Watching Roger's Execution at the Start

"My justice? Strength! I believe in the justice of the strongest!"

Atlas pondered for a moment, then looked at the words "Justice That Reigns Supreme" behind Sengoku and answered earnestly.

"Fight for peace, and peace will endure. Compromise for peace, and peace will perish! Only our fists can end this chaotic age."

Atlas spoke with conviction. He did not care what the four big shots thought; he was simply telling them what he truly believed. Nor was he afraid. The Marines were an accommodating organization: as long as someone believed in justice, they would accept them.

"All right, I think I understand. Go back and get your affairs in order."

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing the dismissal, Atlas strode out and shut the door firmly behind him.

"Tsuru, Kuzan, what do you think of the kid?"

"Atlas? He's unquestionably a man of firm convictions. His faith in strength and pursuit of justice are second to none in this room. And Garp has vouched for his talent in training..."

Vice Admiral Tsuru paused, then continued, "His future growth could rival Kuzan and the other two. He might even surpass them!"

"Who knows? The Great Pirate Era might really end at his hands," Vice Admiral Tsuru added, half joking.

"And you, Kuzan?"

"Well, he's a Marine with strong convictions. His justice isn't as absolute as Sakazuki's. I'd actually like him aboard my ship after he graduates!"

Kuzan clearly thought highly of Atlas too, though perhaps he simply wanted someone to help with the work.

"That won't do. I'm planning to bring him aboard my ship and teach him myself."

Garp, sitting nearby, immediately objected.

"It's hard to believe Atlas is only seventeen. His physique is already on par with an ordinary Rear Admiral at Marine Headquarters. And according to his file, he's quite proficient in Observation Haki. With his talent, he'll become a major fighting force for the Marines the moment he leaves the training camp!"

Sengoku picked up Atlas's file from the desk, scarcely able to believe it. Even Kuzan and the other two had not been this formidable at his age. As for Atlas's physical gifts, only a monster like Big Mom could compare, as far as Sengoku knew.

Atlas, naturally, had no idea what the big shots thought of him. He headed for his assigned dormitory, where all the supplies he had just collected were still waiting to be put away.

"####..."

Humming a tune no one else would understand, Atlas searched for his dorm room.

The number on the door confirmed it. He had stopped by once after registering, but he and Smoker had left right after dropping off their things. He had not looked around carefully.

He pushed the door open. It was a simple room for four, with two sets of bunk beds—one by the window and one near the door.

Once inside, though, Atlas wondered if he had the wrong room. The floor was strewn with clutter, some of it strangely familiar, and the whole place was a mess. A young man who looked about twenty-five or twenty-six lounged arrogantly on the bed where Atlas had left his things. Smoker was nowhere to be seen, off doing who knew what.

On the bunks near the door, only the top bed was empty. A blond boy sat on his knees on the lower bed. He had a delicate face, but a stubborn gloom hung between his brows, and he looked rather frail.

"Hi! Nice to—bang!" The blond boy tried to rise and greet Atlas, but perhaps he had forgotten he was on the lower bunk. His head slammed into the bed above, nearly lifting the whole frame.

The young man occupying Atlas's bed, meanwhile, treated both of them like air and leaned against the headboard with an affected look of indifference.

"Hey. That's my bed. And you're the one who threw my stuff on the floor, aren't you?"

Atlas had no intention of letting that slide. He walked straight up to the young man and demanded an answer.

"Huh? So what? It's mine now."

The guy did not even lift his head, ignoring Atlas completely.

"Hey, you over there. I'm about to deal with this punk. Can you cover for me?"

Atlas saw no point arguing with an idiot. He would teach him a lesson with his fists. After all, it was not every day someone volunteered to be a sparring partner.

And why had he asked the blond boy to cover for him? Because Atlas knew the boy's Devil Fruit power could perfectly conceal what he was about to do.

Donquixote Rosinante

"Huh? Oh! Okay."

The blond boy froze for a moment. Atlas had spoken so casually about starting a fight. And from his tone, it almost sounded as if he knew him.

"Silence: Soundproof Wall!"

