On the vast blue ocean, waves shimmered under the sun's light, and the salty sea wind bit at their skin. One by one, warships cut through the swells, sailing majestically in the same direction.
After a day and a night of sailing, the warship they were on, having passed through the magnificent Gates of Justice, continued its journey for some time before an island finally appeared on the horizon—the Marine Headquarters, Marineford!
As they drew closer, the towering Marine Headquarters building came clearly into view for Sephiroth and the others. The proud white seagull flag of the Marines flapped powerfully on the watchtower. Warships were neatly docked in the crescent-shaped military harbor bay, a sturdy line ready for battle. Teams of Marine soldiers bustled back and forth, and ships continuously sailed in and out, creating a very busy and vibrant atmosphere. Behind the Marine Headquarters lay an ordinary town where Marine families lived, far from the military hustle and bustle.
Marineford's geographical location was indeed special and held immense strategic significance. Not only was it supported by Mary Geoise, the Holy Land of the World Nobles, but the Sabaody Archipelago, located over thirty kilometers away, was also the last stop for pirates in the first half of the Grand Line before they dared to venture into the New World. It was a crucial point in every dangerous journey. Therefore, the permanent garrison forces of the Marineford Marine Headquarters reached 30,000 soldiers, and the Fleet Admiral and the Admirals were always on high alert. Should any pirate dare to cause major trouble in this area, they would become the target of a resounding attack from the full might of the Marines.
After the warship dropped anchor and docked in the military harbor bay, Sephiroth and his comrades walked down the gangplank and lined up neatly on the dock. Soon after, a Lieutenant Junior Grade officer approached them and led them through Oris Plaza, past the Oks Bell.
This great bell was a sacred bell obtained long ago from the historically very active warship "Oks Royz". According to Maritime custom, when a new year began, people would ring the bell 8 times to give thanks for the past year, then pray for the new year and ring it 8 more times, for a total of 16 times, which was called "The 16 Chimes", and also considered a declaration of the beginning and end of an "era."
Soon after, they entered the Marineford Military Academy and arrived at a vast training ground.
"Place your luggage over there, then line up in the middle of the training ground," the Lieutenant Junior Grade instructed, pointing towards a corridor where piles of luggage had already been placed, and then pointing towards the barren center of the training ground.
Sephiroth and the others asked no further questions. After quickly depositing their luggage, they jogged towards the center of the training ground. By this time, there were already ten teams on the training ground, with ten Marine soldiers in each team. It was clear that these were soldiers selected from various Grand Line branches, all coming to enroll in the Marineford Military Academy just like them.
Marine soldiers from the Four Seas branches who wished to gain the qualification to enroll in the Marineford Military Academy indeed had to go through a more lengthy process. They could only do so by being demoted three ranks and transferred from a Four Seas branch to a Grand Line branch or Marine Headquarters, and then passing the selection to obtain enrollment qualifications.
After waiting for a while, five more teams arrived one after another and stood on the training ground with them. When the time reached 9:00 AM, a large group of Marine soldiers arrived at the training ground. However, these individuals were not from other Marine branches, but were directly selected from the Marine Headquarters itself. In terms of numbers, they were equal to the total from the other fifteen Grand Line branches—one hundred and fifty people.
A total of three hundred Marine soldiers stood tall and upright, chests puffed out, brimming with spirit. These were the Marineford Military Academy's Military School Students for the current year! In the future, after graduation, they would be stationed in various departments and become the backbone of the Marines, the future leaders of the Navy.
As the time showed 9:25 AM, a burly middle-aged man, three meters tall, wearing sunglasses, with short, neat purple hair, walked out of the educational office building with a Staff Officer and stood before the three hundred Marine soldiers.
The Staff Officer was a long-armed man with a rough face and dark skin. His arms were so long they could touch the ground when he stood upright. His long black hair was tied into a braid. His name was Shuzo, and he was Zephyr's favorite student and aide.
"Hello! New students, I am your Chief Instructor, Zephyr," his voice boomed, filling the field. "Nice to meet you. Consider this a welcome gift..."
