That's right.
By now, Roy naturally understood this very clearly.
Among the forces under the World Government, the strongest military is, of course, the Marines.
But the Marines is by no means the World Government's only armed force.
Aside from the Marines, the World Government also commands several sizable elite units—and the famous Commander-in-Chief of the Three Forces, "Steel-Bone" Kong, is the supreme commander of all of them.
These include the Allied Nations Guard, responsible for suppressing bandits, defending the territories of World Government member states, and dealing with bandits and Revolutionary Army forces.
There is also the Sky Guard, tasked with holding the "Skypiea's Summit" and ensuring the safety of the routes to the Sky Islands.
And there is a Patrol Force dedicated to patrolling the Red Line and safeguarding Mary Geoise.
The overall strength of these forces is naturally far inferior to that of the Marines, and they are rarely well known in the world.
However, even among them, there is no shortage of powerful individuals.
As for the World Government's direct subordinates, there was no need to elaborate—this clearly referred to the intelligence agencies directly under the World Government, CIPHER POL, commonly known as CP.
According to Smoker, all of these forces would be sending representatives to participate in this "Tri-Forces Martial Tournament."
So Roy was genuinely surprised—he hadn't expected that using a clone to rob the Celestial Tribute would actually lead to something like this.
"Heh, yeah."
Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke before nodding.
"So this time the scale of the tournament will be far larger than in the past, and the rules are said to be very special as well."
There was a trace of fighting spirit and excitement in his voice.
"And the rewards are just as astonishing. While it can't compare to the World Military Draft that directly selects Admirals, it's said that the champion this time can be exceptionally promoted to an 'Admiral Candidate'!"
"The top five can also be directly promoted to Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral!"
Admiral Candidate—the meaning was self-evident.
Although the official rank would still be "Headquarters Vice Admiral," the position carried a special status, allowing one to bear an Admiral's unique title and wield relatively greater authority.
Moreover, once an Admiral retired, as long as there was no direct Admiral selection through a World Military Draft, these Admiral Candidates would be next in line to fill the position.
As long as one was a man, there was always some longing for fame and power.
Even Smoker was no exception—he believed his strength was not weak and that he was qualified to make a name for himself in the Tri-Forces Martial Tournament.
As he spoke, he glanced at Roy.
"Hey… you're not thinking of getting promoted to Rear Admiral or Vice Admiral and then making me your adjutant, are you?"
Roy immediately sensed the ill intent behind those words.
"Heh, I'm not saying I have to pull it off."
Smoker didn't deny that the thought had crossed his mind.
"After all, this is the Tri-Forces Martial Tournament. The monsters participating will definitely be far beyond the usual."
"Don't worry. I won't let you make it into the top three."
Roy said decisively.
Smoker let out a cold laugh.
"Try it, if you think you can."
Just as the two were bickering—
"Senior Smoker."
A voice suddenly called out.
Roy snapped out of his thoughts and realized that, without noticing, they had arrived at a Marines training ground.
All around them were large numbers of patrolling Mariness, and unit after unit stood in neat formation, clearly elite forces.
The one who had spoken was a man.
He was dressed in ninja-like attire, with unusually long limbs. In his hand he held a tree branch, and on his back were a green field sword and an enormous kunai.
If not for the Marines uniform on his body, Roy would almost have mistaken him for an infiltrator.
And at that moment—
[Devil Fruit user detected: "Binz"]
[Devil Fruit confirmed: Paramecia-type · Grow-Grow Fruit, now being analyzed and stored in the "Fruit Encyclopedia"][
[Ability: Accelerates plant growth and allows manipulation of plants]
[Effects by Level]
[LV1]: Gain a faint portion of the fruit's power. Slightly enhances plant growth speed, up to 3×.
[LV2]: Gain partial fruit abilities. Greatly enhances plant growth speed, up to 10×. Requires 80 million / 33 million Berries for permanent / temporary unlock.
[LV3]: Gain full fruit abilities. Allows plants to grow to full maturity instantly and enables direct control over them. Requires 500 million / 200 million Berries for permanent / temporary unlock.
[LV4]: Deep fruit development. Enables finer transformations and manipulation of plants, allows creation of "plant clones," and grants synchronized perception with plants. Requires 1.2 billion / 400 million Berries for permanent / temporary unlock.
[LV5]: Fruit Awakening · Flourishing Life. Grants plant-like resilient vitality. The body can be reconstructed through plant growth to regenerate severed limbs, absorb surrounding water and life energy to heal oneself, and cause plants to grow to sizes far beyond normal limits. Requires 7 billion / 2.3 billion Berries for permanent / temporary unlock.
