As dusk fell, the fierce battle between Nao and Sano, the "Giant Bear" with a bounty of 52 million Berries from the West Blue, finally came to an end with Nao's victory.
And with that, the combat assessment was officially concluded.
All the Elite Training Camp members, still awestruck by the intense battle, began to withdraw from the battlefield and head back toward the Marine ships at the port.
The instructors who had been hidden in the shadows, along with other Headquarters Marines under Aokiji's command, now emerged and launched a full sweep to clear the remaining pirates from the town.
There weren't many instructors, but each was an elite Marine who had fought on the front lines. Even the weakest among them held the rank of at least Headquarters Captain.
Most had either sustained injuries, reached an age where active duty was no longer feasible, or had family commitments, so they had stepped back to support Zephyr in training the next generation of Marines.
With these instructors joining the fight, the pirates stood no chance of escape. Even the high-bounty officers were instantly defeated by these powerful veterans.
It was only at this point that the pirates realized—far too late—that from the moment they set foot on this island, their fate had already been sealed.
On the outskirts of town.
At the base of a moss-covered marble statue, a hidden door suddenly opened.
A man in a black cloak and wide-brimmed hat, Ron, cautiously poked his head out. After confirming that the Marine patrol had passed, he let out a sigh of relief.
Ron had been forced to retreat to the island's edge after being overpowered by Rosinante.
"Damn, lucky I ran fast, or I'd be in their hands too…" Ron grumbled, clutching the wound on his side. "What's with these Marine brats? How are there so many monsters among them?"
He didn't even need to think twice about the black-haired boy who had defeated Sano—it was obvious from the moment he saw him effortlessly dispatch Kark that he wasn't someone to mess with.
And the other guy, the one always chewing on a cigarette with a squint—that face alone said he was trouble.
So when the last of the trio to challenge him was that skinny blond kid, Ron had actually been pleased, thinking he'd picked the easiest target.
The result? Well… it didn't go as he'd hoped.
"Whatever, I can't waste any more time. Gotta get back to the ship before the Marines catch me."
Ron peered into the distance, scanning the sea for any sign of his ship, the Black Hat.
His Door-Door Fruit ability had its limits; even after over a decade of mastery, he could only teleport long distances if he could see the target location.
It was easy to create a door from the ship to the island, but returning from the island to the ship's deck required caution.
If he miscalculated, he could open the door into the middle of the ocean and be swallowed by the sea before he had a chance to regret it.
"Huh? That's weird…"
After scanning for a while, he still couldn't see the Black Hat. Ron frowned, confused. "It should've been anchored around here..."
Had the Marines found it and sailed it away?
Feeling frustrated, he glanced around, then his eyes lit up as he spotted the towering peak to the north.
If he could get to the summit, the view would be much clearer. There wouldn't be any Marines on those barren cliffs either.
If he opened a door directly to the top, he could use the higher vantage point to find his ship!
That's what you call thinking on your feet.
Praising his own cleverness, Ron focused his thoughts, targeted a large rock formation at the mountain's peak, and activated his power to open a door in the wall before stepping through.
When he emerged, he found himself standing atop the giant rock.
As expected, the view was vastly improved, and it was silent except for the faint sound of trickling water…
Wait, water?
There were no streams on this barren peak, so where was the water sound coming from?
Ron followed the sound to the other side of the rock and looked down—just in time to lock eyes with a man nearly three meters tall, clad in a white Marine coat with "Justice" written on the back, and sporting wild, curly black hair.
"Ah la la…"
The man squinted lazily and uttered a sound of vague meaning.
The temperature around them plummeted. Whether it was just Ron's imagination or not, he could almost see a wave of icy white air rolling toward him.
And then…
There was no "then."
Elsewhere.
Back on the Marine ship, Nao walked through the crowd under a wave of admiring and envious gazes, returning to his quarters.
The final assessment rankings would take several days to tally and would likely be announced by Zephyr himself upon their return to Headquarters.
But one thing was certain: the top spot was Nao's, without question.
No one could dispute that.
After all, with his incredible record and his stunning performance in defeating the giant bear Sano, Nao had proven himself far beyond the reach of his fellow Elite Training Camp recruits.
Some of the girls who had been secretly admiring him even looked at him with starry eyes, reluctantly watching him leave the deck for his room.
Other than that, there wasn't much chatter.
Nao had always been well-liked, and his previous assessment scores were solid. Considering his recent intense training, it wasn't surprising for him to take the top spot this time.
If it had been someone lazy and at the bottom of the rankings who suddenly shot to first place, that would have drawn suspicion.
Returning to his room, Nao found Rosinante and Shiryu already back, both fast asleep from sheer exhaustion.
Nao himself was still full of energy, but after an entire day of battle with his mind under constant tension, he decided to lie down and rest his spirit as well.
When he woke up, it was exactly 5:30 AM. His absurdly precise biological clock was still doing its job.
Nao got out of bed, glanced at his sleeping friends, and decided not to wake them. He washed up quickly and stepped out to the deck.
Around him stretched an endless expanse of deep blue sea; the silhouette of Sitres Island was already out of sight.
Obviously, while they'd been sleeping, the ship had quietly set sail, heading back to Marine Headquarters.
"Oh, right."
As the sea breeze cleared his head, Nao suddenly remembered—midnight had passed, marking the start of a new week. That meant the system shop's random items should have refreshed.
He immediately opened the system interface and browsed the shop, and sure enough, the entire selection had been updated:
Gravity Field (Permanent): 70,000 points
Martial Arts Training Acceleration Card (60 days): 10,000 points
Blue-Eyes White Dragon Summoning Card (Consumable): 1,500 points
Unlimited Snail Noodles: 8,000 points
Tekkai Skill Scroll (Intermediate): 2,000 points
Clock-Out Reminder: 500 points