The blond boy was a Paramecia Devil Fruit User with the Calm-Calm Fruit. He could keep any noise from this room from drawing attention—an ideal power for a spy. No wonder he would later be sent undercover.

"Don't worry. This won't take long." Atlas flashed a broad, toothy grin.

"Hey, hey, hey! You don't have to be that cocky! You really think you've got me beat?"

Seeing that Atlas meant business, the young man struggled to keep up his arrogant act. If he got punished for fighting before training even began, his Rear Admiral father would beat him senseless when he got home.

Yes, he feared his father's hand more than Atlas's fists. Atlas looked seventeen or eighteen. He might be sturdy, but how strong could someone from a backwater like East Blue be? Grus had grown up on the Grand Line and undergone rigorous military training!

Atlas soon taught Grus a lesson with his fists: age and strength did not always go together.

Shave!

Atlas flashed behind Grus, aiming to subdue the arrogant fool in a single move.

"Iron Body!"

As the son of a Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral, Grus naturally knew a move or two from the Six Powers. For now, though, he only knew Iron Body, one of the simpler techniques.

To his horror, Grus discovered that the Iron Body his father had praised was as flimsy as paper against Atlas's fist.

Bang!

A force Grus could not resist struck him. For a moment, it felt like facing his father. He crashed face-first onto the floor and decided to stay there, pretending to be unconscious.

"Hey. If you're not dead, get up and put my stuff back."

Atlas had already sensed with Observation Haki that Grus was awake. He ordered him up in a distinctly unfriendly tone.

"Heh, heh. Right away, boss! Right away! I'm Grus. What's your name, boss?"

Grus had a thick skin. Once his act was exposed, he sprang up and shamelessly started calling Atlas his boss.

"Atlas is fine."

Atlas could not do much with someone like that. It was hard to hit a man who was smiling at him.

"Hey, kid over there. What's your name?"

Atlas addressed the blond boy. Never mind that Atlas was the youngest person in the room—he still insisted on calling someone else "kid."

"I'm Rosinante. And... you seemed to know me. How did you know my Devil Fruit power could hide the noise?"

Rosinante was shy, but he worked up the courage to ask. He suspected Atlas might have been sent by a World Government intelligence agency to watch him, so he remained wary.

"Huh? I don't know you. I just wanted you to keep an eye out. Who knew your power would be so useful?" Atlas explained casually.

Heh. Not only do I know you, I know your surname is Donquixote. You used to be a Celestial Dragon, you're Admiral Sengoku's adopted son, and in two years you'll infiltrate the Donquixote Family and stab Doflamingo in the back.

"Oh! I see."

Whether Rosinante believed him or not, Atlas did not concern himself with it.

"Atlas! I'm back!"

The dormitory door suddenly swung open. It was Smoker.

Grus's sharp ears caught his voice, and he immediately slowed his tidying. He studied the newcomer. The kid looked about Atlas's age, but judging by his build alone, his hand-to-hand combat skills could not possibly compare. Grus suddenly felt confident again.

Smoker entered, saw his roommates, and smiled. "Hey! I'm Smoker, from the East Blue branch. I'm a Logia Devil Fruit User with the Smoke-Smoke Fruit."

At the word "Logia," Grus and Rosinante were both stunned. An incredibly rare Logia Devil Fruit User! Surely that made him the strongest recruit in their class. They had not heard of another Logia among them.

But... this Smoker guy treats Atlas with such respect. Could Atlas already know Armament Haki? Grus was puzzled. Having grown up on the Grand Line, he knew more about the world than Smoker did. Of course he knew about Armament Haki.

Then Grus grew depressed. So he was the weakest in the entire room. There were two Devil Fruit Users, one of them a troublesome Logia, and a monster with an absurd physique.

He had hoped to establish his authority and become the boss of the dorm. Instead, he had become everyone's errand boy.

"Hey, Smoker. Where've you been running around so late?"

Atlas could not resist asking.

"Tch. Ran into a troublesome recruit and had a fight with her."

"Oh!"

Everyone else in the room immediately pricked up their ears. A recruit who gave even a Logia User trouble? Just how terrifying was this year's training camp?

