Probation at Marine Headquarters

Early the next morning, Ron felt something digging into him. With his eyes closed, he rolled over—then with a splat, fell onto the stone floor.

That instantly woke him up. Staring at the cold ground right in front of him, he recalled what had happened last night and suddenly muttered, "That old bastard Garp... Don't tell me he just threw me on the floor and left me there?"

Two Overload Lightning Fists in one day, on top of the exhausting battle against Shuzuo, had been an immense challenge for Ron. Once the fight ended, he had completely exhausted himself and passed out cold.

So... I slept on the floor all night?

You've got some nerve!

Thinking viciously, Ron rolled over and climbed to his feet. But once he saw his surroundings clearly, he was completely dumbfounded.

"Holy crap... What is this?! Where am I?"

He was in a cramped cell less than ten square meters in size. The only light came from a torch on the wall. Steel cables crisscrossed the surroundings, mixed with gray stone bars... If he was not mistaken, those things were called Seastone.

And Ron realized that he was not outside the cell.

He was inside it.

I should be there, not here...

"This is the Marine Headquarters prison, used specifically to detain ordinary criminals and pirates who are not sent to Impel Down..."

An aged voice came from outside. Ron turned around and saw a purple-haired old man with a sturdy, muscular build and a physique no less imposing than Garp's. A cape of justice hung from his shoulders, and his arms were folded over his chest... What stood out was that his right arm had been cut off at the shoulder. It was now a wooden prosthetic.

This man was none other than the former Marine Admiral and current New Recruit Camp Chief Instructor, "Black Arm" Zephyr!

Ron was only puzzled by his appearance for a second before his attention was drawn to someone else... In another cell behind Zephyr, Garp was glaring at him as though he were a mortal enemy, viciously tearing into a doughnut to vent his frustration.

Ron immediately burst out laughing!

"Well, if it isn't Division Vice Admiral Garp? Are you here to experience prison life, old man?!"

"Hiss..."

Garp immediately sucked in a breath through his teeth, but he did not answer. Instead, he sneered and cracked his knuckles.

Gordon's heart skipped a beat...

Ron swallowed and gave up on provoking Garp any further. Then he saluted Zephyr. "Instructor General Zephyr!"

"Mm. No need to be nervous. Relax."

Zephyr pulled over a stool and sat down, lit a cigar, and took a puff before speaking to Ron through the cell bars. "Do you know why you've been locked up?"

"Uh..."

Remembering what had happened last night, Ron scratched his cheek and gave a foolish laugh. "Ha, ha, ha, I don't know what happened either!"

"Stop playing dumb!"

Zephyr's face immediately darkened as he roared, "Marine Headquarters regulations state that, barring emergencies, no one may fight anywhere without authorization! Any violator will be severely punished without exception!"

There was actually a rule like that?!

Ron stared at Zephyr in shock. The expression on his face did not seem fake. Then he widened his eyes and looked at Garp in disbelief. "Division Vice Admiral Garp, you set me up?!"

"He's lost this year's salary!"

Zephyr waved a hand, cutting off the argument that was about to erupt between them, then asked, "Do you know what will happen to you?"

What would happen?

Garp was a Division Vice Admiral at Marine Headquarters and the Hero of the Marines. Even he had been docked a year's salary. As for himself, a newcomer, surely he would...

"Kick me out of the Marines?"

Ron stared at Zephyr in terror, pointing at his own nose.

No way?

I only joined yesterday?!

Seeing that Ron truly understood the severity of the matter, the anger in Zephyr's eyes eased slightly. He snorted and said, "According to the rules, that would indeed be the case! But you were never registered in the Marine Headquarters recruit records, so you count as an outsider. The Marines have no authority to expel you..."

If he had never joined, there was naturally no such thing as expulsion.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. He had never expected the registration matter he had always overlooked to become his most important lifeline now.

"However..."

Zephyr abruptly changed course, and Ron immediately stood ramrod straight. "Yes, sir! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

Zephyr: "..."

I haven't even said anything yet.

What the hell are you guaranteeing?

Wait...

What was I about to say again?

The corners of Zephyr's mouth twitched twice before he resumed his interrupted train of thought. "Considering that you were unaware of this, the Fleet Admiral has granted you leniency outside the law and decided to place you on probation at Marine Headquarters... If you stop causing trouble and make up for your mistakes through merit, the doors of the Marines will remain open to you!"

"Do you understand?!"

After hearing that, Ron's eyes flashed as he rapidly considered the matter.

Right, this was more realistic... The Marines believed in "nipping danger in the bud." Most pirates imprisoned in the forbidden Level 6 of Impel Down were not executed not only to demonstrate the Marines' strength and deter pirates, but also because if their Fruit Abilities spread and were obtained by other pirates, the seas would gain even more turmoil.

