Marineford, Marine Academy training ground.
Zephyr, wearing a white cloak of justice and a purple suit, watched the Military School Students running on the 400-meter track until they were breathless. He couldn't help but sigh slightly.
"Sigh! Compared to your batch, I don't know what to say about this batch of Military School Students..."
Out of three hundred Military School Students, only half an hour of frantic running resulted in over a hundred collapsing from exhaustion. The goal was to run eighty kilometers in one hour. More than sixty of them fainted and had to be carried to the infirmary. It was estimated that no more than thirty people would be able to complete the task before lunch!
Seeing this situation, Sephiroth couldn't help but scratch his head, saying with a tone full of lament:
"Uh?! Can only say things are going downhill, right?
The future of the Marine is truly worrying..."
He had also heard about the declining quality of new recruits at the Marine Academy, but he didn't expect it to be this bad!
It's no wonder that in the original plot, among the Marine generation from Smoker to Koby, there were basically very few notable figures.
While thinking in his mind, Zephyr picked up the clipboard in his hand, quickly wrote down the names of thirty people, and handed it to the silver-haired young man beside him.
"Sephiroth, organize these into one class, and you can arrange the rest as you see fit!"
Ain, Binz, Klaus...
Sephiroth lowered his head and quickly scanned the names of the thirty people on the white paper of the clipboard.
In this class, except for Ain and Binz, he had never heard of anyone else.
Is this the class that was taught by Zephyr and almost completely wiped out?
It was precisely for this reason that Zephyr gave up his position as Chief Instructor of the Marine Academy and his Admiral rank, forming the Pirate Guerrilla Unit and beginning to constantly hunt Pirates on the sea... Sephiroth muttered to himself.
After handing the list to Sephiroth, Zephyr turned around and left directly.
Through file analysis and the performance shown during the run, Zephyr had basically determined the approximate potential and level of each Military School Student.
Next, he needed to start adjusting and planning the training program for the Marine Academy.
......
It was high noon, with the scorching sun overhead.
The blazing sun cast its scorching rays upon the training ground. Since none of the three hundred Military School Students could run eighty kilometers in one hour, they were all given a penalty of one hundred additional laps, which was forty kilometers.
In the end, only twenty-four people completed one hundred and twenty kilometers within two hours!
Even six of the Military School Students Zephyr had pre-selected for the 'Admiral Star' class failed to complete the task.
"Clap clap clap -!"
Sephiroth clapped his hands vigorously and shouted:
"Those who have completed the required laps, assemble immediately!"
At his words, the twenty-four Military School Students, who had been slumped on the ground with exhaustion etched on their faces, struggled to their feet and lined up, enduring their fatigue.
"Everyone performed very well. As a reward for completing the task, you can eat your fill in the mess hall today for lunch!
As for those who didn't complete the task..."
Sephiroth's gaze swept past the twenty-four before him, then turned to the other Military School Students.
"Those who didn't complete the task, if you don't want to run, you don't have to. After all, this level of high-speed, long-distance running is just one of the daily training exercises you'll face after entering the Marine Academy. You should recognize reality sooner. If you want to slack off, slack off. If you want to lie down, lie down! Let's go! Those who completed the task, come with me to eat. Those who didn't, go play by yourselves. No lunch for you today!"
Sephiroth waved his hand towards the twenty-four Military School Students and led them toward the Marine Academy mess hall.
Among the more than one hundred Military School Students remaining on the training ground, forty to fifty gritted their teeth and continued running with difficulty, trying to complete the three hundred laps, even after seeing Sephiroth and the others leave.
However, the others chose to give up completely.
Running frantically for one hundred and twenty kilometers, even with superior physical fitness, was impossible for some. Besides, the instructor said they could quit. If that was the case, why bother pushing themselves?
People are like that; the laziness hidden in their bones sometimes only needs an excuse, a reason, to make them unable to continue the painful persistence, choosing instead to give up, just to feel more comfortable.
......
Marine Academy mess hall.
After entering the mess hall, the twenty-four Military School Students received Sephiroth's confirmation that they could eat freely, as long as they didn't waste food. They immediately rushed to the long tables laden with food, selected plates of their favorite dishes, and placed them on their respective dining tables.
