Marine Super Rookies

Fullbody's Iron Fist had not completely erased Zepa's sword aura. There was no helping it—he had only recently grasped Armament Haki, and it was not strong enough yet.

Seeing that he was about to fail to withstand it and be injured by Zepa's sword aura, Jango anxiously looked toward Hina, hoping she would step in and save Fullbody.

Yet Hina made no move, and Wuli was nowhere to be seen. Before he could think further, he suddenly felt something cool on his face. He touched it with his hand—it was a drop of water.

Looking up, he realized that rain had somehow begun drifting through the restaurant. The droplets grew denser and denser, yet none of them fell to the ground.

The people watching the battle in the restaurant were all confused. This was indoors—how could there be raindrops?

Zepa's sword aura failed to break through the wall of flowing water and was gradually worn away.

For a moment, both Fullbody and Zepa were stunned. Zepa had no idea what was happening, but a figure surfaced in Fullbody's mind. He had seen this move many times.

"Shigure Soen Ryu: Shibuki Ame."

The flowing water gradually dispersed as well, revealing Fullbody. His gaze was complicated as he looked at Wuli behind Zepa.

In an instant, the raindrops gathered into streams of water that swirled around Fullbody, forming a defensive wall.

On the second floor, Grant's eyes lit up as he looked down. His battle intent surged, and the special device in his hand gave off a humming whine.

Zepa looked at the sword-wielding Wuli, a hint of gravity flashing through his eyes. As a swordsman, he could sense the pure sword intent contained within that technique.

"Who are you? I don't think I've seen you before?" Zepa asked. He was wary, but also excited. It had been a long time since he had encountered a swordsman with such superb swordsmanship.

When they had been outside hunting pirates before, few of those pirates had possessed such pure sword intent.

A swordsman needed constant battle to temper their sword intent. Naturally, the best opponent to serve as a whetstone was someone else who practiced swordsmanship.

"Just looking at him, he must have been selected through the World Military Draft. He really does seem strong. It looks like I underestimated this World Military Draft."

Two people stepped down from the second floor using "Geppo," landing beside Zepa as they looked excitedly at Wuli.

Wuli looked at the speaker: a Marine wearing a white scarf, a black suit, and a red rooster-like hairstyle, with a Marine cape bearing the word "Justice" draped over his shoulders.

The other was a burly man with dark blue hair and a ring of beard around his face, likewise wearing a Marine cape bearing the word "Justice."

Those especially long arms reminded Wuli of someone—Shuzo.

"Ran into another Longarm Tribe member, huh." The beating he had taken from Shuzo's long arms still rankled him.

However, the aura of the man before him was not as powerful as Shuzo's. Seeing that they both wore Marine capes bearing "Justice" and appeared quite young...

Wuli formed a few guesses. These should be the Marine's new generation, just like Koby and Helmeppo.

"Except..." Wuli murmured, his gaze settling on the red-haired, scarf-wearing Marine.

His aura was the strongest among the three. In particular, Wuli could vaguely sense a powerful, ferocious force within his body.

"Grant, what do you mean by this? Don't come stealing my opponent."

Seeing Grant eager to make a move, Zepa could not help shouting anxiously.

"Zepa, I'm helping you. How about I fight him first, and then you fight him afterward? It's been a long time since I've had a proper battle," Grant said.

Of course, he had dreams and ambitions. As for pirates, his goal was not mere cannon fodder, but major figures like the Four Emperors. Still, getting to experience the joy of battle first was not a bad thing.

"Grant?"

"Zepa?"

Upon hearing those names, someone among the crowd suddenly cried out.

"Aren't they among the strongest of the Marine's new generation?"

"If I remember correctly, they were subordinates of former Marine Admiral Kuzan. Weren't they out hunting pirates before? Why have they suddenly returned to Marine Headquarters?"

The faces of the onlookers began to darken. This World Military Draft was, after all, connected to Admiral Kuzan's sudden departure from the Marines.

Hina looked at the three of them and then remembered that she seemed to have seen them following Admiral Kuzan before.

Grant released his aura and was just about to have a fierce, satisfying battle with Wuli, while Zepa stood nearby, prepared to fight for the opponent.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the restaurant entrance, drawing everyone's gaze toward it.

After causing such a commotion for so long, had Headquarters finally reacted and sent someone to punish them?