Marine Calendar 1510.
Marineford, Marine Academy.
"Hey, old man, so this is the Marine prodigy you were talking about? Damn, what a scene… really spectacular."
A short-haired youth watched a bunch of kids showing off flashy moves and teased the muscular old man beside him.
The old man had a scar above his left eye, a pair of blue eyes, and short gray-white hair.
He was none other than the Marine hero, Garp.
"Bam!"
"Shut up!"
A huge fist slammed down onto the youth's head with a loud thud.
The boy instantly clutched his skull.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Ren, you call me teacher! Haha, getting hit on the head feels great!"
Garp waved his fist.
After that he walked over and started talking with an instructor.
"You old man, you hit my head again. I'll get you back someday."
Ren rubbed his head and felt sorry for himself.
He had somehow been transmigrated into the world of pirates and become Garp's disciple.
Things were not bad for him here. Although he had not yet obtained a Devil Fruit or awakened Haki, his hand-to-hand combat was strong.
Stronger even than Ace in many ways.
That made Ren a bit full of himself. Physical combat was Ace's forte, yet Ren could outmatch him. That was something to be proud of.
Originally he had no intention of joining the Marines, but seeing Ace and Luffy seemed uninterested, and feeling pity for old Garp, Ren decided to sign up.
He arrived with swagger.
But immediately upon entering the academy, Ren felt a headache coming on.
A chaotic crowd of brats in front of him killed his mood.
"Ding. Congratulations host, you have once again been hit by Garp. You obtained one Armament Haki fragment."
"Host now has collected ten Armament Haki fragments. Do you wish to synthesize the item?"
"Huh, it can be synthesized already? Didn't the system say one hundred fragments were required to synthesize?" Ren wondered silently.
"Because this is the host's first use of the system, the first synthesis only requires ten fragments," the system explained.
"Due to the special nature of this system, even if the host later consumes a previously used Devil Fruit, they can continue to possess that ability."
"Furthermore, the host's body has been modified and can accommodate Devil Fruit powers without an upper limit."
Holy crap, this was insane.
"Synthesize now!" Ren ordered.
"Ding. Congratulations host. Armament Haki successfully synthesized. You have obtained Armament Haki!"
As the system announced this, memories on how to use Armament Haki flooded into Ren's mind.
"Armament!" Ren called out. Instantly both of his forearms turned pitch black, giving off a mysterious metallic sheen.
"What an amazing power!"
Ren felt his stamina being consumed, but his strength surged dramatically at the same time.
Although he had just entered the path, Ren felt several times stronger already.
At that moment, Garp in the distance seemed to sense something and glanced toward Ren's position.
"So fast he awakened, earlier than I thought." Garp murmured with a trace of seriousness in his eyes.
"Oh, so that's the genius you mentioned. To have grasped Armament Haki so quickly, you must have been well trained."
The one speaking with Garp was Admiral-turned-instructor Zephyr, the academy's head instructor and former Marine admiral.
Garp laughed heartily. "Without my beatings, how could he have grasped Armament Haki so soon? Looks like Ace and the others will have to work harder."
Zephyr looked disgusted at Garp's smugness. That old man's iron fist was no joke.
"By the way, aren't you going to let Ace join the Marines?" Zephyr asked, clearly aware of Garp and Roger's history.
"Let him decide himself. He prefers the wide sea," Garp said lightly, then flashed a mischievous grin and muttered something to Zephyr at his side.
After a while the two old rascals separated, each wearing a strange smile.
Ren's head still hurt. The thought of spending three years cooped up with these brats made him groan.
"Old man, let's talk about something."
Seeing Garp return, Ren immediately sidled up with a cheeky look.
"You're close with Instructor Zephyr, right? I heard the academy has an Elite Division. With my strength, getting into the Elite Division should be no problem. Tell him for me…"
"According to academy rules, freshmen must study for three years before Elite Division selection. If you want early entry, then wait the three years," Garp replied.
"No way, old man. Didn't you say I'm a genius? I've been working hard on your training tasks these past years. Am I still not up to the standard?" Ren protested.
Perhaps because of the system modifications, his hand-to-hand combat was much stronger than Ace's, and his recovery was abnormal. Otherwise, Garp would not have brought Ren to join the Marines at age thirteen.
Of course Garp could not say that out loud. Otherwise Ren would get unbearably arrogant.
"Heh, kid, you really want to join the Elite Division?" Garp asked.
"Of course. Those little brats are beneath me. Putting me with them is an insult!" Ren replied, full of confidence.
"Very confident. Let the old man test you."
Suddenly a voice appeared that made Ren jump.
It was Zephyr. Ren rolled his eyes at the old troublemaker.
Zephyr smiled strangely and slanted his gaze at Ren. "If you can single-handedly defeat the students of a normal class at the academy, I will make an exception and select you into the Elite Division."
"Really?" Ren perked up.
"I never lie," Zephyr said.
"Deal!" Ren agreed happily and walked out.
He did not notice the strange smiles on Garp and Zephyr's faces.
Before Ren could speak further, Zephyr's authoritative voice rang from behind.
"All new Marine Academy recruits, listen up. In the name of the academy head instructor, I announce your first test."
"You will all attack together. You have ten minutes to capture Ren. If Ren can evade capture for ten minutes, he passes the test and I will admit him into the Elite Division!"
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