A slight smile appeared on Zephyr's lips, yet the aura around him was anything but friendly. "Everyone, run two hundred laps around this training ground for this old man! If you can't finish in one hour, you'll be punished with an additional hundred laps. If you can't finish before noon, you won't have lunch today!"
Total silence enveloped the field. Two hundred laps in one hour, and the Marine Academy training ground was four hundred meters per lap... In other words, they had to run eighty kilometers in one hour! If they couldn't finish in one hour, they would have to run another forty kilometers!
Seeing the three hundred Marine soldiers still standing there staring at each other, Zephyr immediately roared, "Are you all deaf? If you don't run, get out of here for this old man!!! I don't need trash here!!! Starting the timer now!!!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
After confirming that Chief Instructor Zephyr was not joking, the three hundred Marine soldiers immediately rushed to the track and began running for their lives. Eighty kilometers in one hour, which meant their speed had to be close to twenty-two point three meters per second for them to complete it. The soldiers who successfully passed the selection basically possessed extremely strong physical fitness and the potential to become powerful.
However... potential was potential, but they hadn't fully grown yet! Therefore, most of them basically couldn't escape the fate of being punished with an additional hundred laps. After some time, the differences in individual physical fitness became clear, and some people's breathing rhythm was completely disrupted, with some even panting as if on the verge of collapsing.
However, at the very front of the three hundred Marine soldiers, on the outermost side of the training track, two individuals were far ahead, darting like the wind. Even Sephiroth could only barely keep up behind them, maintaining a stable speed.
These two, every time they reached a straight track, their feet would pound the ground very quickly more than ten times, using the explosive speed generated by the reaction force to move. This made their figures too fast for the naked eye to follow. Both would only slow down when facing a curve on the track to prevent themselves from going too fast and running off course. It was clear that the technique they were using was one of the Marine's Six Powers—Soru! At their current speed, if they continued, they should be able to complete the task given by Zephyr on time.
Both were in their early twenties, one male and one female. The man had a lewd, ugly face and wore a pink amulet with the character for "pig" on his chest. His name was Tokikake. The woman had beautiful features and a mole at the right corner of her mouth. Her figure was very striking, and on her exposed left thigh, where she wore shorts, there was a spider tattoo. Her name was Gion.
Soon after, while running at high speed, the two of them, who were at the very front of the team, once again caught up to the Marine soldiers who were at the very back of the team.
In fact, after an intense period of training with Garp, with Sephiroth's current physical condition, he could also barely use Soru. However, the extremely rapid pounding of his feet on the ground would place a heavy burden on his legs. If he continued to use it for a long period, his legs would surely suffer severe injuries. Losing vitality was a minor issue for him, as he had various ways to replenish it. But... while recovering from injuries, he wouldn't be able to maintain high-speed movement and would need to slow down. This back and forth, the effect of using Soru was not as good as him honestly running at full speed, conserving his stamina.
Just as Sephiroth was considering whether he should transform into a vampire to speed up his run, he heard Zephyr's roar again:
"Smoker, if you dare to use elementalization to slack off again, this old man will reward you with Seastone handcuffs and make you run three hundred laps! Sharingul, if you don't change your leg from a wheel, this old man will make you run with a warship on your back!..."
Zephyr clearly did not have a list of student names in his hand, but he accurately called out the names of every new student. Listening to the purple-haired old man's continuous roaring, Sephiroth could only helplessly give up the idea of transforming into a vampire and continue to run with all his might on the training ground track.
When Tokikake and Gion finished running one hundred laps, Zephyr took a notebook and pen from his aide's side and quickly wrote down thirty names on white paper.
"Shuzo, group these people into one class. You can figure out the rest," Zephyr ordered.
"Sir, yes sir!" Zephyr's aide, Shuzo, nodded and took back the paper and pen. He quickly memorized these thirty names.
Subsequently, Zephyr had lost the enthusiasm to continue watching, so he walked straight back into the teaching office building.
If the Marineford Military Academy was a special place for training officers, then the class whose names were personally written by Zephyr could be said to be... the Star General Class! In Zephyr's assessment, these thirty individuals all had the potential to become General-level officers in the future. If they did not die prematurely, they would have the opportunity to become the future pillars of the Marines, thus receiving the best allocation of resources and training.
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