Hot-blooded excitement, long overdue

To accommodate the Giant Squad's daily drills and the increasingly outrageous training demands of its monster-class Logia officers, Marine Headquarters had reinforced and expanded its training grounds time and again.

The foundations had been driven deep beneath the bedrock, with alloy frameworks and seastone structures interlocked layer upon layer.

Even when the monsters unleashed their full strength, the grounds could withstand several disaster-level impacts without collapsing entirely.

And now—

Even with Zephyr standing over seven meters tall in his Titan human-beast form at the center, the training grounds still had ample room.

But for Rock, that was hardly good news.

Under the unwavering stare of those red-glowing eyes, he instinctively twitched the corners of his mouth into a slightly guilty smile.

"W-well..."

"Brother Zephyr, that time... it really was an accident..."

Before he could finish.

Zephyr had already lost interest in hearing his explanation.

He merely swept a cold glance over their surroundings, and wherever his gaze passed, even the air seemed to grow heavier.

One look.

The next instant—

Whoosh!!

Borsalino turned into a blinding streak of light, vanishing from his spot and flashing into view in several directions at once.

The spectators around the training grounds saw only a blur. By the time they recovered, they had all been neatly "escorted" beyond a safe distance.

At the same time, Bullet instinctively dragged Sakazuki back.

"Hey, hey, hey!!"

Rock looked back, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"You bunch of traitors!!"

The only answer was Borsalino's perpetually languid voice, drifting leisurely over from afar.

"Ooh, scary~"

"Since our teacher has spoken."

"As his students, we wouldn't dare disobey~"

Bullet grabbed Sakazuki by the shoulder, laughing as he retreated, his voice full of gleeful anticipation.

"Vice Admiral Rock."

"Enjoy yourself~"

Sakazuki instinctively tried to break free, but when he caught the