Chapter 27

After lunch, Loya decided to cut himself some slack and let Aludo do his own thing. Poor guy wasn't having the best day, and Loya's little show had left him as shell-shocked as Garp.

While Aludo wandered off to lick his wounds, Loya sprawled out on his ice wolf's back and headed straight for the dorms. Time for a good old-fashioned nap. After all, when it's time to chill, you gotta chill hard.

A week later, Marineford's boot camp was bathed in the golden light of dawn, signaling the start of a new day.

Loya was up with the sun, perched by the man-made lake near the dorms, deep in concentration. Today was D-day - assessment day. Facing down hundreds of attacks at once meant he needed to be sharper than one of Zoro's swords. Falling flat on his face wasn't an option.

He couldn't exactly unleash his Ice Dragon Roar on his fellow recruits. The air around him grew frosty, and with each breath, the lake's surface froze over like a giant mirror.

"Ice Make: Thousand Blades!"

Suddenly, a razor-sharp ice spike shot up from the lake, skewering a carp right through its middle. The fish thrashed for a moment before going still.

Thud!

A hail of ice spikes followed, turning the lake into a deadly pincushion. Blood bloomed under the ice as the carp met their grisly end, pierced over and over until they were just fish soup.

In the blink of an eye, the lake was back to normal, the ice melting faster than Aokiji's resolve in a fight with Akainu. All that was left was a frothy, blood-tinted broth.

Loya took a deep breath and stood up slowly. He'd finally gotten the hang of ice modeling, even if dragon-slaying magic was still giving him grief. But with just modeling magic? Even your average vice admiral would have a hard time stopping him now.

Happy with his aim, Loya made a mental note about the power drop at long range. He'd have to work on that later. Thousand Blades, a souped-up version of Ice Waterfall Funeral, was a mix of dynamic and static modeling magic. It might not reach as far as his ice bombs, but those armor-piercing spikes were no joke.

Loya grabbed his coat and whistled. An ice wolf appeared out of thin air, fully visible as it touched down. Loya hopped on and rode off towards the assessment grounds, ready to show 'em what he was made of.

Unlike the branch recruits who had it easy, the Marineford crew was in for some serious business. We're talking daily brawls and yearly elite assessments that'd make your average pirate cry for mommy. Loya, being the new kid on the block, was about to get his first taste of the real deal.

The assessment arena was buzzing like Sabaody on a good day. Usually, it was just one-on-one scraps or small team rumbles, but today? The place was packed tighter than Luffy's stomach after a feast. And boy, were those recruits giving Loya the stink eye.

The seventh team was running around like headless chickens, handing out weapons and prepping medical supplies like they were expecting World War III. Loya's eye twitched - he wanted to kick their butts six ways to Sunday, but he held back. After all, the big wigs were watching from their fancy platform: the recruit instructors, vice admirals from HQ, Chief Instructor "Black Arm" Zephyr, and even the legendary Garp (snoring away with a snot bubble, naturally), along with Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself.

Loya grabbed a passing recruit. "Hey, what's the deal with Garp and the Fleet Admiral being here?"

The kid grinned, recognizing Loya. "Oh, it's you, Boss Loya! Mr. Zephyr invited them to watch your assessment. Knock 'em dead!"

Loya was baffled. Were the higher-ups really that bored? Garp, sure, but Sengoku? The guy who could make the seas tremble with a sneeze, here to watch some rookie throw down? No way.

Little did Loya know, Sengoku had his eye on him since the last assessment. He and Zephyr shared a look, both using their Haki to size up Loya's strength.

"Zephyr, this kid's leveled up again," Sengoku noted.

Zephyr nodded, feeling the chill in Loya's aura. "You bet. Today's gonna be one hell of a show."

Oblivious to their Haki-probing, Loya just felt a weird shiver. He glanced around suspiciously before finding a spot by the wall to chill.

Time flew by faster than Kizaru on a caffeine high. The weather was picture-perfect, with a sky so blue it'd make Nami jealous, and a few seagulls lazily cruising by. The instructors did their headcount, giving Zephyr the all-clear. Zephyr and Sengoku shared another look, and then Zephyr's voice boomed out like a cannon.

"Alright, pipe down!"

