True Strength Comes From Inside!

The boot camp's drill field was crowded with people, many of them exchanging whispers, their eyes showing uncontrollable excitement.

Because, after being kept for two weeks and almost thinking they were going to return home, they finally met their living sensei.

It made them weep with joy!

At this moment, Zephyr, who served as the chief instructor, stood at the front, and behind him were some reputable Commodores and Rear Admirals, which, even in the New World, was a force strong enough to make the sea tremble.

Seeing such formidable might, not to mention the cadets from all the branches, even the recruits attached to the headquarters could not help but feel their hearts surge and straighten their backs, proud of their marines' identity.

"Quiet!" Admiral Zephyr blasted out, his voice like thunder, as if he had the power to take in people's minds, causing the restless square to quiet down instantly.

"I know you may have complaints in your hearts, grumbling about why I wasted two weeks of your time for nothing. However, I want you to understand that the camp's instructors will only teach you for three years, and you'll have to make your way from here on out."

"Don't you, after you leave camp, struggle and forge ahead on your own? The only reason those who think these two weeks was a waste of time is that they were always being driven behind by others and never wanted to go over and actively seek to be strong."

"A powerful person must first have a strong heart, and you must learn to overcome yourselves, your desires, sloth, greed, and fear. A man who cannot overcome himself, even if he is strong, is ultimately only a slave to his power and is ultimately driven to destruction by it."

"These two weeks are to give you a time to recognize yourselves, and also to give me a time to recognize you, yet the result is that I am not satisfied!"

"In the first few days, everyone was able to discipline themselves, which was great. But the next few days, the number of people who were able to keep exercising plummeted, and by the second week, there were only a handful of people I could still see on the field, and by yesterday, the count was just ten."

"You're all elite, one in a million, selected from the Marine's lowest ranks, but can you tell me since when do people who can't even last two weeks deserve to be called elite?"

Of the four hundred, some were ashamed, some were frank, and some were angry.

Zephyr didn't care what they thought and continued on his own accord, "This is the first lesson I've taught you, and what will make you strong is neither our teachings nor any devil fruit, but the most neglected ... of your hearts!"

"Weakness isn't scary; what's scary is having gotten used to being weak. Therefore, in the next three years, I will expose your weaknesses so that you can fully understand your weaknesses."

After Zephyr's words, a few of the Commodores came out and handed out their lists one by one to the crowd.

"As you can see, this is my strength ranking based on the statistical analysis of your performance over the past two weeks, so it's convenient for you to see the difference between yourselves and the others, as well as for you to set your own goals for catching up."

"It is indeed cruel to those at the bottom of the rankings, but I think it would be better for you to quit the marine early if you can't even take this blow because fighting pirates will only be a hundred times crueler than that!"

From time to time, there were exclamations of delight and anger from the crowd that got the list, and Longinus was even aware that the eyes of those people were frequently directed towards him.

Admiral Zephyr continued, "Of course, I know that you will say that this is just my analysis and doesn't count at all. Therefore, I don't mind if you challenge each other, because the original intent of this ranking being produced is to allow you to find opponents that are similar to your strength so that you can progress together in constant exchange and competition."

In the gap between Admiral Zephyr's words, Longinus had taken the list in his hand and saw the table listed on it :

First Place: Longinus, Mental (S), Strength (S), Speed (S), Physique (S), Physical Skills (S), Swordsmanship (None), Marksmanship (S), Devil Fruit (None), Kenbunshoku Haki (S), Busoshoku Haki (None), Overall Strength (S).

Second Place: Gion, Mental (S), Strength (A), Speed (S), Physique (B), Physical Skills (B), Swordsmanship (S), Marksmanship (None), Devil Fruit (None), Kenbunshoku Haki (None), Busoshoku Haki (None), Overall Strength (S).

Third Place: Tokikake, Mental (C), Strength (S), Speed (B), Physique (S), Physical Skills (A), Swordsmanship (None), Marksmanship (None), Devil Fruit (S), Kenbunshoku Haki (None), Busoshoku Haki (None), Overall Strength (S).

Fourth Place: Logos, Mental (A), Strength (B), Speed (C), Physique (B), Physical Skills (B), Swordsmanship (None), Marksmanship (None), Devil Fruit (B), Kenbunshoku Haki (None), Busoshoku Haki (None), Overall Strength (B).

Fifth place ...

Almost the entire focus of the room was concentrated on Longinus. Still, with his mind, this small scene could not even cause him to have the slightest emotional turmoil, only calmly and self-assuredly analyzing, "Is it divided according to the graduation level? Otherwise, my strength wouldn't have been rated so highly."

The instructors above were all nodding to themselves. Regardless of Longinus's strength, this calm and relaxed attitude surpassed too much of the same class.

"This power ranking is based on third-year graduates, A-grade represents the level you should be reached after three years. S grade represents the pinnacle level among all graduates, and as for B and B below, I won't recount, that's not something you should be setting your sights on."

Admiral Zephyr's words made the crowd directly explode. They all knew there were three monsters in this session, but lacking a visual comparison, they weren't sure how much stronger those three monsters were than them.

It was now clear that these three monsters had surpassed their starting point, and it could even be argued that the vast majority of them wouldn't be as strong as these three monsters at this stage three years later!

Of course, the saddest part is that as the fourth-place finisher, Logos is so outrageously different from the previous three that he is completely ignored.

More and more people shifted their gaze to the rippling Longinus and said to themselves in a heartbeat, "Especially this monster, except for the swordsmanship, fruit ability, and Busoshoku Haki, all of them are even S-ranked, it's really ... wait. Why is everyone having an empty Kenbunshoku Haki? He is also S. And what the hell is this Busoshoku Haki and Kenbunshoku Haki?"

Compared to most of the confused recruits, Gion's heart was only even more surprised, but she knew that Haki shouldn't be a product of the current stage, and looking at the other party's S-rank evaluation, it seemed to be more than just a rough pass.

Previously, while she had recognized her opponent's quest for justice, she had never thought that Longinus would surpass her, so it was confirmed that she hadn't had any thoughts of inviting a fight last time, but now, the desire to fight was beginning to grow in her heart!

"If anyone doubts whether this ranking is trustworthy, I can now leave time for you to verify it for yourselves." Naturally, Admiral Zephyr exactly knew what these young people were thinking, so he went along with it.

"Zephyr-sensei, I ..." Gion was about to open his mouth when she was rudely interrupted by a voice.

"I'm going to challenge Longinus!" With anger spewing out of his eyes, Tokikake shouted.