Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

However, the rumors circulating on the ship over the past few days had clearly caused Wood to be ostracized by the new recruits. Wood didn't seem to care too much about this, nor did he offer any explanation.

Because naval warships can use the special route through the Gates of Justice, they didn't waste much time on their return journey and arrived back at Marineford.

At the massive port, warships, following instructions, docked at their designated positions.

Unlike most islands, Marineford is also an island, but it has been fully developed and turned into the naval base.

As soon as they stepped off the warship, Wood and the group of newbies were drawn to a huge building in front of them.

On the thick, square city walls stands a multi-story tower-shaped building, and on the massive walls are the large characters for "Navy" and a seagull holding a scale in its beak.

There are many nations along the Grand Line, but in terms of the scale of their buildings, very few can compare to the Marine Headquarters.

Furthermore, the massive cannons on the city walls and the defensive forces stationed every ten steps seemed to tell that this sea fortress was not just an ordinary showpiece.

Steel, military uniforms, and guns are the aspirations of most men. When most of the newly recruited soldiers see the magnificent naval headquarters and the naval soldiers training in front of them, they can't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Most people here choose to join the navy, initially just hoping to make a living.

However, seeing the elite naval soldiers walking by and the dashing officers commanding the battle, many people couldn't help but look on with longing and begin to fantasize about becoming one of them in the future.

Just as Zefa and his group disembarked, another warship docked. A tall, muscular man in a white military uniform, wearing a dog-head hat, walked towards them with a hearty laugh after seeing Zefa in the distance.

The other person appeared to be around the same age as Zephyr, and like Zephyr, he was wearing a military uniform with a suit and vest, and also had a Justice Cloak draped over his back. It was not hard to tell from his attire that he was also a "general-level" naval officer.

"I was wondering why the port was so much busier than usual today. It turns out it's you, old rascal, who's brought back the new recruits."

Look at these cannons, each one is polished to a shine. I've never seen them fired before, but today they're all on display.

Last time, that guy from Sengoku was complaining to me about the recent lack of naval funding, but today, to fool these new recruits, this military exercise has clearly gone all out.

The burly man walking towards Zephyr and his group was stuffing a senbei into his mouth with one hand and holding a bag in the other. At the same time, he didn't forget to expose his former employer's shortcomings, leaving the accompanying marines speechless.

In the past, the Marine Headquarters, while heavily guarded, was only relatively so. After all, this was Marineford, home to the Marine Admirals and Fleet Admiral, the highest fighting forces in the Navy. No pirate would be so reckless as to dare to directly attack the Marine Headquarters.

Therefore, the military equipment and various military exercises that Wood and his fellow recruits are seeing are clearly arranged by someone.

Even Zephyr and his colleagues, who were familiar with the internal workings of the Navy, knew without much thought who was in charge of the arrangements and operations.

At the same time, Zephyr and his men also understood that the Navy Headquarters did this not only to demonstrate the Navy's powerful strength, but also to inspire new recruits and increase their sense of belonging.

However, while they may know this, no one in the know would choose to directly undermine them like this.

As can be foreseen, the effectiveness of the Navy Headquarters' operation will undoubtedly be greatly reduced due to this guy's sabotage.

Leaving aside the manpower costs, the expenses for the shells fired during the military exercises have not yielded the expected results. The current admiral will probably come to cause trouble for this big-mouthed guy again tomorrow.

"Garp, if you keep talking like that, Sengoku will probably come after you soon."

Seeing the burly man walking towards him, Zefa's usually resolute face showed a rare smile.

Through his address, the group of novice marines present learned that the old man wearing a dog-head hat was actually the famous marine hero Garp!

Among the admirals at the Navy Headquarters, Zephyr was undoubtedly the most popular, as most of the officers there were his students, and he was always dedicated to his students.

However, when it comes to the most famous, it is neither Zephyr nor the so-called Fleet Admiral, but the naval hero Monkey D. Garp who is standing in front of them now!

This important figure is not only a hero of the entire navy, but also has a certain reputation among ordinary people outside, after all, he is the one who has repeatedly made that Pirate King suffer.

"According to past practice, these things shouldn't be said openly... but since they've already been said, there's nothing we can do about it now."

To avoid trouble from that Sengoku guy, just pretend you didn't hear what I just said, hahaha.

Upon hearing Zephyr's words, Garp seemed to belatedly realize that he had seemingly "accidentally" undermined his buddy Sengoku's efforts once again.

There was no way he would admit his mistake; even Garp had his pride. So for now, he could only laugh heartlessly and try to make Wood and the other recruits forget what had just happened.

"You've been in the navy for decades and hold a high position. Can't you think about the consequences of your actions?"

Looking at Garp laughing without a trace of guilt, Zephyr was speechless and covered his face. In terms of age, Garp was actually a few years older than him, but his personality was sometimes as childish as a child's, and quite reckless...

However, upon hearing Admiral Zephyr's complaints about Garp, Major General Kadal looked constipated. He really wanted to say, "Admiral Zephyr isn't much better than Vice Admiral Garp's capriciousness..."

Chapter 14 I'm so awesome, how come I don't know it myself!

Among the current senior admirals of the Navy, the most reliable ones are Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru. As for Admiral Zephyr and Vice Admiral Garp, compared to the two mentioned above, they are obviously typical tough guys.

According to Garp, Sengoku and Tsuru rely on their brains to make a living, unlike him and Zephyr who rely on their fists.

People who are too smart tend to overthink things and don't live as happily as they do.

Because of his achievement in capturing the Pirate King Roger, Fleet Admiral Kong should be promoted soon. As for the vacant position of Marine Fleet Admiral, it is highly likely that Fleet Admiral Sengoku will succeed him.

