Roya didn't take Akainu's words to heart at all.
After all, Akainu was nothing more than a defeated opponent.
What would Akainu think if he knew the person he'd just looked down on was the same mysterious figure who had defeated him in a single move?
With that thought, Roya casually brushed back his black tousled hair and returned to his room.
In the blink of an eye, it was the first day of the promotion trials.
Roya had slept fairly well the night before. Stepping out of his room, he saw the main training ground already packed with a sea of people!
"Hey, don't you know where to stand?"
Kalifa's voice came from behind Roya.
He turned to look at her. Today, Kalifa gave him a slightly different impression.However, Roya couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly had changed at the moment.
"Hmm, they only arranged accommodations for me and didn't tell me anything else."
"Then stand beside me. But don't get any ideas—I definitely haven't forgotten how you toyed with me yesterday. If I get the chance, I'll make sure you learn just how formidable I am!"
Though as Kalifa said this, for some reason, her gaze seemed somewhat evasive.
When Roya followed behind Kalifa and arrived at the front of a formation, he soon saw Sengoku and Garp standing at the highest point of Marineford, one after the other.
Looking down at the assembled Marines, they delivered a long-winded, meaningless speech before finally announcing the start of the promotion ceremony.
As Sengoku turned to leave, he glanced at Roya below.
Roya was the only one not wearing a Marine uniform, making him stand out conspicuously.
Garp noticed Sengoku's gaze and followed it to Roya, who was standing beside Kalifa.
Garp teased, "Ah, youth. That kid's so handsome, no wonder he's popular with the ladies."
Sengoku remained expressionless as he said to Garp, "Garp, how far do you think this guy can go?"
"I saw his match with Kalifa yesterday afternoon. Though his Devil Fruit ability is quite bizarre, it doesn't enhance his combat power much. At most, he might reach vice admiral level."
Sengoku nodded, then shook his head. "I think he could make admiral."
Garp instinctively repeated Sengoku's words before exclaiming in shock, "What?! Admiral?! You're way too optimistic about him!"
"Want to bet? If you lose, you can never steal my rice crackers again—and no slacking off!"
After a brief moment of thought, Garp replied, "Deal. But if you lose, all your rice crackers are mine from now on!"
"Agreed!"
A faint smirk tugged at Sengoku's lips after Garp accepted the bet.
What Garp didn't know was that among Roya's bounties was the head of Efreet, a user of the Superhuman Strength Devil Fruit.
This meant Roya undoubtedly possessed other, far more powerful methods.
Moreover, Sengoku had taken notice of Roya's potential. If possible, he wanted to recruit Roya into the Dove Faction.
The Dove Faction was one of the Marine's internal groups, standing in contrast to the Hawk Faction led by Akainu and the Neutral Faction led by Kizaru—colloquially known as the "Slacker Faction."
As the name suggested, the Doves were more moderate, avoiding excessively ruthless methods. Each member upheld their own sense of justice.
The Hawks, on the other hand, believed the Marines were absolute justice and pirates were absolute evil, willing to use any means to achieve their goals.
The Neutrals stayed out of both extremes, working only when necessary and prioritizing their paychecks.
Of course, there were slight individual variations within each faction.
——
On the main training ground, Roya received his combat order.
He had drawn a bye—meaning he could advance to the next round without fighting at all.
Kalifa, standing beside him, chuckled at this. "Lucky you. But that's fine—the later you lose, the better."
"Is it because the later I lose, the stronger I appear, making your earlier defeat to me less embarrassing?"Seeing Roya voice her thoughts without hesitation, Kalifa felt a mix of embarrassment and anger!
"You look so gentle and handsome, yet your words are so sharp! Hmph, I won't talk to you anymore!"
With that, Kalifa turned and walked away without looking back, her expression clearly saying, "Hurry up and comfort me!"
However, Roya didn't bother to engage further with Kalifa and simply went back to sleep.
This only fueled Kalifa's frustration even more!
Over the next few days, Roya kept getting byes in the matches, making her suspect that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
But Roya didn't mind. In fact, she enjoyed the free time.
She spent her days either sleeping or watching others spar, finding amusement in it all.
Finally, on the sixth day in Marineford, Roya faced her first opponent—a captain named Smoker!
The outskirts of the training ground were packed with spectators.
By now, many Marines had heard of Roya's existence.
But most had only heard rumors and never witnessed her in action.
This match drew a massive crowd, with layers upon layers of soldiers squeezing in to watch.
At that moment, Kalifa appeared out of nowhere and approached Roya.
"Roya, Smoker is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user—the Smoke-Smoke Fruit. He's won six straight matches and is incredibly strong!" she warned.
"Hmm."
Kalifa had gone out of her way to offer advice, yet Roya barely acknowledged it, responding with such indifference that it stung.
"Hmph, fine! Don't believe me then. I'll just watch how Smoker crushes you!"
Of course, she didn't truly mean it.
Unbeknownst even to herself, Kalifa had grown increasingly attentive to Roya's every move.
Even Roya hadn't expected Smoker to be her first opponent in Marineford.
Smoker had dominated his peers for six straight days, thanks to the power of his Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
But would that really work against Roya?
——
Roya stepped slowly onto the training ground.
She studied the man before her—white-haired, a cigar in his mouth, wielding a seastone jitte—and said calmly, "Let's have a good match."
"Let's have a good match!"
Just then, a voice rang out from the sidelines—Smoker's friend, Tina, cheering for him. "Tina's rooting for you! Don't lose!"
Roya glanced toward the pink-haired girl, but in that split second, Smoker dissolved into smoke and lunged at her!
"Distraction in battle is a fatal mistake!"
With those words, Smoker raised his seastone jitte high and thrust it toward Roya...