Zephyr (Please Keep Reading)

Sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone upon the refugee ship, bringing everyone a trace of warmth.

"Form a line! Once your information has been registered, we'll coordinate with nearby branches to send you home."

Under the arrangement of more than ten elite Marines, all the slaves obediently formed a long line on the deck.

Most wore smiles of relief at having survived the disaster, though a small number kept cold expressions, their resistance obvious.

Fortunately, the Marines handling registration knew the reason and did not make things difficult for them. The process proceeded fairly smoothly.

"Teacher Zephyr, are all the officers and soldiers on that warship dead?"

At the bow, Hina looked at the sea ahead, where only a few wreckage fragments remained, and voiced her doubts.

"We arrived too late. Those people were likely like you—they fell into the sea after their bodies were severed. In that situation, there was no way for them to save themselves."

"If we hadn't known beforehand that their bodies could be reattached, and if there hadn't been so few of you, I wouldn't have been able to rescue all of you."

Zephyr sighed and continued, "Salvage would take too much time. I contacted the branch they belonged to and told them to send people to handle it themselves."

"Are we continuing to pursue Van?" Hina hesitated.

"Do you think you can catch him on your own?" Zephyr neither confirmed nor denied it.

"That bastard slaughtered everyone aboard an entire warship. Isn't Teacher going to take action personally?"

The speaker was the Zoan user who had been the first to jump aboard the refugee ship. His name was Hound, a name that happened to represent his ability.

There was also another Devil Fruit user from the same class, Dalmatian, who possessed the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Dalmatian. He stood beside Hound at that moment.

Together with Smoker and Hina, this year's Elite Training Camp could be called brimming with talent, second only to the first and third classes.

"I'll take you to the Deliru Kingdom. If we're lucky enough to run into him, I'll give you another chance."

"Whether you challenge him head-on or use a scheme to surround and capture him, as long as you catch him, the reward will still stand."

Zephyr looked at Smoker, who had been silently smoking a cigar, and asked, "Do you not want to make a move against Van?"

"If he had been willing to help, we wouldn't have been so pathetic earlier." Dalmatian was deeply dissatisfied. "We should just revoke his qualification."

"You're wrong. Even if Smoker had acted, the result would not have been much different."

"No matter how far you've developed your Devil Fruit abilities, before mastering Armament Haki, you cannot confront Van head-on."

"The intelligence from before already proved that within his ability's space, the hardness of matter and bodies means nothing. Only Armament Haki can resist that Amputate ability..."

To dispel his students' notion of prioritizing abilities in their training, Zephyr seized the opportunity to forcefully instill the concept that Haki came first.

In his view, Devil Fruits were merely auxiliary tools for battle. The self was the foundation of everything, and training one's physical techniques and Haki to their limits was stronger than anything else.

Even if one's talent was limited, physical techniques and Haki should still be the focus of training. There would be plenty of time to consider Devil Fruit abilities once their strength stopped improving quickly.

"Teacher Zephyr, isn't Smoker's Logia elementalization immune to physical attacks?" Hina asked in confusion.

"That's true, but elementalization is not true disappearance. Aside from Armament Haki, certain special abilities and enormous area-of-effect energy attacks can also harm Logia users."

"I'm not sure whether Van's ability counters a Logia's elementalization, but stamina will eventually run out. Smoker cannot remain elementalized forever."

"If you want to defeat him in a head-on battle, you must master Armament Haki..."

The Elite Training Camp had been running for nearly twenty years and had trained more than half of the Navy's officers. Zephyr had truly worried himself sick over it.

After hearing that entire lecture, Smoker and the others felt their scalps tingle.

By convention, mastering one or two moves of the Six Powers by graduation counted as passing. They had already met that standard, yet Zephyr's real demand was for them to awaken Haki.

What a joke. Besides those three monsters—Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan—had the Elite Training Camp ever produced a fourth person who earned that hidden achievement?

"Teacher Zephyr, if I remember correctly, you yourself only awakened Haki in your thirties..."

Hound did not finish his sentence, but the implication was obvious.

We're only in our early twenties. Isn't that asking too much?

"That's exactly why your talents are all greater than mine. If you work twice as hard now, your future achievements will certainly surpass mine."

Zephyr was the sort who matured late. From awakening Haki to being promoted to Admiral, he had needed only four years.

That was the result of both his own efforts and a special moment in time. Even Sakazuki and the other two could not replicate it, and it would be even harder for those who came after.

You don't believe that yourself, do you?

Hina and the other three exchanged glances, then nodded in tacit understanding. "Please rest assured, Teacher. After we graduate, we'll work twice as hard!"

They only wanted this verbal lesson to end as soon as possible, but Zephyr was still not satisfied and wanted to say more.

Just then, a sudden clamor came from the registration area.

They turned around and saw that two girls had been isolated while everyone else watched the spectacle.

"What's going on?"

Zephyr led Smoker and the other three over. The crowd immediately parted, exposing Monet and Sugar before them.

"There's something suspicious about those two!" The soldier in charge of registration hesitated. "Someone said they... slept in the same room as the criminal last night. Their relationship may not be ordinary."

Though he did not say it outright, most people could guess what he meant. It was nothing more than that sort of thing in bed.

The atmosphere instantly became awkward. Smoker asked coldly, "Are they wanted criminals, or civilians who were rescued?"

"That isn't important!" Hound grinned sinisterly. "If they really have a special relationship with Van, perhaps we can use that to lure him out."

Hina frowned and could not help asking, "What if they were forced?"

"What's the difference? We aren't going to hurt them. We just need them to help us with something."

Hound did not care. After saying that, he strode forward, intending to take Monet and Sugar into custody.

"Attacking civilians—do you still deserve to call yourself a Marine?"

Smoker did not hold back. With a raised hand, he launched a White Blow straight at Hound's back.

Hound was completely unprepared and fell face-first in front of everyone.

He climbed back up, his expression exceedingly dark. "I've put up with you for a long time! Just because you're a Logia Devil Fruit user, you think you're so great that you can look down on everyone else?"

His words seemed to strike a chord. Many Marine recruits looked toward Smoker with dissatisfied expressions.

This idiot always causes trouble. Can't he just talk things out properly?

Hina felt a headache coming on, but she could not offend all her fellow trainees. She could only look to Zephyr for help.

"Enough! Have I ever taught you to fight among yourselves? All of you, go to the brig and reflect for three days!"

Zephyr stepped in and punished both sides equally, bringing the conflict to an end.

He then looked at Monet and Sugar and reassured them, "Whether you have any connection to Van or not, as long as you aren't criminals, the Navy will send you home."