Most of the high-ranking officers at Marine Headquarters were students of Zephyr. Besides Borsalino, who never got along with Zephyr, they all had a natural fondness for Hailan, who thrived in dangerous situations.
Hailan didn't disappoint them. By 14, he had mastered the Six Powers of the Marines, and by 16, he had perfected them to an incredible level.
Genius!
All the officers at Marine Headquarters unanimously evaluated Hailan.
The Six Powers of the Marines are extremely difficult to learn. Even some rear admirals cannot fully master them.
Zephyr joined the Marine Academy at 14 and didn't master the Six Powers until he was 28. By then, he was only a sergeant.
Hailan's achievements had long surpassed the aura of being Zephyr's son.
Every officer wanted to have Hailan by their side.
Fleet Admiral Kong even explicitly stated that no resources should be spared to cultivate Hailan as a future admiral.
Over the years, Hailan had been on the ships of almost every vice admiral at Marine Headquarters, except for Borsalino.
Only Akainu and Tsuru were qualified among the rear admirals to have Hailan with them, and even then, it was only temporary.
Seeing Hailan approach, the beautiful Marine girl with long pink hair casually greeted him, her voice still a bit youthful: "Acting with Vice Admiral Tsuru was very meaningful. Tina learned a lot."
Despite her age, Tina had an uncommon rationality. Her emotions rarely fluctuated, and she could remain calm and logical almost always.
Tina wasn't even in the top five of this year's elite training camp in terms of combat strength, but her calm mind was universally acknowledged as the best.
"You still talk so seriously, as usual."
Before he was 16, Hailan didn't rush to make a name for himself. He trained his physical skills and studied the vast knowledge accumulated at Marine Headquarters.
Otherwise, with his strength, he could have joined the elite training camp long ago.
Because he hit a bottleneck in his Finger Pistol training, Hailan decided to rely on actual combat to improve his strength further.
Since he didn't want to follow any officer, he joined the 14th training camp, only joining a suitable mission with a particular officer when necessary.
It was in this 14th camp that Hailan encountered a group of peculiar students.
Tina was one of them. She always referred to herself in the third person instead of using "I."
This might seem pretentious to others, but Tina's ability to stay calm at all times gave her a unique charm.
"Hey! Isn't this our brave Marines? Why are you all standing here?"
A voice full of sarcasm interrupted their conversation.
The newcomer wore a black suit a black and gray striped coat, and had long, curly black hair.
Spandine!
A bigwig in front of the Five Elders, the initiator of the Ohara Buster Call and the direct supervisor of the World Government's CP9.
Hailan wasn't familiar with this man.
But from what everyone said, he knew Spandine was the epitome of arrogance, bullying, ignorance, and despicable behavior.
In short, all kinds of negative adjectives could be thrown at him.
He was like a powerful eunuch in ancient times, only less intelligent and a bit dim-witted.
His arrival always spelled trouble.
The atmosphere grew tense.
Tina maintained her severe usual expression, Tsuru smiled, and Akainu wore a friendly smile, but Spandine felt no friendliness.
Since the Pirate King Gol D. Roger (the World Government officially called him Gold Roger) started the Great Pirate Era, the Marines' prestige with the World Government had steadily declined.
According to Fleet Admiral Kong's grand vision from long ago, the Marines should have been in a golden age with admirals like Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr and a new generation of admirals like Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan.
But reality dealt a harsh blow to the old admiral.
Garp's family were all considered lunatics. Garp stubbornly refused promotions, and his son Dragon, who supposedly had admiral potential (as Garp claimed to anyone who would listen), declined to join the Marines, opting to travel the world instead.
Zephyr resigned as admiral after his wife was killed, saying he wanted to spend more time with family. His son Hailan joined the Marines with promising potential but was too young and rebellious to follow orders.
Currently, Sengoku is the only admiral.
Meanwhile, Roger started the Great Pirate Era, causing the number of pirates to surge.
Ignoring the Marines' objections, the Five Elders established the "Shichibukai" system, creating a third force alongside the Marines and CP.
This incited unanimous dissatisfaction among both the Hawk and Dove factions within the Marines.
The Marines were the World Government's enforcers, dealing with overt enemies, while the CP was the secret police, handling dissenters.
Unable to confront the World Government, the Marines directed their hatred towards CP.
Furthermore, under the Five Elders' leadership, the Marines and Cipher Pol had always been at odds, with CP mocking the Marines' decline.
The discord between the two grew increasingly intense.
Neither Akainu nor Tsuru greeted Spandine and turned to leave.
Spandine wasn't angered, seemingly expecting this reaction. He just raised his voice:
"Is this the legendary Marine genius, the son of former Admiral Zephyr, Hailan?"
Spandine emphasized the word "former," intending to provoke Hailan.
As the CP9 chief, he was well-informed. Zephyr, being Akainu and Tsuru's teacher wasn't a secret, so his words were meant to irritate them.
But Hailan felt nothing.
"What? Am I that famous already?"
"Impressive, a genius nurtured by the Marines has such unique attention!"
Spandine laughed. "Our CP9 also has an extraordinary prodigy, a once-in-800-years talent!"
"This Marine genius learned the Six Powers at 14, right? Our prodigy mastered them at 7, learned the Six Powers at 8, and by 10..."
"By 10, became an idiot?"
Hailan rudely interrupted Spandine.
"You brat... Daring to insult CP9, you've got guts! Kong says you're hotheaded, and it seems he's right!"
Spandine's psychological resilience was weak.
He intended to annoy Hailan but ended up getting angry himself.
Hailan didn't see it as shameful but rather a point of pride: "Aren't young people supposed to be hotheaded?"