"Right, right. You are so old. Do not delay the important matters."
Zephyr pushed Sengoku aside and came before Kyle, his eyes shining brightly as he stared at him.
He stated his purpose without any excessive preamble.
"Kyle, join the Elite Training Camp."
"I will train you personally. I will definitely cultivate you into the strongest marine."
Zephyr's words were forceful. After speaking, he simply looked at Kyle, waiting for Kyle's reply.
The atmosphere between the two was silent. Neither spoke first.
After a long while, Kyle finally opened his mouth to reply.
"I can join the Elite Training Camp, but I need freedom."
"That is to say, I might go to sea. I might not always stay at Marine Headquarters."
"What. Go to sea."
Before Zephyr could speak, Sengoku on the other side jumped up.
He came before Kyle and aimed a slap down at Kyle's head.
But Kyle, with his many past experiences, had already foreseen this scene using his 'Observation Haki that sees into the future'. He evaded in advance, dodging Sengoku's slap.
"No. Absolutely not."
"How old are you, you brat, to think about going to sea. Do you know how dangerous the seas are."
"No, I absolutely do not agree."
Sengoku glared, his beard seeming to bristle.
However, Kyle just glanced at him coolly and did not answer him. Instead, he turned his gaze towards Zephyr, waiting for his reply.
Zephyr remained silent for a long while.
In principle, this request was not acceptable. The Elite Training Camp had never set such a precedent before.
But the line could be a little flexible.
Hadn't there never been a marine who joined the Elite Training Camp at six years old before either.
Considering Kyle's exaggerated, almost inhuman talent, these demands did not seem like a big problem.
So.
"Okay, I agree."
Zephyr nodded.
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Kyle's mouth.
"Then I will be in your care in the days to come, Teacher Zephyr."
Joining the Elite Training Camp was all benefit and no harm for Kyle.
Because that one potential harm had just been negotiated away by Kyle.
With Zephyr's guarantee of personal training, it would definitely allow his physical potential to be developed to a greater degree.
Zephyr's many years of teaching experience were not just talk.
As for why Kyle needed freedom, it was because of his system.
Since awakening the system until now, he had gained some understanding of his own system.
By issuing various tasks to recruit geniuses, as long as he successfully recruits a genius into the marines, he can receive corresponding system rewards.
There are two conditions for triggering tasks. One is encountering some genius of this world. The system will sense it and then issue a corresponding recruitment task.
Just like with Luffy before.
The other type is random issuance. The system may randomly issue recruitment tasks. The task target might not be near him. In that case, he needs to go find the task target and then recruit them into the marines.
Therefore, a high degree of freedom is very necessary.
Otherwise, if a genius recruitment task suddenly appears and he is restricted to Marine Headquarters, that definitely won't do.
Nothing is more important than him recruiting geniuses.
Having tasted the sweetness of the reward from recruiting Luffy, Kyle now looks forward to the next recruitment task reward very much.
Right, Luffy.
Suddenly, Kyle remembered Luffy who was still lying over there. He looked up and spoke to Zephyr.
"Teacher Zephyr, Luffy also wants to join the Elite Training Camp."
"Who is Luffy."
"There, the one lying over there. Vice Admiral Garp's grandson."
"He is my younger brother. I promised I would take him with me wherever I go."
Kyle said it offhand.
"Hmm."
Zephyr pondered for a moment. Without much hesitation, he agreed.
"Fine. No problem. Then let him join the Elite Training Camp with you."
Since he had already recruited one brat, he didn't mind one more.
However, what Zephyr didn't know was that these two brats he recruited today would become his proudest two students in the future.
But that is a story for later.
Now, after getting Zephyr's answer, Kyle turned his gaze towards Luffy who was still sleeping soundly on the other side.
He thought to himself.
'Luffy, see how good your older brother is to you. I never forget to bring you along for any good thing. When you wake up, it won't be right if you don't kowtow to me a few times.'
Luffy.
Beside them, Sengoku, watching the two who completely ignored him, could no longer hold back. He roared.
"No. I do not agree."
"I do not agree with you joining the Elite Training Camp, Kyle. And I do not agree with you going to sea."
However, his roar only drew a sidelong glance from Kyle and Zephyr. Then they spoke simultaneously.
"Who cares about you."
Sengoku.
…
…
"Heavy panting, heavy panting."
The sound of heavy panting echoed across the training ground. Luffy was seen doing push ups with a stone on his back that was several times larger than his entire body.
Beads of sweat the size of beans continuously slid down from his forehead.
Every time he went down and came back up, his arms trembled incessantly.
He felt as if his arms did not belong to him anymore. Waves of numbness washed over them.
But Luffy had no thought of giving up at all. All because he wanted to save face.
Beside him, another stone was continuously rising and falling. But this stone was who knows how many times larger than the one on Luffy's back.
At least over ten times larger than his. At first glance, it looked like a small hill.
And under this stone, Kyle was also continuously doing push ups.
His current condition was not much better than Luffy's.
His face was flushed red. Sweat droplets continuously dripped from his face onto the yellow soil below, only to be quickly evaporated.
The stones the two were carrying were chosen by Zephyr as the most suitable size for them after assessing their physiques.
So both of them were now at the edge of their limits. But neither stopped first.
Both of them were holding their breath, unwilling to lose to the other.
This made them persist and persist.
Under a tree on the other side, Zephyr looked at the two with satisfaction.
He felt fortunate about how correct his decision to take them in earlier was.
Especially Kyle.
While possessing talent far exceeding ordinary people, he was also extremely hardworking and self disciplined.
He came looking for him before daybreak.
As for Luffy, Zephyr was quite satisfied with him too.
Although his physique was not as monstrous as Kyle's, it was still considerably stronger than children of the same age.
And he discovered Luffy's potential was also not weak. Trained well, he would be another candidate for admiral.
Moreover, the training effect of these two little guys together was definitely better than if either trained alone.
Neither was willing to collapse before the other, thus persisting longer, fully excavating their own potential.
After the two persisted for a while longer, Zephyr roared towards them.
"That's enough. Stop."
As soon as he said this, the eyes of the two under the stones lit up. From deep within their bodies, a powerful strength inexplicably surged forth.
Their arms bent down, then pushed up fiercely.
The great inertia caused the stones on their backs to lift into the air briefly.
Seizing this opportunity, the two lay flat on the ground and rolled to the side, avoiding the giant stones falling to the ground.
With a rumble.
---