North Blue 113th Marine Branch Port.
Early this morning, Base Commander Colonel Mild had already gathered his men and stood at the port.
As one of the only two Marine Colonels in the base, Dante naturally stood there waiting as well.
They were waiting to welcome important figures from Marineford.
Mild was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a resolute appearance, but in reality, his personality was somewhat cunning.
From a strength perspective, Dante had already surpassed him, but Mild's seniority was established, so he still held the command of the entire base.
Their relationship was quite good. Previously, Mild had been somewhat wary of Dante, fearing that this young man would seize his power.
However, Mild later discovered that Dante didn't care about the power of the North Blue 113th Branch at all. He seemed to be single-mindedly focused on going to Marineford.
And this time, it was his chance.
From this perspective, Mild was very supportive of Dante. As long as Dante could be assigned to Marine Headquarters, Marineford, then no one in the North Blue 113th Branch could threaten his power anymore.
"Dante, you must perform well this time. You are our North Blue's youngest and most promising Marine Colonel," Mild said with a smile, patting Dante's shoulder.
Dante also smiled back at him and said, "I will strive to prove myself."
How to put it, the situation in North Blue was becoming increasingly rotten, or rather, the situation in the entire world wasn't very good.
The Branch Marine in the Grand Line and the Marine in Marineford might still have more integrity.
But within the Four Seas, the Marine as a whole was in a state of decadence and corruption.
For example, Colonel Mild, standing before Dante, had, to Dante's knowledge, taken many bribes and committed many dirty deeds using his power.
But Dante didn't care. After all, he didn't join the Marine truly for justice; he just wanted to survive better.
As the two chatted and laughed, a massive Marine warship slowly appeared on the distant horizon, sailing towards the port.
The combat power of Marine Headquarters and Marine Branches was completely different, not on the same level.
From the perspective of warships, the North Blue Marine Branch's warships were not large, similar in size to ordinary armed merchant ships, capable of carrying at most one hundred Marine soldiers.
Their firepower was also insufficient.
But the Marine Headquarters warship in the distance was full of deterrence.
Firstly, it was enormous, truly a giant ship. According to Dante's understanding, each Marine Headquarters warship could carry at least one thousand Marine soldiers and possessed an extremely massive firepower system.
It was rumored that a Buster Call fleet, consisting of ten Headquarters warships, could completely wipe out an entire area.
One can imagine how vast the difference was?
In terms of speed, even though this Headquarters warship was massive, its cruising speed was still several times faster than that of the North Blue Branch's warships. Not long after, this giant warship, flying the Marine flag, had arrived at the port from the horizon.
After the gangway was lowered, several figures disembarked from the warship.
Unlike the Branch Marine of North Blue, these important figures from Headquarters all wore cloaks of justice, appearing immensely majestic.
Dante recognized two of them at a glance: they were two Admirals from Marine Headquarters!
Admiral of the Fleet Sengoku the Buddha and Black Arm Zephyr!
Strictly speaking, Zephyr at this time was no longer a proper Marine Admiral; he had already retired from the front lines.
A few years ago, while on a mission, he was soft-hearted and let a group of pirates go. As a result, not long after, these pirates killed his entire family.
Zephyr suffered mental anguish and felt he could no longer fulfill his duties as a Marine Admiral, so he chose to retire to the second line and became a Marine instructor.
So now, he only nominally retained the rank of Marine Admiral.
As for the other one, Admiral of the Fleet Sengoku the Buddha, he was formidable. He was currently an Admiral and would later become the Fleet Admiral.
However, Dante's target this time was not Admiral Sengoku, but the retired Admiral Zephyr.
After Admiral Zephyr retired to the second line, he officially initiated the Marine's Officer Training Camp system.
Simply put, though called a training camp, it was actually a military academy for cultivating elite Marine cadres.
The location was at Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In this regard, Zephyr was quite experienced. Before he retired to the second line, he had conceived and practiced this concept several times, and he truly did cultivate a few monsters.
They were Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan.
And these three would later all become the highest combat power of Marine Headquarters: Admirals!
Later, Zephyr trained countless Marine elites. It could be said that all the elite Marine Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, and other officers of Marine Headquarters in the future were his disciples. One can imagine how high his achievements were in this area.
Without a doubt, in Dante's view, Zephyr was the best teacher candidate. As long as he kept up with his pace and clung to his coattails, it would be hard not to become stronger!
The Officer Training Camp system had been in operation for several years and had already trained a batch of excellent Marines.
