Watching Roger's Execution at the Start

Atlas turned and stared expressionlessly at the bewildered Smoker. So you're the little brat who got me into this mess!

"Sorry, you're too weak. I'm not interested." Atlas rejected Hina's challenge without hesitation. Fighting her couldn't compare to eating meat in the mess hall. Atlas walked past her and headed straight for it.

"Hey, wait for me!" Smoker and the other two were stunned by the blunt refusal. Only when Atlas had gone some distance did they hurry after her.

Left behind, Hina clenched her fists as she watched Atlas go. A fierce determination rose within her. Never in her life had someone her own age so thoroughly outclassed her. She had only thought a little more highly of Smoker because he had a Logia Devil Fruit.

Night fell, and Atlas continued her evening training as usual.

"Brat, how about taking me on?"

A deep voice suddenly sounded behind Atlas.

"Instructor Zephyr!?" Atlas cried out, surprised to see the head instructor there.

"Atlas, I've been keeping an eye on you for a long time. My fists happened to be itching for a fight today..."

"I'd love to." Atlas grinned, excitement in her voice.

"Shave!" Atlas drove her leg muscles hard and appeared before Zephyr in an instant. Her body drew taut like a bow, her arm swelling as her fist shot straight at his face!

Zephyr's expression did not change. As though he had predicted the punch, he placed his palm in its path and caught Atlas's fist firmly. Then he stepped forward, twisted at the waist, and tried to throw her over his shoulder!

"Iron Body: Knee Strike: Divine Strength!" Atlas had no intention of letting him. Combining her deeply honed Iron Body with the Ox Talisman, she drove a knee straight at Zephyr.

Zephyr hurriedly blocked the heavy blow with his arm, and Atlas escaped the throw.

"Good strength, brat. Quick reactions, too. You've trained your Iron Body well!" Zephyr praised her for countering him so cleverly.

"But I'm getting serious now. Watch yourself, brat!"

"Iron Body Fist: Shatter: Divine Strength!"

Atlas answered with her fists. She struck so quickly that hundreds, even thousands, of phantom punches seemed to fill the air.

"Hahaha! Iron Body: Steel: Armament Haki!" Zephyr was not fooled. His powerful Observation Haki tracked Atlas's fists clearly, and he concentrated Armament Haki precisely where each blow would land.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of dull impacts rang out. Atlas shook her numbed fists. So hard! I can't break through his Armament Haki at all.

"Hahahaha! What strength!" Even Zephyr was startled. For Atlas to possess such tremendous power at seventeen—if he had not already known she relied purely on her physique, he might have suspected she had secretly eaten a Devil Fruit.

"One Sword Style: Lightning Cutter: Divine Strength!" Seeing that her fists were ineffective, Atlas drew the Sandai Kitetsu at her waist and slashed at Zephyr!

A dazzling flash of steel appeared, almost lighting up the night. The chilly air suddenly turned bitterly cold. It was a draw-cut!

Keen sword intent swept toward Zephyr, making every hair on his body stand on end. That flash of steel seemed poised to cut him in two.

Zephyr's eyes lit up. That strike could inflict severe damage on almost anyone below Vice Admiral, especially those whose Armament Haki was lacking. But though the blade was fast and the timing exquisite, his powerful Observation Haki let him dodge it.

Shave!

Zephyr appeared before Atlas in an instant. Armament Haki coated his fist black as he drove it toward her abdomen! Atlas's Observation Haki caught the attack, but Zephyr was too fast for her body to counter in time.

Bang!

Tekkai: Utsugi!

Six Powers ### At dawn, on the Recruit Camp training ground, rows of Marine recruits charged along its edge. Their numb faces showed almost no expression.

This was nothing like interval training, with stretches of easy jogging. They had to run with every ounce of strength they possessed. Anyone who had sprinted four or eight hundred meters knew the feeling. It was an effective way to squeeze out a person's reserves of stamina and potential.

Atlas was unquestionably in the lead. She had lapped the others many times despite the weights she wore. Even so, the light in her eyes had dimmed a little. More than the exertion, it was the memory of Zephyr's punch the night before that made her almost imagine her abdomen still aching.

Tekkai: Utsugi!

Just as Zephyr's fist was about to strike her abdomen, Atlas managed to react. She tried to defend with Iron Body, hoping to lessen the damage if nothing else.

Bang!

A violent force with a strange penetrating quality surged into Atlas's abdomen. Her insides churned so fiercely that she nearly vomited up last night's dinner!

At least I broke through her defense! What did this brat eat growing up? That muscle density is monstrous. Good thing I used a little Ryuo Haki, or where would I have put my dignity?

