Inside a cave in the southeast area of Hell Island.
The walls of the dimly lit cave were lined with torches, the ground was littered with traces of campfires, and several bags of flour and pots and pans were placed in the corners. Obviously, this place is used for camp.
"All Recruits, gather!"
Following the order, Rowen and the other Recruits, who had just disembarked from the Battleship, had no time to look around and lined up in front of Momonga.
"You have reached the Hell Island, so from now on, the test has started!"
Momonga spoke with a serious look on his face and walked past the Recruits.
"You need to always remember three things, First, Survive! Second, Survive! Third, Survive!"
"We will not provide you with any help, whether it is food, medicine, or information about Island, we would give you nothing!"
"You are a group of refugees living in a Deserted Island!"
"I don't care if you guys are hugging each other for warmth in a cold area or going out alone to face the dangers, the Recruits who will still be standing in front of me in three months would become an officer of the Marine Headquarters!"
"Understand?!"
"YES!!!"
Saying nothing is as important as the last sentence. Ordinary people who want to be Marine officers need to accumulate a large number of Military Merits and gradually improve their qualifications even if they want to become a Second Lieutenant.
But they are different from them, as long as they pass this test, the lowest starting point they would get is being a Lieutenant Commander!
They would also be a Lieutenant Commander of the Marine Headquarters and not of the four seas, their status would be different from the Lieutenant Commanders of Four Seas!
This is the quickest shortcut to climb up in the ranks of Marine!
They would suffer, they would feel bitter, and they would have to work hard, but it would be worth it in the end!
"Very good!"
Looking at the determination filled eyes of the Recruits in front of him, Momonga nodded in satisfaction.
To be honest, having experienced various Sea King fights in the Calm Belt, this group of Recruits has been trained enough, and their courage and imposingness are not the same as that of the previous batch so there is really no need for them to come to this Hell Island.
But it would still be a difficult task for them to overcome their fears under the protection of him and any higher-level officer as the Recruits would still depend upon them and wouldn't take the situation seriously as they would expect the Higher Rank Officers to protect them.
The Recruits still lacked a point of determination in which they can gamble with their life in front of danger and overcome that danger by themselves without getting anyone's help, which is the main reason why they are here!
If they don't experience real fighting then they won't know what death feels like!
If they don't know what death feels like then they would become afraid of it and they wouldn't go forward to face the enemies.
The Marines are not a caring organization. They are more realistic. They don't care about protecting the genius. What good is a Genius if he becomes scared when faced with an enemy? What they need are Soldiers, real Soldiers who would dare to go forward to fight their enemies and kill them!
And only Battle and Blood can make good Soldiers!
Regardless of whether it is the War Faction, Peace Faction, or the idle Garp Faction under Marine, this is the single thing that they all agree upon.
"Next, line-up to receive your last meal and sleep one last peaceful sleep! Those who do not leave this camp tomorrow morning at seven o'clock are automatically considered to have forfeited! Now ... Disband!"
...
That night, Rowen was getting ready to get some rest for the test starting tomorrow when a Recruits found him.
"Rowen, are you free now?"
The speaker is Quinn Dante, the fifth strongest in this year-end test. Although this is nothing in front of Rowen who had 700 Doriki Value in his physical attack and 2700 Doriki Value in his all-out-attack.
Even the person in the Second Place can't lift his head in front of Rowen in terms of the difference between their score and strength but Dante's strength is indeed one of the top Recruits of this Recruit Camp and he is more than qualified enough to participate in this competition.
Rowen was slightly surprised when he saw the visitor.
He knows how fast he is growing, and the Protagonists of the original Straw Hats have long been left behind by him!
He now only knows that if he fought Trane in his current condition then he would lose.
The increase in Armament Haki and Observation Haki in a swordsman is too terrifying, it is simply a "Qualitative" change!
Both of these Haki allows them to have an indestructible spear while also having an indestructible shield! Finally, Observation Haki provides them with a Radar System, which is equivalent to having a hidden sight that sees through sneak attacks!
But he is quite strong compared to the Recruits in the camp.
Therefore, in these few months, their own group of "Contemporaries" had been distanced from him and they have no more interactions between them. He didn't expect that Dante's current Sword Energy Aura would make him feel a little danger.
But...
It's just a hint of danger.
A normal person would feel dangerous when seeing a kitchen knife, but he would not care about that.
Dante is indeed not his opponent, but his sword may be able to hurt him!
Rowen is very familiar with this feeling...
"Is that… Initial Form of Armament Haki?"
Rowen thought silently in his heart and smiled.
"I haven't seen you in a few months, you have become very strong, Dante..."
"But there is still a big gap between us!" Dante shook his head silently.
He knew how strong he has become after the accidental Awakening of Armament Haki. The reason he did not participate in the first batch of tests led by Onigumo was to control this power.
Since the year-end test, Dante has been wary of Rowen, who rarely appears in front of everyone. Originally, he thought that he would be able to fill the gap between them after growing stronger, but when he stood in front of Rowen, he felt the terrifying aura coming from Rowen's body and he felt as if he was looking in abyss!!
Just the natural movement of his hands caused the aura of fury to rise up which gave him the creeps!
It was like bolts of Thunder that has the power to destroy the world but it is suppressing their desire to let loose!
Therefore, Even if he truly masters Armament Haki in the future and can restrain Logia Elementalization, he would still be not Rowen's opponent!
Dante knew this well.
After a moment of silence, he said, "You should have guessed my purpose, Rowen? How about it, do you want to join forces with me?"
"Why should we join forces?"
Rowen asked with a smile on his face, and then he looked at the Marine Soldiers who were working on something in the cave and asked, "What do you think is the significance of this test?"
"Significance?"
Support Me On Patreon- https://w w w.pat reon.c om/darkshadow6395/overview(Remove space)(Read 10 chapters ahead there)
You can read 10 advance chapter on my Pat reon as I am adding another tier tomorrow..