…Body healthy, all five limbs intact, appetite normal, future promising."
Ian closed his status panel and consoled himself silently.
Then he bathed, dressed, lit incense, straightened his collar, and seated himself properly.
After letting his mind settle completely, Ian summoned the Coming-of-Age Exclusive Chest.
"Eighteen years late… what exactly is hiding inside you?"
Under his gaze, the chest burst into a spray of radiant light.
The dazzling treasure chest gradually condensed—
turning into a simple, ancient-looking silver-gray ring.
[Name: Ring of Demon Control]
[Star Rating: ★★★★★★★★★]
[Description: A relic of hyper-ancient technology, the crystallization of the lost kingdom's wisdom]
[Effects:
Natural Energy: The Ring passively draws in energy from the unseen world—its power source is virtually limitless.
Indestructible: Forged through unknown methods with an impossibly resilient material, the Ring cannot be broken or destroyed.
Demon Force: The Ring can suppress, absorb, store, or transfer any supernatural factor contained within a Devil Fruit, and can unleash the original ability of that fruit using its own energy.
]
[Evaluation: Pitiful devils… toyed with in the palm of your hand!]
"One, two, three… nine? Nine stars?!"
A Nine-Star Artifact — the Ring of Demon Control!
Ian almost went blind from the row of nine blinding stars.
But even more dazzling were its three unbelievable effects.
What is the greatest weakness of Devil Fruits—with all their bizarre shapes and incredible powers?
That the moment one eats a Devil Fruit, the sea rejects them for life. They lose the ability to swim.
And on this "blue planet," where the oceans dominate nearly everything,
not being able to swim is a fatal flaw.
Yet as Blackbeard Teach once said:
Devil Fruits may have clear weaknesses—
but their strengths far outweigh them.
The Ghost Fruit.
The Card Fruit.
So many abilities where the advantages completely crush the drawbacks.
Ian had long planned to eat a powerful Devil Fruit. It was his small life goal.
He had already accepted the idea of giving up swimming forever.
But now, with the Ring of Demon Control—
He didn't need to eat a Devil Fruit at all.
He could use its power with zero cost.
One word: 爽!
(Translation: "Hell yes.")
Ian felt lighter than ever—
like walking into the New Year dawn wearing brand-new underwear. Refreshing to the soul.
He slipped the ring onto his finger.
A Marine steps outside—
and Headquarters is right there.
Justice doesn't take holidays.
Even on New Year's Day, Marineford's main building buzzed with activity.
Wearing the blue-and-white uniform of a navy recruit, Ian was just another face in the crowd.
After weaving through several corridors, he finally reached the door of a top-floor office.
Knock, knock—
Ian rapped his knuckles against the door.
"Come in," came a deep, gravelly voice.
Ian entered, saluted with palm-out precision.
"Sir! Recruit Ian Adrian, reporting in!"
"Ian? You're early."
The man who answered was a towering purple-haired veteran with muscles like steel—
Former Marine Admiral 'Black Arm' Zephyr.
He was also chief instructor of the elite recruits' training camp.
Today, Ian had come to confirm his post-graduation rank and assignment.
Zephyr looked him over, then picked up a letter with his intact left hand.
A casual flick—
and the letter flew straight toward Ian with pinpoint accuracy.
"This is a recommendation I wrote myself.
"Now go next door.
"Kuzan will explain the rest!"
Kuzan?
Admiral Aokiji?
Still bewildered, Ian carried the letter to the office next door—the current admiral's room.
Kuzan seemed to have expected him.
As soon as Ian pushed the door open, Aokiji asked bluntly:
"Ian Adrian? You brought your resignation letter, right?"
Ian froze.
Not promotion…
but dismissal?
"My ancestors shed blood for the World Government and earned merits for Marine Headquarters!"
Ian snapped back to his senses, ignoring Kuzan's rank entirely as he demanded:
"What did I do wrong to be dismissed by Headquarters directly?!"
Ian didn't particularly love or hate the Marines.
In his eyes, this world was rotten across the board.
The Marines were simply… a job.
And what job fires you without reason?!
"You didn't do anything wrong."
Kuzan scratched his messy afro wearily.
"And you're not being dismissed—you're resigning."
…Do you hear yourself talking?
Ian stared at him in disbelief.
What difference was there between "fired" and "resigned" in this situation?
Was this just Headquarters avoiding severance pay?
And did the World Government even have labor laws?
Seeing Ian's reaction, Kuzan finally realized the problem.
"Wait—Zephyr-sensei didn't explain the reason to you?"
Kuzan sighed, frost spilling from around his body.
"Ah-la-la… really now? He's the one who sent you to me…"
Zephyr's recommendation?
Ian looked at the letter in his hand and raised it awkwardly.
"He only gave me this. He said you would explain everything."
"Ah-la-la…"
Kuzan sighed again.
"Giving me extra work… so troublesome."
Isn't that your own problem?
Ian groaned inwardly.
He didn't want to get involved in the "friction" between Marine admirals of different generations.
Silently, he stepped forward, placed the recommendation letter on Kuzan's desk, then stepped back to attention.
Kuzan opened the letter, scanned it in seconds.
Ian had no idea what Zephyr wrote.
But the frost thickening around Kuzan gave him a general idea—
The office temperature plummeted.
Ian could almost see his breath.
"Recruit!"
Kuzan's voice cracked like ice.
He looked up sharply, eyes cold as a glacier.
"You once publicly insulted the Celestial Dragons—calling them pigs?"
Ignoring the ugly green-plaid sleep mask hanging on Kuzan's forehead,
his aura was genuinely intimidating.
"First of all, it wasn't public. It was in private conversation."
Ian curled his lip and admitted his "crime" without hesitation.
"Second, that wasn't an insult. It was an objective description."
"And lastly—I did not say 'Celestial Dragons are pigs.'
What I said was:
'Celestial Dragons are scum not even worthy of being compared to pigs.'"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/FicHaven786