Over the years, every so often, Zephyr would search for excellent prospects from among all Marines and bring them back to Marine Headquarters for training. This time he came to North Blue with the same purpose.
These important figures descended from the gangway and stood on the port.
Colonel Mild quickly stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Colonel Mild, Base Commander and Commander of Marine Headquarters' 113th Branch in North Blue!"
Dante also followed, standing at attention and saluting, saying, "Colonel Rodriguez Dante, Deputy Commander and Deputy Base Commander of Marine Headquarters' 113th Branch in North Blue!"
This was a common way of introducing oneself in the Marine.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku had a warm smile on his face and nodded to Dante and Mild, saying, "You've worked hard. The justice of North Blue will depend on you to uphold it."
"For justice!" Dante and Mild shouted in unison.
At the same time, Admiral Zephyr looked at Dante with a scrutinizing gaze and asked, "Dante? Are you the youngest Marine Colonel in North Blue?"
"Reporting to Admiral Zephyr, yes!" Dante replied very formally.
"Very good. The Marine needs spirited people like you. The Admiral of North Blue applied to Headquarters for your Officer Training Camp assessment. As far as I know, you are the only one nominated from all of North Blue this time. You won't make me come all this way for nothing, will you?" Zephyr asked, stroking his chin.
The Admiral of North Blue was actually also a Colonel, but he was the only one in North Blue who held a Headquarters Colonel rank.
Therefore, he had the authority to oversee the entire North Blue Marine, a very rare and special existence within the Marine system.
Because within the entire Marine system, there were only four Admirals, each stationed in one of the Four Seas...
However, later, with the advent of the Great Pirate Era, Admirals of this rank simply couldn't make a splash and gradually faded into obscurity.
But now, the North Blue Admiral has the authority to recommend all Marines under his command in North Blue to participate in the Officer Training Camp assessment led by Zephyr.
And this year, in the entire North Blue, only Dante was recommended.
It's not that he's too outstanding; it's just that the North Blue Marines are too mediocre.
Originally, Dante thought that if he was the only one, he would be summoned to Marineford for the assessment, but it turned out Zephyr was too dedicated and came to North Blue himself to assess the situation.
At the same time, for some reason, Fleet Admiral Sengoku also came along.
He didn't feel guilty; Dante knew very well that at such a time, he should show confidence to be highly regarded.
Therefore, he confidently said, "Yes, I guarantee I won't disappoint you, Admiral!"
Although it was called an assessment, Dante truly didn't know what the process would be.
Just then, Colonel Milder said, "Admiral, why don't we go to the base to rest first?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Admiral Zephyr shook their heads simultaneously, "No need, we have other matters and will be leaving soon. Let's start the assessment now..."
When these two big shots spoke, Milder had no say, so he could only nod sheepishly and stand aside.
Just as Dante was wondering about the process, Zephyr spoke, "Don't think too much. I'll ask you two questions first: Why did you join the Marine? What is the justice in your heart?"
Dante was stunned for a moment, then replied, "I joined the Marine because I couldn't survive. So I thought if I joined the Marine, perhaps I could be protected by the Marine and survive..."
He wasn't lying; that was indeed his thought. He didn't join the Marine because he yearned for justice or anything like that.
Zephyr didn't speak but nodded secretly in his heart. Before coming, he had already read all the information about this Colonel Rodriguez Dante.
Indeed, this boy was a commoner. Later, due to various reasons, his family was broken and ruined. From the age of eight or nine, he started living like a stray dog, scrounging on the streets. Eventually, he couldn't survive and had no choice but to join the Marine.
Starting as a chores-doing orderly, he became a Marine Branch Colonel step by step over seven years.
He hadn't lied about this matter.
"Then, what is the justice in your heart?" Zephyr repeated the question.
Dante still didn't lie, shaking his head and saying, "I'm very sorry, Admiral Zephyr, I haven't found the justice in my heart yet."
"Hahahahaha, are you lost?" Admiral Zephyr suddenly laughed.
Dante nodded without speaking.
Lost?
He was indeed quite lost...
"At least on these two questions, you passed, Colonel Dante. You are still young, that's why you are lost, but precisely because you are young, the future holds abundant possibilities. One day, you will find your justice," Zephyr said, reaching out and patting Dante's shoulder.
This time, his tone was very gentle, like a kind and generous elder.
"Yes, Admiral Zephyr," Dante responded softly.
"Alright, then let's test why you were recommended. Use all your strength and attack me," Zephyr said casually, patting his chest.