After dark, after dinner, Dante returned to his dormitory and took a shower.
As he walked out of the bathroom wearing only his boxers, he saw Momonga enthusiastically come up and put an arm around his shoulder.
"Dante, are you ready to participate in the fighting match?" Momonga asked with a smile.
Dante also smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's right."
"Great! Let's go, I'm going to participate too. Let's have a match today. Yamakaji said he even lost to you!" Momonga said with a chuckle.
"In terms of technique, I still have many shortcomings," Dante said very modestly.
Just then, Yamakaji happened to push open the door and walked out, saying, "A win is a win. Let's go. I also want to see if Momonga will also get a taste of defeat from you, hahahaha."
And so, the three of them, chatting and laughing, put on their clothes and quickly headed to the fighting gym together.
Perhaps the sea was still not very stable recently, but in any case, there weren't many people here today, only about a dozen.
However, to Dante's surprise, in addition to their current cohort, there were also former graduates who had come.
One of them was very familiar to him, none other than Kuzan, who had been in the hospital with him before.
And standing beside Kuzan were two people: Gion, who had invited him to participate in the Kendo exchange match earlier that day, and Borsalino, who looked like an old hand.
This was the first time Dante had met Borsalino.
It was clear that he was still very young at this time, but his demeanor was already starting to become somewhat lewd.
Just standing there, he gave off an unreliable impression.
Kuzan also noticed Dante's arrival and happily waved to Dante, saying, "Hey, Dante, long time no see."
Dante walked over with a smile, looking Kuzan up and down, "It seems your leg has healed?"
"Yes, I was just discharged from the hospital two days ago. It's finally a long holiday," Kuzan said with a smile.
Gion, however, asked with some surprise, "Do you two know each other?"
Unlike Dante, who came from the North Blue as a branch colonel, Gion, Kuzan, Borsalino, and others were Marines from Marineford from the very beginning.
All three of them, when it came down to it, had backgrounds.
Kuzan graduated from the Third Session Officer Training Camp, had a master-disciple relationship with Zephyr, and their bond was very deep. At the same time, his superior was Navy Hero Hero Garp.
Coupled with the powerful ability of the Logia-type Ice-Ice Fruit, anyone could see that as long as this guy didn't court death, he would definitely be one of the core high-ranking Marines in the future.
As for Gion, she was a swordswoman herself, and she was like sisters with Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Tsuru of the headquarters, also serving under Chief of Staff Tsuru.
She was also a Marine member with a bright future.
As for Borsalino, he was with Fleet Admiral Sengoku and was also a graduate of the First Session Officer Training Camp, so there was no need to say more.
He himself was already a core force of the Marines, holding the rank of Vice Admiral.
The reason Gion was surprised was not because Dante's 'status wasn't high enough'.
It was because she knew that Dante had just come from the North Blue and shouldn't be familiar with the people at headquarters.
Kuzan said with a smile, "Yes, Dante and I were in the same hospital room when we were hospitalized earlier."
"I see," Gion nodded, finally understanding.
At this moment, Borsalino also looked at Dante and said in a somewhat strange tone, "Oh, it's Dante? Fleet Admiral Sengoku often mentions you. I finally get to meet you today."
Although Borsalino's tone was a bit annoying, Dante knew he meant no harm; that was just his greasy way of speaking.
"Good evening, Vice Admiral Borsalino." Dante responded with a smile.
Borsalino nodded, then added, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku also had a couple of things he wanted me to tell you. He said you don't need to carry out any missions for now. You should focus on training here during this period."
Dante showed a look of realization. He now understood that he hadn't been forgotten; rather, Fleet Admiral Sengoku had secretly looked after him.
Kuzan and Gion were both surprised to hear this. Had Dante quietly established a connection with Fleet Admiral Sengoku already?
It seemed he could now be considered a direct subordinate of Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
As for this special treatment, they didn't find anything wrong with it.
After all, they themselves were somewhat in this 'privileged class' and had often enjoyed such special favors.
As beneficiaries, they naturally wouldn't object to this.
"Yes, I understand. Please convey my gratitude to Fleet Admiral Sengoku on my behalf, Vice Admiral Borsalino." Dante replied with a smile.
"Alright, alright, enough about that. I heard you're going on stage tonight, so I specifically came to watch. Dante, you must win! If you perform well, I'll transfer you to my command. Don't worry, I have very few missions here, so even if Fleet Admiral Sengoku doesn't look after you anymore, you'll still have plenty of time to train." Kuzan said with a chuckle.
Dante rolled his eyes at Kuzan and said, "Forget it, I don't think there's much future in sticking with you."
"Hahahahaha, you're right! Kuzan, you're too lazy. Dante is a very diligent person; don't lead him astray." Gion laughed heartily.
To be honest, although they hadn't interacted much, Dante quickly felt that Gion, despite being a beauty, had a very straightforward personality.
"Hey, no matter what, I'm still more ambitious than Borsalino, right?" Kuzan complained discontentedly.
