Progress, Internship

As Doflamingo and Tokikake fought, Zephyr and Sengoku, another Navy Admiral, watched their battle from a tall building in the distance.

"What do you think? They're both doing pretty well, aren't they?" Zephyr, who always wore a stern, even cold expression before the many training camp cadets, now looked at Doflamingo and Tokikake with undisguised satisfaction.

Sengoku, wearing frog-shaped glasses and sporting a beard styled like braids, glanced at the two below. "They're both fine prospects. You've worked hard these past few years. Are you really not planning to return to active duty?"

Zephyr shook his head without answering. Sengoku let out a long sigh.

The tragedy from several years ago had dealt Zephyr far too heavy a blow. Most importantly, the tragic deaths of his wife and child had shaken Zephyr's belief in never killing.

In the Pirate World, Haki was the effect produced by the combination of intangible things such as spirit, will, and bearing with physical strength. It was both material and spiritual.

Therefore, once one's convictions wavered, one's strength would decline drastically.

Zephyr's current strength had fallen by twenty to thirty percent compared to when he had been an Admiral.

That was also part of why he was unwilling to serve as an Admiral again. If he fought again, he might be unable to control himself and break his principle of never killing. If that happened, his strength might suffer an even greater decline.

Rather than that, he might as well remain in the Navy as a Chief Instructor.

Moreover, over these past few years, Zephyr had indeed trained a batch of outstanding talents for the Navy. His contributions were no less than when he had served as an Admiral.

"Fine, I knew it." Sengoku shook his head with a bitter smile. "But put a little more effort into it. I have a feeling the situation on the seas is about to change."

Zephyr folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Because of Gol D. Roger?"

Sengoku nodded. "Though it may be unlucky to say so, I think he's the one most likely to complete the Grand Line."

"Once Roger completes the Grand Line and becomes the Pirate King, the Navy may truly be entering a Great Pirate Era."

"When that happens, the pressure we face may be even greater than it is now."

Zephyr, however, argued, "Sengoku, I don't think you need to worry so much. We all know Roger's character very well."

"He isn't as ambitious as Golden Lion or Kaido. Even if he completes the Grand Line, he probably won't gather more pirate subordinates and challenge the Navy and the World Government."

"Besides, the strongest pirates all have their pride. Figures like Golden Lion and Whitebeard would never be willing to serve under Roger. His title of Pirate King would be little more than an empty name."

Hearing that, Sengoku nodded slightly as well.

Though it was not pleasant to say, Sengoku would rather someone like Roger became the Pirate King. At least Roger was not driven by boundless ambition.

If it were someone as ambitious as Golden Lion or Kaido, then after becoming the Pirate King, the first thing they would likely do would be to use their soaring reputation to recruit vast numbers of pirates and directly wage war against the World Government and the Navy.

And what secrets did Final Island truly hide? Did it contain the legendary Ancient Weapons, or some other power capable of destroying the world? The Navy itself knew nothing.

To put it bluntly, handing a nuclear bomb to an explorer was still better than handing one to a warmonger.

"There's no need to worry so much." Sengoku gently stroked his braid-like beard, then changed the subject. "Garp is keeping an eye on him too. It won't be so easy for Roger to become the Pirate King."

"That old man Garp can still be trusted when it comes to serious business... probably."

"There's no point telling me this." Zephyr's expression remained indifferent. "Why should a retired Admiral think about so much? I should just teach my students properly."

At the Training Grounds, the battle had gradually reached its conclusion. Without relying on Devil Fruit abilities, Doflamingo and Tokikake still had quite a considerable gap between them.

Thus, after holding on for a while, Doflamingo was ultimately knocked off the arena.

After climbing back up from below the arena, Doflamingo's gaze faintly swept over the tall building. His Observation Haki was now extraordinarily advanced—unmatched even within the Navy—and he had vaguely sensed the two powerful life forces up there.

But what does that have to do with me? I should continue my training!

"Big Brother Tokikake, let's have a second round!"

"Give me a break! Why are you so full of energy?"

Tokikake's exasperated voice slowly echoed through the evening breeze.

Time passed quickly in the Elite Training Camp. A year flew by, and before Doflamingo even noticed the change, he had already become a second-year cadet.

If there had to be changes, there certainly were some. Both his strength and height had increased considerably. Now, when he fought Tokikake, they had to battle for several hours before a winner could be decided.

Although he still had no wins and only losses, if his Devil Fruit ability were included, he had already far surpassed Tokikake.

And this Chapon had become his troublesome friend. After all, they were the only two in the entire training camp whose strength was relatively close.

Though Tokikake looked somewhat wretched and comical, he was actually free-spirited, straightforward, and fond of liveliness. It was simply that his usual wretched, comical expression and appearance concealed his true nature.

Ordinary cadets held Tokikake in some awe because of his strength, but Doflamingo, who had trained with him for so long, naturally knew what kind of guy he really was.

What was particularly rare was that Tokikake was one of the few people in the Navy whose values aligned very closely with those of a modern person.

He hated pirates who committed evil, but was not overly harsh toward ordinary pirates who merely went out seeking adventure. He was also deeply dissatisfied with the World Government's various idiotic policies, while feeling sympathy for suffering civilians.

Doflamingo truly wanted to recruit him into the Anti-Celestial Dragon Front. Of course, it was still too early to mention such a thing. For now, it was merely an idea.

After all, they were only students of the Navy Training Camp right now and held no real status within the Navy.

The Navy Training Camp provided two years of training in total. The first year consisted of all kinds of basic training—put simply, it was meant to lay a foundation for everyone.

Starting in the second year, they began combat exercises, meaning they would search for pirates and engage in real combat.

Their performance in actual combat would also determine the rank they received after graduation, so all the cadets took it very seriously.

Ordinary cadets would often gather in groups and form a team to hunt pirates. While this ensured safety, the merits earned had to be shared among many people, making it difficult to achieve outstanding results.

Doflamingo and Tokikake naturally chose to lead teams independently. Both were brimming with confidence. Unless they had terrible luck and ran headfirst into some famous Great Pirate, neither of them had much to fear.