Astonishing Appetite! Feverish Marines

The two were drawn to each other, hit it off immediately, and became fast friends.

"Oh, I see." Momonga's eyes gleamed with amusement. He was immensely pleased with Loa's choice, though his tone remained stern. "You can, of course. But even if you're already strong, joining the Marines means starting from the most basic recruit training. Can you do that?"

"Of course." Loa answered confidently. "Besides, starting from scratch makes it more challenging."

There was something else Loa did not say. He wanted to join the Marines partly because of the Recruit Camp. From what he had learned earlier, Akainu had not yet taken command of the Marines. If he did not go see that tragic legendary figure, Zephyr, now, he might never get another chance. And who was Zephyr? A top-tier teacher! Just look at the disciples he had trained—every one of them became a figure who stirred up the seas!

When Kuzan, Sakazuki, Kizaru, and the others had joined the Marines, they had also started as recruits. This was practically the choice of the will of the universe.

Want to become stronger? Then join the Recruit Camp!

The final reason was that the much-discussed World Military Draft had not yet begun, so Loa had no other choice at all.

Seeing the confidence on Loa's face, Momonga nodded in satisfaction. Folding his arms across his chest, he said, "Very good. We should reach Marineford in two days. When we arrive, you'll join the Recruit Camp and begin training. For now, let's eat."

"Yes, sir."

The Marines naturally did not hold banquets like pirates, raising cups directly on the deck. They had a separate cafeteria.

At the cafeteria entrance, Loa took a dose of seasickness medicine from the ship's doctor. The color quickly returned to his face. Though he still felt awful, he could finally muster some strength.

Free from the young Marine's support, Loa walked up to the man serving food.

"Hello, I'd like ten servings of curry rice, plus a basin of chicken legs. Oh, right, I don't need the fruit over there. Just give me the whole basket."

Leaving the dumbfounded man behind, Loa carried the rice in one hand and the chicken legs in the other, clamped the fruit basket full of fruit between his teeth, and ran over to sit at Momonga's table.

Thud!

The iron basin crashed heavily onto the table, proving that it was packed full. Looking at the huge pile of food blocking his view, Momonga's eye twitched.

"Loa, do you eat this much every meal?"

"Huh?" Loa tossed a chicken leg straight into his mouth. Without even chewing it properly, he swallowed the skin and bones within seconds. Hearing Momonga's question, he raised his head from the basin of rice in confusion. "No, I just don't have much of an appetite today because of seasickness."

"Don't have much of an appetite..."

In the time it took to say those words, Loa had already eaten a head-sized crater into the huge basin of curry rice. Momonga sighed helplessly. "Now I know why there was no food on that island."

Fortunately, they would reach Marineford in two days at most. Otherwise, if Loa kept eating like this for a few more days, everyone aboard the ship would go hungry.

Watching Loa gorge himself, the other Marines in the cafeteria could not help examining the curry rice in their hands. "Is this stuff really that good?"

Luckily, this was a Marine warship. Both the quality and quantity of its ingredients far surpassed those of an ordinary pirate ship. Seeing how Loa ate, the cook hurriedly chopped carrots and potatoes and finished a second pot of curry before this batch of people was done eating. Otherwise, many people definitely would not get dinner tonight.

Clang!

After swallowing the last bite of rice, Loa let go of the basin. He slumped in his chair with his round belly bulging, opened his mouth, and let out a full belch. A string of ice crystals sprayed out with the airflow.

"I'm full, I'm full. It's been so long since I had curry rice this delicious. Uncle! Help me prepare another five big meat bones. I'm taking them with me!"

Clatter~

A group of Marines nearly fell flat on their asses. Were you really human? There were all sorts of strange races in this world, and plenty of people with enormous appetites, but they had never seen a human who could eat this much!

Momonga rubbed his forehead in distress. If Loa really joined the Marines, it looked like the Recruit Camp would have to prepare extra food. Otherwise, with Loa's personality, Momonga dared guarantee that he would snatch all his comrades' meals and eat them himself. How the hell were they supposed to train then? They would not even be full!

Holding a meat bone in one hand, Loa bid Momonga farewell and left the cafeteria. Before leaving, the ship's doctor had told him that he had prepared more seasickness medicine that afternoon and told Loa to come collect enough for the next two days.

The ship's doctor lived not far from the soldiers' quarters. After leaving the cafeteria and walking a few steps, Loa arrived. The Marines in the corridor stared dumbfounded at Loa as he ate while walking. Every few steps, he tossed an arm-thick bone overboard, polished clean without even a shred of meat left on it.

"Hello, is anyone there? I'm here to pick up my medicine."

Standing outside the medical room, Loa knocked on the cabin door between burps.

"Oh, Mr. Loa. Please come in!"

The ship's doctor's voice came from inside the medical room. Loa pushed open the door. Inside was a spacious room filled with the smell of disinfectant and alcohol. Several white hospital beds stood along the left side. Two Marine soldiers in patient gowns were curled beneath their blankets, shivering.

The ship's doctor sat in a chair across from the door, holding a syringe as he drew milky-white medicine from a bottle. On the table before him, Loa saw several neatly arranged brown bottles. Those were probably the seasickness medicines he had taken today.

Seeing Loa enter, the ship's doctor rose with the syringe in hand. While inspecting the medicine inside, he said to Loa, "These brown bottles are yours. There are five in total. Take them first. If you run out or your condition worsens, be sure to notify me immediately."

"Alright, Doctor." Loa nodded, walked over, and tucked the medicine into his pocket. When he turned around, he saw the doctor lift a blanket and pull down a Marine's pants, exposing a pale bare ass. He asked curiously.

"By the way, sir, what's wrong with these patients?"

After aiming for several seconds, the ship's doctor drove the needle hard into the Marine's ass. His words carried undisguised contempt. "Heh, many soldiers caught colds today after falling into the water. These two are so weak that it actually developed into high fevers."

Loa did not know how to respond. Why had the Marines fallen into the water? Was it not because he had failed to control his strength?

Still, it could not entirely be blamed on their weak constitutions. The magic-infused ice released by an Ice Dragon Slayer was far colder than ordinary ice. Tossing a piece into a stream would freeze a whole stretch of flowing water.

Although Momonga's sword aura had blocked the frigid current spreading across the sea, that chill had still invaded most of the Marines on the ship. Anyone who had not caught a cold could truly be called an elite.

After awkwardly bidding the ship's doctor farewell, Loa returned to his cabin.

P.S.: I saw the post from the reader "I Am the Tang King" in the review section. I've actually been considering how to solve this problem lately, since this is the world of Fairy Tail. In the original story, Natsu even got motion sickness while riding on Simon's back. He was only fine when riding on a dragon's back or being carried by Happy. The reason was that he saw Happy as family rather than transportation. So from another angle, could it be that anything a Dragon Slayer considers family can offset this weakness? Finding a mount really is a good idea. Thanks in advance—I'll think it over carefully.

P.S.: Also, Big Tree may not be able to reply in the review section recently, because my phone got linked to another account. Tragic. I'd trouble everyone to create a feedback thread in the review section, and I'll pin it. Even buying a phone card requires ID verification now, which is such a pain.

P.S. 3: I received a signing invitation on the 9th, but only saw it yesterday and contacted the editor. I'll sort out the contract this afternoon and mail it over. I guess I'm officially one of the signed authors now.