Enlistment

Marine Headquarters, Marineford,

"Jewelry Ginny, from the South Blue, nineteen years old, skilled with firearms."

"Bartholomew Kuma, from the South Blue, sixteen years old, Paramecia Paw-Paw Fruit Ability User."

"Darkseid Gigue, from the South Blue, fifteen years old, Logia Dark-Dark Fruit Ability User."

At the Marine recruitment office, the interviewer stared dumbfounded at the three before him, then lowered his head to look at the three résumés on the desk. His gaze finally settled on the small words on Gigue's résumé: Logia Dark-Dark Fruit!

Major General Babus, standing to one side, wore an equally shocked expression.

He had long guessed that Gigue was a Devil Fruit Ability User, but he had never expected Gigue's Devil Fruit to be a Logia!

No one knew the strength of Logia Devil Fruits better than him, because among the current batch of recruits under Instructor Zephyr, there were two such Logia monsters!

The Magma-Magma Fruit and the Glint-Glint Fruit. Babus had seen those two Ability Users in action. To sum it up in one sentence: once they made a move, it was a natural disaster!

Fortunately, their instructor was the former Admiral Zephyr. With an ordinary officer, they might not even have been able to restrain those two Logia Ability Users.

Most officers at headquarters had mastered Armament Haki and could deal with a Logia's elementalization, but the destructive power of magma and light was simply too terrifying!

Even now, Babus remembered seeing a Marine rear admiral, whose strength had been nearly equal to his own, get toyed with by that Glint-Glint Fruit Ability User. Even with Observation Haki, he had found it difficult to touch so much as the hem of that Ability User's clothes.

As for the Magma-Magma Fruit Ability User, there was even less to say. It was not that the rear admiral could not touch him; he simply did not dare to!

One touch from that boiling magma would have been more than enough to leave that rear admiral in a world of pain.

The "Iron Body" they were so proud of was a complete joke before magma!

From then on, Babus had known that Devil Fruits definitely came in ranks. At least in his eyes right now, Logia Devil Fruits were noble!

And Gigue's Logia Devil Fruit wielded darkness, the element opposite to light. Just thinking about it, he knew that this Dark-Dark Fruit was definitely a top-tier Logia no weaker than those two Fruits!

Babus was so excited that his body began to tremble.

He had actually brought such a monster back to the Marines! No, a genius!

The interviewer swallowed hard. Whether he had been scared stupid or not, he somehow blurted out to Gigue,

"Fifteen? You're a little too young. That doesn't meet our recruitment requirements..."

As he spoke, he scrutinized Gigue's nearly two-meter-tall frame with a puzzled look, thinking,

Is he really fifteen?

Gigue was stunned as well and was just about to explain when Babus suddenly sprang into action and slammed the interviewer's head onto the desk.

"Mmgh! Mmgh! (Babus, what the hell are you doing?!)"

The interviewer struggled with all his strength. Babus wore a smile like he was badly constipated as he beamed at the three of them.

"Very good. I think the three of you are born talents meant to join the Marines!"

Under Gigue and the others' astonished gazes, Babus's hands moved so fast they left afterimages. He grabbed the stamp on the desk and stamped all three résumés in rapid succession.

Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought Gigue and the others had signed contracts selling themselves into slavery.

By the time the interviewer raised his head, Babus had already grabbed the three résumés and was giving instructions.

"You've passed. I'll report to Admiral Sengoku in a moment, then headquarters will arrange a place for you to stay. Rest for a few days first, and then you can take these three résumés to register at the Marine Academy!"

Gigue glanced at the bright red stamp on the résumé and said,

"Then we'll look around outside first and come back here to wait for you later?"

"Of course! But don't go too far. You haven't officially joined the Marines yet, after all."

"Alright."

After the three left, Babus carefully examined the résumés again. He even planted a hard kiss on Gigue's, making the interviewer beside him shudder in disgust.

Rubbing his reddened forehead where it had struck the desk, he said with an unhappy expression,

"Hey, Babus! You went too far. Even if we ignore Gigue's age, did you investigate the backgrounds of all three? All you know is that they're from the South Blue?"

Babus shot him a sidelong glance and muttered,

"Don't worry about that for now. He's a Logia, understand? Do you know how valuable a Logia is? Tsk, tsk. And there's a Paramecia Ability User too. Paramecia Fruits come in all kinds, but maybe that'll be another surprise?"

"Tch! Look at you. That girl named Ginny isn't bad either. She's got a heroic air about her. Very few of the girls who came to interview before had that kind of presence."

"Exactly! The Marines should welcome talents like these! There's nothing wrong with what I did!"

Seeing Babus lapse into a crazed state, the interviewer nodded helplessly and said weakly,

"Fine, fine. Weren't you going to report to Admiral Sengoku? Show him these three résumés while you're at it. Sigh! We haven't even investigated their backgrounds properly. This is too hasty!"

"Mm. I'll report this matter truthfully to Admiral Sengoku. I believe Admiral Sengoku will definitely support my decision!"

Babus carefully tucked Gigue and the others' résumés into his clothes and strode away.

On the way, Babus's excited heart gradually calmed down, and he began seriously considering his trip to the Kingdom of Sorbet.

Background checks really were important, especially for Gigue. With Spandine as a contrast, Gigue's background appeared increasingly mysterious.

But no matter how hard he thought, he could never have guessed that Gigue was a Celestial Dragon. At most, he suspected Gigue was the illegitimate son of some high-ranking World Government official, sent to grow up in a remote country like the Kingdom of Sorbet for some unspeakable reason.

Then, when the time came, they could arrange a path for their child. It was not as though he had never heard of such things before.

Curling his lip, Babus felt that compared to a Logia Dark-Dark Fruit, such a trivial matter was nothing at all!

With that thought, Babus quickened his pace. Before long, he arrived outside Sengoku's office and knocked lightly on the door.

"Admiral Sengoku, it's Babus."

"Come in."

Inside the office, Sengoku was holding a document that had just arrived from the World Government and muttered to himself,

"Strange. Why did the Kingdom of Sorbet suddenly change kings? And why wasn't the missing King Beckley mentioned at all..."

Seeing Babus enter, Sengoku waved him over and asked,

"Babus, you're back just in time. Tell me what happened in the Kingdom of Sorbet. Was King Beckley found?"