Kuzan: If his condition flares up, won't it turn into school violence!?

On the Marine side, since Ortolan hadn't been formally enlisted yet, they hadn't assigned him any quarters for the time being. Fortunately, Garp was there to guide him, so he could just stay in Garp's courtyard-level residence—the one reserved for a Marine Hero Vice Admiral. It was empty anyway, and even Garp himself, who'd always slept in his office, had moved back in for the first time because of this.

After learning this news, Momonga was so jealous his teeth itched!

"Damn Logia users!" Momonga grumbled in envy.

Ortolan's understanding of the Marines was pretty shallow to begin with, mostly based on his original impressions. He didn't know all the ins and outs, so when he ran into Momonga and Hoshigaki, he was happy to build a connection and get along.

And facing a monster like Ortolan, who'd been specially recruited, Momonga and Hoshigaki also wanted to build a good relationship. After all, barring any surprises, Ortolan was bound to end up at a higher level than them in the future!

One side willing, the other eager—after just one morning of training, their relationship had already fast-forwarded to a pretty close stage, at least on the surface.

Through that morning's interactions, Momonga and Hoshigaki also learned that this guy Ortolan was a so-called invincible Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi user!

If the special recruitment before had only made Momonga a bit jealous, now this ability nearly made him fall apart from envy!

What did being a Logia user mean? Sure, in the eyes of the top-tier powerhouses, Logia wasn't all that impressive. Compared to them, Paramecia and Zoan had produced plenty of experts who were no worse, or even stronger, than Logia. But in the general view of the seas, Logia basically represented strength among Devil Fruits—top-tier strength.

Especially in the Marines in recent years, this trend of Logia worship had become even more obvious. The reason?

The reason was that in recent years, the Marines had produced three Logia monsters—the future three Admirals: Kuzan with the Ice-Ice Fruit, Borsalino with the Glint-Glint Fruit, and Sakazuki with the Magu Magu no Mi!

Although everyone in the Marines agreed that these three weren't monsters because they became Logia users—they were already monsters who then became Logia users, making them even more fearsome!

Don't get the cause and effect wrong. But even so, the trend of Logia worship was still very strong. Everyone would fantasize: if it weren't them, but they themselves had eaten those powerful Logia abilities, would they be just as strong?

In short, within the Marine system, Logia was highly esteemed. And in this context, a so-called pinnacle Logia user, the Goro Goro no Mi wielder, had burst onto the scene. You can imagine what Momonga and the others were thinking when they found out Ortolan was the Goro Goro no Mi user!

Ortolan was basically freeloading at the Marines right now—no official position, waiting half a month for "enrollment." So he had nothing to do on a daily basis. Momonga and Hoshigaki, on the other hand, were originally pretty busy, since they were already Marine Rear Admirals.

From chatting with them that morning, Ortolan gathered some intel: Marine Rear Admirals were basically the main force maintaining stability on the seas. They handled a ton of tedious, busy tasks. The real flag officers—Vice Admirals and above—had no time for that trivial stuff, while captains and below lacked experience and qualifications in many areas.

So Rear Admirals, stuck in that awkward spot between flag and field officers, became the main players for handling these matters. Momonga often complained that most of his missions involved patrolling a fixed sea area, and during those patrols, scattered fleets would run into all kinds of petty issues, which all ended up on his desk for sorting. The more important ones he'd report up to the Vice Admiral above him, and if the Vice Admiral couldn't handle it, it went higher, until it finally reached an Admiral's hands.

It was through Momonga and Hoshigaki that Ortolan gradually understood the entire Marine operation system. Luckily, these two had already been confirmed to join the Officer Training Camp in half a month, so they were freed from their daily grind—basically on paid leave for half a month before enrolling directly.

That gave them time to shoot the breeze with Ortolan for a whole morning. Normally, they sometimes couldn't even make it to the 4 AM training session and would head straight out on duty.

Since they got up early, the mess hall wasn't open yet. But after their morning workout, they could time it just right to hit the cafeteria for breakfast.

Soon, Momonga and Hoshigaki led Ortolan to the mess hall. Marineford had plenty of public Marine cafeterias—basically one in every building—but the daily meals were pretty much the same everywhere. So Momonga and the others just picked whichever was closest to where they were.

"Just sit here and save us a spot. Hoshigaki and I will get the food." Momonga shoved Ortolan into a seat at a table, laying out the plan clearly.

Gotta say, this guy was really enthusiastic. Ortolan didn't want to brush off his kindness. Besides, he didn't have a meal card. That careless guy Garp probably hadn't even thought about these little details. As a big shot in the Marines, he usually had fancy meals delivered to him. Unless he was in a rare mood, why would he ever come to the cafeteria and fight for food with everyone else?

Just as Ortolan sat there waiting for Momonga and Hoshigaki, a voice tinged with friendly teasing came from behind him.

"Ara ara, young man, if you don't mind, can I sit here?"

Ortolan turned around and saw a man with a fluffy afro carrying a tray of food standing behind him. He recognized the man instantly—it was clearly a young Kuzan!

Ortolan grinned and said with a smile, "Vice Admiral Kuzan, please, have a seat."

"Ah, thanks~" Kuzan set his tray down, then chuckled. "Wow, my reputation's already this well-known? Being called out by name on first meeting—makes me a little proud, ahaha."

Within the Marines, especially among the elite at headquarters, Kuzan and the others were pretty famous. But across the whole sea, while they were promising prospects, they were still just Marine Vice Admirals—nothing too dazzling yet.

So Kuzan wasn't joking; he genuinely felt that way.

"Mr. Garp always talked about you on the way here. His face was full of pride when he mentioned you." Ortolan buttered him up.

Kuzan paused for a moment, then looked at Ortolan with even more warmth in his eyes. He smiled and said, "I met Mr. Garp last night, and he told me a lot about you too. A Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi user, impressive physical abilities, and..."

He leaned in a little closer to Ortolan and lowered his voice. "...Conqueror's Haki. Anyway, he said you're the most talented person he's seen in years. Just hearing it made me a bit jealous."

After a pause, Kuzan continued, "I originally thought, with all those accolades stacked up, you'd be pretty arrogant—since Mr. Garp said you're only eighteen. But you're actually quite friendly."

Ortolan did some quick math, then said, "I can probably stay friendly for about another month."

Kuzan: ???

Wait, what kind of statement is that?

A mission for goodwill points?

Under Kuzan's bewildered gaze, Ortolan went on, "I have some mental issues, so in about a month, I'll be entering my irritable phase. My temper and personality will get... pretty bad. Please bear with me."

Kuzan's face twitched, and then he said, "Mr. Garp didn't mention any of that. I'll make sure to stay out of your way during that time."

Kuzan was panicking inside. What do I do? My colleague seems to have intermittent psychosis? And the worst part is, his potential is huge. What if he gets strong and then has an episode? Won't us weak colleagues be trembling under his violence?

But soon, Kuzan thought of an even more serious problem. In half a month, Ortolan would enter the Officer Training Camp. In a month, he'd start going crazy—wouldn't that mean jumping straight into campus violence!?

And according to Mr. Garp, even without systematic training, this guy was already pretty strong. Once he entered the Officer Training Camp, the best and brightest around him—people like Momonga—would they even be able to handle Ortolan?