"I never would have expected that our young Swordsman, the genius once highly praised by Teacher Zephyr and Vice Admiral Garp, would still be a private third class after an entire six months."
Gion had never cared much about her own rank. What she cared about was her strength. As for titles like military rank, once her strength improved, everything else would naturally fall into place.
Yet Gion did not know why, but upon seeing Wood again after half a year and noticing that his rank still had not changed—as well as the envy in his eyes—she had unexpectedly put on the airs of a colonel and teased him.
Ever since meeting Wood, Gion had felt that she was always the one getting the short end of the stick.
What she had always been most proud of was her swordsmanship, yet he was a Swordsman who was even younger than her.
She had thought that her strength had surpassed his and had even smugly enjoyed that feeling for a while. She had gone so far as to lecture him from the standpoint of a strong person, only to be brutally humiliated once again.
Half a year had passed, and although Gion did not know how strong Wood was now,
when she saw his envious, jealous, and resentful expression toward her rank, she suddenly felt wonderful again. After being on the losing end for so long, she finally felt that she had won one back.
"Tsk. Dirty politics. Having connections behind you at Marine Headquarters really makes a difference. You've only been graduated for half a year, right? And you've already skipped so many ranks, rising straight from sergeant to Marine Headquarters Colonel."
It had to be said that Wood was genuinely envious when he saw that Gion was already a colonel.
His goal was to become the colonel of Maple Leaf Island's Marine Branch. Although a Marine Branch colonel did not carry as much weight as a Marine Headquarters Colonel,
to be transferred from Marine Headquarters to a branch as a colonel, one needed to be at least a Marine Major at Headquarters.
Wood was currently a private third class. Between him and the rank of major at Headquarters, there were still private second class, private first class, corporal, sergeant, senior sergeant, warrant officer, ensign, lieutenant junior grade, and lieutenant—a full nine ranks.
Compared to Gion, who was currently a Marine Headquarters Colonel, he was a full eleven ranks behind!
They had graduated from the same school, and they had even been classmates in the same year. But this gap was simply too huge...
"What nonsense are you talking about? I became a Marine Headquarters Colonel entirely through my own ability. I didn't rely on connections or back doors.
"Besides, you. I had originally thought you would maintain your low-key principles.
"But I never imagined you would take being low-key to this extent!
"Do you know how much effort I had to expend to find you in the Marine records?"
The Marines had a massive internal system. Apart from the special scientific research forces, there were all kinds of units and organizations.
Gion did not know where Wood had been assigned, so she could only use his rank to narrow down the search.
After all, although the Marines had a huge number of personnel, more than ninety percent of them were ordinary soldiers.
At first, Gion searched through the Marines according to the same standard as herself: "Marine Headquarters Colonel."
However, after going through several hundred Marine Headquarters Colonels, Gion still did not find Wood's name.
Then Gion quickly remembered that Wood was exceptionally low-key. While everyone else wanted to show off, he was always trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Taking Wood's personality into consideration, Gion began searching for his name among the Marine officers of lieutenant colonel and major rank.
As expected, Gion still found nothing.
Naturally, the unwilling Gion would not give up so easily. Unless someone had died in battle, every name in the Marine records would definitely be registered.
Ordinarily, these records could not be examined casually. However, Fleet Admiral Sengoku had previously given the word that she could choose any Marine below the rank of admiral, which was how Gion had gained such authority.
She had not only finished going through the list of colonel-level officers, but had now even gone through the names of lieutenant-level officers. Yet Gion, whose eyes had turned bloodshot, still could not find Wood's name!
Considering the strength Wood had displayed half a year ago, as well as his cautious and sly nature, Gion did not believe he could have died so easily.
Gion began to suspect that Wood had become an officer above the colonel level. However, after she asked Vice Admiral Tsuru, Tsuru told her that there were only a limited number of Marine officers of admiral rank, even at Marine Headquarters.
If someone their age had become an admiral-level officer, then they would unquestionably be a genius on the level of Aokiji and Kizaru. There was no way she would not know about him.
Still unwilling to give up, Gion spent an entire night searching after she returned. In the end, she finally found Wood's name among the countless private third class soldiers.
Gion was even grateful that Wood had somehow managed to obtain the rank of "private third class" upon graduation. If he had merely been an ordinary Marine soldier, finding him would truly have been like searching for a needle in a haystack.
After all, this was the medieval era. Something like a computer could not possibly exist. Registration and information processing still relied on primitive written records.
There were as many ordinary Marines as stars in the sky. Even among those named Wood, there were probably more than one or two.
Gion genuinely could not understand it. Given Wood's strength, no matter how poorly he had fared, after six months, he should at least have become a sergeant, even if he had not risen to the rank of a colonel-level Marine officer.
In any case, they were all elites who had received enhanced training at the Marine Academy. As Teacher Zephyr's students, even the worst off among them should at least have become corporals.
Yet this fellow Wood was still a private third class. He was being far too low-key...
Unfortunately, Gion did not know that this time, Wood truly had not wanted to keep a low profile. In fact, in order to leave Marine Headquarters as soon as possible and go to some Marine Branch to become a no-name colonel, Wood had even considered working hard to get promoted.
However, the problem was that the place he had been assigned to was simply too terrible...
During the six months he had spent in Impel Down, not only had Marine Headquarters forgotten about a nobody like him, even the members of the small squad stationed with him had nearly forgotten that Wood existed.
He could not go out to pursue pirates, and even clerical work had been pushed to the margins. How the hell was he supposed to get promoted and earn a raise?
"I know you're used to keeping a low profile, but this time, I really need a few capable people to assist with a mission.
"If the mission can be completed successfully, I think you should at least be promoted to the rank of sergeant.
"Of course, considering how much you like keeping a low profile, if you want to exchange the promotion for some other reward, I can help you submit a request."
When he saw Gion, Wood had felt that trouble was bound to follow. Sure enough, the very next moment, she bluntly revealed the reason she had summoned him back to Marine Headquarters.
At first, Wood had been completely uninterested in the mission Gion mentioned. He had even planned to refuse without giving it a second thought.
However, when he heard that completing the mission would allow him to rise directly to sergeant, Wood's feet, which had been about to carry him away, suddenly stopped.
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