special Recruit] information. The assessment will take place in three days!" Sengoku ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

Victoria nodded and said to Feng Lei, "Please follow me!"

Feng Lei nodded slightly, turned, and followed Victoria out.

Inside the office.

Only the two men remained.

Sengoku glanced at Garp. "Satisfied now?"

Garp wanted to say something, but in the end he sighed.

This assessment was dangerous, but since Feng Lei had made his decision, all Garp had to do as his teacher was support him.

Even if he failed the assessment, it wouldn't matter.

He believed that Feng Lei would become a Marine Admiral one day, sooner or later.

As for damage to his own reputation?

That was nothing.

The Marine Academy.

As a place dedicated to cultivating combat talent for the Marines, it selected people with outstanding potential and formidable strength from Marine Bases around the world every year and brought them here for training.

Thus.

Everyone who came here possessed both talent and strength!

On an ordinary day, these people would have long since thrown themselves into training. Today, however, they had gathered at the academy's registration office.

There was only one reason.

Garp the Hero had recommended a [Special Recruit], and today was the day that [Special Recruit] would arrive at Marine Headquarters.

"A Special Recruit! There hasn't been one in twenty years, has there?"

"It's been twenty-one years since the Three Admirals: Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu. I wonder what kind of monster caught Vice Admiral Garp's eye and earned his recommendation!"

"I heard he's Garp's disciple, from East Blue. He was originally with the 153rd Branch!"

"East Blue? That place can actually produce talent?"

"Did you forget that Smoker is from East Blue too? He learned Armament Haki in just one month, and he's a Logia Devil Fruit User!"

"I wonder how strong this [Special Recruit] is. I'll have to get a good look when the time comes!"

The Marine elites talked among themselves.

Just then.

Someone cried out.

"They're here! The Fleet Admiral's secretary Victoria has brought the [Special Recruit]!"