Navy Test

Spring turned to autumn, cold gave way to heat.

A full nine years!

He had hovered on the brink of death countless times, enduring the hellish agony of torn muscles and rebuilt bones.

At last, nine years had passed since that desperate conscription.

Rochi was fifteen years old!

Early one morning, atop the seaside cliff behind Locke Village.

A youth already over six feet tall stood silently against the sea breeze, his entire body sculpted like marble, every muscle perfect and brimming with explosive power.

Even standing there casually, he radiated a savage, ferocious aura so tangible that it sent chills down one's spine!

"Bzzzt—!"

At the instant the first ray of sunlight on his fifteenth birthday pierced the clouds and fell upon Rochi.

The system's mechanical voice, silent for a full nine years, finally exploded in his mind!

[Ding! Host's bone age has been detected as exactly 15!]

[Ding! Through extremely brutal physical exertion, the host has shattered the physiological shackles of mortals and forcibly broken through the experience limit with a body transcending mortality!]

[Congratulations, Host! Current level has advanced from Level 0 (Mortal) to—Level 1 (Soldier)!]

Rochi's eyes snapped open, and a sharp glint flashed through them.

With a thought, he immediately opened his status panel.

[Host: Rochi]

[Current Level: Level 1 (Your body has already surpassed the limits of your peers!)]

[Experience: 0/10]

[Supreme Beginner Gift Pack Status: Unlock Condition 1 (Reach age 15) fulfilled!]

[Unlock Condition 2: Join the Navy or Pirate faction (Pending)!]

Nine years of restraint! Nine years of self-torture!

As he was now, even without the gift pack, he could blow apart ordinary soldiers wielding flintlock rifles with a single punch!

But that was not enough.

What he wanted was absolute power—the power to overthrow the entire World Government, slaughter the Celestial Dragons, and crush every shred of hypocritical justice upon these seas!

"Now, I just need to find a faction to join, and I'll be able to fully unlock that so-called Supreme Beginner Gift Pack."

Rochi clenched his fist, feeling the volcanic power surging through his body. His bones crackled sharply.

Just as he was considering whether to infiltrate a pirate crew or sail out to find a Navy base—

"Woooo—!"

An exceptionally deep and prolonged whistle suddenly tore through the sea mist and reached the cliff!

Rochi's gaze sharpened, and he abruptly turned toward the distant horizon.

A massive warship, its sides fitted with black heavy cannons, was cutting through the waves and slowly heading toward Locke Village's crude pier!

Upon its enormous sail, the seagull emblem clutching a pair of scales looked especially glaring beneath the sunlight.

That was... a Navy warship!

At that moment, on the warship's deck.

A young officer in a crisp white Navy lieutenant uniform, a cloak bearing the word "Justice" draped over his shoulders, frowned as he surveyed the dilapidated Locke Village ahead through a telescope.

"What a damn joke!"

The lieutenant impatiently tossed the telescope to his adjutant, pulled out a cigar, and clamped it between his teeth.

"Are those higher-ups full of shit? They actually sent us to this godforsaken place to recruit soldiers?"

The adjutant hurriedly struck a match to light the lieutenant's cigar, agreeing with a fawning smile.

"Please calm down, Lieutenant."

"Locke Village was already hit hard by the World Government's conscription nine years ago. The village is probably full of half-dead old bones and scrawny, crooked runts now."

"What talent could a backwater this poor, where even pirates cannot be bothered to plunder, possibly have?"

The lieutenant exhaled a thick ring of smoke and gave a disdainful sneer as he watched the increasingly clear, withered village in the distance.

"We're just going through the motions."

"Once we dock, toss out a few recruitment flyers and get out of here!"

At that very moment, atop the cliff behind Locke Village.

A pair of eyes as terrifying as those of an abyssal beast was fixed firmly on the approaching warship.

"A Navy recruitment ship?"

Rochi grabbed the burlap coat draped over a rock and casually threw it over his powerful muscles. A bone-chilling smile curled across his lips.

"It came at just the right time."

Fully armed Navy soldiers soon stormed into the village and drove all the remaining villagers to the central square.

The square no longer resembled what it had been nine years ago.

Only a little over sixty people stood scattered about, all of them elderly, weak, sickly, disabled, or gaunt adolescents.

Standing atop the platform, the lieutenant did not even spare them a proper glance.

He waved his hand.

"Bang!"

With a dull crash, two Navy soldiers worked together to slam a round boulder weighing nearly a hundred pounds into the center of the square, sending dust flying.

"Listen up!"

The lieutenant's cold voice echoed through the square. "The Navy is not a shelter! We do not need trash that cannot even hold a rifle steady! Anyone who can move this stone even one inch can board my ship and wear the Navy uniform that represents justice!"

Dead silence filled the square.

For these sallow, emaciated villagers, let alone moving it, the falling stone could take half their lives.

"Is this all of you? Every boy over fifteen, get up here and try!"

A Navy sergeant barked sharply.

Four or five trembling boys stepped out from the crowd.

The first boy went up and pushed until his face reddened and his neck bulged, but the black stone did not move at all.

Then, a sturdy boy named Bart gritted his teeth and tightly wrapped his arms around the edge of the stone.

"Aaaah!"

Bart gave it everything he had. At last, the stone scraped across the ground with a piercing sound, barely shifting an inch.

"Pant... pant..." Bart collapsed to the ground, utterly spent.

"You pass. Next!"

The lieutenant raised an eyebrow. At least the trip had not been completely wasted.

Next, another boy named Moore used every ounce of strength he had and barely pushed the stone a fraction.

Finally, it was Rochi's turn.

Rochi slowly stepped out from the crowd, wearing only a tattered burlap garment.

Already a little over six feet tall and long-limbed, he did not look like an underage boy.

Yet he deliberately concealed his aura and kept his head lowered. From above, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary young man.

"Hurry up! Stop wasting time!"

The lieutenant urged impatiently. Recruiting two barely acceptable grunts today already counted as completing his mission, and his thoughts had long since drifted back to the tavern at the base.

Rochi walked up to the enormous black boulder.

He did not lower into a stance and embrace the stone like the others, nor did he search for a point of leverage.

He merely stood there calmly as his right hand slowly curled into a fist.

Nine years.

For nine years, he had driven his body through self-torturous training in the mountains behind the village, from frog-jumping along cliffs with boulders on his back to battling undertows in the deep sea.

He had waited far too long for this moment.