Chapter 349: Slot Competition (2)
At New World G3 Fortress, a cold young man, wearing black leather clothes and pants and a thick-furred black coat draped over his shoulders, stood in the center of the Training Ground.
"Is there anyone else who wants to come up?"
With his hands in his pockets and wearing sunglasses, he exuded an arrogant aura.
Although the other Marines found it irritating, they didn't dare to retort.
The Marines lying defeated around him were sufficient proof of his strength.
This young Marine, named Gulichalido, had only joined G3 Fortress half a year ago.
His daily routine consisted of nothing but training and battle.
At the young age of eighteen, he had defeated every Marine who challenged him, relying on his outstanding Body Technique mastery.
In the selection for the Elite Training Camp slots this time, he was the undisputed champion.
In fact, no one doubted that Gulichalido would fail.
Despite his young age, Gulichalido had already experienced countless battles and had even awakened Two-Color Haki.
Siwoli, the G3 Fortress Base Commander and Marine Vice Admiral, watched Gulichalido with eyes full of admiration.
Gulichalido was undoubtedly an excellent warrior.
But at the same time, he also found him somewhat troublesome.
The cold Gulichalido showed no mercy, even towards his comrades, let alone Pirates.
He recalled asking Gulichalido half a year ago why he wanted to join the Marines.
"I want a place where I can safely grow.
The Marines are pretty good."
Such an answer left Siwoli speechless.
Regarding Gulichalido's origin, according to his description, he came from an Island in the New World that had been massacred by a Pirate Crew.
He wanted revenge but didn't have enough strength, so he had been training continuously.
He had two years of battle experience in Sky Arena.
That Island had indeed been massacred, and that Pirate Crew did exist.
There was no need to delve into specific evidence; the Marines had already confirmed his two years of battle experience in Sky Arena.
As for why he didn't stay in Sky Arena,
it was because the Pirate Crew had quite a large number of Pirates.
He worried that his strength alone wasn't enough, so he wanted to join the Marines and, after becoming Marine High Command, use the Marines' strength to complete his revenge.
This was a purely revenger's philosophy; joining the Marines was solely for revenge, with no concept of justice.
Ultimately, Vice Admiral Siwoli did not refuse Gulichalido's entry into the Marines.
This was because there were simply too many such revengers in the Marines; many Navy Hardliners started out as such revengers.
And he saw Gulichalido as a talent.
In just half a year at G3 Fortress, Gulichalido received focused training from Vice Admiral Siwoli, and his strength saw significant improvement.
Gulichalido's military rank also rose rapidly; he was now a Marine Captain.
Gulichalido was a Spy planted in the Marines by Ignis.
He successfully joined the Marines and successfully secured a spot in the Marine Elite Training Camp.
Meanwhile, in North Blue, Shirek, relying on his outstanding strength and Language Fruit Ability, had become a trusted young rising star among everyone at a Marine Branch.
His changed persona was similar to Kyle's.
He had joined the Marines even more recently, only two months ago.
And his two Subordinates who joined the Marines with him, Harken and Mistral, were also selected and could go to the North Blue Governor's Office for further selection.
They had been with Shirek for over a year.
They had also received over a year of training from Shirek.
With their strength, it was uncertain if they could pass the North Blue Governor's Office selection and make it to Marine Headquarters.
However, Shirek was not in a hurry; waiting until next year was fine too.
After all, the Elite Training Camp wouldn't disappear.
Of course, the best outcome would be for them to go to Marine Headquarters with him.
Harken had the potential, and his own strength was already that of an outstanding individual in that Marine Branch.
However, Shirek was unaware of the situation in other Marine Branches, especially given that the North Blue Governor's Office would occupy a significant portion of the slots.
At least the Marine Branch he was currently in seemed quite useless to him; its control over the surrounding Sea Area was low, and the Marines there were just slacking off without ambition.
As for Mistral, unlike Harken, she didn't have a certain foundation before meeting Shirek.
If she couldn't make it, she would just have to wait another year.
Kiglar, relying on his outstanding strength, secured a slot to compete at the North Blue Governor's Office, progressing very steadily.
Kyle went without saying; he, Sakazuki, and Borsalino were practically guaranteed slots.
They were quite famous throughout the entire West Blue, especially Sakazuki and Borsalino, one a Logia-Type Mag-Mag Fruit user, the other a Logia-Type Glint-Glint Fruit user.
Marines who knew their strength wouldn't challenge them.
Even Marines recommended from other Marine Branches could not shake their positions.
They only needed to think about when to go to Marine Headquarters.
The Elite Training Camp selection would take some time.
It was already the end of the year.
When the Elite Training Camp officially began, it would be Sea Calendar 1491.
(end of chapter)