Seven Days

"I... I surrender."

His face was bruised and swollen beyond recognition. Borsalino kept struggling, only to despairingly realize that it was all futile.

This guy was fighting as if he intended to perish together with him, and each attack was more vicious than the last. Borsalino felt as though his body no longer belonged to him.

"Stop."

It was as if Ye Chen had not heard Borsalino's surrender. He continued attacking mercilessly. Before he knew it, Ye Chen's eyes had turned bloodshot, dense veins filling his eye sockets, while an unnatural violent aura radiated from his body.

Clearly, Ye Chen had lost control.

Kong and the others on the platform understood at once from Ye Chen's expression that he had been driven into extreme madness by some kind of stimulus and had lost his reason.

Zephyr appeared in an instant and forcibly separated the two. One hand firmly pinned Ye Chen down, while Borsalino collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to life.

In Zephyr's grasp, Ye Chen had no ability to resist. Even so, he struggled violently.

A chop to the neck sent Ye Chen unconscious.

Night fell, stars dotted the sky, and a faint sea breeze carried a trace of moisture.

The Fleet Admiral's office was brightly lit. Kong was handling official affairs. The seas had been far from peaceful lately, but fortunately, the Navy's next generation had not disappointed him.

"Sengoku, what do you think about what happened today?"

Setting down his quill, Kong looked at Sengoku, who was seated below him helping process official documents, and rubbed his forehead.

Sengoku had appeared here in the middle of the night and was even assisting Kong with Navy affairs. It was obvious that Kong was grooming him to take over his position after he stepped down.

Hearing Kong's question, Sengoku set down the document and looked up at him. He frowned slightly before saying, "It's still too early to tell anything."

"Is that so?" Kong did not press further. He merely nodded and continued handling his work.

As for Sengoku, an indescribable look flickered in his eyes. He said nothing more and focused on processing the official affairs.

Days and nights blurred together, rising and falling, and in the blink of an eye, two days passed.

In the Navy infirmary, Ye Chen lay on a spotless hospital bed with his eyes tightly shut, as if trapped in a nightmare. Sweat covered his head, his hands clenched tightly, and fear, pain, and savagery showed on his pale face.

"Brother Ye Chen."

Not far away, Hina had been reading. Seeing Ye Chen become agitated, she immediately stood up and looked at him worriedly.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

Ye Chen's pained expression frightened Hina. She hurried out of the room to call for a doctor.

Just then, Ye Chen suddenly woke with a start and sat upright. His face was bloodless as he gasped for air.

"Brother Ye Chen!"

Seeing that Ye Chen was awake, Hina happily walked to his bedside and stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

Slowly coming back to himself, Ye Chen looked around at the furnishings and realized he was in the infirmary. He just did not know how long he had been asleep.

"How long was I out?"

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Ye Chen looked at Hina.

"Two days. Brother Ye Chen, you have no idea how badly you scared us." Hina pouted.

"What was the final result?"

"Of course Brother Ye Chen won! Borsalino is still recovering right now!"

Hina looked proud and excited. After all, her Brother Ye Chen had defeated a monster.

Not long after Ye Chen woke up, Vergo and the others came to visit him in the ward. An hour later, Ye Chen was discharged.

Over the past two days, most of his injuries had already healed. Ever since he had developed the Bomb-Bomb Fruit throughout his entire body, Ye Chen had felt that his physique had undergone major changes. At the very least, his healing ability had become much stronger.

Afterward, Ye Chen also learned from Vergo and the others what had happened over the past two days.

For example, he had lost control, been knocked unconscious by Instructor Zephyr, and slept for two days and two nights.

The reason he had remained bedridden for two days was that he had been too exhausted and injured. Otherwise, he would have long since been full of life and energy.

Take Borsalino, for instance. He had clearly been more severely injured than Ye Chen, yet he got out of bed earlier. In terms of physique, Borsalino was no match for Ye Chen, but he had awakened first. That was enough to show that Ye Chen had expended far more stamina than Borsalino in that battle.

However, Ye Chen's reputation had now spread throughout the entire Marine Academy. Even the Navy officers at Marineford headquarters had come to know of him.

After all, making Borsalino—the most troublesome of the three monsters—suffer a loss was enough to prove Ye Chen's strength.

There were no longer just three monsters in the academy, but four. Ye Chen's reputation was now on par with Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino.

When Ye Chen left the infirmary and returned to the academy, many cadets looked at him with fear, admiration, and disbelief. In the past, they would have ignored him or looked down on him, but now no one dared to do so.

Vergo and Smoker's reputations had also risen considerably. They were no longer people whom anyone could casually look down upon.

"The matches have been postponed. The new rounds will begin in seven days."

As they walked across the training ground, Smoker told Ye Chen about the upcoming arrangements.

The further things progressed, the more intense the battles became, and the injuries would naturally grow more serious. Time was needed for recovery. Seven days would be enough for everyone, so long as their injuries were not fatal.

Ye Chen was not worried about that. What concerned him was whether his loss of control would affect the opinions of those important people above.

In truth, Ye Chen was overthinking it. So long as he did not show any intention of resisting, leaving, or harming the Navy, he would not be suppressed.

Talent and potential were enough to cover up certain bad tempers.

If Ye Chen had been suppressed merely for losing control, then Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan, Onigumo, and the others—with personalities even more excessive than his—would have been dealt with long ago.

So long as one did not violate the Navy's bottom line, there would be no so-called exclusion or suppression. To put it bluntly, Ye Chen was simply too suspicious—or perhaps he lacked a sense of security.

"Seven days, plus the two days you spent unconscious, Chen. That means we still have five days."

"If that's the case, then let's train!"

Vergo and Smoker clenched their fists. Even if they could not make it into the top four, the top six had to include both of them.

What followed was day-and-night training for the three of them. Hina, Shu, and Very Good stayed nearby to attend to them. Since the three of them had already lost their qualifications, they hoped Ye Chen and the others could achieve good results so that they could take pride in it as well.

During that time, Zephyr came by once. Seeing Ye Chen and the other two drenched in sweat from training, he nodded in satisfaction.

He also gave the three of them guidance in physical techniques and Haki, explaining everything in great detail. Ye Chen and the others absorbed it greedily like sponges.

It could be said that Zephyr had made an exception for Ye Chen and the other two. Although it could not greatly increase their strength in a short time, it was immensely important for their future development.

Many problems, such as disconnected physical techniques and uncontrollable Haki, could be avoided under Zephyr's guidance. These experiences were incomparable.

Moreover, this was Zephyr's second explanation. The first time, Ye Chen and the others had found much of it confusing, but this time, it was far clearer, even though even more new questions arose.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. The new matches were destined to draw everyone's attention.