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The 10th of March 1506. Around 8:00 in the morning.
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"This is harder than Instructor Baibald's training!" Exclaimed Fred as he sat on the ground as soon as Zephyr announced the end of the day's training. Water dripping off his body like he had finished bathing, Fred took a huge gulp out of the bottle of water he opened before sitting down.
"I would be disappointed otherwise." Interjected Laurent, sitting next to Fred on the ground. "I don't want to leave such a great place to stagnate my skills." He added, pointing to the opposite direction of the ship, meaning Alshaw Island.
Of course, Laurent, a One Piece fan, knows how great of an instructor Zephyr is. However, that was in a fictional series. Many things may be different, like Queen being 18 at this time. Still, he expected proper training from an admiral and got more than that.
'He did train all three future admirals.' Thought Laurent, a mocking smile on his face as he thought of his previous slander. 'I guess I'm the dumb one. Many things may change, but major events will still happen.' He continued thinking as he got up before performing a military salute toward Zephyr.
That's something he learned from instructor Baibald. After every training session, the recruits must salute their instructors, no matter how tired they are. That's a custom that has been passed down in the organization.
Seeing Zephyr nod, Laurent and Fred, who also saluted alongside Laurent, walked toward their respective cabin, ready to bathe after a long, tiring training session.
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Thirty minutes later, Laurent walked out of his cabin wearing new clothes. However, a careful observer would notice his training clothes under his shirt. Whatever he does, wherever he goes, his training clothes will always be on him. We can even say that Laurent is constantly training.
Of course, by Earth's standards, that's a bad thing. No one could constantly wear weights on them at all times. However, with this world's freaky physiques, it is possible.
Having been a soldier, Laurent knew a thing or two about training. That's why he disagreed with Instructor Baibald, disallowing them from taking the training clothes off. However, since the man was a pro at his job, Laurent followed that instruction and gained strength much faster than expected without any side effects.
'Leave professional things to professionals. You'll never be more capable than them at doing that specific job.' Thinking that, Laurent hurried toward Madsen, ready to ask questions. The former general is very interested in navigation.
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"--And this is an eternal pose." Expressed Madsen while holding an hourglass-shaped device with a single orb in the middle of the device and a needle inside that orb. It was a variant of the device called log pose.
"What's the difference between the two?" Asked Laurent, a curious look on his face. Although he watched the series and read the manga, seeing something with your eyes and seeing it through a screen are two different concepts. Looking at the device Madsen was holding, Laurent's innate curiosity couldn't help but manifest itself.
"Like a Log Pose, it records the unique magnetic waves of a particular Grand Line island, letting the user know which way to go to get to their destination." Started Madsen, pausing to organize his speech before continuing.
"However, unlike a Log Pose, which resets the compass direction on new islands, an Eternal Pose always points to the same island no matter how long it remains elsewhere. You must have an eternal pose to travel toward an island in the shortest time possible." Finished Madsen, looking at Laurent and wondering whether the teenager understood his explanation.
Caressing his non-existent beard with a pensive look, Laurent nodded after hearing Madsen's explanation before commenting. "So, it's like a GPS."
Hearing the uncommon comparison, Madsen scratched his head and asked. "What's a GPS? It's my first time hearing anything like that." Hesitating for a few seconds after hearing that question, Laurent inwardly cursed himself before confidently responding.
"It's a devil fruit ability. The fruit's owner would register any place he has been to and subconsciously see the fastest way to that place wherever he is. He can also use that ability to locate his or other people's location if he trains it enough." Finishing his explanation, Laurent looked at Madsen, smiled, and continued. "It's the perfect ability for navigators like you."
Narrowing his eyes, Madsen responded. "Yeah, too perfect to be true..." However, the smile on Laurent's face deepened as he shrugged his head and replied. "Between being a moving Log pose and being capable of turning into a tiger, I'd rather believe the former." Hearing that, Madsen nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"That's true." He started. "The existence of the devil fruits is unscientific in the first place. So having those types of powers shouldn't surprise us." Shrugging his shoulders, Madsen suddenly laughed while thinking of something. "There is a devil fruit capable of making you swim on the ground. Can you believe that?"
"Swim on the ground? That's even crazier than transforming into a monster." Commented Laurent, dramatically holding his head to show his shock.
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Talking and laughing for the next few hours, Madsen explained his job to Laurent to the best of his ability. Although Laurent didn't understand everything, as he needed to pass a six months course to be a qualified marine navigator, he's got a good grasp of what an excellent navigator is.
During lunchtime, Laurent walked back toward Fred to eat lunch with him after getting the information he needed for the day.
"I heard you pestered Commodore Madsen all morning." Jabbed Fred as soon as he saw his friend walking toward him. After training with Admiral Zephyr, Fred slept, ready to compensate for the times he only slept four hours. Unfortunately, he was woken up by the marine soldiers to eat lunch.
However, he heard the soldiers discuss a young recruit following Commodore Madsen around like a chick following its mother. So, he immediately thought of his best friend, Laurent.
Hearing Fred's comment, Laurent shook his head in disappointment as he responded. "I was not bothering him. I was asking questions about navigation." Sitting on the ground next to Fred, Laurent continued. "If you can't even understand that, I don't know what to do about you." He finished, taking a bite of his food.
"The cooks in this ship are great, by the way." He added, taking another mouthful while Fred laughed and made fun of him.
A couple of days went on as the group approached Marineford, Laurent, and Fred, going there for the first time in their short lives. Admiral Zephyr would train the two recruits until they were tired every morning and evening. After training, Laurent would go to specific professionals like blacksmiths, shipwrights, and navigators to ask questions about their jobs while getting information about Marineford. On the other side, Fred would be busy asking about the common sense of people living in Manrineford and things or places to avoid going or doing, etc.
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Two weeks later, on the 24th of March 1506.
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AN__: This is a short chapter. I can't see anything I can add to it to make it even longer. Thanks for reading and liking this novel, though. I don't think I thanked you guys for the 1.1K bookmarks.
Thank you very much!
