Basic Operations

The students received their test papers, their expressions varied.

Usually, the confident top students would take a general look over the entire paper, while those with a little knowledge but lacking confidence would start writing immediately, fearing they wouldn't have enough time.

Morito quietly held his test paper. The exam questions mainly focused on the choices officers would make when facing difficulties; there were very few rote memorization questions.

After all, the Naval Academy wasn't training cannon fodder, but officers who could command battles.

The battlefield had no fixed patterns, and pirates wouldn't negotiate their actions with you.

The difficulty of the questions varied, with the focus solely on decision-making.

Most of the questions were open-ended, with no single, fixed answer.

The aim was to cultivate the students' ability to think and solve problems themselves.

"So this is the qualifying written exam for the Training Camp, quite interesting!"

Morito scanned a question.

A pirate ship is robbing a merchant vessel and holding the merchants hostage. Your warship's combat power is superior to the pirates', but you cannot capture the pirates without endangering the hostages. If you were the commanding officer of the warship, what would you do?

This question tested the principle of choosing between two difficult options.

To save the people, you'd have to let the pirates go; to capture the pirates, you'd have to sacrifice the hostages.

The answers to such questions were not fixed; they varied from person to person, depending on their personality. The answers could never be exactly the same.

Whether one chose to save the hostages or capture the pirates, both had their reasoning.

It was a question that could either give easy points or cost you your life.

It all depended on the examiner grading the paper.

Morito could almost imagine how the future three Admirals, Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji, would answer this question if they were taking the exam here.

Akainu would probably charge straight through the middle. Hostages? Dead hostages are just dead people.

Kuzan would definitely prioritize saving people, with capturing the pirates as a secondary objective.

Kizaru would save who he could and capture who he could, perfectly embodying the phrase "making do with what you have."

"Questions like these are probably meant to reveal the examinee's personality and their approach to handling situations, right?"

Morito pondered for a moment, then quickly picked up his pen and wrote down his answer.

He then moved on to the next question.

Time flowed by.

Gradually, more and more people stopped writing. The difficulty of the questions on the paper was moderate, yet many still wore disappointed expressions.

Of course, most people looked quite happy.

They were the future pillars of the Navy, the elite of the elite; how could they not have some skills?

The test papers were collected quickly.

The Training Camp's qualifying exams were graded on the spot, with results announced immediately, and many people watching, signifying fairness, impartiality, and transparency.

Regardless of what happened within the Navy, on the surface, not a single speck of dirt would be left.

While the papers were being graded, the academy didn't let everyone wait idly; they proceeded directly to the second part of the test: physical fitness.

There were many events, including weightlifting, shot put, shuttle runs, high jump, and the 100-meter dash.

And the most important one: the Dōryoku test!

The Training Camp students were undergoing their second physical fitness test, while the academy staff were rapidly grading the papers. Meanwhile, four of the test papers were sent to Zephyr's office on the top floor of the teaching building.

Zephyr had requested the papers of Onigumo, Doberman, and Kazan.

As for the fourth paper, it belonged to Morito. Garp wanted to see what 'choice' Morito would make, so Morito's paper was sent along as well.

"Doberman and Onigumo's methods are a bit aggressive, but overall, their answers were good."

If it were in the past, Zephyr would have definitely had a good talk with them.

Zephyr had defeated countless pirates in his life but had never killed any of them, earning him the title of "No-Kill Admiral."

This fact alone showed what kind of person Zephyr was.

However, just a few years ago, Zephyr's family was killed by pirates, and he began to hate pirates.

His personality also underwent a huge change.

This was the fundamental reason why Zephyr merely described Doberman and Onigumo's answers as 'aggressive.'

"Kazan's approach was a bit too merciful. Pirates are all wicked villains!"

Zephyr had wanted to say, "How could you let pirates go just to save hostages?" but the words wouldn't come out.

Suddenly!

Garp's hearty laughter erupted, spraying donut crumbs everywhere.

"With an answer like this, it feels like Sengoku is taking the exam!"

"Quite clever, though!"

Garp slapped his thigh, laughing as he commented.

Zephyr narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up at the test paper of Morito in Garp's hand. One of the questions was about the choice between 'rescuing hostages' and 'capturing pirates.'

Zephyr's gaze shifted.

The answer written in the blank space was as follows:

"If the pirates are extremely wicked and enjoy killing and slaughtering villages for fun, then eliminate all the pirates while ensuring the hostages' safety as much as possible."

"If the pirates are merely thieves and have never committed acts of slaughtering civilians, then capture the pirates after completely ensuring the hostages' safety."

It was practically a model answer, a perfect example that couldn't be faulted in the slightest.

It catered to whatever type of examiner was grading it!

It was essentially shifting the 'choice' that should have been the examinee's onto the examiner. Here are the answers, you pick!

Whichever you like, just give me the points!

Zephyr couldn't help but raise an eyebrow; such an answer didn't reveal Morito's personality at all.

It wasn't that it was completely impossible to tell. There were people who could give such an answer.

Zephyr immediately thought of those two old foxes, Sengoku and Tsuru.

Not only could enemies not see through him, but his own allies couldn't either!

Deeply calculating, a schemer.

Zephyr added these two traits to his impression of Morito. At such a young age, he wasn't learning good things, but rather imitating the old fox Sengoku and the scheming Tsuru?

Four test papers had already been graded by examiners and sent here for Zephyr and Garp to reconfirm.

Garp asked with a smile, "Is this test paper alright?"

Each test paper was cross-checked, with at least three examiners grading it.

Morito's test paper answered all the choice-based questions in the same pattern, receiving full marks because no fault could be found, no matter how one looked at it.

For the few questions requiring rote knowledge, the answers were also standard, textbook-style responses.

The entire test paper was filled with red circles!

Zephyr saw through Morito's tactic. While he didn't admit it verbally, he secretly praised its brilliance.

Even if this test paper were given to all the officers at Marine Headquarters for joint review, they wouldn't find a single point to deduct.

One answer simultaneously appeased the sentiments of the hawks, the doves, and the indifferent.

This alone demonstrated Morito's capability.

"It's just a written test. There won't be any room for trickery in the subsequent physical tests!"

Zephyr waved his hand, summoning an assistant to take the four test papers away.

Garp was just there to observe. No matter what Zephyr did, he wouldn't interfere, merely sitting to the side, laughing heartily while drinking tea and eating donuts.

The conversation in the office faded, leaving only the sound of crunching donuts.

Zephyr's gaze drifted past the window, looking down at the plaza below, subconsciously searching for Morito's voice.

At that moment, Morito was performing repeated horizontal jumps.

Seeing Morito's movements, Zephyr's pupils constricted sharply.

"That speed... is it Soru?"