(T/N: Please consider reviewing this Fanfic, Thanks and appreciate all who support me)
(T/N: Enjoy!!)
<><><><><><>
Marineford Recruit Training Camp
The deep night sky was speckled with a few stars as a cool breeze gently brushed against Kanos Atlas's lean and powerful frame.
At that moment, he was on the training field doing extra workouts after dinner. But just thinking about that morning's group training gave him a bit of a headache...
To finish the physical drills earlier, he had gone all out, unleashing his speed to the limit and completing the run in just one-third the time of everyone else.
However, Instructor Zephyr didn't seem too pleased about how easily he finished.
As a result, Zephyr assigned him additional training with weights — and not just any weights, but ones precisely calibrated to push Atlas to his current physical limit.
It was exhausting, no doubt, but also exciting.
Atlas believed that as long as he made it through this training camp, his strength would leap to a whole new level.
"Whew…"
After completing the final exercise, Atlas turned and headed back to the dorms, looking forward to a hot shower to wash away the fatigue of the day.
Unbeknownst to him, in a brightly lit building nearby, Zephyr stood silently by the window, watching Atlas's retreating figure.
He'd been standing there for hours. Atlas had no idea.
"What a hardworking kid…" Zephyr murmured.
Dragging his weary body into the dorm, Atlas found the other three already back and tidily settled in.
"Boss, you're finally back! I already filled up the hot water for you. Hurry and take a nice, refreshing bath!" Grus looked proud, like a loyal fanboy eager to please.
"You already got the hot water ready? Perfect. Thanks, Grus." Atlas had gotten used to Grus's clingy personality and naturally accepted the kindness.
"No problem! If you're okay with it, I can get your water ready every day," Grus replied happily, thrilled just to be acknowledged by Atlas.
That gave Smoker and Rosinante the chills. Is this guy... into something weird?
"Well, I'll leave it to you from now on, Grus," Atlas replied with a relaxed smile.
"In return, I'm counting on you to look after me, Boss. I did some asking around, and we've got about 160 recruits in our batch. About 30 were held back from last year."
"From what I heard, our generation has three so-called 'monster rookies'…" Grus said with a mysterious glint in his eye, clearly trying to build suspense.
"Tell us after Boss finishes his bath," he added cheekily, knowing exactly how to leave people hanging. Smoker and Rosinante were already itching for the rest of the story.
"Cut the crap and spill it already!" Atlas smacked him on the head.
"Hehe, among the three monster rookies, two are from our dorm. Boss, you're at the top," Grus said, shooting a glance at Smoker.
"Huh? Me?" Smoker was stunned. He was so used to being overshadowed by Atlas that he hadn't expected to be on the same level.
"Who's the third one?" he asked curiously.
"Bet you didn't know this — it's a woman. She's also a Devil Fruit user, though I couldn't find out what kind exactly. But I do know her name." Grus grinned slyly.
"Hina, right?" Smoker suddenly blurted out.
"Huh? How'd you know?" Grus was shocked. He'd spent a long time digging up that info, and Smoker knew already?
"Well… didn't I tell you before? I fought a Paramecia user with the Lock-Lock Fruit recently. Her name was Hina." Smoker was just as surprised by the coincidence.
"Still, I think Boss is the strongest out of all of us. He's the real monster."
Grus added, remembering how Atlas had beaten Smoker — a Logia user — relying solely on brute strength.
"Mm-hmm!" Smoker and Rosinante nodded in agreement.
"All right, brats. Go to bed. Tomorrow is the entrance evaluation," Atlas interrupted, bringing an end to the gossip before it dragged on all night.
The others had long gotten used to Atlas's oddly mature way of speaking. In the world of One Piece, strong individuals often had quirks.
....
The Next Morning – Marineford Training Grounds
Even before sunrise, long lines of recruits had already formed on the field. It wasn't that they were particularly diligent — they were just terrified by yesterday's elimination method.
Atlas had just finished his morning training and arrived silently, taking his position from the day before.
His arrival stirred murmurs among the crowd. After all, his performance in yesterday's physical drills — where he left everyone in the dust — had made a deep impression.
On top of that, rumors were already circulating about the "Three Monster Recruits," with Atlas at the top.
