Target, World! (3/5)

Unfortunately, these newcomers' fantasies don't come true, and the stronger they become, the more they come to appreciate the gap between themselves and Longinus.

Without a masochistic hobby, Tokikake naturally wouldn't be so idle as to have nothing to do to take a beating.

The crowd dispersed quickly after the battle was over.

It took almost another three days for the third-year students who had interned in various parts of the sea to return.

"Truly worthy of being a boss, even in a place like the North Blue you can still make that much noise!" Gregory was thrilled as the group made their way to the conference room.

"The incident of the king's dereliction was a sensation in the four seas. At that time, King Gishta on my station was still lovingly ignoring us, the resident marine, but after this incident, he would send someone to take care of us and greet us every day, acting as if he was worried that our marine would kill him." Algernon said, somewhat amused.

A few people laughed and talked along the way and soon arrived in the conference room.

After stepping in here, the crowd got a little sentimental again.

It may be the last time they will ever be together in one piece.

It didn't take long for the personnel to arrive, almost a hundred and fifty men.

For now, it's a 37.5% retention rate, which is a pretty impressive number for boot camp.

"Gentlemen, I'll spare you the unnecessary nonsense, I just want to tell you that it's not time to slack off yet, there's still one last hurdle waiting for you." Seeing that the personnel had already arrived, Zephyr got straight to the point and said.

"The final graduation assessment is for each of you to choose your own target to hunt, there is no limit to the means, the time is half a year, and those who have not completed the assessment by the due date are considered failures, and those whose hunting targets do not meet my expectations are likewise considered failures."

Zephyr said, asking the adjutant to distribute the documents.

"I say this, on the one hand, to prevent you from killing a bounty 10-20 million Pirate, and on the other hand, I want to teach you the last lesson, that is, choice and judgment."

"I'm saying this to prevent you from just killing some random pirate with a ten or twenty million bounty on his head to cope, but also because I want to teach you one last lesson, and that's choice and judgment."

Longinus flipped through the documents that had just been sent to him, which contained a general analysis of the bounty and strength of the pirates, with targets ranging from 30 million berries to 100 million berries.

"Each of you has a scale of strength in my mind, but I'm not going to tell you, much less tell you, what goal is the best choice for you."

"It's all about gathering information and analyzing and judging for yourselves, and like the ones I mentioned in my profile, you'd better use it only as a reference."

"This test isn't easy. You may underestimate your strength and cause the results to fall short of my requirements, or you may overestimate your strength and cause yourselves to be in danger."

"During these six months, I expect you to spend at least three to five months on preparation, and adequate preparation is a prerequisite for successful completion of the mission. As for putting it into action, one month is actually enough time."

Hearing what Zephyr said, a massive weight was placed on almost everyone's heart.

It's never easy to see oneself clearly, and when seeing oneself is tied to failing an assessment and risking one's life, that judgment becomes even more challenging to make!

It's like a balance where the left side is a failed assessment, and the right side is a life-threatening crisis, and the only way to get through safely is to strike a balance.

"Go back and think about it, and when you think you're sober enough and sane enough to make a judgment, come back and tell me your final choice."

The words fell, and one by one, they all headed out with heavy hearts and minds, the information they held in their hands as heavy as a jackhammer.

Zephyr was going to leave as well after a bit of packing.

"Zephyr-sensei."

A familiar call stopped him, "Longinus, you're still here, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"For this final assessment, I've already selected my target."

"The goal? In fact, I hadn't originally planned to have three of you and Gion plus Tokikake participate in this final assessment. After all, the targets that can be chosen by the three of you won't be simple characters, and the difficulty of the hunt and the impact afterwards will be far greater than the others."

"But now that you've brought it up, tell me about it."

"My target is the Captain of the World Pirates, World Destroyer, Byrnndi World."

"World?" Zephyr's face was slightly heavy, "Don't underestimate that man, although the bounty is only 500 million, and the bounty before being captured into Impel Down was even less than 200 million, but 200 million is actually a pretty impressive bounty for that time period."

"It's a completely different concept than the bounty, which has been rising more and more in recent years."

"I know that, but as you say, that was twelve years ago, and now he has long since fallen out of the first tier."

The world of pirates is not the world of xianxia as perceived by Longinus, and twelve years is a considerable period, enough to allow a nameless man to leap to the top of the battlefield, as well as to cause a strong man across the sea to fall from the heavens.

A decade of ice not only dropped World from the first rung of the ladder but also caused irreversible muscle damage to his body.

It was not a speculation on the part of Longinus; he had seen World's weakness in that battle two years ago, and he hadn't given up on him since then.

He was convinced that the fellow had regained much of his strength through his analysis of each of World's battles but was still within his reach.

"What prompted you to make that choice?" Zephyr turned to the question.

"Perhaps it's ... for peace of mind. Isn't it my duty to recapture the prisoners who escaped from me two years ago and recapture them? In order to achieve this goal, I've been following World and his men since two years ago."

Naturally, Longinus would not say that he did so to make his "righteous" name known in the most shocking way possible.

"Two years!" Zephyr was also somewhat saddened by the fact that his request for the others was only to spend three to five months preparing in advance, but instead, the most powerful Longinus had been preparing in secret for two years.

"I didn't know you still took that incident two years ago to heart! In fact, you have absolutely no need to blame yourself, no one could have made a better response in that situation. Moreover, both Impel Down and the government have recognized your contribution, you should be proud of that." Zephyr advised.

"In that case, I won't be able to get past the one in my own mind." Longinus smiled, "Don't worry Zephyr-sensei, I haven't lost my mind, and compared to Ember and Red Count, World is actually the best enemy to deal with."

"In terms of strength alone, he's no match for Red Count who hasn't spent much time in prison and is still at the peak of his strength."

"When it comes to power, he who was once betrayed by his men has long since stopped trusting anyone else, and recruited ordinary men who can't threaten his safety. Aside from him, the entire World's Pirates can't even come up with any decent fighting power."

"You've come to that point, then I can only agree. But ... be careful, no matter what, World is still a pirate who once stood at the top of the sea, so it's not surprising that he has any cards."

"I understand."