Arrival at the Marine Base, Immediate Test

[Ding! Host conditions met. The Supreme Beginner Gift Pack is opening...]

As the mechanical voice exploded in his mind, the golden treasure chest that had been bound in chains for fifteen years within the system space shattered with a thunderous crash!

Dazzling golden light instantly illuminated Rochi's entire sea of consciousness!

[Congratulations, Host, on obtaining a top-tier bloodline ability: Bloodline Limit—Sharingan (One-Tomoe state)!]

[Ability Description: While activated, the Host will gain extreme dynamic vision, allowing precise capture and slowing of an enemy's movements, revealing the flaws in the force behind every technique! It can later be upgraded to Two-Tomoe, Three-Tomoe... and even the Divine Eye through accumulated experience or intense emotions!]

[Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the passive divine skill: Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery!]

[Ability Description: No rote memorization required! The system has forcibly altered your muscle memory. Every muscle and every inch of bone in your body now perfectly conforms to the most efficient techniques for exerting and dispersing force, compensating for the shortcomings of the unrefined methods you once used to temper your body!]

"Boom—!"

The instant the system notifications ended, Rochi felt a scorching current, like molten lava, surge up his spine and straight into the back of his head!

He abruptly closed his eyes and clenched his fists tight.

A tearing soreness swelled within his eyeballs. Then, when he slightly opened his eyes again... his originally deep black pupils had instantly turned an eerie crimson!

Within those scarlet eyes, a black tomoe-like mark appeared in each, slowly rotating!

"So this is... the Sharingan?!"

Rochi lowered his head slightly, pretending to sort through the luggage at his feet so the surrounding Marines and recruits would not notice anything unusual.

In his vision, the entire world had undergone an earth-shaking transformation!

The seagulls skimming over the sea, the knots swaying in the wind atop the mast, even the faint tremor of the fingers holding a cigar by the lieutenant several dozen meters away... everything was slowed down countless times and reflected in his mind with incomparable clarity!

Not only that, with the infusion of Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery, he felt that the violent, pure physical strength within his body had finally found the perfect outlet. If he wished, he could unleash destructive power far beyond what he had possessed before at any moment!

"Phew—"

Rochi took a deep breath. With a flicker of thought, the crimson and tomoe in his eyes instantly faded away, restoring his normal black pupils.

He understood that an innocent man got into trouble for possessing treasure. Before he had enough strength to protect himself, he could not reveal his trump cards lightly.

"Set sail—!"

Accompanied by the blare of a horn, the warship rode the waves and headed into the vast sea.

After a full day and night of sailing.

When the sunrise of the second day rose over the distant horizon, a heavily guarded steel fortress at sea, bristling with black cannons, appeared before them like a slumbering beast—this was the Marine branch base!

The lieutenant personally led Rochi, Bart, and Moore down the gangplank.

As for Bart and Moore, the lieutenant merely waved a hand and had veterans take them away. But he personally brought Rochi alone to the edge of a sprawling training ground behind the base.

"Rochi, this is the recruit training camp."

The lieutenant stopped and pointed toward the area ahead, which was filled with sandpits and all sorts of heavy training equipment. His gaze burned as he looked at Rochi.

"Although you're strong, strength alone isn't enough in the Marines. You also need to learn how to kill!"

"Go rest in the recruit dormitory today. Change into your uniform and assemble here first thing tomorrow morning."

"Remember, if you have any problems, come find me at the main building anytime. At this base, I'll make sure no one messes with you!"

In the lieutenant's eyes, Rochi, the monster who had smashed a Black Iron Stone with one punch, was the ladder to his own rise through the ranks. Naturally, he intended to win him over at all costs.

"Understood. Thank you, sir."

Rochi nodded expressionlessly and followed the logistics officer toward the dormitories.

That night, Rochi lay on a hard wooden bed, listening to the snores of the other recruits around him, and slept unusually soundly.

Because he knew that his true journey would begin tomorrow.

The next morning.

A shrill assembly whistle tore through the base's silence.

More than two hundred recruits from various islands, all dressed in identical white Marine training uniforms, stood in a massive formation on the vast training ground.

Rochi stood among the crowd, ramrod straight like a spear.

"Thud, thud, thud—"

Amid the heavy stomp of military boots, a burly officer nearly two meters tall, with a horrifying centipede-like scar stretched across his face, strode onto the raised platform before the formation.

A Justice coat, symbolizing his status as an officer, hung over his shoulders. His cold, bloodthirsty eyes, like those of a savage beast, swept across the crowd.

Every recruit caught by his gaze lowered his head in fright, scarcely daring to breathe.

"A bunch of weaklings! A bunch of trash!"

The scarred instructor's voice exploded over the training ground like a great bell.

"Don't think that just because you've put on these uniforms, you're fucking Marines!"

"In my eyes, you're not even worth a pile of shit right now! You're nothing but cannon fodder waiting to die beneath pirate blades!"

The entire field fell dead silent.

The instructor greatly enjoyed the thrill of crushing people's mental defenses. With a vicious grin, he raised one thick finger.

"My rules are simple! I don't care who you are, and I don't care how badass you were back in your villages!"

"Only when you can withstand ten moves from me will you be promoted from worthless training recruits to probationary Marines!"

The recruits below sucked in sharp breaths.

Withstand ten moves from this scarred beast?! How could that possibly be done?!

"What? Cat got your tongues?"

The instructor looked at the terrified faces below and curled his lip disdainfully. "Then again, makes sense. With you skinny little piles of trash, you'll probably need to train under me for three months before you can barely block one punch without being... huh?!"

Before the instructor could finish his mockery, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Because, in the center of that formation of more than two hundred people,

a long, powerful arm rose straight into the air, standing out from the crowd like a crane among chickens.

Rochi calmly met the instructor's eyes atop the platform. His voice was not loud, but in the pin-drop silence of the training ground, every person heard it clearly.

"Reporting, Instructor."

"I want to take the test now."

Boom!

The recruits' eyes instantly widened. As if they were looking at a madman, they all turned to stare at Rochi!

Bart and Moore were so frightened their legs went weak. "Ro... Rochi, has he gone crazy?! We just became Marines!"

"Ha ha ha! Good! Very good!"

Rather than getting angry, the scarred instructor laughed. The centipede-like scar on his face writhed madly with excitement. "I was worried I wouldn't find an example to make a show of on the first day of camp, but you came knocking on my door yourself!"

"Kid! Step out! As long as you can withstand ten moves, I'll personally sign your appointment papers as a probationary Marine immediately!"