Momonga finished speaking and held his salute toward Lloyd and the others.
Lloyd raised a hand casually and replied, his tone calm and restrained,
"Momonga, haven't I told you before? While we are still in school, we are classmates. There's no need for this."
Momonga did not lower his hand. He remained rigid and answered seriously,
"There's only a little over a year left until graduation. I want to get used to it early."
As graduation drew closer, more and more cadets began to truly understand the importance of resources.
For the majority of students with only average talent, once everyone's strength reached a similar level, post graduation treatment no longer depended solely on effort. It depended on backing, connections, and who noticed you.
Justice was important, of course, but justice could not be eaten.
In any world, people wanted to climb higher. There was nothing shameful about that.
Lloyd and his group, known throughout the academy as the Navy Supernovas, were living resources in human form. Anyone who could stay close to them became the object of envy. Anyone with even a fragment of sense understood that such relationships had to be carefully maintained.
Lloyd stepped forward and placed a hand on Momonga's shoulder. His gaze was steady, his expression unreadable, yet his words carried undeniable weight.
"Momonga, I'll be honest. I think highly of you. At the very least, you'll reach Vice Admiral in the future."
Momonga froze.
His breath hitched, and for a brief moment, his rigid discipline cracked.
"Huh? Lloyd… are you serious?"
"Of course."
Lloyd withdrew his hand, waved lightly, and walked past him toward the edge of the training ground. Akainu and Kizaru followed without comment. From the beginning, Momonga had been referring to all three of them.
Momonga stood there, stunned, until the weight of the words truly sank in.
When he finally regained his senses, a faint, uncontrollable pride surfaced. He walked back toward Huoshaoshan and the others, unable to completely suppress his smile.
Huoshaoshan frowned and asked,
"Momonga, you look unusually happy. Did something good happen?"
Momonga coughed twice, attempting to compose himself, but the curve of his lips betrayed him.
"It's nothing much. Lloyd just said I could become a Vice Admiral in the future."
"Nani?"
The reaction was immediate.
---
Marine Headquarters Recruitment Office.
Today marked the opening of a new recruitment session. Among the many new applicants, several stood out so sharply that Zephyr himself came to oversee the process.
At that moment, three young men stood before him.
All three were over two meters tall, their heights strikingly similar. They wore standard Marine uniforms, blue and white shirts paired with straight black trousers.
The man on the left had dark green, curly hair, thick eyebrows, and full lips. His build was noticeably broader than the other two, and arrogance lingered openly in his expression.
The man in the middle had shoulder length black hair that looked wild and untamed. He had no visible eyebrows, his brow permanently furrowed, and his face carried a fierce, heavy presence.
The man on the right looked the most youthful. His posture was straight, his build tall and lean. His eyes were filled with anticipation, and a blue beanie rested on his head, from beneath which two tufts of curly black hair emerged.
Zephyr crossed his arms and lowered his gaze to the three files on the desk.
From left to right:
"Aramaki, 21 years old. Logia type Mori Mori no Mi user. Origin, North Blue."
"Monkey D. Dragon, 24 years old. Logia type Kaze Kaze no Mi user. Origin, East Blue."
"Kuzan, 18 years old. Logia type Hie Hie no Mi user. Origin, South Blue."
The interviewers standing behind Zephyr were already numb.
The second Navy recruitment had barely begun, yet three Logia users had appeared at once.
Combined with the three Logia users from the previous batch, the Navy now possessed six.
It was impossible not to link this phenomenon to the earlier newspaper reports. The overwhelming performance of Lloyd, Akainu, and Kizaru had drawn these monsters out of hiding.
Zephyr lifted his gaze, his eyes finally settling on the man in the center.
Monkey D. Dragon.
"Isn't this Garp's son?"
Garp frequently spoke of Dragon among old comrades, often lamenting that his son was too thoughtful, too stubborn. Every attempt to recruit him into the Navy had ended in failure.
Yet here he was, standing inside Marine Headquarters, and as a Logia user no less.
Zephyr asked calmly,
"Dragon, does Garp know you came here?"
Dragon shook his head slowly.
"My father doesn't know. I snuck aboard a warship. Joining the Navy is my own decision."
Unlike Garp's loud and reckless nature, Dragon carried an air of quiet resolve. His presence was steady, restrained, and heavy with thought.
Zephyr gestured for an officer to approach.
"Notify Garp."
Aramaki clicked his tongue impatiently.
"Admiral Zephyr, I came here to see Lloyd. When is he arriving?"
Kuzan nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, Admiral Zephyr. I also want to meet this Lloyd person, as well as the others. Could you let us meet them first?"
As he spoke, Kuzan extended a hand toward Dragon with an easy smile.
"Ara la la, so you're Vice Admiral Garp's son. I really admire him."
Dragon hesitated briefly, then accepted the handshake.
"My father is an outstanding Marine."
Aramaki, meanwhile, picked his nose without restraint, showing no interest in either of them.
Zephyr observed the three silently, already forming a clear picture of their personalities.
At that moment, Lloyd and his group entered the recruitment office.
Lloyd's eyes swept across the room and briefly paused on the three recruits. Their identities surfaced in his mind instantly.
Outwardly, his expression remained unchanged. Inwardly, a rare flicker of surprise appeared.
"So these three came to the Navy this early?"
Dragon's case was uncertain, but Kuzan was clearly meant to be a third term student. As for Aramaki, he was someone who should not have appeared until much later in history.
The moment Lloyd entered, Aramaki and Kuzan visibly brightened. Kuzan raised his arm and waved vigorously.
"Lloyd!"
At this stage, Kuzan bore no trace of his future laziness. Before the Ohara incident, he was nothing more than a passionate and earnest young man.
Lloyd acknowledged him with a faint smile and a brief wave, then turned to Zephyr.
"Zephyr Sensei, you called for us?"
Zephyr handed Lloyd the three files. Lloyd scanned them quickly, allowing a hint of surprise to surface, then passed them to Akainu and Kizaru.
When they realized all three were Logia users, their expressions shifted as well.
Interestingly enough, Aramaki, Akainu, and Kizaru all hailed from North Blue.
Kuzan, meanwhile, felt a subtle sense of kinship with Lloyd. They came from the same region, and that connection was one of the reasons Kuzan had enlisted a year early.
He had seen the newspaper report.
The story of Lloyd and the others had ignited his blood. When he learned that the most outstanding among them, Lloyd, was from the same sea, he made his decision without hesitation.