The First Yellow Ring

Everyone was wounded, their clothes ragged and torn.

Even fighters as strong as Aequus and Milers bore signs of battle.

Yet this man's entire demeanor made him seem completely out of place.

He looked as though he had just returned from a vacation, rather than a life-and-death test!

But everyone was already used to it.

The newcomer was, of course, Cotton, who had eaten the Cotton-Cotton Fruit and seemed to have turned into cotton himself.

After arriving, he yawned, picked a random spot to stand, and closed his eyes to rest.

Aequus swept his gaze over the clearing and said:

"Why isn't that kid here yet? Did he do so badly that he's too ashamed to show his face?"

Just as he finished speaking, another figure emerged from the jungle.

It was Randall.

He had been walking straight ahead, but when he spotted Aequus and Milers, he changed direction and headed toward them.

Aequus waved and said:

"Hey, you're here!"

Randall smiled and said:

"Well, look at you showing off. Quite a haul, huh?"

Aequus said, "Of course! First place is definitely mine! You and Milers can fight over second!"

At that, Milers couldn't help chiming in:

"No, you and Aequus can fight over second!"

Randall laughed heartily.

"You're both pretty confident! Too bad you're going to lose! First place is mine!"

The other Elite Camp trainees wore conflicted expressions.

What was this?

So no matter what, you three have already claimed the top three spots, huh?

Where does that leave the rest of us?

Still, unhappy as they were, they really couldn't argue.

That was the most infuriating part!

Meanwhile, the trainee who had obtained a Purple Ring through tremendous effort and a little luck secretly thought, Maybe I could compete for a spot in the top three too!

I'll keep quiet, then bring out my Purple Ring and stun everyone!

They didn't have to wait long before the silhouette of a warship appeared in the distance.

The seawater was steadily pushed aside, forming bursts of white foam.

The enormous warship came to a stop.

Just as when they arrived, Vice Admiral Momonga flashed into view, appearing directly in the clearing.

His gaze swept across every face, and everyone who met his eyes couldn't help lowering their head.

Except for Randall, Aequus, and Milers.

Of course, Cotton still had his eyes closed.

Momonga suspected he had already fallen asleep.

"Forty-eight people in total! Three are still missing!"

Momonga frowned.

He gave his adjutant a meaningful look.

The adjutant understood immediately.

A short while later, the adjutant came to Momonga's side and said:

"One is in a deep coma and has already been taken away for emergency treatment. Another has been confirmed dead.

The remaining one, Pietro, is no longer on the island."

Momonga gave him a surprised look.

What did he mean, no longer on the island?

The adjutant explained:

"According to the records, he left the island on the first day.

For now, we're treating it as a suspected defection."

There were no surveillance Den Den Mushi on the island, but modified animals were everywhere.

They could all serve as the Navy's eyes.

Momonga frowned but said nothing.

Those minor details could wait until later.

He walked slowly up to the trainees and announced in a clear voice:

"Then I hereby declare this test over!

Now, when I call your name, hand in your rings!

Oh, I forgot to mention.

Rings of different colors are worth different amounts of points.

White ones are worth ten, blue ones fifty, purple ones two hundred, and yellow ones one thousand.

Finally, red rings are worth ten thousand!"

Everyone was shaken by his words.

For most of them, even obtaining Blue Rings had been extremely difficult.

Purple Rings had only been obtained through luck.

Yet there were actually two more tiers above purple!

Just look at those numbers: a thousand points for yellow, and a staggering ten thousand for red!

How many White Rings would it take to equal that?

Momonga discreetly observed their expressions and sighed inwardly.

I wonder if anyone managed to obtain a Yellow Ring.

Milers and Aequus should have been able to!

Randall caught Teacher Zephyr's attention, so he could probably have obtained a Yellow Ring too.

As for Red Rings...

Forget it.

Even he would have to slash those Ferocious Beasts twice to kill them.

And Momonga was an exceptionally powerful fighter.

Surviving even one slash from him was already remarkable.

Momonga didn't believe anyone among these trainees had the ability to obtain a Red Ring.

"All right! First up, Jack!"

A dejected-looking man stepped forward and handed his rings to the adjutant responsible for tallying them.

After counting them, the adjutant announced:

"Jack, twenty White Rings. Two hundred points!"

Everyone's expression grew even more pained.

This was a public execution!

As Momonga called their names, the trainees stepped forward one by one.

Then, at one particular trainee's turn, everyone perked up.

"Mitash, thirty White Rings, five Blue Rings, and one Purple Ring! Seven hundred and fifty points!"

He was the first person to have obtained a Purple Ring!

For a moment, everyone's eyes were on Mitash, thoroughly satisfying his vanity.

Damn, a single Purple Ring was worth two hundred points!

Just one was worth half their haul, or even all of it!

Finally, Momonga called the name everyone had been waiting for.

"Next, Aequus!"

As one of the acknowledged strongest trainees, his results naturally drew plenty of attention.

Even Momonga was starting to feel expectant.

Aequus winked at Milers and Miland, signaling them to watch him show off.

Then he walked up to Momonga, carrying a bag fashioned from his clothes.

First, he pulled out a handful of Blue Rings.

At a glance, there had to be more than a dozen!

That alone made Mitash's expression change.

Didn't those Blue Rings alone almost beat his score?

He prayed that this was all Aequus had.

But the next second, he watched helplessly as Aequus reached into the bag again and pulled out several Purple Rings!

Five of them!

He fell apart on the spot.

Purple!

Two hundred points!

Five of them!

Only then did he realize that Aequus's strength truly wasn't on the same level as his.

He had obtained his Purple Ring through luck.

But Aequus had obtained five. That wasn't luck; it was genuine strength.

Everyone else was starting to fall apart too.

It felt as though they weren't even playing the same game as him.

Were they on different versions or something?

Yet just as they thought that was everything, Aequus moved again.

Then he pulled out a Yellow Ring.

The clearing suddenly went silent.

Everyone stared blankly at the first yellow ring to appear.

For the first time, they felt that yellow could be so dazzling.