Discovered, Smoker Joins

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The night was somewhat dim. Only a few stars dotted the sky with light, and even the moon seemed to have been bitten, smiling like a crescent.

As usual, Ye Chen arrived at the training ground early in the morning to continue developing the Bomb-Bomb Fruit. Once he was done, he waited for Vergo to arrive.

But tonight was destined to be anything but peaceful. A few sneaky figures, driven by curiosity, had decided to launch a nighttime ambush.

Sometimes, people were just like that. The more they could not obtain something, the more they wanted it. The more curious they were, the more they wanted to get to the bottom of it. Many people suspected that the reason Ye Chen and Vergo were always bruised and battered was because Zephyr was giving them special training.

That left many people disgruntled, feeling they were being treated differently. Otherwise, how could those two bastards have surpassed everyone else in such a short time?

So, led by Smoker, Hina, Shu, and Very Good, who had been dragged along by force, followed Ye Chen and hid in a nearby grove early on.

But after squatting there for two or three hours, all they saw was Ye Chen training by himself. There was nothing particularly unusual about it.

As for Ye Chen's ability, everyone already knew about it. The same went for everyone else's abilities, so they all knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. There was nothing surprising about it.

At first, when they learned that Ye Chen possessed the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, the others had been quite surprised. Just hearing the name made it sound powerful. But compared to Smoker's Logia, a Paramecia still fell a little short. After all, Logias were far more precious than Paramecias.

Shu's Rust-Rust Fruit and Very Good's Berry-Berry Fruit appeared even more ordinary by comparison.

It could be said that among this group of trainees, Ye Chen was not particularly famous. Other than training harder than most, he had nothing especially outstanding about him.

If there were any prominent figures among the trainees, they were undoubtedly Vergo and Smoker.

Just Smoker being a Logia user already set him apart from everyone else. Then there was Vergo. In terms of training, he was much like Ye Chen. More importantly, he was not a Devil Fruit user, yet his strength was acknowledged by all the trainees.

On top of that, Ye Chen was quiet and reserved, immersed only in his own world. This made him rather unsociable, and his presence was somewhat faint.

At last, before they had waited long, Vergo appeared.

But what puzzled Smoker and the others was that Vergo immediately began grappling with Ye Chen. Ye Chen did not use his ability, and the two simply traded punch for punch, every blow landing solidly as they brawled wildly.

Hina's eyes widened as she saw Vergo slam a fist into Ye Chen's nose, sending blood spraying out. Ye Chen then punched Vergo in the face, and it immediately swelled red.

Those two were fighting for real.

"Have they gone mad?"

Shu swallowed as he watched blood fly. Before long, both of them were black-and-blue and battered.

"Now I know why those two never recover from their injuries. They simply aren't normal." Very Good's mouth twitched. What he was seeing was a little too shocking for him. After all, they were still children.

"Why hasn't Instructor Zephyr shown up?"

Hina looked around, her face full of confusion.

"Let's wait a little longer. Instructor Zephyr will definitely appear." Smoker refused to believe that Ye Chen and Vergo had come out in the middle of the night just because they had nothing better to do than get beaten up.

One minute, five minutes, ten minutes.

"Smoker, I don't think Instructor Zephyr is coming. Ye Chen and Vergo probably got those injuries from fighting each other. Instructor Zephyr isn't giving them special training."

Very Good was getting impatient.

"I think so too." Shu nodded.

"Forget it, let's go out!" Smoker also realized that he might have guessed wrong.

"Stop!"

Smoker and the others' sudden appearance temporarily interrupted Ye Chen and Vergo's fight.

Turning around, their faces badly swollen, Ye Chen and Vergo looked calmly at the four of them.

"So this is how you get injured every day? Instructor Zephyr isn't giving you special training?"

Looking at the miserable state of the two, Smoker felt somewhat irritated.

Beside him, Hina clenched the hem of her skirt and watched them curiously.

Without answering, Ye Chen and Vergo exchanged a glance, then began fighting again.

Ye Chen and Vergo's disregard made Smoker even angrier. They were at that age when they were competitive, hot-blooded, and rebellious, so—

"White Fist."

Using his ability, Smoker turned his right hand into a white smoky fist about the size of a wok bottom. It looked rather impressive.

With no choice, Ye Chen and Vergo separated, both looking displeased.

"Smoker, what do you mean by this?"

Vergo's tone was somewhat heavy.

"I want in too."

Smoker's face flushed as he looked at Ye Chen and Vergo growing stronger every day. He was unwilling to fall behind anyone.

"Ye Chen."

Vergo glanced at Ye Chen, asking for his opinion.

"No abilities allowed."

Ye Chen's gaze turned cold. To be honest, after fighting Vergo for so long, both of them were getting tired of it. Since Smoker wanted to join them, they could change things up.

"Hmph! Fine, then I won't use it." Smoker was proud. He would never allow himself to be surpassed by those two.

Thus, the three began fighting, each for himself, none willing to yield to another.

Meanwhile, Hina, Shu, and Very Good watched.

Time passed quickly. From time to time, heart-rending screams rang out through the night.

The next day, everyone gathered early again. But today, there was a slight change, because many people had their eyes on Smoker.

To be honest, everyone was already used to Ye Chen and Vergo being bruised and battered every day. If either of them ever showed up completely unscathed, that would be the surprising thing.

But what was going on with Smoker today? His injuries were even worse than Ye Chen's and Vergo's. His face was swollen like a pig's head, covered in bruises, and his eyes had narrowed to mere slits. Everyone wondered whether Smoker could even see.

"Hiss... those two bastards."

The pain had lasted all night. Smoker had not slept a wink, and now both his body and spirit had suffered severe trauma.

In contrast to Smoker's furious cursing, Ye Chen and Vergo felt that today's weather was somehow different, as if it were even more beautiful than before.

As elusive as ever, Zephyr suddenly appeared.

When Zephyr saw Smoker's miserable appearance, he paused in slight surprise. But he said nothing. After giving it some thought, he more or less understood what had happened.

Then everything continued as usual. First came running laps to get their bodies moving, followed by frog jumps and push-ups. Any exercise that could make their muscles work was not overlooked.

It had to be said that Zephyr was truly suited to being an instructor. Every aspect of the basics was solid. As long as they completed Zephyr's training regimen, learning the Six Powers in the future would surely allow many trainees to get started quickly.

That was the difference between having a famous teacher and not having one. Clearly, Ye Chen had made the right choice. By joining the Marines before he had the means to protect himself, he could not only survive safely, but also rapidly increase his strength.

P.S. You can't have a girlfriend. She gets in the way of writing, damn it!

I want one, but I can't fucking find one, damn it!