Is it too late to quit? Grus wondered miserably.

"Oh? Was she a Devil Fruit User too?"

Atlas asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Yeah. A Paramecia User with the Cage-Cage Fruit. That's what she told me."

"But she still couldn't do anything to me!"

Smoker lifted his chin slightly as he spoke, pride in his voice.

"Okay, okay. First assembly's early tomorrow morning, so get some sleep. I'm going to train a little more."

Atlas was not worried. With his current fighting strength, he was like a human bulldozer who could plow through the entire camp. His bones and muscles were still growing denser, too. Unless he faced a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit, he had nothing to fear.

"Huh? You're going to train this late?"

Rosinante and Grus were plainly surprised. Smoker, however, took it in stride. He had tried keeping up with Atlas's training himself. The warm-up alone had nearly worn him out.

No one gained strength from nothing.

Zephyr

Grand Line, Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

"Tweet! Tweet...!"

A sharp whistle rang over the recruit training camp, breaking the stillness of the night.

It was five in the morning. Most of the recruits newly arrived at headquarters were still asleep under warm blankets. Atlas, meanwhile, had already finished his sword-swing drills for the day.

Before long, roughly a hundred and sixty recruits had assembled on the training ground. Atlas arrived at an unhurried pace, spotted Smoker and the others, and wandered over.

At the front stood a middle-aged man with short purple hair. His open collar offered glimpses of powerful chest muscles, and his thick neck almost seemed to run straight into his scalp.

The Marine recruit training camp's chief instructor—Black Arm Zephyr!

Behind Zephyr stood a burly, dark-skinned man with a short ponytail. His arms hung past his knees.

To Atlas's surprise, the man belonged to the Longarm Tribe. That was not something one saw often.

If Atlas remembered correctly, one of the Supernovas in the Worst Generation more than a decade later was also a member of the Longarm Tribe.

Zephyr stood calmly before the restless recruits. He swept his gaze over them and said, "Quiet! I'm disappointed in you. Anyone arriving after this can turn around. You're eliminated!"

He had not raised his voice much, yet everyone heard him clearly.

The recruits still rushing in from behind went deathly pale. Some slumped to the ground. The Marine recruit training camp was a cradle for future officers; graduates generally left with at least a field-grade rank. Being expelled would leave a stain on their records for life.

"Please, Instructor Zephyr! Give us one more chance!"

Some refused to accept it, hoping Zephyr would show mercy.

"You're soldiers. Your duty is to protect the people of the world. If you can't even follow a basic order, how do you expect to carry out your justice?"

Zephyr might have been known as the "Admiral Who Never Kills," but he was no soft touch. Soldiers needed iron discipline and obedience.

Once the first group of eliminated recruits had been dealt with, Zephyr looked over the rest. His gaze settled on Atlas, and an inscrutable smile touched his lips. "Kanos Atlas... I'm looking forward to this..."

"Attention, everyone! I know many of you come from the Four Seas. Some have even made names for yourselves in your branches. Others come from the Grand Line, and some have parents in the Marine high command. But here, forget all of that! I may even have taught your parents, so don't expect special treatment from me!"

Zephyr studied their expressionless faces, paused, then continued, "My name is Zephyr, and I'm your chief instructor! Some of you have heard of me. If you haven't, it doesn't matter. All you need to do here is follow orders! Understood?"

"YES, SIR!"

Every recruit roared as loudly as they could. Atlas was no exception.

"Good. Next, your hand-to-hand combat instructor, Shuzo, will explain how your training will work!"

Zephyr looked with satisfaction at the spirited young recruits, then stepped back and left the floor to the Longarm man.

"Hello! I'm Shuzo. You can call me Instructor Shuzo. I'll be teaching you hand-to-hand combat, and I'm also Instructor Zephyr's assistant."

"This round of recruit training will last three years. Of course, you can graduate early if you want—all you have to do is pass Chief Instructor Zephyr's assessment." Shuzo allowed himself a small joke.

"Tomorrow, we'll test your abilities. That will help us understand each of you in detail and design training tailored to you, so you can improve as much as possible in the shortest time!"