After finding the mess hall staff and specifically requesting a bottle of sherry, Sephiroth walked to the long table filled with abundant food and picked up a plate of black pepper steak.
His gaze swept around the mess hall, and he quickly found his target, Ain, who was sitting alone at a dining table.
The young woman had long, wavy hair the color of the ocean, wine-red eyes, and wore a Marine uniform: blue trousers, a white short-sleeved shirt, and a blue tie at the collar. Though she was exhausted, nearly collapsing with fatigue and desperate to sleep,
But...
She pushed through it, slowly and steadily eating the large plate of food piled in front of her.
As Sephiroth placed the wine bottle, wine glass, and plate on the dining table, he smiled and asked the young woman, "Your name is Ain, right?"
Seeing him sit down, Ain quickly stood to attention to salute and greet him, but he raised his hand, pressing it down to stop her.
Ain sat back down in the chair and said, a little stiffly, "Yes, Lieutenant General Sephiroth."
"Hmm? You know me?"
"Yes... yes!
After all, you're very famous in the Marine. You're the undisputed number one Great Swordsman of the Marine. Basically, most Marine soldiers can recognize you instantly..." Ain said honestly.
Sephiroth's features were striking: silver hair, twin swords, and a youthful appearance, coupled with the rank of Vice Admiral. He was the only one in the Marine who fit that description.
Even Sephiroth himself didn't know that his reputation among the lower-ranking officers and soldiers of the Marine was actually quite significant. He'd joined the army at fourteen and was exceptionally promoted to Vice Admiral at the age of twenty-two.
Although his seniority was shallow compared to the other Vice Admirals, his strength, comparable to that of the Four Emperors, was undeniable, and no one really objected to his promotion.
After all, there was a precedent. Aokiji had joined the army at nineteen, spent eight years, and was promoted to Vice Admiral at twenty-six.
In terms of years of service, the two were similar, so it made sense that Sephiroth was promoted based on his strength.
In fact, some within the Marine felt that if Sephiroth were a few years older and had joined the army a few years earlier, he might have been an Admiral candidate, successfully becoming a Marine Admiral after accumulating enough merit and seniority.
However, most Marines believed that Sephiroth was only twenty-five years old and there was no rush. After Fleet Admiral Sengoku retired and a new Marshal took office, he would become a Marine Admiral, accumulate more seniority, and become the next Marine Marshal. It was practically a sure thing.
Therefore, even Sephiroth himself didn't know that he actually held significant influence and prestige within the Marine.
However, even if he did know, he wouldn't care too much.
The Marine was ultimately a tool in the hands of the World Government. His desire to snatch food from the tiger's mouth and make the Marine his own was as difficult as reaching the heavens in a single step!
"I heard you are a user of the Reverse-Reverse Fruit ability," Sephiroth asked, smiling.
Ain nodded slightly.
"Yes!"
"What is the upper limit of the ability in terms of years reversed?"
"Currently, I can only reverse five years at once. If stacked repeatedly, there is no upper limit if stamina is sufficient."
"Oh! If I asked you to restore some thousand-year-old ancient books, could you restore them to a brand new state?" Sephiroth asked tentatively.
"It should be fine... However, if they are truly ancient books from a thousand years ago, I would likely consume a lot of stamina and wouldn't be able to restore too many at once," Ain said thoughtfully.
"Oh! Is that so?"
Sephiroth nodded with a smile. He was already considering how he could trick the young woman in front of him into helping him restore the documents and literature of the "Gekko City" Beka to a browsable state.
A few years ago, he made a trip to the moon, clearing out almost all the documents and literature from the ancient city ruins. With the help of those Beka ancient robots, the Umbrella Corporation obtained the complete method for deciphering lunar script.
But...
Limited by existing technical means, the Umbrella Corporation had been unable to read the documents written in ancient script, making the company's robot research difficult to advance rapidly, only able to slowly grope forward.
If he could get Ain to help restore those books to a readable state, the Umbrella Corporation, having acquired lunar technology, would see a huge leap in its technological level!
Next, Sephiroth chatted casually with Ain about some other topics. After finishing his lunch, he leisurely got up and left the mess hall...