The Exam Ends!

Half an hour later.

Doberman walked empty-handed through the depths of the forest, his expression blank. He still seemed unable to accept what had just happened.

I'm a Rear Admiral at Marine Headquarters, and one of the two examiners for this graduation exam. How did a recruit take every chip I had?

Thirty-seven chips. The fruits of two days and two nights of work!

And there was nothing he could do about it.

Fight? He couldn't win. Chase? He couldn't catch up.

All he could do was watch Noah count the chips, thank him with a smile, then wave and stroll away.

For a moment,

Doberman understood how the recruits he had robbed must have felt: furious, yet utterly helpless...

He had no idea how long he had been walking when a familiar figure appeared ahead.

Doberman looked up. Dalmatian was coming toward him, wearing much the same expression Doberman had worn moments ago: dazed and unable to believe what had happened.

Dalmatian noticed Doberman and stopped short, startled.

"Don't tell me you..."

"No way. You too..."

They spoke at the same time, then froze and stared at each other.

What had happened to Doberman and Dalmatian was only the beginning.

Over the next few hours, they kept running into the other Commodores from Marine Headquarters.

The same blank faces. The same empty hands. Soon, the victims standing around staring at one another had grown from two to twelve.

Every last "examiner" had been cleaned out.

"Hahaha! This is ridiculous!"

In the White Tower's surveillance room, Sentomaru doubled over laughing at the sight.

"These idiots spent two whole days stealing everyone else's chips, only to have every last one stolen back on the final day! So these are Marine Headquarters' Rear Admirals? How embarrassing..."

"Sentomaru!"

Dr. Ent glared at