Garp and Tsuru are only "Lieutenant Generals" and cannot skip the general rank to become marshals directly.

Admiral Zephyr had long lost interest in naval affairs. Had he not been repeatedly persuaded to stay, he would have left the navy long ago, and it would have been even more impossible for him to compete with Sengoku for the position of Fleet Admiral.

Based on the above analysis, Kadaru understood who was behind today's large-scale exercise at Marineford.

The new recruits now boarding Marineford are the first batch of naval personnel he's appointed as Fleet Admiral, so it seems quite normal for Admiral Sengoku to take such a step.

A new broom sweeps clean, but the fires are mostly directed at the veterans. As for the newcomers, the natural choice is to try to win them over, since these people will become the main force of the navy in the future.

After some thought, Kadaru had already analyzed some of the ideas of the Sengoku general known as the "wise general," though he didn't know if there were any deeper intentions behind them.

However, it seems that General Sengoku's plan was ruined by Vice Admiral Garp before it even got off to a successful start.

Even now, the latter still acts carefree, asking Zefa if he has found any good candidates during the recruitment drive.

When the topic of recruiting new soldiers came up, Zephyr smiled. Before leaving Marineford, Garp had jokingly suggested that there might be some unexpected gains.

At first, Zefa didn't take these words to heart, just taking them as comfort from an old friend, but unexpectedly, he actually encountered them.

"They are all good lads. Although they are still a bit green now, with systematic training, they will definitely become excellent naval officers in the future."

And this time, I did meet an interesting kid. Although he's young, he's a guy with quite a bit of backbone.

Upon hearing Zeff's conversation with Karp, Wood instinctively felt something was wrong. Just as he was about to squeeze to the back of the line, he noticed that Zeff had already spotted him and called him out of line.

Heaven help me, Wood chose to join the Navy partly because he wanted to become stronger, and partly because he wanted to have a powerful backer. He had no other thoughts besides that.

This is Marineford, the Marine Headquarters, not Red Leaf Island in the first half of the Grand Line. Everywhere you look, there are either boss-level monsters or elite monsters.

Even those lowly guards standing guard now might become colonels, major generals, or lieutenant generals in ten years or so.

Wood was quite clear about his own position; he was just a supporting character, and without the destiny of a protagonist, he could never become one of the protagonists of this era.

Wood had already planned his future: rely on the Navy to grow stronger and gain prestige.

More than a decade later, when the story officially begins, he uses his experience at the Navy Headquarters, along with his connection to Zephyr, to apply for a transfer to the Navy branch on Red Leaf Island as a captain to retire.

Who says time travelers have to be confrontational and defiant? What does "One Piece" have to do with Wood? He has absolutely no interest in the lost century of history.

Wood's goal is to develop the strength to protect himself at sea, then return to his hometown to bully rookie pirates and live a comfortable life.

Therefore, before arriving at the Navy Headquarters, Wood had already made up his mind to keep a low profile and avoid being targeted by so-called "big shots".

Wood really liked the "backdoor slacker" persona he had previously used, and he even planned to maintain that persona in Marineford.

He trained for over ten years in an unremarkable manner, became an unremarkable naval officer, applied for a job on an unremarkable island, and lived an unremarkable life.

However, things often don't go as planned. Heaven knows why, out of thousands of new naval recruits, Zephyr only remembered his name and called it out in this situation.

What could Wood do when he was called out by a naval admiral in front of everyone? Even if he was unwilling, he could only obediently step forward at this moment.

Thanks to Zefa, everyone's attention is now focused on Wood. He clearly wanted to keep a low profile, but he became famous on the very first day!

"This is the kid you were talking about? He doesn't seem old enough to be drafted yet, does he?"

The newly recruited naval soldiers were generally around eighteen years old. Although Wood was physically strong, his rather youthful face made him stand out somewhat in the crowd.

"That's right, he's only sixteen years old, but in terms of experience, he should already be more experienced than most of the navy."

Can you believe it? This sixteen-year-old brat recently single-handedly slaughtered almost half a pirate crew, plus a Devil Fruit user with a bounty of 2000 million Berries.

"But these are not the most important things. What I value more is the quality this kid possesses."

"Garp, can you believe it? I was actually terrified by that kid's eyes back then. They were eyes that held the determination to uphold justice with their very lives on them!"

Originally, Garp was only slightly interested in Wood, but after hearing Zephyr say those words with a serious expression, his expression changed and he began to seriously examine Wood.

Having known each other for so many years, Garp knew Zeff very well. Wood must have something special to earn such high praise from Zeff.

So Karp became curious about the wood in front of him and decided to test its quality himself.

Wood, who had been listening to their conversation the whole time, was now completely dumbfounded.

Zephyr's awkward praise left Wood speechless. If he hadn't been specifically named, Wood wouldn't have known that the person Zephyr was referring to was himself...

In other words, as the saying goes, I'm so awesome, I didn't even know it myself...

If Wood himself had such an expression, then the surrounding onlookers must have had even less to say.

Especially those newbies who were on the same boat as Wood before, they thought he was someone with connections, but it turns out he was a tough guy!

They were only sixteen years old when they took down a pirate with a bounty of 2000 million Berries and half of a pirate crew. They were also fighting pirates at sixteen, but the so-called "pirates" were just role-playing games they played.

Chapter 15 The Test from Garp

Although it is a dangerous pirate world, most people their age have never even held a decent weapon, let alone fought a real battle with someone.

However, the guy in front of them, whom they had previously considered a "connected person," had an innocent-looking face and even appeared to be disabled before boarding the ship. Yet, he had more lives under his command than most regular naval personnel!

The rookie marines, now aware of Wood's true nature, were incredibly thankful. Back on the ship, they had considered Zeff's influence and hadn't provoked this scourge; otherwise, things might be different now…