Chapter 9: Elite Barracks
Holding the document signed by Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Garp swallowed the last taiyaki in his belly and brought Zavia away from the Fleet Admiral's office.
Following Garp's footsteps, 10 minutes later, Zavia arrived at a building that looked like a school with the words "Military Academy" written on it.
Seeing these two words, Zavia's face couldn't help but twitch slightly. What's the difference between this and schools from his previous world just based on the facade? Zavia thought he would see something a little different here.
Upon entering the interior of the Military Academy, the scene before him made his eyes widen slightly before returning to normal.
Most of this place was similar to the schools Zavia attended in his previous world - teaching buildings, dormitories, parade grounds, etc.
On the large open space in front of him, Marines were constantly running back and forth. It looked like they were jogging. Every time that loudmouthed instructor yelled, those Marines running would instantly accelerate before gradually slowing down again.
On one side, many Marines were holding various workout equipment like dumbbells, moving them up and down. But the situation was pitiful to behold. On average each person could only lift it once before collapsing, with miracle workers lifting 3 times before wilting.
As Zavia looked around at these scenes, he couldn't help but recall the classroom he attended back in his old school. He actually felt it was a bit... happy? After all, attending class just meant sitting there and listening. No need to keep moving around like this everyday.
"Hey kid, snap out of it."
Suddenly, a large hand waved in front of the reminiscing Zavia, pulling him out of his memories.
"What's the matter?"
"What's the matter? Did you forget you came here to train? Cough cough, but there's no hurry. New recruits don't need to train on the first day. Just stay in the barracks today or go observe. Bogard will accompany you."
Garp stood in front of a building resembling the barracks as he spoke to Zavia, while also glancing at the man behind him.
Zavia followed Garp's gaze to see a man dressed in a suit with a Navy coat draped over it. He wore a western top hat and had a sword at his waist. This man was currently leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, giving Zavia a slight nod.
Bogard? This guy was pretty mysterious. He didn't appear much but his swordsmanship was formidable. He was even Coby's teacher 3 years later. Pretty interesting. Zavia looked at Bogard and thought thusly.
"Fine, I'll head back first then old man. I'll go take a look at my barracks. If anything comes up I'll have Bogard pass word to you."
Bang!
Just as Zavia finished speaking, a fist as large as a mountain smashed down at his head.
"Damn brat! You think you really came here on vacation? Getting others to pass on messages for you? Quite arrogant huh?" Garp held up his steaming right fist, speaking unhappily to Zavia.
(This damn old man! So painful, he must have used Armament Haki!)
Zavia touched his head, looking at Garp resentfully.
"What? Want another fist?" Seeing Zavia's gaze, Garp extended his fist again while breathing on it.
"No no, I'll get going then."
Upon seeing this, Zavia instantly submitted. Face dark, he entered the barracks. Just you wait, once I fully develop the Space Core's power, I'll get back at you! Zavia silently cursed to himself with his back to Garp.
"Hmph, Bogard. I'll leave it to you then."
Seeing Zavia enter the barracks, Garp let out a cold snort. After explaining some matters to Bogard, he left swaggeringly.
***
Inside the barracks, walking along the 2nd floor corridor that could fit 3 people shoulder-to-shoulder side-by-side, Zavia inspected his surroundings.
The monotonous navy blue and white color scheme, the floor without a speck of dust, with cleaning tools placed along the sides.
(Looks like the Navy isn't as messy as I imagined, at least cleaner than the school dorm corridors from my past world.) Upon seeing such clean and tidy corridors, Zavia couldn't help comparing them to his old school. His conclusion was that the Pirate World won.
Arriving at his dorm room, Zavia glanced at his room number - Room 233...
Seeing these familiar three digits, Zavia's face twitched. He seemed to recall his past self sitting in front of the computer watching a certain standing website going crazy with sarcasm.
Taking a deep breath, putting away the Yamato sword at his waist into his spatial pouch, straightening his unchanged hairstyle, Zavia pushed open the door in front of him with an awkward smile.
Suddenly, a sense of danger came from above his head. Zavia's eyes focused as he disappeared from the spot with a bang.
Clang-Crash!
The silver bucket fell onto the floor, intimately contacting the white floor and producing the unique metallic sound of metal. The colorless transparent liquid inside splashed into the air, appearing crystal clear shining through the light.
