Cage's marksmanship stunned everyone, including Zephyr. A true expert sees the deeper intricacies, and what Zephyr witnessed was entirely different from what the new recruits perceived.
After the competition, Zephyr called Cage to his office and asked for a detailed account of what happened.
"So that's Observation Haki?" Cage was surprised to hear this. He'd always thought Observation Haki was something deep, requiring intense training to awaken. Who knew it was... this simple?!
As if reading Cage's thoughts, Zephyr's mouth twitched. "Don't think Observation Haki is simple. Some people spend their entire lives without ever learning it. You had an excellent father, and your childhood as a hunter allowed you to gradually stumble upon Observation Haki. Indeed, true masters often reside among the common folk."
Zephyr sighed with emotion, then asked, "So, what reward do you want? How about a Devil Fruit? Or I could give you special permission to learn some of the Rokushiki early... Since you accidentally learned Observation Haki, I could also give you an early lesson on Armament Haki."
"Can I have all of them?" Cage asked, rather greedily.
"Don't dream," Zephyr rolled his eyes in exasperation. What was this brat thinking?
"Alright then, I need a powerful Devil Fruit." Cage decisively chose a Devil Fruit. For now, wouldn't that be the most helpful?
Zephyr wasn't difficult. He quickly found a few Devil Fruits, but their abilities greatly disappointed Cage.
"While they say a power's strength depends on its user, what's the deal with the Dachshund Fruit? Is this meant to insult me?"
"And this White Cloud Fruit... transforming into a white cloud? Why not let me turn into a storm cloud then?"
"Earth-Earth Fruit... you can turn into a patch of land. Oh, my heavens... is it comfortable to have people step all over you?"
Cage complained about all the Devil Fruits, ultimately giving up on them and choosing to practice Armament Haki early. In his opinion, that might be the most practical.
Zephyr, in turn, wasn't stingy. He held nothing back, explaining all the training methods for Armament Haki.
In the time that followed, ever since Cage learned the Armament Haki training methods from Zephyr, he embarked on a relentless, hellish regimen.
Time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, Zephyr made an announcement: tomorrow, he would lead all the new recruits into their first real combat at sea.
No matter how outstanding their performance, flowers that hadn't been tempered by war were always fragile.
The next morning, a battleship gathered at the Marineford port, filled entirely with the new recruits led by Zephyr.
Naturally, this included Binz and Ain.
"That bastard!"
Upon seeing Cage, Binz was fuming. He'd foolishly handed over the title of "First in the Recruit Camp" to Cage, allowing him to reap all the benefits.
"How's your Armament Haki training coming along?" Zephyr asked with interest when he saw Cage. Among all the new recruits, Cage was the only one who truly impressed him.
"It's barely passable," Cage replied honestly.
"To truly master Armament Haki, it's impossible without significant time and accumulation. Take it slow," Zephyr encouraged, patting Cage's shoulder.
Cage nodded slightly.
About ten minutes later, the battleship departed from Marineford, sailing into the sea that Cage had been anticipating.
The location for this live combat exercise was an area in the New World.
"Everyone, listen carefully. The pirates of the New World are ruthless. When you encounter them, you absolutely cannot show mercy. Every single one of them has human lives on their hands!"
Zephyr warned loudly. Cage nodded gravely; he had already grasped this point.
After sailing for about two or three hours, the group finally reached the designated sea area. During this time, they encountered several pirate crews, but most of those pirates wisely avoided them.
However, some pirates actively attacked, only to be defeated by Zephyr.
Even retired, Zephyr still possessed immense strength, and his arm hadn't been severed yet.
Currently, in Zephyr's cabin, besides Zephyr himself, there was also a Vice Admiral—Momonga.
He was also one of the personnel accompanying them to protect the new recruits.
There were also several stretchers on the floor, with a few corpses that had just been carried in.
Looking closely, these were all headless bodies. Even the luckier ones whose heads hadn't exploded had single eyes that had become bloody holes, a truly horrifying sight, with bullets still lodged in their brains.
These were the pirates taken down earlier, some of them even captains with bounties of tens of millions of Berries.
"These people... were all taken down by Cage?" Watching the corpses being carried in, even Zephyr couldn't help but be deeply moved. "How can that kid's marksmanship be so powerful?"
"I'm surprised too. The pirates he hit were almost instantly killed with one shot, without even a chance to struggle," Vice Admiral Momonga echoed with a sigh. "And the most brutal thing is that every single shot was a headshot. No matter the distance, he could hit their heads precisely, without the slightest deviation."
"I can understand Cage's situation. He harbors immense hatred for pirates. His parents and his entire island were slaughtered by pirates." A hint of sadness flashed in Zephyr's eyes, reminding him of his own past.
His fate and Cage's were somewhat similar. Zephyr married after becoming an Admiral, and his son was born a year later. Then, tragedy struck: Zephyr's family was killed by pirates. From that day on, Zephyr began to detest pirates and, disheartened, submitted his resignation.
One could say they were kindred spirits.