After briefly explaining the live-combat mission, Zephyr left the deck of the warship and entered the cabin.
"Don't be afraid. The more fear you have, the worse you'll perform."
"Hahaha, don't worry too much, rookies. We veterans will protect you."
"If you're really scared, you can just stand to the side and watch how we deal with those pirates."
Once Zephyr left, the Elite Camp veterans turned their attention to the newcomers such as Roya and Drake, each speaking in turn.
Some offered serious reminders, some wore teasing expressions, and others spoke in a half-joking manner.
"So what if it's fighting pirates?!"
One of the new recruits couldn't help but snort coldly. However, the trace of nervousness in his eyes was impossible to hide, making his bravado sound hollow—after all, this time they would be facing real pirates in actual combat.
"Commendable courage."
Very Good, who had previously been forced to concede by Roya in a single move, looked at the newcomer with a mocking smile and said, "But you rookies have only trained under Instructor Zephyr for one month. Courage is good, but you still need strength…"
As he spoke, Very Good suddenly noticed Roya in the crowd, and his expression immediately darkened.
The fact that Roya was Garp's nephew was no longer a secret—it had already spread throughout the Elite Camp.
However, among the new recruits, including Very Good, this revelation did not cause much reaction. After all, this was the Marine Headquarters' Elite training camp, and many recruits had elders who were Marine officers. Garp's status was merely more special than most.
Very Good harbored deep resentment toward Roya. He kept thinking that if he had dodged that fiery strike and counterattacked, things would have been better. Even if he still lost to Roya in the end, it wouldn't have been so humiliating to be defeated in a single move.
At the very least, he could have exchanged blows.
Roya wasn't even a Logia-type fruit user. That flame-based ability likely had significant limitations—perhaps it could only be used once. Yet he had been taken down in one slash and turned into a laughingstock.
Over the past month, Very Good had wanted to challenge Roya again to wash away that humiliation. But Roya never appeared during that entire month. Now that the live-combat mission was about to begin, Very Good naturally had no chance to challenge him.
If Roya were to encounter danger in the upcoming mission and require Zephyr's intervention, or end up badly injured and miserable, it would only make Very Good—who had been one-shot by Roya—feel even worse.
Thus, the moment he saw Roya, his face turned gloomy.
In his view, although Roya possessed a flame-type ability with formidable offensive power, he was still not a Logia user. Moreover, combat against pirates was not a one-on-one duel but chaotic melee fighting. Inexperienced rookies were highly likely to run into trouble.
Roya, however, paid no attention to Very Good's gloomy gaze—or to anyone else's, for that matter. At this moment, aside from thinking about the live-combat mission, his mind was focused on his training.
In particular, regarding Haki training, after careful consideration, Roya identified several points that confused him.
Thus—
He did not remain on the deck for long. Instead, Roya went straight into the cabin to look for Zephyr.
---
From Marine Headquarters to the South Blue, there was no need to traverse the entire Grand Line. One simply needed to follow the Red Line, cross the sea horizontally, pass through the Calm Belt, and arrive directly in the South Blue.
This region near the end of the first half of the Grand Line was relatively stable. Few pirates were capable of crossing half the Grand Line, and for those who did reach this area, their final destination was invariably the Sabaody Archipelago.
Very few pirates were willing to provoke the Marines here. After all, this location was extremely close to Marine Headquarters. Without overwhelming strength, opposing the Marines here was practically suicide.
After leaving Marine Headquarters, the warship encountered no pirates along the way and sailed smoothly into the Calm Belt.
---
Top Deck of the Warship
Inside an exceptionally spacious and empty room, two figures stood facing each other.
"In just one month, you've mastered Soru, and you can even use Geppo now?"
Zephyr looked at Roya, shock clearly visible in his eyes.
Just moments earlier, he had tested Roya's training progress. He hadn't thought much of it at first, assuming that even if Roya had learned Soru, it would be crude at best. He never imagined that Roya's Soru would be so refined—and that he had already learned Geppo as well!
Zephyr had originally believed that it would take Roya at least two to three months to train Soru and Geppo. Yet Roya had accomplished it in only one month.
In fact—
Zephyr had barely paid attention to Roya's training results over this past month. At first, he had not even planned to test him.
It was only because Roya had proactively come to ask questions about Haki that Zephyr suddenly changed his mind and decided to assess him.
And the result of that assessment stunned him.
Soru was not an ability one could master quickly through talent alone. It was a purely physical technique, and for such abilities, relentless effort far outweighed innate talent.
To master Soru proficiently and learn Geppo within a single month—
That meant Roya must have undergone near-suicidal, hellish training during this month to reach such a level!
Before this, Zephyr had not understood Roya's training methods, nor had he asked Garp about them.
Only now did Zephyr finally realize that Roya's terrifying rate of growth was not due to talent alone, but also to effort far exceeding that of others!
Even Zephyr's least-compatible disciple—now one of the three Marine Admirals, Kizaru—though much of his strength came from his Devil Fruit, was inseparable from hard work.
No matter how great one's talent, without effort one could never become a true powerhouse. And when talent was combined with effort, the results were nothing short of astonishing.
At this point, describing Roya's growth with a single word like "talent" was completely inadequate—doing so would actually be an insult to him.
Zephyr's suggestion that Roya train Soru and Geppo first had originally been a test.
Although Roya's current strength met the minimum requirement to train Haki, in Zephyr's eyes he was still weak.
If the body was weak, then even mastering Haki would still result in limited strength. Only with a strong body would Haki bring about truly significant improvement.
That was why Zephyr had advised Roya to train Soru and Geppo first—he believed that once Roya mastered them, his physical strength would increase dramatically, making it far more suitable to train Haki afterward.
If Roya had ignored his advice and insisted on training Haki first—putting the cart before the horse—then wasting two or three months would not have mattered. Zephyr would have sternly reprimanded him later, corrected his path without mercy, and ensured that Roya did not go astray.
But what Zephyr never expected—
Was that Roya not only followed his advice, but exceeded all expectations entirely.