Fortunately, Atlas had no idea Zephyr had used Ryuo Haki against her. If she had, she would not have known whether to laugh or cry.

"Good! Ten minutes left in the twenty-minute all-out run. Keep going! Look at Atlas. She's carrying weights on top of everything else. What excuse do you have to stop?" Shuzo stood in the middle of the training ground, scolding them without a trace of expression. "Remember how you feel right now. True strength isn't just physical. It takes strength of will. It doesn't matter if you don't understand yet. You will someday."

"So for now, all you need to do is endure, push past your limits, and overcome yourselves!"

This training was mainly intended to strengthen their will, though it also did plenty for their stamina. It was less about how strong they already were than how firmly they could hold on.

Five minutes soon passed...

Thud!

At the back of the pack, someone collapsed without warning. He gulped down fresh air, his harsh breathing like the bellows of a forge, and lay sprawled on the ground like a heap of mud.

Several others soon gave up as well. Like falling dominoes, a large part of the group dropped in quick succession.

Shuzo watched it happen without intervening.

At the front, Atlas kept running toward her goal like a machine. Aside from slightly heavier breathing, nothing about her had changed. Even her footfalls remained precise.

Monster!

The same word sprang unbidden into everyone's mind.

Atlas jogged up to Shuzo. "Instructor, do you have any heavier weights? These are too light!"

The adjutant beside him gave a helpless reply. "No. You're already wearing the heaviest weights in Recruit Camp."

Shuzo fell silent for a moment, then told Atlas, "Ordinary training like this doesn't mean much for you anymore. When we're done, come see me with the others whose Doriki Value is above five hundred."

"...Yes, sir!"

The physical training session had ended. Everyone lay on the ground without a care for appearances, Hina included.

Shuzo swept his gaze across them. Atlas was the only one still standing, but around a hundred recruits had lasted until the end.

He nodded to himself and made a point of remembering them. Some might have Doriki Values of only one or two hundred, but their strength of will was beyond doubt.

"On to the next exercise. Adjutant, oversee the others. Anyone with a Doriki Value above five hundred, step out and come with me!"

After giving the adjutant his instructions, Shuzo headed off the training ground.

About eight people stepped out, Atlas among them. She recognized only four of the others; the rest had left little impression on her.

"I brought you here for the next stage of special training. Your physiques have essentially surpassed normal human limits. Now I'm going to teach you a martial art that goes beyond those limits: the Six Powers!"

"Even though your bodies meet the requirements, I should warn you not to bite off more than you can chew. If you don't think you have the aptitude, you can choose which forms to focus on." Shuzo's expression was serious.

But everyone there was a standout from their respective bases. Proud of their abilities, they were hardly inclined to hold back. Shuzo could already tell that some would try to master all six forms.

"Atlas is the exception. You must learn all six."

"You're effectively Recruit Camp's elite class now. But there will be an assessment at the end of the year, and recruits from the regular class will be allowed to challenge you. Winners move up, losers move down. Here, stronger fists earn more resources!"

Shuzo's words stirred the recruits. None of them were fools; they understood what they had to do.

"All right. Let me explain the Six Powers!"

"I believe most of you have encountered at least one of them. First I'll explain the principles. Then I'll demonstrate them in combat so you can understand them more clearly. After that, the choices are yours."

"Shave works by stamping on the ground dozens of times in rapid succession, generating an explosive burst that propels the body forward. Rankyaku is a kicking technique that produces a 'vacuum' attack, creating a slash like a Swordsman's..." As he spoke, the others looked toward Atlas. She was the only one there who could cut steel.

"Geppo lets you stay in the air briefly, but it consumes enormous amounts of stamina. You could call it the hardest of the Six Powers to learn. Finger Pistol concentrates the strength of your whole body into your index finger, producing a gunshot-like effect that can easily pierce steel."

"Kami-e is..."

When Shuzo finished, he looked toward Atlas. A bad feeling immediately came over her.

"Atlas, come spar with me. Give everyone a firsthand look at the Six Powers."

There it is. As soon as Shuzo spoke, Atlas knew she was in for another beating. Beside her, Smoker and Rosinante watched with barely concealed glee.

Life Return ### "Ah, guess I have no choice. I won't hold back, Instructor Shuzo!" With no way out, Atlas stepped forward.

"Enough boasting, brat!"

"Shigan: Madara!" Shuzo shaped both hands into pistols. They seemed to multiply like the arms of a fierce warrior as countless shots flew toward Atlas. He had called her up for a demonstration, but he had no intention of underestimating the young woman before him.

Atlas remained calm. A red gleam flashed in her eyes as she activated Observation Haki. With small shifts of her body, she dodged every Finger Pistol strike.

