In Rear Admiral Chishio's garden.
Along a secluded path, filled with the rich scent of flowers, Nao lay lazily on Sadaharu's soft belly, basking in the sun.
It was a rare moment of quiet rest.
Only, the two long legs swinging nearby were a bit eye-catching.
"I heard you ran all night yesterday, exhausting over a dozen instructors?"
Gion sat gently swinging on a swing, smiling as she looked at him. "And as a direct result, the entire graduation assessment was severely delayed?"
The original plan was to complete the battle merit compilation today and depart tomorrow for the third stage of the assessment.
Now, with this unexpected event, the practical combat assessment would have to be pushed back to the day after tomorrow.
"I didn't mean for it to happen, Rear Admiral."
Nao rested his arms behind his head, looking up at the sky, his gaze distant.
"But it's good to stay in Headquarters for an extra day, I can spend more time with you, you know. Once I go for the practical combat assessment, it'll be at least half a month again before I see you. Besides…"
He turned his head, eyeing Gion's perfectly round and firm hips—pressing the swing seat so hard it creaked.
"That's for Hina to play on, Rear Admiral. You should take it easy, don't break it, or Vice Admiral Chishio will get angry…"
Thwack!
Something flew over, accurately hitting Nao's face. He yelped, covering his face, and sat up. "I was just being honest! Why'd you hit me?"
"What, you haven't even won me over yet and you're already calling me fat?"
Gion looked at him with a cold smile.
"Definitely not, but you are about 200 pounds, after all. The swing is indeed bearing weight it shouldn't…"
Nao explained with a bitter face, picking up the object thrown at him. He gasped in surprise. "Eh, senbei? Where'd this come from?"
"Just got back from Fleet Admiral Kong's office. Was a little hungry on the way, and Admiral Sengoku shared it with me."
Gion couldn't be bothered to argue about her weight anymore. She swung lazily on the swing. "I don't really like this flavor, so I just took a bite. You can eat the rest."
"Oh."
Nao glanced at the bite mark on the senbei, habitually broke off the top piece, and was about to casually toss it away, when a sudden, extremely dangerous feeling surged through him, like daggers in his back, as if he'd been targeted by some fierce beast.
"..."
Nao swallowed, looked at the smiling Gion, and wisely popped the small broken piece into his mouth.
"That's more like it."
The proud little rabbit snorted.
"The seaweed flavor is too strong, it really doesn't taste good." After a few bites, Nao lost the desire to keep gnawing and held the senbei in his hand for a moment. "You said you just came back from Fleet Admiral Kong's office? What happened? It's not another urgent mission that requires you to leave, is it?"
Last time, Gion went on a mission to the South Blue and didn't return for over two months. He really didn't want the little rabbit to miss his promotion ceremony; that was a major life event that had to be witnessed.
Besides, he was still hoping to be promoted to Vice Admiral, so Momousagi would confess her feelings to him in public, completing his side quest!
"No, but five days ago, Headquarters intended to transfer me to the G-1 Branch in the New World, to reinforce their stationed forces there."
Gion paused there, seeing Nao frown deeply, and couldn't help but chuckle softly. "But for some reason, the transfer order was almost issued, then today Fleet Admiral Kong called me back and said the decision was canceled. He told me to stay on standby at Headquarters for now, and that I'd be reassigned later."
"Well, that's a relief."
Nao breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down on Sadaharu's belly.
The giant pup had just woken from a nap. He sniffed at the senbei in Nao's hand, made a gagging sound, then flopped back down.
Seaweed-flavored senbei? Not even a dog would eat that!
Nao looked at the senbei in his hand, speechless. He had no idea how those two old men could treat such a terrible snack like treasure, even constantly fighting over it…
On the swing, Gion watched the black-haired youth's changing expressions, smiling without a word.
There was one thing she hadn't explicitly told Nao.
That was the night Nao returned, after Tsuru stumbled upon their relationship, she personally went to see Fleet Admiral Kong.
She didn't know exactly what was said.
All she knew was that the next day, her transfer order was canceled.
Sister Tsuru was still the same as before, always liking to interfere and inquire about her affairs, eager to pave every future path for her.
Only this time's arrangement, Gion cheeks flushed slightly as she vaguely guessed a few things, and she looked up at the azure sky—for the first time ever, she didn't seem to mind it so much?
...
Two Days Later
The battle merit compilation and verification work was complete. The Marine warship, carrying over a hundred Elite Camp graduates, officially departed from the port that morning, heading towards the uninhabited island Zephyr had mentioned.
Zephyr himself led the group.
Accompanying them, besides the dozen or so instructors responsible for the assessment, and Rear Admirals Doberman and Dalmatian, were also a full ten unfamiliar Marine Commodores from Headquarters.
Their gazes towards the prospective graduates held a hint of amusement and scrutiny, like circus trainers staring at beasts kept in cages.
This made many Marines feel uneasy.
"What's going on? Why are so many Commodores deployed at once?"
"Our opponents for the practical combat assessment… it wouldn't be them, would it?"
"Who knows? If it really is them, it'd be a bit too exaggerated. Such a luxurious lineup… was the graduation assessment ever this difficult in previous years?"
Such whispers could often be heard along the way. Only Nao's expression remained calm. Every day, he steadfastly lived a two-point-line existence between the training room and the cafeteria.
Occasionally, he'd pull out his somewhat mystical fishing rod and sit by the railing, leisurely acting like an old fisherman.
Unfortunately, his luck wasn't great; he never managed to catch anything worthwhile.
About three or four days later, the warship successfully reached its destination.
The island's area was indeed not large, but upon landing, everyone discovered that this island was not the desolate, uninhabited place they had imagined.
Instead, it boasted many tall buildings, surrounded by thick steel walls, with checkpoints and sentry posts, heavily guarded and meticulously organized.
"That's…"
Among the first batch of Marines to disembark, some sharp-eyed individuals had already noticed the sign hanging next to the main gate and instinctively read the words aloud, "Marine Headquarters Science Division, Test Base #2?"
"This place is actually the Marine Science Division's territory?"
When others noticed, they were also astonished, and couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Zephyr, who was walking up behind them.
"No way, Zephyr-sensei! Are the annual practical combat assessments really held in a place like this?"
"No, you're the first batch."
Zephyr shook his head, a toothpick in his mouth, smiling. "Last year, this place was still a true wilderness island. It was only rebuilt like this this year. So, as the first guests to experience it, do you feel lucky?"
Experience, experience what?
Looking at the towering steel walls, whether it was an illusion or not, a faint beastly roar could be heard from within.
The new recruits' hearts immediately pounded. They wanted to extract more information from Zephyr, but he had already strode towards the main gate. They exchanged glances and reluctantly followed him.
The main gate was also made of steel, at least ten meters high. Standing below and looking up, everyone felt as small as an ant.
Two surveillance Transponder Snails perched on the iron gate, their expressions impassive, their eyes constantly patrolling the base of the wall.
Next to the gate were two squads of sentries in Marine uniforms. Upon seeing Zephyr, they immediately stood at attention and saluted respectfully:
"Admiral Zephyr!"
And a middle-aged man in a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses hurried over, extending his hand cordially to Zephyr, smiling warmly:
"Welcome, welcome! Mr. Zephyr, I've been waiting since yesterday. You've finally arrived!"
"Long time no see, Dr. Ent."
Zephyr gave a somewhat awkward chuckle, then glanced at Nao at the back of the crowd, clearing his throat. "We were supposed to arrive yesterday, but something came up that delayed us a day. Sorry for keeping you waiting."