When everyone stepped out of the office, they were covered in a thin layer of frost.
The reason was simple—after witnessing Jake's abilities, Sengoku wanted to see Monet's Logia powers as well.
But Monet was nervous and accidentally overdid it.
Had she not stopped in time, the entire office would have been buried under a much thicker layer of ice.
Despite the frost clinging to them, everyone's expressions remained fairly cheerful.
Kizaru was grinning the widest, his already lecherous face now bordering on creepy.
After all, Jake and Monet were his students.
For completing this mission, Sengoku had granted him a full week off—compared to the previous monthly single-day breaks, this was pure bliss.
At this thought, his gaze towards Jake and Monet softened even more.
Aokiji, on the other hand, fixed his eyes on Monet.
He was quite intrigued by the Snow-Snow Fruit, which was referred to in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia as an inferior version of his own.
To be honest, Aokiji didn't really believe in the so-called hierarchy of Devil Fruits.
In his view, the abilities manifested by any Devil Fruit depended more on the user themselves rather than the fruit's supposed rank.
Admittedly, the baseline power of a Logia-type fruit was higher than that of Paramecia and Zoan types.
But when it came to the upper limits, the potential of any Devil Fruit ultimately depended on the user's own capabilities.
After Monet's earlier demonstration, Aokiji, as a user of a similar Devil Fruit, immediately noticed the differences between her abilities and his own.
Moisture existed in the air.
His Ice-Ice Fruit essentially froze that moisture into ice, while Monet's ability transformed the moisture directly into snow.
The distinction between the two lay solely in this aspect.
The reason the Snow-Snow Fruit was considered inferior to the Ice-Ice Fruit was likely because snow's lethality and utility, especially in the early stages of a user's development, paled in comparison to ice.
But in Aokiji's eyes, ice and snow were fundamentally the same, differing only in density.
Snow, when compressed, could achieve the same hardness and strength as ice.
The energy required for this compression was essentially the gap between the Ice-Ice Fruit and the Snow-Snow Fruit.
In simpler terms, if Monet and Aokiji were to destroy the same wall, Aokiji would only need to expend 10 units of stamina to create an ice blade and shatter it.
For Monet, however, she would need to expend 100 units of stamina—first generating a large amount of snow, then compressing it to match the hardness of ice—before she could break the wall.
That 90-unit difference in stamina consumption meant that in prolonged battles, the Snow-Snow Fruit would undoubtedly be outclassed by the Ice-Ice Fruit.
But Aokiji believed that while ice had unmatched hardness and strength, snow possessed a flexibility and softness that ice lacked.
Monet's development path should focus on snow's unique properties—such as creating marsh-like terrain or generating blinding snowstorms to disorient enemies.
That was the direction Monet should explore, rather than pointlessly trying to compete with the Ice-Ice Fruit's strengths.
As Aokiji pondered this, Garp's voice suddenly rang out.
Digging his nose without a shred of shame, the man sauntered over to Jake and grinned.
"Hey, brat! You really gave that old fool Sengoku a scare earlier, hahaha! It's been ages since I've seen him make that face! Anyway, I like your style. How about joining my ship? I'll train you myself—teach you all about the Fist of Love!"
As he spoke, Garp flexed his fist, which was as large as a sand pot.
Before Jake could answer, Zephyr shot Garp a glare and then said helplessly.
"You damn fool, spouting some nonsense again! What do you mean 'come to my ship'? That kind of talk is no different from pirates! Jake, don't listen to that idiot Garp. His head is full of muscles—he's completely incapable of teaching others.
You and Monet will stay in the elite training camp for now. Once you've mastered the Rokushiki techniques and Haki, then you can consider going elsewhere. Understood?"
Zephyr's tone was firmer than Garp's, directly deciding Jake and Monet's arrangements without giving them a choice.
While this might seem domineering, it was actually to spare them from an awkward dilemma where they might offend someone.
If Zephyr hadn't been firm and serious at this moment, Jake would have faced the awkward choice between Garp and Zephyr.
Though Garp's personality meant he wouldn't care about such things, Zephyr didn't want Jake or Monet to risk offending anyone.
To this old man, the younger generation of the Marines were like his own children and any father would want to protect them in every way possible.
"Yes, Zephyr-sensei!" they both replied.
"Tch, your head is the one full of muscles Zephyr! Jake, I'll be at Headquarters for a while. If you have any questions about Armament Haki, you can come ask me—but remember to bring me some senbei! Otherwise, I won't teach you a thing, Bwahahaha."
True to form, Garp didn't mind any of it.
He just grinned and clapped Jake on the shoulder—though the force was a bit too strong, making Jake wince.
The shameless old man didn't seem to notice though.
After speaking, he immediately jumped out the window, laughing as he shouted.
"Move aside, move aside! Where are my donuts?!"
Watching Garp's retreating figure, everyone could only sigh in exasperation.
Aokiji scratched his head and said helplessly.
"Jake, Monet, that's just how Vice Admiral Garp is. You'll get used to it. Oh, and if you have any questions about Devil Fruit development, you can come to me too. I'm usually sleeping on Garp-san ship."
With that, Aokiji also jumped out the window, calling after Garp.
"Vice Admiral Garp, wait for me!"
Zephyr shook his head and sighed at the sight.
"What a bunch of idiots. By the way, Borsalino, do you have anything else to say? If not, I'll take Jake and Monet to the training camp. You can come too—I'd like to see if you're still as reliant on your Devil Fruit as before!"
Hearing this, Kizaru immediately shook his head like a rattle drum.
"No, no, no! Zephyr-sensei, you should focus on teaching Jake and Monet~ I have nothing to say~ Well, actually, Sakazuki is out on a mission and won't be back for a while. When he returns, Jake, make sure to meet him."
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