Special Treatment

Bright morning light streamed down, and warmth rose into the air.

Longinus ate his noodles at an unhurried pace.

The bowl before T Bone was already empty, yet his stool seemed covered in thorns. He fidgeted restlessly, his gaze often straying toward the distant military camp.

Longinus said with a chuckle, "Don't rush. There's still plenty of time."

T Bone awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and said with an embarrassed smile, "N... no, it's not that. I... I'm a little nervous."

Longinus shook his head. Based on what he had learned over the past two days, T Bone's strength definitely placed him among the top ten of the new recruits enlisting at the G2 Branch this time.

Although this round of the World Military Draft would not involve any rankings, the Navy would have to be out of its mind to turn away a high-quality recruit like T Bone.

"All right, I'm done eating. Let's get going." Longinus elegantly finished his last bite and spoke in an orderly manner.

"Ha... haha!" T Bone gave two foolish chuckles. His ugly face only appeared even more ferocious, frightening many of the customers in the shop into trembling.

When Longinus and T Bone walked toward him, the owner, who was making noodles, was so frightened that his legs nearly gave out.

Although many customers had fled because of that hideously ugly giant, the owner held no resentment whatsoever. Fear had completely taken over his mind.

"B-b-b-b-b... big brother, this is this morning's takings. If you want more, I can only go home and get it..." The owner, who looked to be in his forties, nearly fell to his knees before the "fierce-looking" T Bone and hurriedly took every bit of money from the drawer.

Longinus was speechless. T Bone's appearance really did have tremendous intimidating power.

"Boss, don't misunderstand. We..."

"Eh, wait. Aren't you that... that hero who rescued the little girl?" The owner shifted his gaze to Longinus and finally seemed to awaken from a dream. He cried out, "I remember now! Then is this... the other hero from that day?"

Although T Bone had been the first to step forward at the time, he now had to rely on Longinus for people to recognize him.

For one thing, Longinus's impassioned words had left a deeper impression, while T Bone's silent resistance did not fit people's expectations of a hero.

For another, T Bone's terrifying, evil-spirit-like face gave people the first impression of a villain guilty of every crime under the sun. Longinus's clean, sunny, refreshing features, on the other hand, better matched people's definition of a hero.

However, T Bone had no complaints about this. Instead, he felt grateful to Longinus. Thanks to Longinus's recognizable face, this was the first time he had been recognized by others after the incident. He said excitedly, "Mm-hmm! It's me, it's me! I'm not a bad person!"

"Listen to you! How could a hero praised by the Rear Admiral be a bad person?" The owner waved his hands without the slightest embarrassment. "But I really can't accept this money either. My conscience wouldn't allow me to take money from heroes like you."

After a great deal of persuasion, the two finally threw down some bills and escaped. On the way to the military camp, T Bone wore such a foolish grin that he seemed absent-minded, frightening the pedestrians around them into scattering in all directions.

When they arrived, the two only then realized the situation.

The gentle sunlight had barely begun to shine down, yet five long lines had already formed inside the military camp. The number of people was still increasing at a visible rate, so the two quickly seized the opportunity and joined one of the lines.

Almost instantly, the number of people preparing to join that line fell by more than half. Even those who had wanted to take advantage of its shorter length kept far away from T Bone, as if the line had been severed a great distance around him.

The immediate effect made Longinus wonder whether T Bone had eaten the Ugly-Ugly Fruit or the Stinky-Stinky Fruit.

The enlistment process was very simple. They only needed to test whether their bodies had any disabilities and whether their physical fitness met the requirements. After all, most Navy soldiers fought with rifles, but they still needed the basic ability to conduct long-distance marches under heavy loads.

Yet even such a simple test still left many people unable to qualify. In this chaotic and twisted Pirate World, many people among the lower classes could not even eat their fill and had long suffered from malnutrition. Naturally, they could not meet the "normal" standard for adults.

Because the process was simple and did not take long, Longinus soon reached the front of the line.

Without even raising his head, the registrar said mechanically, "Name, age, and place of origin. Then take the registration form to the rear plaza for the physical fitness test."

"Longinus, twelve years old, Falling Leaf Town on the Grand Line." Longinus did not take it to heart. It was difficult for anyone to maintain enthusiasm while doing such monotonous, tedious work.

"Take this..."

The registrar's left hand, which was handing over the registration form, froze in midair. Then he suddenly raised his head and asked, "Are you Longinus? The Longinus who defeated Giant Rhinoceros Alex?"

"...It's me!"

"It really is you! That's wonderful. Colonel Adkin instructed us long ago that we had to wait for you. Come with me right away." The registrar grabbed Longinus's hand with delight and led him toward the rear. The other new recruits stared in bewilderment. Wasn't this preferential treatment a little too extreme?

Some recruits who did not understand what was happening had already begun making a scene. Could it be that even the Navy, which represented absolute justice in their hearts, could not avoid bowing its head to the wealthy and the Big Shots?

"Stop making a fuss! Quiet!" A Navy captain wearing a Coat of Justice stepped forward and shouted to silence them.

After the boiling plaza quieted slightly, the Navy captain continued, "Put away those ridiculous thoughts of yours. If you also want to receive the respect Longinus has earned, then improve your strength and go kill pirates. At the end of the day, the Navy is a place that values merit and strength."

In truth, most of those causing a commotion were newcomers who had arrived over the past two days. Anyone who knew about the incident from two days ago felt more envy than jealousy toward the treatment Longinus received.

After all, anyone with even a little sense could tell that a monster like that existed in a completely different world from them.

However, there were also people with darker minds. Forcibly suppressing their disgust, one of them walked up to T Bone to "stand up for him." "Hey, big guy, don't you feel wronged? You were obviously the first one to step forward, but now everyone only knows about that affected little brat, and not... Ah! Ugly monster, what are you trying to do to me?"

The man who had intended to sow discord between the two was seized by the enraged T Bone and lifted into the air. T Bone warned him, "You can say whatever you want about me, but watch your mouth when you talk about my brother Longinus!"

T Bone looked simpleminded, but as someone who had always been ostracized, he had a clear sense of right and wrong. He naturally had no favorable impression of someone who claimed to be defending him while making no effort to conceal the disgust in his eyes.

"I... I understand! Put me down, quick! Help... somebody help me!" The troublemaker was fairly strong, but he was still far too weak to face T Bone, who ranked among the top of all the new recruits. After being squeezed into the air without any ability to resist, yellowish fluid began dripping down continuously.

The Navy personnel had initially been frowning, but after hearing T Bone's angry rebuke and seeing the troublemaker's miserable state, they remained silent and did not interfere. As true soldiers, they admired Longinus and naturally stood on T Bone's side.

"Get lost!" T Bone knew what kind of place this was. He restrained his anger, swung the terrified man around, and hurled him several hundred meters away.

Ah!

After hearing that shrill, anguished scream, even the Navy personnel felt their brows twitch violently. Who would have thought that this fellow, who only dared to crouch with his head covered, possessed such strength?