At six o'clock in the morning, the sky was gradually breaking dawn.
The earth was filled with white mist, hazy, as if covered with a silver - gray veil.
At Marineford Military Academy, on the playground.
Three hundred cadets gradually lined up and gathered.
In a corner of the playground, Sephiroth sheathed his sword and hung it on his waist again. He let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Phew! It took two hours to swing the sword ten thousand times. I'm still three thousand times short. I'll have to make it up tonight..."
When the silver - haired teenager walked to the position of his class formation, he saw Kaji with a beaming face walking towards Tsuruoka.
"Good morning, Miss Tsuruoka! I like you. Go out with me!"
Looking at the extremely lewd smile on the face in front of her, the corner of the long - legged mature woman's eye twitched slightly, and she blurted out subconsciously:
"Sorry, I reject you!"
Everyone in Class One: "..."
"Yo! Good morning, everyone!"
Zephyr appeared on the playground with an innocent smile on his face. However, in the hearts of the three hundred cadets, a chill ran down their spines subconsciously.
"Now... all of you run around the playground two hundred laps! Those who can't finish within an hour will have to run another hundred laps!"
"..."
Although the cadets cursed Zephyr like crazy in their hearts, they still ran off obediently.
After yesterday's theoretical explanation of the Six Powers, many of the cadets began to try to use the technique of Shave to accelerate while running...
As a result, the scene was a bit chaotic. People often bumped into each other because they couldn't stop in time...
However, the medical team was waiting nearby. As soon as there were injured people who couldn't continue, they would be taken away for treatment.
This made Sephiroth can't help wondering if the long - distance running physical training also had the intention of training the ability to withstand blows and assisting in the cultivation of Tekkai.
After the long - distance running, they were given an hour for breakfast and rest.
Then...
"Two thousand push - ups!"
...
"Climb the single rope back and forth a hundred times!"
...
"One hundred laps of frog jumps!"
...
All in all, that old guy Zephyr didn't treat the three hundred cadets as human beings at all. The over - loaded training kept squeezing their physical potential.
During the training, Zephyr always shouted that those who didn't want to continue could choose to give up, pack their bags and leave. He promised not to hold them back.
Most of the cadets didn't choose to give up even if they fainted from the training and were carried away by the medical team.
After all, as long as they survived this year, they could embark on a smooth path and rise steadily in the Navy.
However, there were always people who couldn't grit their teeth and persevere!
"Instructor Zephyr, I protest! Your training method is too cruel and completely unreasonable!"
A two - meter - tall burly man plopped down on the ground with a thud. The long - lasting frog jumps had made his legs weak and caused them to tremble slightly.
His voice was very dry and hoarse when he spoke, but he still managed to express his true feelings as much as possible.
"Protest?... Cruel?... Unreasonable?"
Hearing this, Zefa walked slowly towards the burly man. He lowered his head and looked down at the latter.
"You're nothing but a frog in the well! Do you know how many monsters there are among the pirates in the New World?
Some of those guys have all kinds of incredible Devil Fruit powers. They can even raze cities and destroy countries without batting an eye.
Some of them are natural destroyers with innate Armament Haki. Their power is so incredibly strong that guns and explosives can't even scratch them.
Those monsters are inherently unreasonable existences!
If I don't make you train desperately and surpass the limits of humanity. Who among you can put your hand on your heart and say that you can defeat those pirate monsters?"
Zefa looked up and scanned the naval cadets with his eyes behind the sunglasses.
"Do you know where this is?
This is the Navy Headquarters representing justice!
The military academy you've entered is a place where the Navy trains super elites. It's the future hope of the Navy!
Do you want me to coddle you like ancestors and turn you all into useless people, thus ruining the future of the Navy?
Then who will uphold justice in the future?
Rely on a bunch of cowards who can't even persevere in training?"
Zefa's scolding made the burly man lying on the ground feel extremely ashamed.
"I was wrong, Instructor Zefa!"
Saying that, the burly man gritted his teeth, got up again, and continued the unfinished frog jumps.
"I've said that if anyone can't hold on, you can leave!
But... don't raise any objections to my training program!
Got it?"
"Got it!"
Hearing those scattered and uneven responses, an expression of dissatisfaction appeared on Zefa's face. He shouted:
"Louder! I can't hear you!"
Hearing this, all the naval cadets roared out their answers at the top of their lungs:
"Got it!!!"
...
No matter how passionate their shouts were, when the training ended at noon, most of them still staggered towards the cafeteria like dead dogs.
"Safiros, aren't you tired?"
A somewhat familiar female voice reached the ears of the silver - haired boy.
"Ah!"
Safiros was slightly surprised. Then he turned his head and looked at Zhiyuan who had walked up to him.
"With such a terrifying amount of training, my body is almost falling apart. How could I not be tired?"
"In my Observation Haki perception, your breathing hasn't even been disturbed..."
Zhiyuan scanned the silver - haired boy up and down. There was a look of suspicion on her face.
"..."
Safiros tugged at the corner of his mouth, not knowing how to explain.
Am I gonna tell him that I recovered my strength and healed my wounds by spending my lifespan...?
In the end, he could only come up with a casual excuse:
"I'm a user of an Animal-Type Devil Fruit."
"I see..."
The tall and leggy mature woman nodded in understanding.
Users of Animal-Type Devil Fruits often possess extremely powerful restorative abilities and vitality. After awakening their fruit powers, no matter how severely injured they are, as long as they're not dead, they can recover and bounce back after some time.
Therefore, many martial arts experts choose to eat an Animal-Type Devil Fruit in order to break through their natural limits.
After a short lunch break, a group of cadets dragged their tired bodies into the classroom.
Dinglinglingling...!
As the class bell rang, Vice Admiral Tsuru, wearing a white cloak symbolizing justice, walked in with a textbook in her hand and stood on the podium.
After taking a glance at the listless students below the podium, she said in a calm tone:
"Today, I'm in charge of teaching you Military Theory.
In the future, when you become commanders of warships, this course will be of great use to you.
If you can apply strategies and tactics properly, you can even defeat enemies much stronger than you on the sea.
This is a course that requires in - depth study and thought. I hope you can listen attentively..."
Vice Admiral Tsuru explained military theory very well, making it easy to understand by combining many real naval battle examples. For instance, Sephiroth heard an analysis of an outrageous event where Garp used his Fist Bone Meteor Shower to single - handedly take on and sink a fleet of 20 pirate ships in a naval battle.
Of course, Garp was a negative example, but the battle was a successful case...
Duludulu...!
(.-w-)zzz(u?u)???zzz
(－－)zzz...
Somehow, below the podium, except for Sephiroth, Kongming, Tina and a few other students who were still listening attentively, most of the others had fallen asleep. Even those who weren't asleep were mostly daydreaming.
In response, Vice Admiral Tsuru didn't say anything and just continued teaching the few students who were listening carefully.
Tactics and strategies weren't popular in this era where strength was supreme and the level of education was low. Many people fought with brute courage, charging forward head - on, believing in overwhelming everything with absolute strength. The best example of this was Garp...
The original purpose of offering a military strategy course to the cadets was just to let them have a general understanding of conventional tactics and strategies so that they wouldn't be completely ignorant of them.
When a real war breaks out, the task of formulating specific plans will be handed over to specially trained staff officers.