Unlike the furious Shiryu—
Commodore Allan, in front, was in quite a good mood. His expression was relaxed, his steps light, and he was even humming a tune nobody recognized.
He was thirty-four this year, a first-generation graduate of the Marine Headquarters Elite Camp, from the same batch as Akainu and Kizaru.
After ten years since graduation, he finally had some time to return to the Elite Camp, only to get roped into grunt work by Zephyr.
But now he realized... this wasn't really grunt work, was it? "Paid vacation" seemed a lot more accurate.
Sneaking and lurking in the forest, waiting for the chance to snatch chips from the new recruits, then watching them chase after him in a rage—only to never catch up, stomping in frustration...
It was actually kind of fun.
"Fifteen minutes left."
He glanced at his wristwatch, then turned to look behind him, where Shiryu was still doggedly chasing him. Grinning, he called out:
"Why not give it up, kid? You've spent enough time chasing me—you could've grabbed another one or two chips by now. Why be so stubborn?"
"Give up?" Shiryu exploded. "Screw that! If I don't catch you today and rip off that ugly little mustache of yours, I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
"Think this through, now."
Commodore Allan shrugged. "If you're still chasing after an hour, I'm officially allowed to fight back. If you get knocked out and miss your final assessment, don't blame me."
"I'm not that petty," Shiryu growled, eyes dark. "But if I do catch you, who ends up knocked out is still up in the air."
"Oh, really?"
Allen smirked and casually clapped his hand—instantly, thick vines burst from the forest floor and lashed toward Shiryu once more.
"Well, I won't stop you then. Keep chasing if you want"
He turned and picked up his pace, ready to widen the distance again—when suddenly, the chip in his hand vanished. Just like that—gone.
What the—?
Allan turned his head in surprise, only to see a handsome, black-haired boy appear on the tree trunk beside him. The boy was smiling, looking at him.
Natsuya Nao?
He instantly recognized him and was immediately startled. How did this guy just happen to appear here?
"What a careless moment, Commodore," Nao said, tossing the chip in his hand, then turning toward the equally stunned Shiryu with a smile. "Here. Got it back for you. Hope you don't mind me butting in?"
"Of course I do," Shiryu snapped, snatching the chip. He gave Nao an annoyed glare. "I was about to catch him myself! What the hell are you cutting in for?!"
Still so full of crap.
Nao rolled his eyes and ignored the guy, turning back toward Allen—who was staring daggers at him.
Nao spread his hands innocently. "What? Zephyr-sensei never said it was against the rules to help someone get their chip back, did he?"
Technically, he hadn't. But only because no one had ever imagined a new recruit could actually steal a chip back from a Commodore or a Rear Admiral.
But here Nao was—a freak of nature in this year's batch of recruits…
At that moment, Allen couldn't help but think back to his own time as a rookie, staring up in awe at Akainu and Kizaru…
But compared to this kid—who had already defeated a Warlord of the Sea?
Yeah, this guy was even scarier.
"Lucky you, brat," Allen muttered, shooting Shiryu a look before shaking his head with a sigh. With that, he turned and vanished into the forest.
Allen wasn't some shut-in researcher like Dr. Ent—he knew full well just how terrifying Nao was. With this monster standing right in front of him, there was no way he'd get another chance to mess with Shiryu.
Better to cut his losses and find some other unfortunate rookie to hassle.
"You're just letting him go?"
Shiryu, having finally broken free of the vines, walked up beside Nao and frowned. "That's not like you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nao gave him a strange look. "Am I really that much of a bastard in your eyes? The guy's just here helping Zephyr-sensei, not our enemy. You got your chip back—don't push your luck."
"Yeah, fair enough…" Shiryu muttered, lighting up a fresh cigar. "Still, he had five or six more chips on him. I figured you'd at least—wait, huh?"
He looked up—and found the space in front of him empty. Nao was already gone.
———
"Damn it, Shiryu, why didn't you say something earlier?!"
Deep in the forest several kilometers away, Nao casually punched an AD-class rhino robot, shattering it into scrap. He scooped up the chip from its remains and tossed it into a snakeskin bag over his back, grumbling:
"I let that guy get away and chased for nothing…"
And this was just the first day—it wasn't even afternoon yet. A single Commodore already had that many chips?
Looks like Shiryu wasn't the only unlucky bastard out here...
Wait.
Nao suddenly stopped in his tracks, rubbing his chin as a thought hit him. His eyes began to gleam, a light so sharp it was almost eerie.
If a Commodore could collect five or six chips in just half a day…
Then in three days, they'd have twenty to thirty chips each?
Ten Commodores, two Rear Admirals… a conservative estimate meant there were at least three hundred chips in their hands by the end.
And if he could take those chips directly from them…
Wouldn't that be way easier than wandering around hunting robots?
He just found himself a brand-new treasure map!
"Though I shouldn't make a move on them just yet…"
Nao's mind raced as he formed a plan. "Better wait until the third day at least. Can't spook the flock too early—gotta let the grass grow before you harvest it, y'know…"
Before that, he needed to take down all seven of the AE-class bosses and get that basic score buffer.
With a safety net of 16,000 points, no matter what happened afterward, first place was in the bag. And once he cleaned out the Commodores' stash, his final score would be utterly insane…
Maybe even higher than everyone else's combined.
———
Over the next few days, Nao followed his plan, wandering leisurely through the forest.
His targets were strictly the AE-class machines—he didn't bother with the lower-tier robots unless they happened to stumble into his path.
Before entering the forest, Zephyr had deliberately withheld food and water, creating a survival scenario. They had to fight and survive on their own.
But that wasn't a problem for Nao. With unlimited luosifen noodles and his stash of fried chicken, he just had to avoid the surveillance Den Den Mushi and he could eat to his heart's content—fully charged and ready to hunt his next target.
—He even tried catching fish by the river once.
But after cooking one and nearly vomiting, he came to a firm conclusion: he still had zero talent in the kitchen and gave up that idea on the spot.
Fried chicken was still the best.
Aside from that—
Nao came across several more situations where a Commodore snatched chips from a rookie and the rookie gave desperate chase. But unlike with Shiryu, he didn't step in—after all, he didn't know those guys.
And besides, if he stepped in every time, how were the "crops" supposed to grow?