Glorious Private First Class

At once, the usually imposing Sengoku wore a rare gentle smile as he said, "Yaen, welcome to the Marines. From now on, please devote your strength to justice. For the time being, you will hold the rank of major..."

Before Sengoku could finish, Yaen interrupted him with a solemn expression. "Admiral Sengoku, this does not comply with Navy rules."

?

Sengoku.

Immediately, a faintly smug curve appeared at the corner of Yaen's lips as he said, "Under the Marines' latest promotion regulations, Marine Soldiers must all attain the corresponding merits and pass the appropriate training assessments before being promoted. No one may be arbitrarily promoted across ranks merely because of their individual strength."

After a pause, Yaen spoke with an expression of absolute impartiality.

"Admiral Sengoku, even if our relationship is not merely that of superior and subordinate, we absolutely cannot misuse public authority for private gain and undermine Navy rules. Otherwise, it will inevitably dampen the fighting spirit of countless Marine Soldiers from top to bottom."

"Once the blood of all those Marine Soldiers turns cold, many will inevitably become content with the status quo and neglect their duties. Under the effects of all this, it would not be impossible for the entire Great Sea to descend into unforeseeable chaos."

For a moment, Sengoku looked at Yaen with an exceedingly strange expression and gritted out, "Is it really that serious?"

"A thousand-mile dike can collapse from an ant hole. Admiral Sengoku, you must not overlook the influence of those above on those below," Yaen answered solemnly.

Only after a long while, once Sengoku had fully processed this, did he squeeze out another sentence through clenched teeth.

"Bastard, no wonder you were so enthusiastic about helping me improve and refine the Marines' internal promotion system a few years ago. You were waiting for this moment, weren't you?"

Yaen immediately shook his head in denial, his tone brimming with righteousness as he said, "Admiral Sengoku, you can eat more food, but you can't speak carelessly. Even if we do share an unusual relationship, I'll still sue you for slan—"

Seeing the fury gradually blaze in Sengoku's eyes, Yaen wisely swallowed the rest of his words and instead put on a filial expression.

"Old Man, you've misunderstood my intentions. Back then, I merely wanted to do my part to repay the kindness of you raising me. How could I possibly have the audacity to scheme against you?"

"Teffimoe Yaen, I only want to be a good son to you, Old Man. My lifelong hope is to care for you in your old age and see you through to the end. I even always dreamed of finding a wife so you could have another daughter-in-law to be filial to you and let you hold a grandson sooner, didn't I?"

"And the reason I objected just now was only because I feared that you, Old Man, would break Navy rules because of me, damaging your reputation and perhaps even causing a large number of Marine Soldiers to curse you behind your back."

For a moment, Sengoku's gentle expression, which had appeared because Yaen agreed to join the Marines, became like the heavy dark clouds before a storm.

Yet even so, Yaen persisted in saying the most important part.

"Old Man, according to the Marines' internal promotion system and new recruit selection rules, Teffimoe Yaen, due to his outstanding strength and his victory over a superior Officer in a direct challenge, may receive an immediate three-rank promotion, rising directly from the trainee Marine stage to the glorious rank of Private First Class, with additional benefits: one private dormitory room, exemption from daily physical training, and so on."

"Hehehe..."

At this point, Yaen finally could not hold back his laughter as he said, "Old Man, I haven't remembered wrong, have I? So when are you going to award me my rank? Or you can just assign any lieutenant-level Officer to do it."

It could be said that Yaen was not panicking in the slightest at this moment. He was steady as a rock.

Since joining the Marines was Old Man Sengoku's wish, then he would fulfill it. Otherwise, if he really angered the old man to death, Yaen would truly be reluctant to see it happen.

However, under the Marines' current systematic promotion rules, Yaen could at most become a glorious Private First Class.

What did that mean?

At Marine Headquarters, you could spit at random and hit several field-grade Officers.

A mere Private First Class probably would not even qualify to clean at Marine Headquarters, much less have any hope of earning enough merit for a later promotion.

That way, Yaen could peacefully coast through his days at Marine Headquarters in Marineford, serving as a Private First Class who clocked in at Sengoku's office on time every day.

As for such important duties as commanding Warships, patrolling sea routes, fighting Pirates, and so on...

What? Were the Marines out of people? They wanted a tiny Private First Class to carry out such crucial duties?

Even if Sengoku agreed to something that would so seriously damage the Marines' prestige, Yaen would not agree; and even if Yaen agreed, the countless Officers throughout the Marines would never agree!

Of course, an enormous organization like the Marines could actually accommodate all kinds of talent. It was not as though only patrolling the seas and capturing Pirates counted as earning merit.

In fact, even routine tasks like "cleaning" came with merit points.

It was just that the amount was so meager that Yaen knew even if he cleaned until Sengoku was completely laid to rest, he would at most muddle his way up to corporal or sergeant, barely enough to serve as a "cleaning" foreman.

And if Sengoku sent Yaen off to a branch in the Four Seas and worked hard to create opportunities for him to earn merit...

Without Sengoku nearby to supervise him, Yaen believed he would definitely be "useless" and fail to seize those opportunities.

Perfect. Old Man, good thing I guarded against this in advance. Otherwise, if your scheme really pushed me straight into becoming the youngest major in Marine history, wouldn't that be troublesome?

At that thought, Yaen's smile became even more filial. He was already prepared to be scolded by Sengoku next.

As for being beaten... no way.

Otherwise, with Yaen's physical constitution, he could make Sengoku collapse in minutes. With injuries that severe, he would probably have to go home and recuperate for ten or twenty years before recovering.

It had to be said that Sengoku was thoroughly maddened by Yaen at this moment.

To smoothly get Yaen to join the Marines, he had gone to great lengths to persuade Vice Admiral Tsuru to have Gion spar with Yaen this way, hoping to use Gion's reputation to shape Yaen into a leading figure of the Marines' new generation.

But Sengoku quickly recovered and said with a smile, "Brat, have you forgotten something important? Your contributions toward improving the Marines' systems can also count as merit."

Yaen waved a hand and said dismissively, "Old Man, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"Those systems were all 'improved' by you alone, and you already submitted the credit for them to the Gorosei in formal written documents as important proof for your promotion to the position of Fleet Admiral of the Marines."

"But before you, the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, have even officially taken office, such disgraceful conduct as falsifying merit and deceiving those above and below has already appeared. That would leave an extremely bad impression before the Gorosei."