More than a hundred people had taken part in the sergeant-level training, but after a year had passed, only half of them remained.
As for the other half, most had died in battles against pirates during the practical combat courses.
Some others had faced vicious pirates in person for the first time and had shown cowardice or fled during battle, ultimately being expelled from the Marines.
Wood's displayed strength at the Marine Academy had been average, so he had managed to obtain the rank of Seaman Third Class upon graduation.
Strictly speaking, this rank did not even count as a "sergeant." At most, he was slightly more valuable cannon fodder.
What made Wood uneasy was that his assignment was actually to patrol the area around Impel Down!
Impel Down was the place where the World Government imprisoned criminals. Before their execution, most prisoners were held there.
The people imprisoned there were not limited to pirates. There were also other utterly vicious criminals.
Impel Down did not fall under Marine Headquarters' jurisdiction, and it had its own corresponding positions for guarding the prisoners.
The prison was divided into six levels. The first held ordinary criminals, while the sixth was said to contain the most evil criminals, those capable of threatening the world.
Before Pirate King Roger was executed, he had been imprisoned on Impel Down's sixth level.
Impel Down possessed its own defensive mechanisms, and its location on an isolated island left escaped prisoners with nowhere to run.
For certain Marines with no lofty ambitions who only wanted to laze around, working at Impel Down was undoubtedly the finest cushy job.
After all, centuries had passed without anyone managing to leave Impel Down, so patrolling was nothing more than a routine duty.
If this had been before, Wood would naturally have been quite satisfied with a job where he could coast along and wait for death.
However, after experiencing the second Simulated Life, Wood knew very clearly that Impel Down, which had remained problem-free for centuries, was about to lose all face!
The captain of the Flying Pirate Crew, the Great Pirate Shiki the Golden Lion imprisoned on the sixth level, would soon cut off both his legs and escape!
In his second simulated life, he had died at the hands of the escaped Shiki the Golden Lion. Now he had become a patrolling Marine—this was practically history repeating itself!
Although Wood's current strength was far greater than that of his second simulated self—not merely by a little—he had not only become a "Swordsman," comprehended Kenbunshoku Haki, and mastered the Six Styles, but even so, he still had no qualifications to challenge someone as important as Shiki the Golden Lion!
He had wanted to warn Zephyr and Garp that Shiki would choose to escape in the future, but he could not explain himself at all.
After all, the event had not happened yet. Whether Zephyr and the others would believe him was one matter; even if they did, how would he explain his ability to predict the future?
Wood had gone to great lengths to hide his strength precisely because he wanted to be a nameless supporting character. Such attention-grabbing behavior went completely against his usual style.
Besides, not every Marine was kindhearted. Possessing the ability to predict the future might not be a good thing. He might even wake up one day to find himself strapped to the experimental table of some mad scientist.
Since warning the Marine higher-ups was not feasible, Wood could only try to change himself and improve the future.
Thus, when he took his transfer application to the only big shot he could reach, Zephyr, hoping that Zephyr would assign him to another unit—even an ordinary cannon fodder position would do—he was rejected.
Zephyr's personality was stubborn. He believed that, as a Marine soldier, obeying orders from above was his duty.
He also believed that Wood's personality was too lax. Despite possessing exceptional talent, Wood was always wasting his time.
Impel Down was where the world's criminals were imprisoned, and every person held there was utterly vicious.
Zephyr also believed this was a good opportunity. Only after seeing the world's evil clearly would Wood find the justice in his heart and understand that the people he needed to protect were not limited to those on Maple Leaf Island.
With a righteous and stern expression, Zephyr rejected Wood's request to change his post. Wood now had only two choices.
Either he obediently reported to his new post, or he disobeyed the transfer order from above and deserted the Marines...
Deserting was impossible. He was just a nobody now, without the protagonist's halo. He could not be like some Rubber Boy, fighting his way through Impel Down and Marine Headquarters before leaving safely without a scratch.
Compared with facing the many big shots of the entire Marine Headquarters, Wood still felt that facing Shiki the Golden Lion alone offered better odds of survival.
Besides, although history was astonishingly similar, some things had already changed.
In his second Simulated Life, Wood had died at Shiki the Golden Lion's hands, but he had died as a Marine sent in as support. This time, however, he had directly become the Marine stationed at Impel Down.
Aside from his post having changed, Wood's own strength was also completely different now.
Judging from the results of his second Simulated Life, Wood had probably been casually killed by the escaping Shiki the Golden Lion, to the point that Shiki had not even known who he was.
With the strength he had possessed in the simulation, he truly had not been Shiki's match for even one exchange. However, the current Wood was far stronger than his second simulated self.
Unless he deliberately sought death by provoking Shiki the Golden Lion, or Shiki specifically targeted him, he should not be casually killed like some ordinary extra.
After thinking through the details, Wood instantly felt much more at ease. At worst, he could go through the motions without putting in any effort. If he really encountered Shiki the Golden Lion, he could simply lie down on the spot.
Having graduated from the Marine Headquarters' academy, being Zephyr's student, and possessing experience killing pirates, he only needed to endure a few years at Impel Down before applying for a transfer to a Marine Branch elsewhere.
The Maple Leaf Island Marine Branch was naturally his first choice. Not only was it his hometown, where he was accustomed to living, but as part of the first half of the Grand Line, even if he encountered pirates, most would probably be rookie weaklings.
To put it bluntly, if Wood did not deliberately conceal his strength, he was now firmly at the level of a Marine captain. Moreover, he was not an ordinary Marine captain, but a genuine Marine Headquarters captain.
With the Navy Six Forms, Kenbunshoku Haki, and Swordsman-level swordsmanship, if he encountered the former Iron Arm Cook again, Wood could let him use both hands and feet and still beat him effortlessly!
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