Chapter 91 - The first test for marines HQ
Following Kipset's success, Inorra followed him toward the testing grounds.
"Hey Inorra guess how much I made from those bets."
"I don't know, 100.000 bellies?"
Walking down Marineford streets, Inorra moved closer to Kipset and told him in a whispering tone.
"Almost 2.500.000. We have enough money to buy whatever sword we find."
"Sigh, stop bothering me with those petty things Inor. This place seems boring, except that this is the headquarters of the marines. The island has nothing to look forward to.
"Don't say that Kip, I've heard from the guys we sailed that there's quite some beauties stationed at the HQ."
Kipset paused a bit and looked at Inorra with a sad face.
"Inor, the chances of you having a lover inside this place is abysmal to innextitential. We'll probably be around smelly guys all day long, just like the good old days in the mines."
"Fuck. Can you please don't shatter my dreams of having a cute girlfriend while stationed inside this place?"
"You dumbass, if big brother was here maybe you would behave yourself differently. Don't embarrass me, okay?"
"Don't worry Kip. Right where are we supposed to go after this street in order to reach the testing ground? Ahh, there's an old lady seated on that bench let us ask her."
Pointed Inorra toward a tall, thin, and elderly woman with gray hair tied in a bun. Her clothes were casual, consisting of an untucked shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and a tie around her neck, and calves-long pants.
Walking toward her, Inorra bowed his head a bit and politely asked her.
"Granny, sorry if we're disturbing your rest, but we got a bit lost. We're recruits trying for the headquarters."
"Ohh, greetings boy. To go to the testing grounds you have to keep walking down that street and turn right continuing until you find the opening for the marine base." said the old lady while smiling a bit to Inorra, who did the same.
"Thank you a lot granny. Take care of yourself." said Inorra as he took the lead toward the testing ground.
Kipset also bowed down to the old lady seated on the bench but conducted himself more seriously than Inorra, who thought that this lady was the average granny from Valent or his village.
By the time the two left, a group of women came toward the old lady carrying some bags with them.
"Lady Tsuru, we prepared ourselves for the journey toward North Blue. Are we to depart today or tomorrow?"
"Not today, I plan to watch the tests for this batch of recruits. Look, those two lads are quite funny. Their spirit seems to be trained to a certain point, something that normal people can't achieve overnight."
"Hmph, they are little brats, nothing big, my lady." said one of the younger girls that seemed to have the commodore stripes on her marine coat.
"It's just one day. After that, we'll depart and search for that pirate."
The identity of this lady was unknown to Kipset or Inorra, who by now were starting to see the gates of the marine base, guarded by some seaman.
"You two are for the test? Show me your acceptance letter and your marine identification."
"Here it is. There's no problem, right?"
"No. You're cleared. Good luck guys."
Both Inorra and Kipset nodded their heads at the seaman and moved toward what looked to be a large open field that had thousands of young people inside.
"Gosh, so many guys. Can you count them Kip?"
"Are you kidding me Inor? This is a sea of people, how can I even count them."
"Let's get closer to the platform so we can hear any message transmitted to us."
Moving along, Inorra began squeezing himself between people, whereas Kipset followed a more subtle approach, and that was to place his hands around people and push them slightly and keeping after Inorra.
As he moved toward the platform, he saw some girls, but mostly this gathering was dominated by men.
"Sorry, sorry. Hmph, don't you push me you bastards. Hey Inorra stop going further, it's fine where we are."
"Shut up you country bumpkin. There's soon a message from the higher-ups."
Kipset looked toward who said that with cold eyes but couldn't find him from all this sea of people. Looking around where Inorra was, he pushed himself a bit more.
Along the way, he felt he touched something soft. To his bad luck or fortune, he touched the sides of a girl that was almost the same height as him.
Before he could say something, the girl reacted fast and grabbed Kipset's hand with some strength and tried to twist it, but he tensed his arm, keeping it stable.
"Hina is surprised. You are quite strong."
Kipset hazel eyes observed this young woman who was still trying to twist his arm.
She had a beautiful face that matched well with her straight waist-length pink hair that she was wearing in a middle part. Her eyes were of a dark brown color.
"Sorry for the touch. Would you like to stop trying to twist my arm? Not that I mind, but we're quite close in this position."