"Hmm? What's that supposed to mean, Rear Admiral Kuzan? I'm a Vice Admiral, you know." Borsalino retorted.
After chatting for a few more moments and checking the time, Dante said, "You all chat amongst yourselves; I need to go on stage."
After greeting them, Dante turned and left.
Only then did Borsalino quietly speak, "Aren't you curious why I came? To tell you the truth, Fleet Admiral Sengoku has indeed taken a liking to this kid and wants me to observe his performance. If he's good enough, he'll be assigned to my ship when the time is right."
In the original story, Borsalino gradually shifted his stance towards the neutral faction of the Marine in the future.
However, for now, Borsalino was still a direct subordinate of Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
He was personally groomed by Fleet Admiral Sengoku and served as Fleet Admiral Sengoku's Admiral Assistant while also holding the position of Marineford Vice Admiral.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, they would both go on missions together.
So, when Borsalino said this, Gion and Kuzan understood perfectly.
As long as Dante proved himself, he would become a member of Fleet Admiral Sengoku's faction in the future, with a bright future ahead!
When it came to going on stage, there wasn't actually a formal ring.
Momonga was already prepared and warming up.
There were no protective gears like boxing gloves, because this was considered a real combat match, with no rules, as long as no weapons were used. The winner would only be decided when one side surrendered or fell unconscious.
Dante took off the Marine coat draped over his shoulders and tossed it onto a nearby chair. At the same time, he also took off his outer jacket, revealing a white tank top underneath.
Beneath the tank top, his physique looked very robust; although not explosively muscular, it was still very impactful.
"Nice physique." Kuzan praised with a smile.
Borsalino, however, was much more of a rogue and said, "Gion, aren't you bothered by Kajji always harassing you and confessing his feelings? Why don't you just cut off his hopes directly and find a boyfriend? I think Dante is quite good, he's handsome, right? And his future is also very promising... his physique is also great."
Gion glared at Borsalino unhappily and said, "Senior, you don't need to meddle in my affairs. I don't have time for romance."
"What an uncute thing to say." Borsalino said with a chuckle.
Dante also did a simple warm-up, then walked towards Momonga.
Seeing this, Momonga also stopped his movements and walked towards Dante.
After the two stood facing each other, they simultaneously raised an arm and bumped fists in the air.
"Don't go easy on me." Momonga said with a smile.
"I actually hope you go a bit easy on me." Dante responded with a smile.
There was no referee or anything; this was a very informal sparring match.
As the two retracted their fists, they both took a sudden step back, which symbolized the official start of the sparring match.
Neither side made the first move, seemingly both wanting to strike after the other.
After a short period of mutual caution, a fierce glint flashed in Dante's eyes. He pushed off with his foot, lunged forward, and launched the first attack.
Momonga's footwork was extremely agile. As Dante lunged, he immediately moved to the side, and at the same time, swung a heavy punch towards Dante's head.
Dante tilted his head, twisted his body, dodged the blow, and then countered with a punch aimed at Momonga's chest.
Momonga was very fast; he directly grabbed Dante's arm, stopped his punch, and at the same time, turned and swept out with a punch. His strong arm, like an iron rod, whipped fiercely across Dante's chest.
This heavy blow brought a triumphant smile to Momonga's eyes.
However, at this moment, Yamakaji, who was watching from the sidelines, showed a helpless expression in his eyes.
As someone who had fought Dante before, he was very clear about the tactics and rhythm Dante was good at using.
If Momonga was lucky, he would be brought into an unfavorable rhythm by Dante if he was a little careless, and perhaps this was the starting point.
Sure enough, Momonga had originally thought this blow would at least interrupt Dante's offensive, but it didn't. The guy seemed to feel no pain at all; as he took the hit, there wasn't even a hint of a pause, and he countered with an elbow strike that directly slammed into Momonga's chest.
"Cough ah…" Momonga was somewhat out of breath from the impact.
Before he could even counter, Dante's arm was already hooked around his neck, and at the same time, he hooked his foot behind Momonga's heel, pressing back, intending to throw him directly to the ground.
Momonga had no time to think; he suddenly grabbed Dante's neck in turn, supporting himself to keep from falling, and at the same time, his other leg transformed into a knee strike, slamming his knee fiercely into Dante's stomach.
Dante's face flushed, but his movements showed no pause. As he exerted force with his hands, he endured Momonga's knee strike and forcefully threw him to the ground.
"Doesn't that guy feel pain?" Kuzan watched the fight in the arena with some surprise in his eyes.
Momonga's counterattack could be described as very effective. For an ordinary person, taking that knee strike would inevitably cause a pause in their movements. At such a time, Momonga could have completely seized the opportunity to break free and readjust his offensive.
But it turned out that Dante simply didn't fall for that!
Borsalino, standing nearby, said softly, "According to Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Dante seems to have completed his pain tolerance training. Back in North Blue, he was pierced through the chest and back by Golden Lion Shiki's sword, suffering severe lung damage. Even under those circumstances, he still launched the most effective counterattack, almost cutting off Golden Lion Shiki's head…"