After Zephyr left, Gern Warrant Officer stood alone in the office, his fingers unconsciously tapping his desk.
Outside the window, the neat drill sounds of the Navy School cadets could be heard, but further away, an unusual commotion seemed to be spreading.
Immediately after, Garp's loud voice came through!
"Hey! Training Ground One this afternoon, Gern is going to fight Zephyr!"
"It spread so quickly?" Gern raised his eyebrows, walked to the window, and pushed it open.
Sure enough, what met his eyes was Zephyr on the training ground, looking helpless as he stared at Garp beside him.
Even at the office door, Marines were gathering in twos and threes towards that direction.
Although the corridor was still far away, Gern could still clearly perceive the excited whispers.
"Vice Admiral Zephyr is going to fight that newcomer Gern!"
"Is that the Heaven Quake ability user who fought Whitebeard?"
"I heard that Teacher Zephyr is going to teach him what true power is..."
Gern's mouth twitched: "Teach my ass, he's clearly going to use me as a punching bag."
The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and Gern stretched lazily, deciding to go to the cafeteria to fill his stomach first.
After all, he was going to get beaten up in the afternoon, so he couldn't go on an empty stomach.
...
The Marineford cafeteria was always bustling with people.
As soon as Gern sat down with a plate of food piled as high as half his body, the conversations at the surrounding tables strangely lowered.
"Am I that scary?" Gern forked a piece of steak, his peripheral vision scanning around.
Several young Marines immediately lowered their heads, pretending to eat attentively, but more eyes still secretly turned towards him.
Gern could even hear suppressed excited discussions from a distance.
"That's Gern Warrant Officer!"
"I heard he blocked Whitebeard's attack by himself..."
"His Tremor-Tremor Fruit is said to be even more powerful than Whitebeard's ability..."
"Really? That's Whitebeard."
"Nonsense, I saw it with my own eyes on the warship!"
"Stop talking, we'll see it with our own eyes this afternoon!"
"The gossip bug is burning fiercely!" Gern shook his head, focusing on the food in front of him.
Just as he was about to drink soup, a tall figure sat down opposite him.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" A lazy voice sounded.
Gern looked up and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar young face, with fluffy black curly hair and a smiling expression.
"Kuzan... Lieutenant?" Gern asked tentatively.
The three Admirals were all Marineford Lieutenant level upon graduation, followed by field officers and then Admirals...
So, Marineford's school capital was incomparable to others.
However, the current Aokiji was still hot-blooded justice, so his entire personality was completely different.
"Just call me Kuzan." The future Admiral smiled.
And with extreme familiarity, he casually picked up a piece of bread from Gern's plate and took a bite, "I heard you're going to get beaten up by Teacher Zephyr this afternoon?"
Gern's eyelid twitched: "It's 'guidance,' not a beating."
"It's all the same." Kuzan shrugged, then suddenly leaned closer, lowering his voice.
"I'm telling you, it's best to bring a few steel plates with you? Teacher Zephyr's fists are similar to Mr. Garp's..."
"It wouldn't be that bad, would it?" Gern's fork paused slightly.
"Haha." Kuzan grinned, revealing his white teeth: "Just kidding, but Teacher Zephyr is indeed very strict."
He then casually took a piece of fried fish from Gern's plate.
"Speaking of which, can your Heaven Quake really block Whitebeard's Tremor?"
Gern watched his food rapidly decrease, and without a change in expression, he pulled his plate closer to himself.
"Lieutenant Kuzan, if you're so curious, why don't you try Whitebeard's strength yourself?"
"Don't be so stingy~" Kuzan reached out again for Gern's steak, "I'm on vacation, and besides..."
Gern's fork suddenly shot out with astonishing speed, precisely pinning the table in front of Kuzan's About to succeed fingers.
"Wow!" Kuzan whistled, "Good reflexes."
"Thanks for the compliment." Gern unhurriedly retrieved his fork, "But I'd prefer you to compliment my table manners, not my self-defense skills."
Kuzan burst into laughter, causing the Marines at the surrounding tables to turn their heads.
He leaned back in his chair nonchalantly: "I like you, Gern.
Most newcomers are too nervous to speak when they see me."
"Perhaps it's because they haven't seen you steal other people's food."
"Sharing is a virtue." Kuzan, far from being ashamed, took Gern's soup spoon and tasted the soup again, as if proud of it.
"Hmm, today's cream of mushroom soup is good."
Gern sighed and simply pushed the entire soup bowl to Kuzan: "Please help yourself. It seems my lunch has become our lunch."
"That's more like it." Kuzan nodded in satisfaction, "In return, I'll give you some inside information.
Teacher Zephyr is in a bad mood today; he argued with the Fleet Admiral this morning about the new recruit training plan."
Gern raised an eyebrow: "Is that good news or bad news?"
"Depends on how you look at it." Kuzan licked the soup off the spoon.
"The bad news is he might be even stricter; the good news is he'll take your challenge seriously and won't hold back."
"What great news!" Gern said with a strained smile.
Kuzan suddenly became serious: "Hey, don't underestimate yourself.
Not many people can block an attack from Whitebeard."
Gern was about to retort that it was a fluke, but Kuzan returned to his lazy expression.
"But seriously, are you sure you don't need steel plates? I can lend you a few."
"No need." Gern waved his hand, then glanced at Kuzan's bandaged hands, "However, I think you do."
"Oh! Hahahaha!" Kuzan, realizing what he meant, burst into laughter.
"Interesting, I'll come watch you this afternoon, don't disappoint me, friend."
Gern looked at his almost empty plate, then at Kuzan's disappearing back, and shook his head helplessly: "At least leave the soup spoon..."
Kuzan waved his hand without looking back, and the soup spoon magically flew out of his sleeve, spinning and landing precisely back in Gern's plate.
Gern stared at the soup spoon for a few seconds, then realized that a thin layer of frost had condensed on the surface of his water glass.
"Interesting."
Gern smiled, then got up to get more food, but found that the atmosphere in the cafeteria had changed again.
Now, everyone looked at him not only with reverence but also with a hint of curiosity and envy.
Apparently, his familiar conversation with Kuzan, one of the Marine's current three monstrous newcomers, made his image even more mysterious in everyone's eyes.
"Tsk, it seems there will be more spectators than expected this afternoon." Gern muttered to himself, then went to get another large plate of food.