The Navy Fleet Admiral Sengoku stepped forward and gave a speech to inspire the recruits.
His oratory skills were impressive.
However, Fenric had heard more than enough motivational speeches in his life. To him, it all sounded like overused chicken soup for the soul—sleep-inducing at best.
In contrast, the fresh-faced recruits were full of fire and enthusiasm.
Even Smoker, standing beside Fenric, looked fired up and ready to give his life for the Navy.
"Now—begin the assessment!"
With Sengokus' declaration, the evaluation officially commenced.
Due to the sheer number of recruits, the assessments had to be conducted in batches.
There were ten arenas in total.
Based on regional assignments, Fenric and Smoker were both assigned to Arena 7.
Once grouped, everyone began drawing lots to determine their opponents.
Half the participants drew numbers from a box, while the other half held matching numbered tags.
If someone drew a number, they would face the recruit who held the corresponding tag.
"Senior Mundo, I'll go up first!"
Smoker eagerly rushed forward to draw a number.
He pulled out number 30.
The officer overseeing the area immediately called out, "Who has tag number 30? Step forward!"
Fenric looked down at the label in his hand, dumbfounded.
What the hell…
What kind of luck is this?
With a sigh, Fenric stood up and silently made his way to the arena.
When Smoker saw that his opponent was none other than Mundo, his confident expression immediately fell.
If he had a choice, fighting Mundo was the last thing he'd want.
But the draw was binding. There was no backing out now. Like it or not, he had to fight.
"Senior Mundo, I didn't mean for this to happen…" Smoker said with a miserable expression.
Fenric was at a loss for words. Just as he was about to comfort the kid, Smoker added with a grave tone:
"Please don't take it personally, Senior Mundo. I didn't want to eliminate you so early."
Fenric: "…"
What the hell?!
Where is this kid getting his confidence from?!
And hey—those were supposed to be my lines!
"Have you two finished chatting?! Begin—now!!" barked the impatient officer.
All the other arenas were already underway, but these two were still dawdling.
Hearing that, Smoker quickly shut up and got into a combat stance.
But when he noticed that Fenric remained motionless, he couldn't help but remind him, "Senior Mundo, I won't hold back! Please be careful!"
"Go ahead," Fenric said calmly.
As soon as he spoke, Smoker charged toward him.
And so, the battle began.
Up on the observation platform—
"Zzz… snrk—"
The sound of snoring interrupted the serious atmosphere.
"!!"
Sengoku's face darkened.
He didn't need to look to know who it was. Only Garp would dare fall asleep on such an important occasion.
"Garp! Show some respect! This is a formal event!" Sengokus scolded.
Woken abruptly, Garp casually picked his nose, looking bored.
It wasn't that he disrespected the recruits. It's just that their performance was far too underwhelming.
Most of them were either slow and clueless or swinging their fists around like amateurs. He hadn't seen a single decent seedling yet.
Truthfully, many on the platform shared his sentiment.
Even Admiral Kizaru, lounging lazily, looked disinterested as he watched the ten simultaneous matches below.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Kizaru's eyes lit up.
The match in Arena 7 had caught his attention.
"Senior Mundo, surrender! I really don't want to hurt you!"
Smoker's voice echoed from the ring.
Fenric: "…"
Alright, that's it.
Time to teach this overly confident brat a lesson about the real world.
He activated his Telekinesis power.
Smoker, who had just lunged forward, suddenly lost control of his body and was flung directly into Fenric's waiting fist.
"Devil fruit user?!"
Smoker was stunned and instinctively transformed into smoke.
Poof!
Fenric's punch passed through harmlessly, hitting only air.
"Interesting…" Fenric smirked.
This was his first time facing a Devil Fruit user in combat.
In the next moment, Smoker's smoke condensed, and his form reappeared at the same spot.
Now fully alert, Smoker said seriously, "I didn't expect you to be a Devil Fruit user too, Senior Mundo!"
Fenric simply shrugged.
If Smoker mistook his Telekinesis powers for a Devil Fruit ability, there was no need to correct him.
"In that case, if you want to eliminate me, you'd better get serious," Fenric said calmly.
"I will! Please be careful!"
Smoker took a deep breath and shouted, "White Fist!"
His arms immediately turned into smoke, and his fists launched away like missiles, trailing long white smoke tails as they flew toward Fenric.
Of course, an attack of that level couldn't hit Fenric.
With a casual wave of his hand, Fenric subtly used his mind power. The smoke fists veered off course and missed completely.
But Smoker wasn't finished.
This move had a follow-up!
The drifting smoke fists suddenly spun around mid-air and redirected toward Fenric—like heat-seeking missiles.
The surrounding recruits were shocked at the technique.
Even the bigwigs on the platform showed interest and turned their attention to the seventh arena.
Fenric, however, remained composed.
As Smoker's fists neared the back of his head, he activated his Telekinesis power once again.
This time, he didn't interfere passively.
He stopped them directly in mid-air.
Smoker's fists froze on the spot, unable to move forward even an inch.
"If that's all you've got," Fenric said flatly, "then I'm afraid you're the one who's going to be eliminated."