Monstrous recovery

"Go keep an eye on them!"

Sengoku slammed his fist into the railing.

"Don't let those two bastards tear down the cafeteria too!"

Zephyr turned and left.

"I'll try."

The recruits in the square exchanged looks.

Someone swallowed.

"Should we... go take a look?"

"Are you crazy? That's the Highest-Rank Cafeteria."

"But Vice Admiral Garp went."

"So did Lorne."

"I want to know how he recovers."

"So do I. His bones were shattered just now."

One recruit gritted his teeth and followed.

"Let's go!"

With someone taking the lead, the crowd immediately moved.

Hundreds of recruits surged toward the cafeteria like a tide.

The officers were about to stop them, but their feet followed too.

"Hey! Don't go running off!"

"Sir, aren't you following too?"

"I'm maintaining order!"

"Yes, yes, maintaining order."

"Less talking, run faster, or there won't be any room left!"

Soon, a rare sight appeared in Marineford.

Up front, Garp sprinted with a gravely injured recruit over his shoulder.

Behind him, a huge crowd of Marines chased after them, shock written all over their faces.

Between them were medics carrying stretchers.

The doctor shouted as he ran.

"Vice Admiral Garp! At least let us stop the bleeding first!"

Lorne turned and roared, "Forget the bleeding! Bring on the meat first!"

"You'll lose too much blood!"

"It's already growing back!"

Only then did everyone see the torn flesh on Lorne's chest drawing together.

Steam rose from his broken bones, and his caved-in muscles swelled back out inch by inch.

A recruit stumbled.

"It really is growing back!"

"Does this guy have a monster living inside him?"

"The bones Vice Admiral Garp shattered are already knitting back together on the way there?"

"I used to say he got in through connections..."

"Don't remind me. I want to find a hole and bury myself."

Bang!

Garp kicked open the doors of the Highest-Rank Cafeteria.

Two guards were just about to salute when they saw him charge inside carrying a blood-covered man.

"Vice Admiral Garp?!"

"Move, move!"

Garp plopped Lorne onto a chair, slapped the table, and shouted.

"Bring out the meat! All of it!"

The head chef dropped his spatula.

"Vice Admiral Garp! You're running up another tab?!"

Garp kept a straight face.

"Put it on Sengoku's tab today!"

The head chef's expression changed drastically.

"Does the Fleet Admiral know?"

"He will when he sees the bill."

Lorne raised his head, his beast ears pricked up and his nostrils twitching.

"Meat."

Looking at him covered in blood, the head chef said hesitantly, "Shouldn't this injured man have something lighter?"

Lorne slapped a palm onto the table.

"Meat."

Garp slapped the table too.

"Meat!"

The recruits charging in behind them instinctively shouted in unison.

"Meat!"

The head chef recoiled two steps in fright.

"Serve it! Hurry!"

"Roast meat, sea beast steaks, Giant Ham, tubs of rice-bring it all out!"

The cafeteria instantly descended into chaos.

Cooks rushed out of the kitchen pushing serving carts.

Platters of roast meat piled onto the table, tubs of rice landed beside it with a thud, and steam rose from the soup pots.

Lorne grabbed an entire roasted leg and bit through it, bones and all.

Crunch!

Half the roasted leg vanished outright.

The recruits crowded the doorway, their eyes widening in unison.

"He didn't chew, did he?"

"He did. The bones shattered."

"That roasted leg was meant to feed ten people!"

Lorne ignored them.

He worked with both hands, grabbing meat, stuffing in rice, and gulping down soup.

Plates were emptied the moment they were set down.

The head chef's scalp prickled at the sight.

"Bring more!"

"Have you finished cutting the sea beast meat in the kitchen?"

"No! The knives can't keep up!"

"Use axes!"

"The axe blades have curled too!"

Sitting across from him, Garp grabbed some meat and started gnawing on it too.

"Wahahahaha! Eat! Eat more!"

Lorne cursed through a mouthful, "Stop stealing mine!"

"I'm treating you, and I can't even eat?"

"You're putting it on Sengoku's tab. That counts as treating me?"

"Of course it does!"

"Shameless."

"Well said! Wahahahaha!"

Ten minutes later.

Empty plates formed a small mountain on the table.

Lorne sat in his chair, his belly bulging absurdly, as though a large barrel had been stuffed inside.

A recruit pointed at him, his voice trembling.

"He... he's going to burst, isn't he?"

"He's definitely going to burst!"

"Get the medics!"

"They're right behind us! They're already dumbstruck!"

The doctor stood frozen, a syringe in his hand.

"This defies all reason..."

A medic beside him asked quietly, "Sir, should we try to save him?"

The doctor stared at Lorne's belly, sweat beginning to drip.

"I don't know which part to save."

"His stomach?"

"That volume is already beyond anything a stomach could explain!"

Just then, Zephyr finally arrived.