"Hina understands if it is an accident, however if Hina sees the same mistake happening to her she will treat you badly."
Kipset only smiled while he felt that his arm was slowly being released from the pink-haired beauty lock.
"So your name is Hina? I'm Kipset, good luck with the test."
Extending his hand, Hina looked at Kipset's tanned, handsome face and hazel eyes before taking his hand and shaking it a bit.
"Hina doesn't need luck, she's strong to pass the test."
"I see, good for you then Hina. Hey Inor, you dumbass, come here."
Inorra turned his head to where he heard Kipset's voice, and when looking at him, he saw him standing next to a gorgeous pink-haired girl that had a calm face.
'Bastard. How is your luck so great that you even stumbled on a beauty and even hit on her. Argh, and I tried so much to get that, but I only passed past stinky guys.'
"Hina, he is my little brother Inorra. Inorra, meet Hina, she's from West Blue."
"Ohh, nice to meet you gorgeous, I'm Kipset, you can always ask for help from me."
As he said that, Inorra went to grab Hina's hands, but this time her face turned a bit annoyed, and she quickly grabbed Inorra's hand and later shackled his hands down.
'Hoh, this girl is a devil fruit user just like big brother. Interesting, so that was the force that tried to pull me.'
"Hina hates perverts. You better keep your distance from me or you'll get hurt."
"Inor stop embarrassing me. Have you missed sparring with me that much lately that you started acting like a moron around here?"
"It's a misunderstanding, brother Kip. You don't have to take it too seriously. Hey beauty can you release me, not that I hate it, but it makes a bad impression on other guys. Look, they are looking at us."
Hina looked around herself and saw that some guys stared at her with perverted looks, and with a stoic expression, she released Inorra from her shackles.
"Phew those black shackles sure are strong. Beauty you're a devil fruit user, right?"
"Hina ate the Cage-Cage Devil Fruit when she was younger. Hina can bind people using the powers of the devil fruit."
"Hmm, that's cool."
As Inorra wanted to talk more with the pink-haired beauty, the talking seaman in the field lowered down with the appearance of a large old looking man with a muscular body. His skin was tanned, while his hair was short purple. Along with that, he had a pair of vision glasses and was wearing the standard marine suit with a white coat.
Behind him walked other old guys that some had muscled bodies and thought complexions while others had frail old bodies.
The gathered young marines looked at those old guys, and by the time one minute passed since their arrival, Inorra could hear the sounds of gulping of saliva. Feeling annoyed, he whispered to Kipset, a bit annoyed.
"Kip, what is these old guys problem? It's already been one minute and they just stand there like dumbasses."
"Shut up you moron, don't get me in trouble, I want to be an admiral not a chore boy my entire life."
Then as Kipset said that, he looked at the stage, and to his surprise, he saw the purple-haired old man staring in his direction intently.
'The fuck, why are you staring at me old man? Don't tell me this old guy could hear me?'
However, to his relief, the old guy who stood on the front of the stage turned his attention away from him, giving him a break.
Soon, they could hear this old guy finally speak to them, after 10 minutes of silence.
"So it seems you're serious about being the best the marines can have. You managed to stay calm in the face of this unexpected situation and didn't overreact, which is a good step for a young marine.
Let me introduce myself to you young aspiring marines. I'm your examinator Zephyr and also your future instructor. I'll cut to the case because you clearly haven't come here to hear an old man rant about what it means to be a marine.
But I'll ask you, just so I can feel your passion. What is the role of a marine?"
"BRING JUSTICE!?" said one part of the large crowd, followed by another crowd who said in a high tone "CAPTURE PIRATES AND CRIMINALS!?"
The old guys who watched this display of the younger marine aspirants laughed a bit, especially the tall, muscular old man that gave a bright smile to the marines.
"Brother, those old guys are weird."
"Not now Inor, just act in line and say what those guys are screaming."
"Hina is displeased, can you two stay silent?"
Kipset turned toward the pink-haired beauty and smiled a bit apologetic before looking at Inorra with a sharp expression.
Yet those whispers didn't matter for the old guys. After they finished their laugh, the purple-haired old guy said to the crowd.
"Now, all that it remains is to check your desire to become a true marine. Follow the examiners to the testing grounds. The first test you'll take is to see how intelligent you are. What's with those faces? Do you think a marine needs only to be powerful?
