Elite Camp

In front of the Marine Headquarters fortress at Marineford.

"Luo Sa, Drake, Smoker, Sakartam, step forward!" Zephyr read from a list in his hand.

"Sakartam?"

All the new recruits were stunned. Luo Sa and the other two had taken the top three spots in this Ranking Tournament, so their entry into the Elite Camp was beyond doubt. But Sakartam had actually made it in as well!

"As expected, having a good background really does make a difference!"

One of the recruits ranked in the top ten snorted unhappily.

"Can't be helped. Zoan Type—Mythical Zoan—Mud-Swamp Frog Fruit!"

"That Devil Fruit is even rarer than a Logia. He really does have the potential to enter the Elite Camp!"

A recruit sighed, his tone tinged with envy.

"But are there only four people entering the new recruit camp this time?"

"In previous years, aside from the top three in the Ranking Tournament, there were usually another three spots for promising talents!"

"Promising talents?"

"Do you think anyone among us has more potential than those three monsters?"

"This..."

The recruit who had raised the question smacked his lips, then finally let out a sigh. The three of them this year truly deserved to be called monsters!

Zephyr nodded at the four who had stepped out, then picked up the list again and continued reading.

This time, Zephyr was reading the list of Elite Camp interns. There were twenty-five people in total: aside from the top twenty in this ranking, there were another eight promising talents.

Hina and Very Good, the two Devil Fruit users Luo Sa knew, were conspicuously among them.

"Alright, that's the complete list for this Elite Camp."

"You interns, remember this: you don't fully belong to the Elite Camp yet."

"If you want to stay, then give it everything you've got!"

Zephyr put away the list and turned around. After pausing briefly, a teasing smile appeared on his face.

Watching Zephyr leave, Luo Sa pondered for a moment before stepping forward to follow him. Drake, Smoker, and Sakartam quickly followed after Luo Sa.

The other Elite Camp interns remained where they were. Other Elite Camp instructors would soon come to take charge of them.

This was the difference between official Elite Camp students and interns. The official students were taught by Zephyr, the chief instructor of the Elite Camp, while the interns were assigned to other second-string instructors!

That was also why everyone fought so fiercely for the top three spots in the Ranking Tournament.

Zephyr led Luo Sa and the other three out of Marine Headquarters. As the training grounds for the Elite Camp's monsters, they naturally could not be located inside the fortress.

After leaving the fortress, Zephyr seemed to deliberately test the four's speed. He began moving faster, racing toward their destination.

Seeing this, Luo Sa, Smoker, and Sakartam all smiled, while Drake's expression turned extremely ugly!

Whoosh!

Luo Sa moved, transforming into a Winged Gull and soaring into the sky.

Smoker was no slouch either. With the aid of his smoke propulsion, he shot forward at high speed.

Sakartam used Soru and followed close behind.

Drake gritted his teeth and could only desperately chase after them from the rear.

Yet Zephyr showed no intention of waiting for them. His figure had long since vanished somewhere ahead.

Very soon, Luo Sa, who was flying in front, saw a bridge in the distance connecting an island to Marineford.

Luo Sa's eyes flashed. Without slowing down, he intended to use his flying ability to cross directly to the other side.

But suddenly, Luo Sa's expression changed. A figure had abruptly appeared before him, standing in midair.

"This is... Geppo!"

Luo Sa halted, recognizing one of the Marine Six Styles.

"Hey, who are you? The area ahead is restricted. It's not somewhere you can enter!" the figure said.

"Hello, senior. I'm a recruit from this year's class. Teacher Zephyr brought us here!"

Guessing that this person might be one of his seniors, Luo Sa acted extremely respectfully.

Since he was a senior, a certain degree of respect was only proper.

"Senior? You think you can call me senior?"

To his surprise, the man opposite him suddenly sneered. He stomped his foot and flew above Luo Sa, then brought his right leg down in a sweeping kick.

Luo Sa's gaze sharpened as he twisted aside and dodged the attack.

But the other party clearly had no intention of stopping and continued pressing forward with his attacks!

Although Luo Sa was peerless in speed after transforming into a Winged Gull, his opponent was exceptionally proficient with Geppo. His speed was not much slower than Luo Sa's, and his burst speed surpassed Luo Sa's by a huge margin!

"Looks like this is an old recruit putting newcomers like us in our place!"

Luo Sa glanced down from the corner of his eye. At that moment, Smoker and the others had also been intercepted.

"Based on my experience from my previous life, this isn't the time to back down!"

Luo Sa closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then his eyes snapped open, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

"Then bring it on!"

With an angry roar, Luo Sa spiraled upward, intending to use his speed to shake off his enemy.

"Ahahaha, that's the spirit! Remember my name—I'm Saxe!"

Saxe laughed heartily. He greatly admired this recruit's spirit.

"Air Slash!"

Luo Sa flapped his wings, launching two wind blades.

"Hm? The power to control wind?"

Saxe looked surprised. This was his first time encountering someone with the ability to control wind.

"Then... Rankyaku!"

A smile appeared at the corner of Saxe's lips. He kicked out with both legs, generating two air blades that collided with Luo Sa's wind blades before both dissipated into thin air.

"You've already learned two of the Six Powers? As expected of a senior!"

Luo Sa laughed as his wings whipped up a whirlwind—the Raise Wind skill!

"You haven't seen the truly surprising part yet!"

Saxe burst into laughter, stepping through the air with Geppo as he charged toward Luo Sa.

"Wing Chop!"

"Armament Haki!"

Boom!

White and black collided in an instant, then violently sprang apart. Luo Sa's expression turned grave, while Saxe grinned.

"So this is Armament Haki?"

Luo Sa's eyes lit up. In that exchange just now, he had been completely at a disadvantage!

"You're not bad either, kid!"

Saxe continued his assault, still combining Geppo with Armament Haki.

Luo Sa relied on the Winged Gull's nimble aerial advantage to weave about. With Hurricane and Swallow Return, the battle fell into a temporary stalemate.

"Swallow Return!"

Luo Sa unleashed his strongest close-range attack once more!

"Damn it, this move again!"

Saxe was starting to get irritated by Luo Sa's nimble attacks.

At this point, Luo Sa was like a slippery loach—striking once and immediately retreating, never giving him a chance to get close!

Meanwhile, maintaining Geppo for aerial combat was also taking a heavy toll on Saxe.

"Hey, Saxe, what's going on? You can't even handle a rookie?"

On the ground, several veterans had already taken care of Smoker and the other two. Now they were watching the show, looking like they wanted nothing more than to stir up trouble.

Thanks to reader Shang for the 100 book-coin donation, and thanks to everyone for your daily recommendation votes. Thank you all. Depending on the situation, I'll add an extra chapter. I'm truly grateful for your support. This is today's second update; I'll pick a time later to post the fourth update for you all!