The Strongest Fleet Admiral in History
As it turned out, Vidal had made the right decision in asking Bullet to help.
Once Bullet understood the principles of Three-Three System Tactics and experienced them firsthand, he voluntarily withdrew from the fight and had Vidal create thirty Wood Clones.
Bullet divided the thirty Wood Clones into two groups.
One group consisted of clones of varying builds carrying a hodgepodge of weapons, including several special clones with formidable strength, to serve as pirates.
The other group all carried long sabers, stood around 1.78 meters tall, and had relatively average strength and speed, serving as standard Marines.
The first group would use its superior strength to besiege the second, while the second relied on Three-Three System Tactics to hold its own and even find a way to win.
Vidal was responsible for controlling the clones, while Bullet drew on his many years of battlefield experience to continually address the problems the Marine group encountered in the extremely chaotic simulated battle.
They needed to develop several fixed routines for dealing with common situations and for regular practice.
Many people thought routines were completely useless in a real fight, but without mastering them first, there could be no question of adapting on the fly.
To defeat techniques without using techniques, one first had to master them, not simply rely on instinct and act at random!
Once the Marines could use these routines skillfully on the battlefield, they would naturally be able to adapt to changes at any moment through their mutual understanding.
Moreover, since every Marine would have mastered Three-Three System Tactics, even if someone met with an accident or was killed in battle, they could form new combat teams on the spot and cooperate and cover one another without a hitch.
That was the essence of these tactics!
A single day was certainly not enough to develop them in great detail or perfect them, but through the father and son's combined efforts, they had established a general framework.
From there, all they had to do was continue refining it through practice, though that process would take more than a month or two.
It would not be finished in a year or two, either. It would take decades, even a century, with more talented people joining in.
Before that, however, they needed to test it at Navarone Fortress. Once the first batch of Marines had mastered it, they would still need to go out and test it in actual combat.
If the results were good, they would use that first batch as a foundation, having them serve as team leaders and teach more Marines.
But Vidal would be leaving for the Zephyr Training Camp in just a few months, so he certainly would not be there to see the first batch of Marines complete their training.
It was a little early to worry about that, though. After discussing it with Bullet, he decided to train one squad first and see how it went.
A squad here was slightly larger than a platoon in his previous life's military, with around forty or fifty people divided into three sections.
A section was equivalent to a squad, with around ten people.
On the third day, after speaking with his father, Cornell, he selected forty-five men to form a new squad, with Lieutenant Vincent, who had volunteered, as its leader.
Vidal was naturally the instructor, with Bullet as his assistant. Vidal mainly taught Konoha Style Body Technique, while Bullet focused on explaining and practicing Three-Three System Tactics.
That day, with all preparations complete, the unit known as the Konoha Squad officially assembled in a training hall cleared out especially for them.
Vice Admiral Cornell and five officers in Justice Coats also watched from the side.
But with so many eyes on him, Vidal showed no sign of nervousness and greeted them with his usual gentle smile.
"I don't think I need to explain why you're standing here now. After all, you were the ones who proposed this."
No one answered, but the forty-five outstanding Marines, led by Vincent, all watched him with burning gazes.
"When Vice Admiral Cornell first spoke to me about this, I was a little reluctant."
"It wasn't because I thought I wasn't strong enough to teach you. It was just that, first, I had no experience in this area, so it was bound to be troublesome, and second, I'd be leaving soon."
"But in the end, I still came to stand before you, because my dream is to become Fleet Admiral and surpass every one of my predecessors!"
"That doesn't just mean surpassing them in personal strength!"
"As Marines under the strongest Fleet Admiral, you must naturally be the strongest Marines in history too!"
This was the first time Vidal had publicly announced his ambition and goal. Although his tone and voice were not particularly flamboyant, everyone could feel the determination and passion in his words.
Vice Admiral Cornell, his father, was particularly shaken. He knew his son was far more capable than he was, but he had never expected him to set his sights on the position of Fleet Admiral!
Not Admiral!
But the higher position of Fleet Admiral, and one who would surpass every previous Fleet Admiral, naturally including the current Fleet Admiral, Kong!
Vice Admiral Cornell grew a little nervous, wondering how Kong would react if he heard what Vidal had said.
Vidal paid no attention to the shocked gazes fixed on him and continued, "So I'm willing to teach you what I've learned and run toward that goal with you."
"I only hope no one falls behind along the way. If you fall, do your best to get back up. If you see someone fall, go over, help them up, and move forward side by side."
Vidal glanced over the outstanding soldiers standing straight and looking at him, then continued.
"Behind the Marines lie order and peace. Before the Marines lie chaos and war! Our duty is to use the swords and guns in our hands to maintain stability and harmony on these seas!"
"So to me, everyone fulfilling their responsibilities and performing their duties is justice!"
He had nearly said something about protecting the people, but fortunately he swallowed the words in time. It was not yet appropriate for such terms to appear.
But there was nothing wrong with order, peace, stability, and harmony. He believed certain people above would find nothing wrong with them either.
What was more, he was certain that his justice of everyone fulfilling their responsibilities and performing their duties would be very much to those people's liking. That was exactly what he wanted!
"But justice isn't carried out with words. Those evil pirates won't lay down their weapons and obediently surrender just because of what we say."
"Justice needs strength, strength greater than, even far greater than evil. But unfortunately, I can only teach you for less than two months."
"In those two months, you must master what Bullet and I teach you. After that, you'll have to train yourselves and be responsible for teaching your other comrades!"
"Just as I said before, I'll lead you to become stronger, and you must lead others to become stronger too. Understood?"
This time, the forty-five Marines shouted "Understood" in unison, their voices ringing through the somewhat empty hall.
"Good. Next, I'll demonstrate the entire Konoha Style three times, so you can get a general idea of the body techniques you'll be learning."
"Now, everyone, form a circle around the edge of the floor!"
[Swish—]
The squad members, led by Lieutenant Vincent, quickly spread out, displaying outstanding discipline as soldiers. Vidal, Vice Admiral Cornell, and the other officers were very pleased.
Once everyone was in position, Vidal vanished from where he stood and appeared in the center of the floor. The next moment, he became a green whirlwind!
A torrent of kicks filled the air like a driving rain, blossoming before everyone's eyes like fireworks.
The Konoha Style's Adamantine Whirlwind made its official debut in the world of pirates!
My god, the rankings are climbing so fast! We're already tenth overall on the new-book rankings for public authors and fourth in the light novel category!
You've really made this Ryokugyu use a savage charge, knocking the other novels released around the same time head over heels!
All I can do now is pray that this momentum lasts as long as possible, preferably until we reach the new-book rankings for contracted authors. That's the most important stage for a new author!
Also, about scheduled releases, it seems the problem isn't with the website. The time displayed on my end is wrong. I'll get some sleep tonight and check the actual release time when I wake up tomorrow.
Oh, right, does anyone have a book list? Could you add this to it and recommend it? Please, please. Make the recommendation sound good, too. I might be getting too greedy, hehe.