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The sea, boundless, sky and water merging into one! Beautiful yet lonely. A Marine ship sailed swiftly.
On the deck, Law, in his recruit uniform, leaned against the mast, uncharacteristically not training. He didn't want to be seen as an oddball by the other Marines, and it was also a good chance to rest during this rare leisure time.
"New recruit, remember the mission for this trip. You don't need to do anything, don't say anything, just observe. Although it's not a dangerous mission, this old officer has seen many arrogant recruits who turned non-dangerous missions into perilous ones, understand?" The Marine Captain (Rear Admiral) looked coldly at Law. "As long as you don't mess things up, that's the best outcome." As an old general, he greatly disliked these rookie recruits. But he had to obey the orders from Marine Headquarters. Law merely nodded casually, his mind still on his own matters.
Today, it had been over two years since Law joined the recruit camp. This time, it was a mission that all recruits from headquarters had to complete. In fact, it wasn't so much a mission as an experience, a chance to get a feel for sailing with the fleet beforehand. Every new recruit would join a Marine ship and accompany it on a mission, and these missions were always non-dangerous, mostly escorting supplies. Although there were many pirates on the sea, very few would actively attack a Marine ship. So there was almost no danger. Yet, it allowed recruits to experience the feeling of sailing the seas, and they wouldn't appear so green after graduation. Such treatment was clearly only available to headquarters recruits; branch recruits didn't have such privileges.
The Marine ship Law was accompanying was tasked with heading to the West Blue Marine Branch to escort some unique materials from the West Blue back to Marine Headquarters. It was that simple. The ship's route also passed through the Calm Belt, meaning there was virtually no danger. The ship's commander was a Rear Admiral, the same one who seemed to look down on Law's recruit status earlier. Although he was a Rear Admiral, Law found that he didn't feel any sense of danger from him. He didn't believe the man could completely conceal his aura. Even in front of Admiral Zephyr, whose aura was fully suppressed, Law could clearly sense danger. This was an instinctive wariness towards powerful individuals.
"Unconsciously, I've indeed grown quite a bit." Law suddenly realized that the Rear Admiral was no longer a powerful figure in his eyes. Two years of training had made him grow significantly. Zephyr had also stated yesterday that with Law's inherent strength and all the Marine Six Powers he had learned, his power on the Grand Line was comparable to pirates with bounties in the tens of millions, on par with Colonel-ranked officers. If his Devil Fruit ability was added, Zephyr believed Law's strength would not be inferior to some pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million. If he further mastered the Haki he had just acquired, Zephyr believed Law would be completely on par with this year's Supernovas, and Law was only fifteen. But Law knew that his Devil Fruit's enhancement wasn't just about doubling his strength.
Law's greater power came from his Devil Fruit abilities. Although he hadn't fully developed all the abilities from the original story, he possessed most of them. In terms of combat power, he could now rival Law during his Supernova period in the original story. At that time, Law was twenty-four years old. He was now only fifteen, a full nine years earlier.
"Extreme training creates too much commotion. I should just train Haki." He had initially planned to relax during the journey, but half an hour later, Law couldn't sit still. He had grown fond of training. He walked into his independent room in the ship's cabin, unwilling to be idle. He began training Haki, both Armament and Observation Haki.
The journey was lonely and dull. It took a full ten days to reach the West Blue, load the ship with supplies, and then turn back. Once they returned to headquarters, this mission would be over—a boring mission.
"Haki, huh?" In the cabin, Law looked at his hands. They weren't hardened, nor had they undergone any substantial change; his hands hadn't turned black. But he felt a new kind of change in the ki within his hands. However, his Haki was only just being trained, far from being able to achieve substantial hardening. But Logia-type users were no longer invincible.
"I wonder how long until we reach headquarters." Law felt as if his body was rusting. He didn't know how many days he had been sailing the seas, only that they seemed to be on the return journey. He hoped this boring mission would end soon so he could train to his heart's content.
In the Calm Belt. There was no wind, the clouds didn't move. Only a Marine ship sailed, making it even more monotonous. The Marines on deck yawned, seeing no need to be vigilant. In the Calm Belt, only Marine ships could pass through; pirate sailing ships lacked such propulsion. There was no need for caution. The patrolling Marine yawned, almost falling asleep. He casually scanned the sea and suddenly saw a dark silhouette on the horizon. A ship?
"No way. I haven't heard of any Marine ship passing through this route. Must be an illusion, right?" The Marine glanced again, his expression freezing. It was indeed a ship. He suddenly recalled a legend. Rumor had it that within the Calm Belt, there was a mysterious Amazon Lily warrior tribe. Could it be?