But Atlas was not one to dodge without striking back. Before Shuzo could pull away, she lunged forward and stamped her left foot hard into the ground. A crater opened beneath it, cracks spreading in every direction.

Tekkai: Tiekao: Divine Strength!

Shuzo's eyes widened. He hurriedly crossed his arms in front of himself, yet the blow still felt like a seagoing steam train had struck him head-on. He staggered back several steps before managing to stop.

"How was that, Instructor Shuzo?" Atlas grinned at him. The others watched with pounding hearts. In his place, they doubted they could have withstood even that one attack.

"Good one, brat. Again!" Shuzo snarled, his competitive spirit roused.

"Rankyaku!"

"Rankyaku: Ran!"

Atlas had only just learned Rankyaku and had yet to develop any variations. She immediately paid for it. Dense waves of vacuum slashes threatened to engulf her!

"Razor!" Atlas vanished from the spot. Several afterimages appeared in midair as she narrowly evaded every slash.

With her current physique, taking those slashes would have left her with little more than flesh wounds. But Atlas preferred to come out looking presentable. Ending up with her clothes in tatters would hardly do her image any favors.

She seized the chance to rush Shuzo, reaching him almost instantly. Her Finger Pistol shot straight toward a vital point.

"Watch closely. This is Iron Body!" Shuzo even had time to explain the move to the others, which made Atlas unconsciously put more force into her strike.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out. Iron Body: Steel: Armament Haki!

To avoid an embarrassing upset, Shuzo had quietly coated himself with a layer of Armament Haki beneath his clothes!

As it turned out, his caution was justified. Though this was Atlas's first use of Finger Pistol, her formidable physique combined with the Divine Strength granted by the Ox Talisman amounted to far more than a simple sum of its parts!

Without Armament Haki, Shuzo would at the very least have been left with a bloody hole. It would not have been a serious injury, but losing face in front of his students was another matter!

"All right, all right. That's enough demonstrating for today." Seeing the increasingly eager—and faintly alarming—grin on Atlas's face, Shuzo hurriedly ended the spar.

Atlas could hardly keep attacking after that. She licked her lips, still wanting more. She had met few worthy opponents in the East Blue. Coming to headquarters had been well worth it.

To Atlas, a truly strong person challenged those stronger than herself. The strong turned their blades on the strong; only the weak turned theirs on those weaker still. Power never came from nowhere, and fate would not waste a single drop of sweat she shed.

"All right, practice on your own for the rest of the session. Come to me if you have questions. Atlas, come with me. Instructor Zephyr wants to see you." Shuzo dismissed Smoker and the others, then beckoned Atlas to follow.

Hearing that Zephyr had summoned Atlas, the others looked at her enviously. A Marine Admiral wanted to see her; perhaps he would even train her personally. But envy was all they felt. It was easy to resent someone only a little ahead of you. Once the gap became vast, resentment gave way to admiration.

Atlas wondered why Zephyr wanted to see her. Was last night's fight not enough for him? At the thought, she grimaced.

"Brat, how are you getting on with the Six Powers?" Zephyr asked as soon as they met, a warm smile on his face. He could be a strict teacher, but never an unduly harsh one.

That was why so many Marine officers remained grateful to him long after graduating. Shuzo, it was said, had stayed at Recruit Camp to help because he wanted to follow Zephyr. Even when Zephyr later resolved to leave the Marines and form the NEO Marines, many followed him. His ability to inspire loyalty was remarkable.

"Well enough. I understand the principles and can use the forms. What I need now is time to practice," Atlas answered seriously.

Zephyr was not surprised. He had long since grown used to Atlas's monstrous ability to learn.

"Never take practice with the Six Powers lightly. They're more than combat techniques."

"Master all six and gain complete control over your body. That leads to the Seventh Form of the Six Powers: Life Return!" Zephyr explained.

"Life Return?" Atlas allowed some surprise to show. In truth, she had known about the technique all along. After all, wasn't it common knowledge that the Six Powers had seven forms?

"Yes, Life Return. Very few in the Marines have mastered it. The most famous example is Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral Onigumo's Eight-Sword Style. He uses it by extending his consciousness into his hair. And that is far from all Life Return can do."

"What's more, you've already achieved part of it. You can make full use of your energy to repair your body—that's where your remarkable healing ability comes from. But yours happens passively, while Life Return lets you control the process consciously."

Zephyr was thoroughly pleased with Atlas. As a Marine of the older generation, he placed great importance on honing the body. He did not dismiss Devil Fruits, but he opposed relying too heavily on their powers.

When Borsalino had been at Recruit Camp, Zephyr had criticized him many times for depending too much on his Devil Fruit.