The moment he entered the cafeteria, he saw empty plates all over the floor, recruits crowding the doors and windows, cooks falling apart, Garp eating ravenously, and Lorne with his belly swollen into a ball.

Zephyr fell silent for two seconds.

"Lorne."

Lorne raised a hand.

"Teacher."

Zephyr looked at his belly.

"Are you planning to eat yourself to death?"

Lorne grinned, revealing teeth smeared with meat juices.

"Just about there."

The recruits' scalps prickled.

"What does he mean, just about there?"

"Is he really going to burst?"

"Instructor Zephyr's here. He should be able to save him, right?"

Zephyr swept a glance over them.

"All of you, shut up and watch."

The recruits immediately fell silent.

Bracing both hands against the edge of the table, Lorne slowly stood.

His abdomen still bulged high, veins standing out against his skin.

The doctor hurried forward.

"Lorne! Don't strain yourself!"

Lorne exhaled a hot breath.

"Move."

The doctor stamped his foot in agitation.

"You'll tear your internal organs!"

Zephyr spoke.

"Stand back."

The doctor froze.

"Instructor Zephyr?"

Zephyr stared at Lorne.

"This is his training."

With a low shout, Lorne crushed the floor tiles beneath his feet.

"Life Return."

His abdomen suddenly shook.

The recruits all backed away.

"Here it comes!"

"He's really going to explode!"

"Stop shoving me!"

The next instant, the muscles all over Lorne's body began to writhe.

His absurdly swollen belly shrank at a rate visible to the naked eye.

His stomach furiously pulverized, absorbed, and transported the food, turning it into heat.

His previously caved-in chest rose again.

Faint crackling came from the fractures.

The muscles in his arms, shoulders, back, waist, and abdomen seemed to be reforged, their contours rapidly sharpening.

In just a few breaths.

His round belly shrank away completely.

In its place were abdominal muscles drawn taut to the extreme.

Lorne raised a hand and pressed his chest, then rolled his neck.

"That's better."

The mess hall was deathly silent.

One recruit gaped, taking a long moment to squeeze out a sentence.

"What... what kind of monstrous body is that?"

"The food he ate turned straight into nutrients to heal his injuries?"

"Life Return can even be used like that?"

"Are the Six Powers I learned fake?"

Zephyr stepped in front of everyone and said gravely, "You all saw that clearly."

The recruits immediately straightened their backs.

Zephyr raised his mechanical arm and pointed at Lorne.

"That's called Life Return."

"Controlling your hair, muscles, and internal organs, bringing every part of your body under the control of your will."

"Ordinary people use it to adjust their physique, recover stamina, and increase their explosive power."

"Lorne uses it for digestion and repair."

One recruit couldn't help asking, "Instructor Zephyr, did you teach him that too?"

Zephyr snorted.

"I never taught him."

The recruit's face went pale.

"He learned it on his own?"

Zephyr nodded.

"That's right."

A stir ran through the crowd again.

"He learned Life Return on his own..."

"He's mastered all Six Powers, has a basic grasp of two types of Haki, and can even knock Vice Admiral Garp back."

"He's only a teenager, isn't he?"

"Stop it. I want to go back and train more."

Zephyr continued, "You were mocking him in the square just now."

Those recruits immediately lowered their heads.

"I don't want to scold you on his behalf."

Zephyr lowered his voice.

"Because you already know how stupid you were."

No one dared argue.

Zephyr looked at Lorne.

"Lorne."

Lorne had been about to grab another piece of meat, but stopped at his words.

"Teacher?"

"Stand up straight."

Lorne pursed his lips, but straightened up anyway.

Zephyr looked at the dried blood covering him, then at his mostly recovered body.

"From today onward, you are no longer an Elite Camp recruit."

At the mess hall entrance, the recruits all raised their heads.

Zephyr said each word distinctly. "You've passed the special-grade graduation assessment."

Lorne raised a hand and scratched his Beast Ears.

"So?"

Zephyr's face darkened.

"So you should act a little more like a graduate."

Lorne looked down at his bare upper body, then at the empty plates covering the table.

"Such as?"

Garp raised a meaty bone beside him.

"Such as keeping on eating! Wahahahaha!"

Zephyr's eyelid twitched.

"Garp, shut up."

Lorne, however, grinned.

"Teacher, I think the old man's right this time."

Zephyr looked at him.

"You still haven't had enough?"

Lorne turned toward the kitchen, his golden beast pupils frighteningly bright.

"That little bit just now was only enough to heal my injuries."

The head chef's knees buckled.

Lorne patted his stomach, utterly unabashed.

"Now the meal can officially begin."

Just then.

At the mess hall entrance, Zephyr held a Den Den Mushi high.

The Den Den Mushi's face mimicked Sengoku's expression, its eyes bulging with rage.

"Lorne!"

"Get your ass to the Fleet Admiral's Office as soon as you're done eating!"