Zavia's blue coat fluttered as he appeared at the innermost part of the room amidst the surprised gazes within. His left arm locked onto a Marine soldier while his right hand's index and middle finger were pressed against the soldier's temple.
Originally squinting, his eyes had become icy cold. Like an icy wall that hadn't melted for thousands of years, emitting nothing but endless chill.
"Ugh... Ugh..."
At this time, a painful groan entered Zavia's ears. Suddenly returning to normal, when his gaze slanted over he only saw a black buzzcut head in front of him. It was somewhat wet, that was cold sweat.
The returned-to-senses Zavia swiftly released the man in his hands. With the sudden loss of support, that man tumbled down to the floor, continuously gasping for breath.
"He's... the new guy... too scary..."
To the side of the fallen youth, another skinny Marine soldier in uniform stared wide-eyed at Zavia. That gaze was like he had seen a ghost.
"That was... Six Powers... Shave!"
Opposite the skinny youth, another spectacled youth with bangs sternly looked at the black footprint by the door.
"Cough cough! What! Cough cough Shave?!"
Hearing the spectacled youth's words, the youth previously gasping on the ground coughed even more intensely.
"What are your intentions?"
At this time, an icy cold voice sounded. The voice was so cold it was hard to believe it came from a human, like standing naked in extreme cold. Zavia looked at the 3 people who attempted to "frame" him with crossed arms.
In fact if you looked closely, Zavia's arms weren't actually crossed. One hand was ready to take out the Yamato from his spatial pouch at any time.
"Uh no we didn't have any ill intentions." Perhaps sensing Zavia's displeasure, the skinny youth hurriedly explained.
"You're the new recruit right! Nice to meet you, I'm Robbie!"
However, just as the skinny youth tried to explain to Zavia, the youth previously gasping on the ground suddenly leapt up and presented an excited appearance before Zavia.
"."
In response, sweat couldn't help but emerge on Zavia's face. What was going on here? Couldn't they see he was in a bad mood right now??
Zavia wasn't an idiot. He understood this "bucket on the door" cliche. It generally only happened to new students, or those used to being bullied. And it frequently occurred at schools.
Zavia himself had suffered this treatment before due to his honest nature. No matter what happened to him, he would always maintain a nonchalant appearance. Even if bullied by other schoolmates, he would pretend nothing occurred.
Indeed, Zavia had experienced school violence before. It was hard to describe that feeling, but perhaps because he had a history of domestic violence, Zavia treated it no different from domestic violence.
Of course, this also led to Zavia becoming the frequent bullying target of those delinquents, venting all sorts of grudges and anger onto him. Whether it was hatred for teachers or their girlfriends being stolen, everything was poured onto Zavia.
And the teachers? Of course they wanted to manage it, but were helpless to do so. Every time they inquired whether the incidents indeed happened, the bullies would firmly deny doing any such thing. Asking other students resulted in lies due to their fear of being targeted next.
As for Zavia himself, even if he spoke up, who would believe him over a group of people? The answer was obvious. Even if the teachers knew, what about the principal and Dean?
Therefore, the actions of these 3 people had unknowingly picked at the scars in Zavia's heart, greatly angering him.
In the past he didn't dare retaliate due to his poor physique, but now his body had been reforged and gained most of Vergil's abilities. Why wouldn't Zavia be arrogant?
But so what? Zavia couldn't blame anyone. These 3 people before him didn't know anything. To be precise, they were just fictional characters that would act according to the written plot, completely unaware of the real world.
So Zavia's heart now held both helplessness and anger. Although his academic performance wasn't great, he understood basic morals. Thus he could not vent his anger onto these 3 people.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Hey."
While Zavia recalled all sorts of things, a hand waved back and forth in front of him. Taking a clear look, it was the youth from before - Robbie.
"It's nothing. We'll let bygones be bygones. I won't pursue your mistakes this time, but I don't want a next time." Zavia brushed aside the waving hand and walked to the bed marked with his name to take a look.
"Oh, thanks a lot. We actually didn't have any ill intentions either, just wanted to play a small prank. Mmpf!"
Robbie wanted to say something more but was suddenly gagged and dragged away by the skinny youth behind him.
In response, Zavia only sighed. Then he turned his gaze out the window and his eyes suddenly brightened upon seeing a certain surprising person.