Haha, you're mistaken greatly. Now, follow your examiners."
As the old guys around the one called Zephyr began walking down the platform toward another place, the crowd started following them and soon arrived at a larger field with many circles on the ground and small writing boards.
Inorra didn't manage to get a seat close to where Kipset and Hina managed to sit. He was placed far back.
Staring around himself, he saw a guy that had a buzzcut, a white shirt wide open, leaving out his slightly muscular frame and at the same time looking with a serious expression at the writing board and pencil.
Staring to his left after he noticed the ashen-haired guy looking as if he was ready to kill someone, he saw a tall man with long, curly brown hair and some weird eyebrows reminiscent of a balding guy who was slowly losing them. He had thick lips, a big nose, and stern lines around specific areas of his face.
After 5 minutes, the examiners started distributing some sheet paper around the rows of young people while the purple-haired guy said to them.
"Turn the page only after I say so. Once I give you the order you'll begin answering the questions on the paper. You have 30 minutes."
Following that, once the examiners passed the test paper, Zephyr looked at the crowded field and said in a high tone.
"You can turn the paper and answer the questions. Don't try to cheat or look at your neighbors, or you'll be instantly disqualified."
'Hmph, yea sure. Let's see what is with this exam.'
As Inorra said that in his mind, he turned the page, and after reading some questions, his face turned severe as if someone was trying to beat him for no reason.
The questions he got were a number of 20 questions that all sounded weird to him.
Meanwhile, Zephyr looked at the young marine aspirants and asked the other old guys next to him.
"Have you changed the questions a bit, or shifted the questions number? This time we're doing the test as I wish, not following the Elders approach."
"Yes Zephyr, we added questions targeting their deductive reasoning, error detection skills, number fluency ability, some literacy questions and lastly a numeracy test."
"Good, let's see what the lads from this batch can pull. We need more capable marines to fight the increasing number of cursed pirates that rushed like some hungry rats for that stupid treasure of Roger's."
"Don't consume yourself Zephyr, you know your health has gotten worse since 7 years ago. You're already doing too much for the justice of the world by training new batches of youngsters to continue protecting the world."
"It's still not enough. We're clearly in a stalemate with the Sea Emperors and those other bastards, we need more capable youngsters such as Shakazuki, Borsalino and Kuzan."
The older guys nodded their heads and kept quiet, watching as the youngsters in front of them looked with focused expressions, some with confused faces.
Time quickly passed while the mind was focused on something. For Inorra, the minutes flew like the thickening of the clocks.
He stared forward to where Kipset and Hina were and saw the latter sit straight on the circle as if he finished his task.
'Don't tell me that bastard actually finished those annoying questions so fast? Tsk, I still have some questions left.'
Yet other minutes passed and finally, Inorra placed down the paper and pencil while scratching his hair a bit.
"Time is over lads. Stop writing and place your sheet paper down." said Zephyr in a high tone.
The examiners walked around them and picked their sheets of paper.
"You'll remain here until we finish checking your responses. In the meantime, you are free to talk with people. That's all."
When the old guys left this field with the sheet papers, most of the young marines began talking with each other, something that Inorra wasn't shy about.
Turning toward the guy with the buzzcut, he asked him.
"How was the test for you, man?"
The ashen-haired guy turned his head a bit and responded to Inorra with a slightly annoyed expression.
"It was fine. I expected something like this from the headquarters."
"Heh, I'm Inorra by the way. Good luck with your test."
"Smoker."
'Why does this guy look so serious? The old guys gave us a break so take it easy. Tsk, whatever. Let's talk with the other guy then, until the old guys come back.'
Turning toward the tall man with long, curly brown hair and some weird eyebrows reminiscent of a balding guy, he said to him.
"How was your test man?"
"Don't ask, I could barely respond to those weird questions. Did you got the meaning of those questions?"
"Somewhat, I think this test was to check our morals and judgment abilities."
"Right, I also thought that. Well, good luck with your test. I'm Yukimura." the tall guy with curly brown hair extended his hand toward Inorra.
Inorra smiled a bit and shook the guy's hand while saying to him.
"I'm Inorra, hope you pass the test and see each other more often, Yukimura."
In the meantime, Inorra talked with Yukimura, and sometimes with Smoker, Kipset took a meditative stance with his legs and waited quietly for the time to pass. Sometimes he would look back at Inorra as he talked around with the guy with curly brown hair, and sometimes to his left where Hina was.