Alright, I'll rephrase this in a more natural, conversational style while keeping the One Piece flavor:

The moment Zephyr stepped up, it was like someone hit the mute button. All those chattering recruits straightened up faster than Sanji spotting a pretty girl.

Zephyr nodded, looking pleased as punch. "Alright, you all know the drill with these assessments, so I'll skip the boring bits. Today's a bit different, though. You're not picking your battles - someone's challenging all of you! That's right, every single one of you!"

Now, Loya had caused quite a stir during the last combat exam, leaving a trail of bruised egos in his wake. Everyone had been itching for payback. When Zephyr dropped this bomb, the place erupted like Punk Hazard on a bad day.

Watching the recruits go bananas, Garp smacked his lips. "Tch, this kid's about as popular as a Marine at a pirate convention."

Once the ruckus died down, Zephyr continued, "We're kicking off soon! Now, you don't have to join in if you don't want to, but where's the fun in that? Show us what you've got!"

He nodded to the major general beside him, then gave sleeping beauty Garp a shake before dragging him to his VIP seat. The major general stepped up, saluting.

"Christopher Loya! Front and center, now!"

Loya sauntered forward, cool as a cucumber, while everyone else looked ready to pounce. Some tough guys tried to block his path, looking for trouble.

Next thing you know, they're sailing through the air like they've been shot out of Franky's cannon, smacking into the wall and lights out. The rest of the crowd parted like the Red Sea, shaking in their boots.

Once he hit center stage, Loya didn't wait for introductions. Ice armor sprouted all over him, meaner and nastier than before. Ice spikes jutted out everywhere, making him look like a walking, roaring glacier.

"Come on, then! Let's dance! I promise I won't kill ya... probably!"

This was Loya's Frost Armor: Spider 2-17, or as the guys liked to call it, "The Tentacle Monster." It was Loya's latest party trick, designed to show off his modeling magic skills. Good for offense, defense, and scaring the living daylights out of people.

Even if Loya picked up some fancy new moves in the future, this bad boy would only get stronger. For now, though? It was more than enough to handle this flock of seagulls.

"I promise I won't kill you!"

Loya's killer aura was enough to make even Zoro sweat, topped off with a grin that was equal parts charming and completely unhinged.

Faced with this not-so-subtle threat, many recruits took a step back, gulping like they'd just seen Akainu in a bad mood.

Just kidding! Can't you give us a fair fight? We've barely slept this month thanks to you. Don't you have a conscience?

Just as the crowd was getting rowdier than a bar full of pirates, a tall figure stood up.

"Hahaha, now this is interesting. Come on then, Loya! Let's see if you can take me down!"

That voice was so familiar, Loya's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Aludo?! What in the name of Gol D. Roger are you doing here?"

It was none other than Aludo, the iron nugget expert from the elite battalion.

Aludo was decked out differently today. Not only was he dressed sharp enough to cut glass, but he was sporting two solid iron gloves. Thick iron chains snaked out from behind the gloves, wrapping around him like some kind of metal octopus.

Like Loya, Aludo preferred his fists to fancy weapons. So he'd sweet-talked the logistics team into making him these gloves.

Loya knew about this - he'd been there the day Aludo got them.

But hold up! Why was Aludo here? Was he from the elite camp?

Just then, two more figures stepped forward, speaking in perfect sync.

"Don't forget about us, Loya-kun!" x2

Aside from where they were standing, these two were identical in every way - moves, clothes, attitude, even their voices.

"Brother Jerome?"

Loya gawked at them, then whipped around to glare at the instructor on stage.

"What's the deal with the elite battalion being here? Isn't this supposed to be our recruit battalion's assessment?"

No need to be Vegapunk to figure this one out. Only Zephyr had the pull to get the elite battalion involved. So while Loya was technically asking the major general instructor, his real target was Zephyr.

Hearing this, Zephyr raised an eyebrow, putting on his best "Who, me?" face.

Facing Loya's death glare, the major general instructor took one for the team and explained: "This assessment is for the entire recruit battalion. The elite battalion is part of the recruit battalion, so naturally, they have the right to participate."

Ssss~

Talk about a load of bull!

Loya stared at Zephyr in disbelief. Sure, on paper, the elite battalion was part of the recruit camp. But their funding and facilities had been separate for years, with Zephyr calling all the shots. Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku couldn't mess with that setup.