Zephyr looked at Roya, whose expression showed not the slightest hesitation. Feelings of relief, loss, and many others stirred in his heart—emotions that could not be put into words. In the end, he gently nodded.
"I approve."
Seeing this, the CP officer darkened his face, glanced at Roya, then at Zephyr, and finally snorted coldly.
"Let's go."
The other World Government officials had long since been unable to stay any longer. One by one, they left in a dejected manner.
Garp paid no attention to the departure of the World Government officials. His gaze remained fixed on Roya, countless complex emotions flickering continuously through his eyes.
Garp had always wanted to train his son, Monkey D. Dragon, into an outstanding Marine. In the end, Dragon had run off to become a revolutionary, turning into the World Government's most wanted criminal. Although, from another perspective, Dragon was indeed remarkable and made Garp proud, he had ultimately not followed the path Garp had envisioned.
As for Roya, everything he had shown up to this point filled Garp with satisfaction and pride.
"These guys…"
Sengoku watched the World Government officials leave without even saying goodbye. He shook his head, then turned to Zephyr and said, "The graduation assessment for elite camp recruits should follow the official procedure. Tomorrow, Zephyr, submit the application."
Because elite camp recruits would become officers of field-grade rank or above upon graduation, every elite camp graduation assessment required approval from Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Since neither Zephyr nor Garp had stopped Roya from applying for graduation, Sengoku naturally would not interfere either.
"Understood."
Zephyr nodded.
After graduating from the elite camp, a recruit's rank would be determined by their performance in the graduation assessment. Although Roya's strength ensured that passing was not an issue, whether his rank would be Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or even Captain would depend on his assessment results.
The elite camp graduation assessment was divided into three stages.
Only after passing the first stage could one proceed to the second, and only after passing the second could one attempt the third. Only by clearing all three stages would the graduation assessment be considered complete.
The first stage was the simplest: a pure physical test measuring speed, strength, attack power, destructive capability, and so on.
The second stage was entirely different. The candidate would accompany a formal Marine unit out to sea to hunt pirates, and must personally capture or kill a pirate with a bounty of over 100 million. Only then would the stage be considered complete.
The specific score would be determined by the individual's performance during the operation. If the performance was extremely poor, they would certainly fail—there was no possibility of muddling through.
At the same time, since this was a graduation assessment, everything followed real Marine standards. Although there would be official Marine Headquarters officers—Captains or even Rear Admirals—accompanying the mission, these people were not Zephyr. Leaving aside whether they would even attempt a rescue in a life-or-death situation, even if they did, success was far from guaranteed.
With one misstep, death on the battlefield was entirely possible.
This was cruel, but anyone who applied for the graduation assessment and sought to become an official Marine officer had to face it. Those who graduated from the elite camp were meant to be elite Marines, not fledglings that required protection.
As for the third stage, it returned to a familiar format.
Combat.
There were ten matches in total. Opponents could be prisoners held in Impel Down, ferocious giant beasts, or Marine officers. The difficulty increased step by step.
Winning the sixth match was enough to pass the graduation assessment.
During his time in the elite camp, although Roya had focused on training, he was still well aware of the graduation assessment. He understood all three stages clearly.
In Roya's view, the purpose of the first-stage physical test was simply to discourage recruits from casually applying for graduation. The second stage was the true graduation assessment.
Only those who passed the physical test were qualified to participate in the real evaluation.
The combined results of all three stages formed the final graduation score. Since the first stage was merely a physical test—where most achieved excellent or even perfect scores—the primary emphasis lay on the second and third stages.
"It seems it won't be long before the Marines gain another outstanding officer."
Aokiji glanced at Roya and said, "If I have time, I'll come watch the third stage."
The number of elite camp recruits was not large, and the third-stage graduation assessment was always quite spectacular. It was both an evaluation and a performance, so senior Marine officials were invited to observe. Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru—the three Admirals—were naturally on the invitation list.
However, they were rarely interested enough to attend.
All three had participated in the graduation assessment themselves, and to this day, the best results in elite camp history were still theirs.
But Roya's talent and strength were exceptional, seemingly no weaker than they had been back then. Moreover, he was Garp's nephew. As such, Aokiji had genuine interest in Roya's performance during the third stage.
"I wonder how Garp-san's nephew will perform in the third stage?"
This thought crossed Aokiji's mind. After giving Roya another glance, he turned and left the training ground.
"To think Zephyr-sensei has trained yet another outstanding disciple. It seems you're still as sharp as ever."
Kizaru also began walking out, speaking lazily as he did so. "If I'm not busy at the time, I'll come watch the third-stage assessment too."
Kizaru left the training ground alongside Aokiji.
"Mm. If I have time, I'll go have a look as well."
After smiling at Zephyr and Garp, Sengoku likewise turned and departed.
In the blink of an eye, all the World Government officials were gone, and most of the Marine high command had also left. Only Garp, Zephyr, Roya, and the elite camp recruits remained on the training ground.
Zephyr said to Roya, "Submit your graduation assessment application tomorrow. The first stage will begin the day after. You can go back and prepare."
Though he spoke of preparation, there was really nothing to prepare. What Zephyr meant was simply for Roya to return and rest, adjusting his mental state.
After Roya and Garp also left the training ground, someone among the elite camp recruits finally spoke up.
"Instructor Zephyr, I also want to apply for the graduation assessment."
"And me!"
The first to speak was Smoker. Those who followed were mostly veterans from the same class as him. They had already planned to apply for graduation soon; they just had not expected this newcomer, Roya, to beat them to it.
Zephyr was not surprised by this at all.
Although elite camp recruits could apply for graduation at any time, usually once someone took the lead, others would quickly follow. This time, it just happened that the one leading the way was Roya.
"Smoker, Shu…"
Zephyr called out the names of the recruits applying for graduation, then asked, "Anyone else?"
No one answered.
Seeing this, Zephyr nodded and turned to leave.