If they expelled a Rumble-Rumble Fruit User like him from the Marines and released him back into the world, then if one day he lost his mind and became a pirate, the Marines would regret it beyond measure.

Besides, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was immensely powerful and known as the "strongest Logia"... This incident was indeed serious, but compared to the future value of a Rumble-Rumble Fruit User, the Marines could afford to make concessions.

As the saying went, one good turn deserved another. Each side took what it needed.

Having grasped the crucial point, Ron put aside his unease and replied with a smile, "Understood!"

Ron was soon released. Since they had decided on "probation," there was no point in imprisoning a "civilian."

After Ron was taken away, Garp sat in his cell and looked at Zephyr.

"That brat's body... You noticed it too, didn't you?"

"Yes. That kind of Self-Healing Ability barely seems human..."

Zephyr took a puff of his cigar, recalling what he had witnessed when he arrived last night...

When he heard that Ron had developed a new move and burned his arm black, Zephyr feared that Ron might end up crippled like him. He had brought a medical team of dozens with him.

Yet before the doctors could even make a diagnosis, the blackened crust of blood and char simply wiped away under everyone's stunned gazes, revealing tender new muscles and skin underneath.

Afterward, the Colonel officer who had overseen the afternoon test was urgently summoned for questioning. Once it was confirmed that Ron had used the same move that afternoon—and though it had been weaker than at night, it had likewise severely injured his body—Garp and the others finally accepted a fact.

Ron had been born with terrifying healing abilities... They had nothing to do with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit!

That afternoon, the Colonel instructor overseeing the test had thought Ron's injuries were not serious. Since Ron really had recovered shortly afterward, he assumed there was no issue and did not make a separate report.

But they were different from him. They stood higher and saw more clearly!

Therefore, they could directly conclude that Ron's body was abnormal!

And...

"His body... is a black hole! Why is that?!"

Zephyr smoked more rapidly, and smoke soon filled the air.

Last night, after confirming that Ron was all right, the doctors prepared some nutrient solution and administered it to replenish the nutrition he had lost. But the moment it entered his bloodstream, every muscle in Ron's body spasmed, and he digested and absorbed it in the blink of an eye.

After several repeated attempts, Ron's presence recovered and strengthened at a visible rate. If his strength after being injured had been 10, it became 11 then and there, in... just half an hour!

Only after he unconsciously let out a satisfied belch did his body stop absorbing like a black hole and return to normal.

...This was no longer something that could be explained by talent or excellence. He was a monster!

What Ron did not know was that although food in the One Piece World was extraordinarily easy to absorb, there were still limits imposed by the body.

But his utterly unreasonable, seemingly limitless absorption and devouring made his rate of growth astonishingly fast. He was practically an anomaly!

For example...

Other people would be blown apart once their bodies could no longer contain more energy, then rebuild themselves and break through their previous limits. But he seemed to have no upper limit by nature and could endlessly convert nutrition into nourishment.

This ability reminded Garp of something that had happened decades ago...

"He fell from the sky, and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit came from a Sky Island kingdom called Birka..."

On the ship, Garp had asked Ron about his past... An adventurer who traveled everywhere—that was the identity Ron had made up for himself. Later, an upward sea current had occurred, sweeping him and his ship up to a Sky Island. After wandering for years, he finally obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, only to accidentally fall into the Blue Sea while testing its power.

Upward sea currents were rare in Marine Headquarters records, but they did exist. More cases went unrecorded and only circulated among civilians, so there was no way to verify which incident had swept Ron up to the Sky Island.

"That kingdom called Birka again?"

Zephyr silently frowned, clearly recalling something as well.

"But even if it was that thing, isn't the effect far too exaggerated?"

As someone who knew the truth and as Garp's closest friend, Zephyr had more than once regretted that it had been Garp, rather than himself, who had eaten it without fear of death. But even with that fruit, Garp had not been this monstrous back then.

"I don't know about that..."

Garp bit into his doughnut and shrugged.

"Didn't that birdman say the effects could stack? He even tried to trick us into going to Sky Island to avenge him... So maybe Ron stupidly ate a whole pile of them... But from the looks of it, the brat hasn't noticed anything unusual about himself. He probably doesn't even know what he ate..."

At that, Garp looked like he was barely holding back laughter.

"After all, his body was already abnormal. Maybe he feels perfectly fine and thinks everything is normal..."

"Hahaha, I see..."

The corner of Zephyr's mouth curled upward. He flicked his cigar, watching the sparks and ash drift through the air, then slowly smiled. "If the effects really can stack, then Ron's training will need specific adjustments... We can't waste a year of effective medicinal power."

For once, Garp treated the matter seriously and looked at Zephyr with a solemn expression.

"Then I'll leave everything to you, Zephyr..."

"Bullshit! Stop worrying about things that don't concern you and stay in your damn cell!"

Zephyr sneered, flung his cape behind him, and strode out.