Soon, testing began. Zephyr and Juzuo appeared on time, followed by the arrival of a large machine about 4 meters tall and 3 meters wide. It was placed firmly beside them.
"Good. No one's late today. Today's test will use an experimental machine developed by the World Government's Science Division. It will measure what's called 'Douriki' — Power Level!"
Juzuo explained slowly as the recruits listened intently.
"Of course, Douriki is just a static reading of your physical stats. It doesn't determine your true combat strength. Factors like mindset, willpower, and battlefield awareness also matter greatly," he added.
With that, he picked up the list and began calling out names.
"Grus!" Grus was a bit surprised to be the first but stepped forward quickly.
"Use your strongest technique to hit the machine — hand-to-hand or swordsmanship is fine," Juzuo explained and moved aside.
Boom!
Grus punched the machine with all his might.
"Douriki: 550." The cold, mechanical voice echoed from the machine.
"Next! Kirkland!" Juzuo continued emotionlessly, making it impossible to tell if 550 was considered good or bad.
"Bugla — Douriki: 230!"
"Belengal — Douriki: 180."
"Smoker — Douriki: 800!"
Gasp!
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath. After several rounds of testing, they had a general sense of the scale — anything over 520 was already pushing human limits, qualifying as "superhuman."
Smoker's 800 was nothing short of shocking. And he was a Logia Devil Fruit user on top of that!
"Hina — Douriki: 750!"
Another powerhouse. By now, the recruits were numb. Most of them averaged around 300, and only a few exceptional ones exceeded 500.
Yet Hina, a woman, had a value that high. It made them feel slightly deflated.
"Hina's not happy!"
She pouted when she saw her score was lower than Smoker's. Shooting him a glare, she returned to her spot.
Why is she looking at me? Is she trying to pick a fight? Smoker thought, feeling a little annoyed.
"Next — Kanos Atlas!"
That name made the bored crowd perk up. Even Zephyr turned his attention to him.
Atlas calmly stepped forward. He took a deep breath, dug his toes into the ground, lowered his stance, and exploded with power.
"Tekkai: Shatter – Bird Pierce!"
Atlas shouted as he combined a punch with an advanced variation of Tekkai, slamming into the machine.
"Douriki: 5000!!!"
BOOM!
The crowd erupted. Even Zephyr was stunned for a split second. The recruits had guessed Atlas might score higher than the other two "monster rookies" — but this?
This was on a whole other level.
A Douriki of 5000 — and Atlas's actual combat power might be even higher than that. He was calm, though — this was within his expectations.
After all, he was already a swordmaster capable of cutting steel.
"All right! Quiet down! Next!"
Juzuo, though shocked as well, promptly regained control and continued the tests.
.....
Marine Headquarters — Admiral's Office
Under the giant plaque that read Justice, Sengoku — wearing his frog-eye glasses — was hard at work processing documents.
Occasionally, he tossed discarded files to his goat.
Suddenly, his hand stopped. He picked up a particular report, scanned through it carefully, and passed it to Vice Admiral Tsuru beside him.
"Tsuru, take a look at this."
Tsuru accepted it, curious, and then chuckled aloud.
"Looks like we weren't wrong about this kid. Douriki of 5000 — what a terrifying little monster."
After the evaluation, Juzuo announced that recruits with a Douriki below 500 would begin with foundational physical training, while those above 500 would receive specialized martial arts training the next day.
Thankfully, everyone in Atlas's dorm had passed — even the seemingly frail Rosinante had a Douriki of 520, just enough to qualify.
"You're Atlas, right? Hina wants to meet you."
As Atlas was about to head to the cafeteria with Smoker and the others, a girl with sleek pink hair, purple sunglasses, and an air of confidence stepped in their path.
"Uh… yeah. Nice to meet you. I'm Atlas." He was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained his composure and replied.
"Hina wants to challenge you. Hina heard from Smoker that you're really strong."
Atlas turned his head, expressionless, and shot a glance at the bewildered Smoker. So you're the brat who dragged me into this mess, huh?
"Sorry, but you're too weak. I'm not interested," Atlas replied without hesitation, immediately rejecting Hina's challenge.