The pink-haired girl also had a calm expression as she waited for the response.
"How was your test?"
It took some time for Hina to react to Kipset's question before responding in her weird style.
"The test was a bit hard, but there shouldn't be problems for Hina. There was one particular question that had Hina thinking. The last question about the choice one would take in the situation stated in the problem."
"Hmm, that question. For me it was simple to answer it. The rules of the marines doesn't specify if the pirate in question is a good person or not. My brother at home taught me to not judge people by their color. I give credit to his wise words. There's always two sides of a coin, if we the marines use the idea of bringing justice in a whole sense of the word, we should just end the pirates. However, we're also the cause of pirates appearing if we do that."
"But the pirates are the bad guys, the criminals who destroy people lives, Hina is confused, aren't the pirates bad?"
Kipset just smiled and thought of Vlad's words when they talked at night until they slept.
'Well, you can't convince them on your ideals, Kipset. Look at big brother Vlad, he's a wanted person, but I know some part of the reason why he's wanted. He fights with the nobles of the kingdom, who probably have the marine, in this case Commodore Kirin working for them. This is the best example that the marines could be as bad as the pirates if wanted.'
"Hina, let me ask you. Do you think that every marine is a good person?"
When Kipset asked that question, the pink-haired girl turned silent for a bit, taking a pondering expression. She responded to Kipset only after some minutes passed.
"Hina thinks you are right about that part, but also thinks that we as marines shouldn't try to be too kind with the pirates because they choose this way of life. We are just following the law of the world."
The answer from the beauty made Kipset also think a bit which was visible for Hina, who saw him not focus too much on her.
'She also is right on that, the problem should be with the world government itself for not acting just. Isn't big brother the prince of Kaysang? I should talk with him when I go home about this, he should be more informed on this subject than me.'
Seeing that Kipset didn't talk back, Hina looked away calmly, toward the exit the old guys took to walk away.
The waiting began for the young marines until after 40 minutes of waiting had passed.
The old guys walked behind the purple-haired old man, who had a list in his large hands.
"Young marines, we finished grading your test, and here we bring you the list of youngster's who managed to impress us old guys."
Then Zephyr began calling out names according to their rankings, as he was calling both Inorra and Kipset thought in their heads.
'Have I really messed up?' It's been like 40 names, and I haven't heard my name.'
Like this, the two began being boiled by Zephyr unintentionally, but they were indeed quite troubled.
"35. Smoker. "
When Inorra heard this name, he turned to look at the serious guy who had his expression slightly relieved while lighting a cigar.
"30. Yukimura"
'Damn, even this guy had his name called." screamed Inorra in his mind while looking at the guy with curly hair who smiled ear to ear like some idiot.
Following that, Inorra heard some names that he didn't bother remembering until the purple-haired old man reached the top 20.
Names, after names, finally Inorra, who was sweating from the idea that he didn't manage to qualify.
'Please, by the lords. I want to become great and help big brother.'
"14. Inorra."
"Congrats man, you really ranked high, compared to both of us." said Yukimura to Inorra, who yet had to react.
"What did you say? I'm 14 on the list? Fuck yea!?"
"Ahem, the language lad." said one of the old guys behind Zephyr, trying not to laugh.
"Ahh, my apologies sir."
The old guys nodded, and then Zephyr continued.
'If I managed to get to top 20, where's Kipset. Don't tell me he messed up? No way, he might not look interested in this kind of thing, but he's smarter than me. He profited the most from staying with big brother.'
"8. Benz. " / "6. Ain. " / " 5. Draw. " / " 3. Hina "
"2. Kipset. "
'Damn this lucky bastard actually managed to almost get ranked 1 from thousands. Heh, look at him acting normal as if nothing important happened, I bet he's probably screaming in joy in his mind.'
"1. Isuka. "
'Who is this person? Sounds like a girl's name. Let me see who you are lucky girl.'
Yet he couldn't see properly who the one who got the highest rank was.
"Congratulations to everyone who heard their names, you got selected for the physical test. As for the rest of the participants who didn't hear their names, it means you failed."
"Now, the ones who heard their names follow the instructors toward another testing ground, where your physical attributes and talents will be tested furthermore."
