Assignment

The captain stood over two meters tall, his arms thicker than Rochi's thighs. His eyes held undisguised arrogance and indifference.

"You're Rochi, the one recommended by the East Blue branch?"

The captain looked Rochi up and down, taking in the warrant officer insignia on his shoulder. A blatant sneer curled across his lips. "I heard they call you a monster in that godforsaken backwater?"

"Greetings, sir."

Rochi remained expressionless. He did not even raise his eyelids.

A provocation of this level was like a fly buzzing by his ear to him now. Other than boring him, it could not stir the slightest emotional reaction.

"Hmph. Pretty arrogant, aren't you?"

The captain snorted and tossed a bundle straight into Rochi's arms.

"Listen up, brat from the East Blue!"

"Here, your branch warrant officer rank isn't worth even the paper used to wipe an ass!"

"By Headquarters rules, soldiers recommended by the Four Blues branches start from scratch! Even a private first class from Headquarters, if assigned to the Four Blues, would rank directly alongside a second lieutenant!"

"So put away that country-boy arrogance of yours."

"There's a private's uniform in that bundle. Put it on, then report to Plaza One at six tomorrow morning for your assignment!"

Rochi did not argue in the face of the barbed attempt to put him in his place.

He calmly opened the bundle, took out the uniform representing the Navy's lowest-ranking private, and casually removed his warrant officer jacket.

"You're right, sir."

As Rochi fastened the private's buttons, he raised those dead-water eyes and looked at the captain, who stood half a head taller than him.

The corners of his mouth suddenly split upward, revealing a smile that seemed somewhat chilling beneath the sunlight.

"Who gives a shit about rank?"

"As long as I can get onto the battlefield and kill pirates with bounties over a hundred million... I'd be willing to serve as a private, or even as a cook aboard a ship."

For some reason, the captain felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing that.

That brat's eyes... Why did he look like a madman desperately craving blood?!

Early the next morning.

A piercing assembly whistle tore through the skies over Marineford.

More than two thousand recruits from the Four Blues branches and Headquarters itself stood in neat formation at Plaza One.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

That was because dozens of powerful Headquarters officers, draped in general's coats, stood upon the raised platform before them!

Any one of them was a top-tier powerhouse capable of stirring up monstrous waves in the Four Blues!

"Silence!"

A Headquarters colonel in charge of assignments raised a loudspeaker, his voice booming like a bell.

"Next, I will announce the deployment assignments for this batch of recruits!"

"First unit, assigned under Vice Admiral Momonga. The list is as follows..."

As name after name was called, some rejoiced while others worried.

Being assigned under vice admirals with relatively mild temperaments and steady tactics meant their chances of surviving on the front lines would rise considerably.

Rochi stood at the very back of the private formation, listening to the list with bored indifference.

He did not care whose command he would serve under. He only cared about how high the bounties of the pirates he would soon face were.

As long as there were fights to be had and experience to gain, it made no difference who he served.

"Next..."

The colonel's voice suddenly paused. A trace of complexity flashed through his eyes, and even his tone unconsciously became exceptionally grave.

"Fifth unit, three hundred personnel in total, assigned under Admiral Sakazuki. You will depart immediately for the New World!"

"The list is as follows: Glenn, Marcus... Rochi..."

"Boom—!"

The instant the name "Sakazuki" came through the loudspeaker, every recruit around Rochi whose name had been called seemed to have all the bones sucked out of their bodies. Their faces went pale as paper!

"It's over... How did we get assigned there...?"

One recruit standing beside Rochi had his legs give out beneath him. He dropped to his knees and actually began crying in despair.

"I don't want to die yet! Why Admiral Red Dog?!"

Rochi frowned slightly, glanced at the bawling man, and sneered inwardly.

Trash.

"Brother, don't you know?"

Another recruit, who had somehow forced himself not to kneel despite trembling all over, saw Rochi's calm expression and explained in a shaking voice.

"That's Admiral Sakazuki! The Navy's killing star!"

"Serving under him, those pirates will certainly die horribly. But if we show even the slightest hint of cowardice on the battlefield, or disobey his 'Absolute Justice' to save civilians..."

"He'll turn us and the pirates into ashes with magma without the slightest hesitation!"

As he listened to the descriptions of utter terror around him, an uncontrollable blaze of fervor suddenly rose from the depths of Rochi's black eyes.

"Absolute Justice? Uprooting pirates completely?"

"This is practically a heaven-sent leveling party!"

Rochi was so excited that he clenched his fists tight.

What he hated most were moderate commanders who still worried about prisoners, civilians, and humanitarianism while fighting a war.

What he needed was slaughter! Complete and utter crushing and harvesting!

Under a hardline hawk like Red Dog, who cared neither for lives nor deaths and only wanted results, he could activate his most efficient killing mode without restraint!

"Tap... tap... tap..."

Just then, a set of heavy, oppressive footsteps, as though treading upon everyone's nerves, slowly approached from behind the platform.

The footsteps were not loud, yet they carried a terrifying heat intense enough to slightly warp the surrounding air!

At that moment, the more than two thousand recruits fell utterly silent.

Even the colonel who had been reading the list hurriedly stood at attention, saluted, and respectfully stepped aside.

A mountain-like man in a dark red suit, a rose pinned to his chest and a "MARINE" cap on his head, slowly walked to the edge of the platform.

One of the Navy Headquarters' greatest fighting forces—"Red Dog" Sakazuki!

"Whoosh—"

Red Dog had a cigar clenched between his teeth. He took a deep drag and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

He said nothing. Those hawk-sharp eyes, filled with endless ferocity and iron-blooded ruthlessness, merely swept coldly over the three hundred recruits assigned under his command.

"Sizzle..."

A visible wave of heat spread outward from Red Dog.

Even from dozens of meters away, the recruits could smell the strong, pungent stench of sulfur in the air, as if anyone he glanced at would burst into flames instantly!

"So this is... one of the Navy's greatest fighting forces!"

Standing in the crowd, Rochi already had his Observation Haki running at full power.

In his perception, the man on the platform was not human at all, but a terrifying active volcano that could erupt at any moment and destroy the entire island!

He was too strong!