Chapter 23: Navy Competition

As time passed, there was a commotion among the recruits.

"Look, it's the Navy Admirals! And Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Are they all here to see us?"

"Hiss~ The Vice Admirals are here too! How come it feels like it's not quite what Master Zephyr said! How can I not be nervous?"

Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru—the Navy's highest combat power was all present!

The Vice Admirals also arrived at the scene one after another, sitting in their exclusive seats, whispering and discussing the quality of this batch of recruits.

The Admirals could pick the strongest recruits and didn't need to compete with these Vice Admirals at all, and they couldn't compete anyway, so they could only compete with other Vice Admirals.

It was common to argue until their faces were red for a recruit of above-average talent.

"Whoa, I didn't expect Kuzan to come too! How about it, are there any recruits you like in this batch?"

Aokiji scratched his fluffy curly hair and said in a lazy tone: "I don't care. Why, hearing you say that, it seems you are very interested in a certain recruit?"

"That's right! I am very interested in a recruit named Karl. You two better not compete with me later!"

Aokiji shrugged helplessly and said indifferently: "Whatever you want, oh ah~ Today's sunshine is really comfortable..."

After speaking, Aokiji pulled down his eye mask and began to sleep openly, calling it "recharging his energy" to prepare for the next mission.

Akainu, on the side, seemed very dissatisfied with Aokiji's attitude, snorted coldly, and said in an icy tone.

"Don't worry, Borsalino, I naturally won't compete with you for people."

Actually, Akainu hadn't held much hope to begin with. He came every year, only to return disappointed every year. Navy talent was withering!

So when Kizaru proposed not to compete with him for people, he agreed without hesitation. In his view, this year would be no exception; it would still be some mediocre recruits.

"Mom, oh! Every famous Navy person is here!"

Looking at the Navy top brass sitting in rows, Karl couldn't help but click his tongue. He didn't know many of them, only the three Admirals were most familiar, and the Vice Admirals were the likes of Momousagi, Mole, and Onigumo.

"Hey! Smoker and Hina are actually here too. What are they here for? Joining the fun?"

Smoker was still in the outfit Karl was familiar with, with three cigars in his mouth. Beside him was Hina, wearing a dark red suit and sunglasses. The two standing together actually had quite a CP vibe.

Smoker blew smoke rings and complained to Hina: "Why do you think Master Zephyr called us two here? Could it be that we also have a chance to pick a few as subordinates?"

"Hina doesn't know, but if you hadn't talked back to your superior two months ago, you should have had a chance."

Smoker sneered disdainfully and just wanted to retort, but thought about it and didn't say anything.

Time reached eight o'clock, and Zephyr walked to the front, holding a microphone to officially announce the start of the test.

"First match, Mallory versus Joyce!"

The two pointed out by Shuzo looked happy, their eyes full of fighting spirit. After getting on stage, following Shuzo's order, they rushed toward each other, howling.

Since it was a test, the goal was naturally not to decide the winner; otherwise, if they encountered evenly matched opponents, they might fight until the sky went dark and the path was erased.

So a fight was limited to 15 minutes. Within 15 minutes, regardless of whether a winner was decided, the competition would automatically end, and the next group would be swapped in.

After all, there was nothing interesting about small fries pecking at each other. Within these 15 minutes, they just needed to show their full strength so the officers present could see it.

"This one named Mallory is not bad. Although his physique is a bit lacking, he uses the Six Powers very skillfully. He is a talent worth molding!"

"Hmm, what you said makes sense, but this Joyce is also okay. He fights very smartly!"

The Vice Admirals' discussion was very heated. On the contrary, the three Admirals had basically no communication. Aokiji was sleeping, Akainu had a dark face, and Kizaru was slowly cutting his nails with a nail clipper.

Soon, the first fight ended. The two looked at each other, panting. Although no winner was decided, after glancing at the officers' expressions, they walked off the stage happily.

"Second match, Ain versus Binz!"

Karl, who was drinking fat-house water, was stunned. Ain fighting Binz? Then who was he fighting? It wouldn't really be a bullying-the-weak match, would it?

He looked at Zephyr with confused eyes. Zephyr happened to be looking at him too, as if he had long expected him to be surprised, and nodded slightly at him, signaling him to stay calm.

Just kidding, Karl was taught by him hand-in-hand. No one knew Karl's strength better than him. Ain and Binz combined might not even be able to beat Karl.

If only talking about martial arts, Karl could already wrestle with Hina and Smoker, who had long since graduated. It was just a pity that Karl had never awakened two-color Haki and could only help him think of a way during the "internship period" after the test ended.

As Ain and Binz got on stage, the Vice Admirals' discussion became lively instantly.

"Hey, these two are both ability users, right!"

"Yes, I heard about it long ago. Both are Paramecia types, one is a Return-Return Fruit user, and one is a Growth-Growth Fruit user."

"Battle start!"

Binz looked at Ain cautiously. No one knew Ain's strength better than him. That kind of returning power—once touched, he would definitely lose.

"Growth~ Growth~"

Binz scattered a handful of plant seeds extremely quickly and then began to dance like a shaman. Following his dance, the seeds sprouted rapidly, and dozens of thick vines appeared on the ground, launching a sweep under Binz's control.

"Shave!"

Ain disappeared from where she was, dodged the vine sweep, and then slapped the vine.

The huge green vine shrank rapidly, turning back into a seed, one after another, leaving a pile of seeds on the ground.

Binz had long anticipated this situation and was not panicked at all. The seeds he brought today were a full several hundred grams!

Then one could see a scene like this: Binz summoned plants, Ain beat them back to their original form, and then it started to cycle.

Karl was stunned. These two guys were going back and forth—were they honestly grinding each other here?!

Finally, Zephyr couldn't watch anymore and coughed. Only then did the two give up the competition of abilities and used martial arts to compete, but the result was still a draw.

What else could they do? Next group!

There were 63 recruits in the training camp, fighting from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. More and more people were watching, but Karl was late to get on stage. Excluding meal times, Karl successfully slacked off for 6 hours just by being an audience member.

It made Karl once believe that his name definitely wasn't written in Shuzo's battle roster.

"Kizaru, it's almost over. Hasn't that recruit you like gone on stage yet?"

Kizaru said indifferently: "Whatever, anyway, Karl is my future adjutant."

Aokiji took off his eye mask and looked toward the horizon with sleepy eyes, muttering that he had overslept again.

"Last match! Karl versus... Major Smoker!"

"Hmm?"

Akainu put down his crossed legs and leaned his body forward slightly. This was a sign of being serious.

If he hadn't seen it wrong, the rookie Kizaru liked just now—after using his ability, his strength suddenly rose by a large margin?

Could this be the reason Kizaru liked him? Akainu couldn't help but look at Kizaru suspiciously.

"Sakazuki, you promised not to compete with me. You are a dignified Navy Admiral; you wouldn't go back on your word, would you?"

"Hmph! I have always kept my word, but you must tell me truthfully what kind of ability that kid named Karl has!"

Kizaru smiled and looked at Sengoku not far away, and after finding that he didn't express anything, he smiled even more happily.

"Whoa~ Sakazuki, don't underestimate the young people of today! The Devil Fruit Karl ate is called the Holy Light Fruit."

"Holy Light Fruit? Paramecia?" Aokiji suddenly interjected.

"That's right. You all saw the Holy Light he released just now. That kind of power has the effect of strengthening physique and healing, and it can be used on others." ===== CHAPTER 25 =====