[Analysis Progress: 0% — Upon completion, LV1 of this fruit ability will be obtained]
The information transmitted from the Fruit Encyclopedia confirmed the man's identity for Roy—and also completely confirmed who Smoker had brought him here to meet.
"Binz, why are you the only one here? Where's Ain? And where's Instructor Zephyr?"
At that moment, Smoker's words further validated his guess.
Zephyr—former Marines Admiral and the Marines's previous chief instructor for new recruits.
He had enlisted in the Marines alongside contemporaries such as Marines Hero Garp, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and the Marines's chief strategist Tsuru.
Once renowned across the seas for his powerful Armament Haki, he had suppressed countless pirates and earned the title "Black Arm" Zephyr.
After his wife and children were murdered in a pirate's revenge attack, he grew disheartened and stepped down from the rank of Admiral, turning instead to training new Marines recruits—producing a great number of powerful Mariness.
For example, the current three Admirals—Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru—were all once his prized students.
Incidentally, Smoker had also been his student, whereas Roy had not. After basic training, only a portion of elite recruits were selected to receive Zephyr's instruction.
At the time, Roy had voluntarily applied to serve in the Detention Unit, so he missed the chance to be taught by Zephyr.
But evidently, Vice Admiral Bilos was now giving Roy a chance to make up for that regret.
"Ain is out on a mission. As for Instructor Zephyr, he's gone to the SSG (Special Science Group). He should be back shortly."
The man named Binz answered Smoker while turning to look at Roy.
"You must be Lieutenant Commander Roy?"
"Yes."
Roy came back to his senses and said hesitantly,
"So the instructor Vice Admiral Bilos found for me is Admiral Zephyr? But as far as I know, he should have already…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but both Binz and Smoker clearly understood.
Four years earlier, the training ship led by Zephyr had been attacked by pirates during a mission.
Most of the students he had carefully trained were killed. Zephyr himself lost an arm and was severely wounded.
After that incident, he completely withdrew to the second line.
"Yes. After that incident, Instructor hasn't trained new recruits for a long time."
Binz said in a low voice.
He was one of only two Mariness who had survived that ship.
"However, he's an old friend of Vice Admiral Bilos, so he agreed to the request."
Binz gave a brief explanation.
"Come with me."
He turned and walked deeper into the training grounds.
Naturally, Roy and Smoker followed right behind him.
Very soon, they arrived at a clearly unusual training ground.
There were none of the usual training facilities around it. Instead, the entire area was enclosed by massive iron walls. At the far end of the walls stood a building marked with a distinctive "Z" emblem.
"Instructor Zephyr told you to wait for him here. He should be back shortly."
After saying this, Binz immediately sat down cross-legged and fell silent.
Seeing this, Roy and Smoker followed suit.
"Don't mind it—Binz is a good guy. He just doesn't like talking much because of what happened four years ago."
Smoker actually took the rare initiative to explain.
He was the type who refused to be managed, but when it came to Zephyr, he felt genuine gratitude.
"Understood."
Roy naturally didn't mind such small things.
To be precise, he was actually quite happy about it.
"The Grow-Grow Fruit… not a bad ability. It could have special effects in certain terrains."
"It's a shame Ain isn't here—I remember that girl was also a fruit user, and her ability was pretty outrageous."
As the numbers in the Fruit Encyclopedia continued to rise, Roy recalled her.
Ain—the other survivor of the attack four years ago.
Her fruit was the Revert-Revert Fruit, whose ability was to reverse the age of anything she touched—one of the few Devil Fruits Roy knew that involved the domain of time.
And just as Roy was thinking that he absolutely had to obtain the Revert-Revert Fruit's ability someday—
"Oh? You're already here!?"
An aged yet still bold and commanding voice echoed throughout the training ground.
A figure strode into the arena.
His features were firm and resolute, his build tall and powerfully muscular. He wore a dark-purple sleeveless shirt and a Marines coat draped over his shoulders.
Time and countless battles had left deep marks upon him, yet they did nothing to diminish the aura of a top-tier powerhouse.
What stood out most was his right arm—it was severed cleanly from the shoulder, replaced only by specialized metal components.
This was—"Black Arm" Zephyr.
"Admiral Zephyr."
Upon seeing the former Admiral, Roy naturally stood up, preparing to salute.
But before he could even speak—
"You're the kid Roy, right?"
He saw Zephyr already breaking into a grin.
"I've heard about you from Bilos. He told me you're the most promising young man in the entire Detention Unit… but I don't trust words!"
As he spoke, Roy saw the former Admiral's figure vanish from where he stood with a sharp whoosh.
It was Soru—and its speed was faster than anything Roy had ever seen!
Then—
"The rule here is—we speak with our fists!"
Roy felt a violent gust of wind roar past his ear.