Come on, why waste time fighting when there's delicious meat waiting in the mess hall?
He walked right past Hina without another word, heading straight toward the cafeteria.
"Ah, big bro! Wait for us!"
Smoker and the others were completely stunned by Atlas's blunt rejection.
It wasn't until he had already walked off into the distance that they snapped out of it and hurried to catch up.
Hina stood frozen, watching Atlas's back as he left. She clenched her fists tightly, her heart burning with unwillingness.
Never before had she been so thoroughly dismissed by someone her age.
As for Smoker, Hina had only regarded him with a bit of respect because of his Logia-type Devil Fruit. But now, this was different.
Nightfall.
Atlas continued his usual evening training.
"Brat. How about letting this old man be your opponent?" Suddenly, a deep, steady voice rang out behind him.
"Instructor Zephyr!?" Atlas was taken aback, clearly surprised to find the head instructor here of all places.
"Atlas, I've had my eye on you for a while now. And tonight, I'm feeling a little itchy for a fight…"
"I wouldn't ask for anything more," Atlas replied with a wide grin, clearly excited.
"Soru!"
With explosive force from his legs, Atlas vanished and appeared right in front of Zephyr in a flash.
His body was like a drawn bow, muscles tense, and his arm bulged as he launched a punch straight at Zephyr's face!
But Zephyr's expression didn't even change. As if he had predicted the move, he calmly raised his hand and caught Atlas's punch cleanly.
Then he took a step forward, twisted his waist, and attempted to throw Atlas over his shoulder.
"Iron Body: Divine Knee!"
Atlas wasn't about to be thrown so easily. He instantly transitioned from the Tekkai (Iron Body) technique, combined with the strength of the Ox Talisman, and aimed a powerful knee strike at Zephyr!
Zephyr quickly moved to block the devastating blow, narrowly avoiding being hit and preventing the throw from succeeding.
"Not bad, brat. You've got strength and quick reflexes, too. Your Iron Body is coming along nicely!"
Zephyr praised him, clearly impressed by how effortlessly Atlas had countered his move.
"But now, I'm going all out. Watch yourself, kid!"
"Iron Fist!"
Atlas didn't bother replying. His response was a barrage of fists.
The flurry of punches was so fast it looked like there were hundreds of afterimages streaking through the air.
"Hahaha! Iron Body: Armament!"
Of course, Zephyr wasn't going to fall for such a simple visual trick.
His powerful Observation Haki allowed him to see through the illusion and precisely locate the real strikes.
He instantly hardened his arms with Armament Haki at the exact impact points.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Each punch landed with a dull thud. Atlas pulled back and shook out his numb fists. So hard! He couldn't even dent Zephyr's Armament Haki defense.
"Hahahaha! Not bad at all!"
Zephyr was genuinely impressed. Atlas, at only 17 years old, already had monstrous physical strength.
If he hadn't known Atlas was purely a physical fighter, he might have suspected the kid had secretly eaten a Devil Fruit.
"Ittōryū: Raikiri"
Realizing his fists couldn't break through Zephyr's defenses, Atlas swiftly drew his Sandai Kitetsu and slashed forward!
A flash of cold steel tore through the night, lighting up the darkness with a silvery gleam.
The once chilly air grew biting cold. It was a battojutsu slash — fast and deadly. The sharp edge of the blade, infused with fierce sword intent, raced toward Zephyr.
His instincts screamed danger — this was a cut that could slice most Vice Admirals in half if they weren't proficient in Armament Haki.
Even though the attack was quick and expertly timed, Zephyr's powerful Observation Haki let him evade it just in time.
Soru!
Zephyr vanished in an instant and reappeared right in front of Atlas. His fist, coated in jet-black Armament Haki, drove straight into Atlas's abdomen!
Atlas sensed it clearly with his own Observation Haki, but Zephyr's speed was overwhelming — his body couldn't react fast enough.
Bam!
Iron Body: Wall Impact!
If you want to support me, join my patr**on. Have 20 advanced Chapters for you guys.
patr**n.com/saitamablast > OP:SJ NOVEL TIER (PLEASE DONT SUBS THROUGH IOS PLATFORM)