This Is a 17-Year-Old Boy???

After staying at home with his teacher for two days, Wude set off once more, bidding the teacher farewell.

He took Jia with him and set sail toward various islands.

Those guys who remained in the Grand Line had families living on various islands in the East Blue.

Wude spent some time delivering the money to their families.

Loguetown.

Inside a tavern.

A shifty-looking teenager sat in a corner, sporting a pair of long, mouse-like whiskers. He ate his food while observing his surroundings.

He had no idea what had gotten into things lately, but he had taken bribes from pirates and given them the slip.

Living a life of debauchery day after day, he had been planning to join the Marines after a bit more time passed.

As it turned out, just a few days ago, he had been subjected to the frantic pursuit of a single person.

Could it be that my betrayal of the town was leaked? No way, those people should all be dead.

He pondered this in his heart, but because of his guilty conscience, he didn't dare go back to take a look.

Creak...

A door pushed open and a man walked in. The shifty teenager only glanced up before in terror he directly grabbed the windowsill and vaulted out.

It was that crazy bastard hunting him down again!

Jia sneered, catching up in long strides, leaping nimbly out of the tavern, drawing his gun, and firing.

Pedestrians on the street panicked instantly, while pirates watched the spectacle with keen interest.

Bang! Bang!

Crisp gunshots rang out, and the shifty young man took a bullet in the leg, tipping sideways and falling before crawling laboriously into the distance.

"Shooting people in the street, do you want to be wanted?" The shifty teenager glared at Jia, putting up a bold front as he shouted at the patrol marines running over from afar.

"Is it him?"

"Yes, sorry for the trouble, this is tea money."

The marines stood alongside Jia, and Jia handed the other party a small stack of Berry, sending them off before sneering as he looked at the dumbfounded shifty teenager.

"Did you think you were the only one who took money to get things done? Heh heh." Jia grabbed the fellow by the collar with one hand and dragged him away.

By the seaside, aboard a ship.

Wude and Smoker, whom he hadn't seen in years, sat in the cabin. That jerk Smoker held a marine cap, happily fussing with it on Wude's forehead.

"Hahahaha, marine recruits returning from the New World really are different." Smoker chuckled as he adjusted the cap.

Wude hadn't enlisted in Loguetown; he had identification papers along with letters of recommendation from several East Blue branch base commanders he had met not long ago.

When the time came, he could go directly to Marine Headquarters to apply for the Marine Academy cadet recruitment.

As for Smoker, he would be heading to Marine Headquarters together with him to attend the Marine Academy.

It was just that this guy had enlisted early and was using a marine cap to let him get a feel for it.

Thud, thud!

A knock sounded, and Wude called out, "Come in."

Jia dragged that shifty teenager inside.

Smoker frowned at Jia.

"I've checked into it. This fellow betrayed the people of his hometown not long ago, causing a town to have most of its population slaughtered by pirates," Jia said.

It was precisely the town they had passed by shortly before.

"Lock him in the brig," Smoker said to Wude.

"That won't do. So many people died while he's still alive, his conscience will hurt." Wude beckoned to Jia, telling him to finish the job.

Smoker said no more; he had also heard from Wude about that town which met with such a tragedy.

"I have money, don't kill me! I'm begging you!" The shifty teenager pleaded with Wude in terror.

Yet he was dragged out all the same.

If there was a reason, it was that according to Shyarly's prophecy, the fellow who had once held the identity of the future informant tools was none other than this guy.

This fellow would become Captain Nezumi in the future and collude with Arlong.

The time arrived for the annual Marine Academy cadet recruitment.

Wude and Smoker came to Marineford together to wait in line for registration.

As for Jia, he had been left behind in the East Blue to develop things.

When they reached a table, a man wearing a marine uniform handed him a form and a pen: "Fill this out and go take the test."

After filling in basic information like his name, he looked at the final column: words to write to himself upon graduation.

He took the pen and scratched away:

"Only time can kill me, never forget your original aspirations."

"Oh?" The marine looked at what he had written, wanting to say he was such an arrogant young man, yet not wishing to dampen the other's spirits. "I hope to see the powerful rise of a new star in the future."

"Not just that, he's the guy who's going to shock the Marines in the future!" Smoker had three cigars clamped in his teeth, slinging an arm over Wude's shoulder as he spoke with a smile.

"You idiot, I told you not to smoke so close to me!" Wude shoved Smoker's head, yet the guy still grinned and draped his arm over him.

"Having drive is good. Next is the place for testing Doriki Values, so do your best, young man." With those words from the marine to Wude, Wude and Smoker parted ways and headed toward the adjacent room.

Smoker sat down to fill out his form, while the pale-pink-haired girl waiting in line behind him gazed at the receding back, looking at Smoker in puzzlement. "Why did you say that?"

Smoker raised his head and said, "He's a truly terrifying monster. Before even signing up for the Marine Academy, he went to the New World, came back safe and sound, and even shook down a few supernova pirates."

"Th-this has got to be a lie!" Even the marine in charge of receiving registrations stared at him in shock.

"No way, where would there be such a freakish rookie?!"

"He came back from the New World safe and sound, and how old is this guy?!"

"Just seventeen..."

"Seventeen and back from the New World? And shook down supernovas? You've got to be kidding, he's talking nonsense!"

The people waiting in line buzzed with discussion. Some frowned, feeling they had encountered a formidable competitor in their cohort and pondering how to grow stronger; some felt jealous, assuming the other guy was just talking trash and bragging; others muttered Wude's name, filled with fighting spirit.

Yet none of this concerned Wude, for he had already begun testing his Doriki Value.

A Doriki Value could reflect a person's combat power, but it could not determine a person's strength with absolute precision.

This was because the punching-target machine before him used for testing Doriki Values could not measure combat power under conditions involving Devil Fruit abilities, swordsmanship, marksmanship, Observation Haki, and the like.

Thus, this was merely one evaluation standard for enlistment exams, and this standard measured talent and potential.

Assuming the most ordinary marine had a Doriki Value of 10.

The connection-haver Spandam had only 9, while those CP9 members during the Enies Lobby arc generally had between 600 and 800 Doriki, Jabra over 2,000, and Kaku 20 more than Jabra.

Lucci—4,000 Doriki!

Wude watched people punching the target nearby.

Thud!

A man struck the punching target with a punch, looking at the result with disappointment. "Twenty-two, it's over, it's over, still no good."

Boom!

A muffled sound came from Wude's left as a bulky fellow slammed his fist into the punching target.

"Hmph, 125, fair to middling, I suppose." The big guy glanced sideways at the smaller fellow, noticing the latter hadn't made a move this whole time.

He must be here for the first time and was nervous, right?

The big guy had arrived earlier than Wude and hadn't heard Smoker's boasting.

"Don't be nervous, little guy. If not this time, there's always the next. You're still young, don't overthink it—just throw a punch," the big guy said in the tone of a senior, then surveyed his surroundings to check out everyone else's scores.

"Oh, thanks for the reminder." Wude returned a polite smile, then lashed out with a punch.

With a dull thud, his fist struck the punching target, and the numbers on the Doriki Value testing machine skyrocketed, surpassing the big guy's score in the blink of an eye without stopping.

The big guy awkwardly wiped the sweat from his forehead, staring in silence at the machine in front of Wude.

You're telling me this is a seventeen-year-old boy?!