As the massive steel gate symbolizing Absolute Justice slowly opened, an island completely different from what Rain had imagined unfolded before his eyes.
In his mind, Marine Headquarters—Marineford—should have been a gigantic military fortress, bristling with cannons, patrols everywhere, walls of steel and smoke.
But what he saw instead… was a vibrant city.
To be fair, the outer harbor and fortress zone still looked exactly like a war bulwark of iron and gunpowder.
Dozens of mountain-sized warships were docked in the port. On the piers, Marines were busy with supply work and drills in perfect order, and in the distance you could faintly hear the dull booms of artillery training.
But beyond that defensive belt, the interior of the city was filled with a completely different kind of life.
On the wide, clean streets, it wasn't just uniformed Marines walking by. Young mothers pushed baby carriages, elderly couples strolled hand in hand, and children ran around laughing and playing.
There were residential districts where Marine families lived, markets full of hawkers shouting, restaurants and taverns…
"It's like a perfectly protected little utopia."
Standing on the deck, taking it all in, Rain couldn't help but sigh. With Marine Headquarters right next door, the public order here was ridiculously good. You could say this was the most livable city in this chaotic world for ordinary people.
"Hey, brat, don't just stand there like an idiot. Time to get off the ship!"
At some point, Garp had another rice cracker in his mouth. He mumbled the reminder, then hopped off first with his men without a care.
He jabbed a finger at a nervous-looking young Marine standing guard on the dock and yelled, "Hey! You! Take this new kid to the Elite Camp check-in!"
"Y-yes, Vice Admiral Garp!" the Marine yelped, snapping to attention. He hurried over to Rain and said nervously, "Please follow me."
Rain nodded and followed behind him, setting foot on Marineford's soil for the first time.
Out of that ingrained transmigrator caution deep in his soul, Rain quietly spread his Observation Haki like an invisible radar, sweeping across the island.
After just a second, he pulled it back immediately. A fine sheen of cold sweat had already formed at his temples.
"Lots of strong people…"
That realization only reinforced his decision to play the quiet "ordinary guy" and hide his true strength.
After all, he'd been raised by the Marines since childhood—his background was too clean. If he suddenly showed power far beyond his age, even on par with a Headquarters vice admiral, it would definitely raise questions.
This world was no charity. Vegapunk's human experiments, CP's secret investigations… who knew what they'd do to a "genius" who got absurdly strong overnight?
Better to lay low and act like a standard "hardworking type" rookie. Safer that way.
He lowered his head at once, reining in all his emotions and making himself look like just another teenager a bit nervous about arriving at HQ for the first time.
Even so, his abnormal height still drew plenty of sidelong glances from passing Marines.
"Look, that must be one of the new Elites, right? He looks so young."
"I heard this batch has some crazy Logia user…"
Rain kept his face blank, but mentally bumped "low profile" up one more priority level.
"Up ahead is the main HQ administration building," the escorting Marine said, sensing Rain's tension and trying to be helpful. There was a hint of reverence in his tone. "The Elite Camp check-in is inside."
Rain followed his pointing finger with his eyes and nodded.
Just then, the young Marine's expression changed. He grabbed Rain's sleeve, pulled him to the side of the road, and snapped to attention, giving an absolutely textbook salute.
Up ahead, a tall Marine officer in a Justice coat was walking toward them with a group of subordinates. He had long dark-purple wavy hair tied in a high ponytail, wore sunglasses, and his expression was as cold and hard as a glacier.
"That's Vice Admiral Onigumo," the young Marine whispered, introducing him.
Onigumo walked past them without so much as a glance, eyes fixed straight ahead, as if they were nothing more than rocks by the roadside.
Only when the man had gone did the young Marine exhale and wipe the sweat from his brow.
Rain said nothing, but mentally adjusted his estimate of how deep the waters here ran—down another notch.
Soon, they arrived at the check-in office. Inside, a somewhat lazy-looking staff sergeant was doing her nails.
"Reporting! Elite Training Camp recruit checking in!" the young Marine saluted.
"Name." The sergeant didn't even look up, just asked casually.
"Corvo Rain."
"Rain?" She frowned, and carefully scanned the list from top to bottom, then went through it again. Finally, she slapped the sheet down on the table, impatient. "You're not on here. Kid, you sure you're in the right place? The Elite Camp isn't somewhere just anyone can stroll into."
"Uh…" The escorting Marine panicked and opened his mouth to explain this was someone Vice Admiral Garp personally brought—
But Rain remained calm. He knew Tsuru wasn't the type to make mistakes on something like this.
Sure enough, the sergeant seemed to remember something and muttered, almost to herself, "Wait… I just remembered, Vice Admiral Tsuru did add someone to the bottom of the list a few days ago…"
She quickly flipped to the last page and, at the bottom, found a handwritten name. In the "Recommended By" column next to it was a very clear: "Tsuru."
She hurriedly pulled out a matching ID tag and key from the drawer and handed them over, forcing her voice to sound flat to hide the shock inside.
"Found you. Corvo Rain. You've arrived just in time—the Elite Camp starts tomorrow."
She passed him the key and ID and added, "Be at the central training ground at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Don't be late. Your dorm is Room 307 on the third floor—your roommate should already be there."
Rain took them and nodded. "Got it."
Without another word, he turned and left on his own.
The young guide Marine, having finished his errand, also left quickly—leaving the sergeant alone, staring at Rain's back, wiping sweat from her forehead and feeling very relieved she hadn't mouthed off too much to this "mysterious background" kid.
As Rain walked toward the dorms, he was already constructing a crystal-clear roadmap in his mind for his coming year in the Elite Camp.
"Marineford is full of monsters. But on the flip side, that means it's also the safest place around—no idiot pirates are going to wander in here just so I can farm them for XP. Which means that for at least the next year, the system's core function, [Sin Judgment], is basically on standby."
"In that case, I have to put all my energy into my own training."
His gaze turned razor-sharp.
"Top priority: fully master the Marine Six Styles, then use them as a foundation to learn the Six Styles ultimate—[Life Return]."
"Second, I must find a way to break through my physique bottleneck. Without system nutrients, I'll have to rely on pure physical training and see if, within a year, I can push my physique into the [Top-Tier] realm!"
With a rough plan laid out for the year ahead, Rain actually relaxed, a small smile tugging at his lips as his shoulders untensed.
"Since I'm already here, I might as well make the most of this year."