Previously, over a hundred people participated in the officer-level training, but after a year, only about half remained.
The other half mostly perished during the real combat courses, dying in battles against pirates.
Some others were expelled from the Navy after they showed cowardice and fled during combat when they first faced vicious pirates.
Wood, with his modest display of skill at the Navy Academy, managed to graduate with the rank of Third-Class Seaman.
Strictly speaking, this rank isn't even considered "officer"; it's at best a slightly higher level of cannon fodder.
What made Wood uneasy was that his duty involved patrolling the vicinity of Impel Down!
Impel Down is the place where the World Government imprisons criminals. Most prisoners are held here before their execution.
And the people held there aren't just pirates; there are also other extremely dangerous criminals.
Impel Down is not under the jurisdiction of Navy Headquarters, and it has its own positions for guarding the prisoners.
The prison is divided into six levels. The first level houses ordinary criminals, while the sixth level is said to hold those whose crimes could threaten the world.
The former Pirate King, Roger, was held in the sixth level of Impel Down before his execution.
Impel Down has its own defense mechanisms, and its isolated island location makes escape virtually impossible for prisoners.
For some unambitious Navy personnel who just want to take it easy, working at Impel Down is undoubtedly a perfect job.
After all, in hundreds of years, no one has ever managed to leave Impel Down, so the patrol duties are just routine.
In the past, Wood would have been quite content with such an easy, laid-back job.
However, after experiencing his second life simulation, Wood was well aware that Impel Down, which hadn't had any problems for centuries, was about to lose face soon!
The captain of the Flying Pirates, the great pirate Golden Lion Shiki, who is imprisoned in the sixth level, will soon cut off his own legs and break out!
In his second life simulation, Wood was killed by the escaping Golden Lion Shiki. Now, as a patrolling Navy officer, it seems like history is repeating itself!
Although Wood's current strength far surpasses what it was during his second life simulation, where he wasn't even close to being as strong as he is now.
He's not only become a swordmaster, but also awakened Observation Haki and mastered the Six Powers. Yet, even so, he still doesn't have the qualifications to go up against someone as formidable as Golden Lion Shiki!
He considered warning Zephyr and Garp about the impending escape of Golden Lion Shiki, but it would be impossible to explain convincingly.
After all, the event hasn't happened yet. Even if Zephyr and Garp believed him, how would he explain his foreknowledge?
Wood has gone to great lengths to hide his strength precisely because he wants to remain a background character. Such a conspicuous move would go against his low-profile style.
Moreover, not everyone in the Navy is a good person. Possessing the ability to foresee the future could be dangerous—he might wake up one day to find himself strapped to an experimental table by some mad scientist.
Since warning the higher-ups isn't an option, Wood could only try to change his own circumstances to alter the future.
So, he took his transfer request to the only big shot he could find—Zephyr—hoping to be reassigned to another unit, even as an ordinary cannon fodder soldier. But Zephyr rejected his request.
Zephyr is stubborn by nature and believes that obeying orders from superiors is the duty of every Navy soldier.
He also feels that Wood is too carefree, wasting his immense talent by idling away his time.
Zephyr sees this as a good opportunity. By witnessing the world's evils firsthand at Impel Down, Wood might find his inner sense of justice and realize that there are more people to protect than just those on Maple Leaf Island.
With a righteous expression, Zephyr rejected Wood's request for a transfer, leaving Wood with only two choices:
Either obediently take up his new post, or defy orders and desert the Navy...
Desertion was not an option. Wood was just a small fry, without the protagonist's halo. He couldn't pull off a daring escape from Impel Down and Navy Headquarters like a certain rubber boy and walk away unscathed.
Facing Golden Lion Shiki alone seemed like a safer bet compared to going up against all the big shots at Navy Headquarters.
And although history seems to be repeating itself, some things have changed.
In his second life simulation, Wood died at the hands of Golden Lion Shiki as part of a support unit. But this time, he's stationed directly at Impel Down as a guard.
Apart from the change in his position, Wood's own strength is now far beyond what it was in the second simulation.
According to the second simulation's outcome, Wood was likely killed by Golden Lion Shiki during the escape, without the pirate even knowing who he was.
Given the strength he had in the simulation, he certainly wasn't a match for the Golden Lion. But the current Wood is far stronger than his simulated self.
Unless he intentionally seeks death by provoking Golden Lion Shiki or becomes a specific target, he shouldn't be easily killed like some random grunt.
With this realization, Wood felt much more at ease. At worst, he could just pretend to work while avoiding any real danger. If he really encounters Golden Lion Shiki, he can simply play dead on the spot.
Having graduated from the Navy Academy and being Zephyr's student, along with his previous experience in killing pirates, all he has to do is endure a few years at Impel Down before he can request a transfer to another Navy base.
The Navy branch on Maple Leaf Island would be his first choice. It's his hometown, after all, and he's used to living there. Moreover, as part of the first half of the Grand Line, the pirates he would encounter there are mostly rookies.
To put it bluntly, if Wood were to stop hiding his strength, he'd be a shoo-in for the rank of Navy Captain. And not just any Captain, but one with the qualifications of a Headquarters Captain.
With mastery of the Six Powers, Observation Haki, and swordsmanship at the level of a swordmaster, if he were to face the "Iron Arm Cook" from back then, Wood could easily defeat him, even with both hands and feet tied!
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 95 at patreon.com/Betek.