Chapter 17: Practice Test
"Today we won't have a theory lesson or a training lesson."
Standing at the top of the podium, Zephyr looked around at those gathered below and finally said with a serious face, "You have all been following me for several months, and since the year period is coming to an end, although you have all greatly improved and learned a lot, I am afraid that you you yourself do not know whether what you have learned is applicable or not."
"Today is a practical lesson."
"As you all know, the duty of the navy is to keep the peace at sea, and the biggest factor affecting peace at sea is the pirates, the content of the practical lesson is for you to apply the knowledge you have learned to fight the pirates, many of you have dealt with the pirates, but I want to tell you that the pirates of the Grant Line are different from the pirates of the Four Seas."
"Fighting pirates depends not only on strength, but also on command and judgment, because when fighting at sea, the sea, the climate, the wind, and so on, can change at any moment, and that's when you need to use the knowledge gained."
Hearing Zephyr's words, everyone in the class looked at each other, no one expected Zephyr to say just that.
"After research by our instructor, you will be given a sea voyage where you will be left alone to deal with the pirates, forty of you will be divided into two groups of twenty."
"You will be given a month and we will test you, and the group that wins at the end will receive additional points for the results of the final test."
"Perhaps some people think that this extra points is not a big deal, then you are very mistaken."
"From the moment you became my student, I record your grades, and each of you will have your own individual grade sheet, which will be put together at the end, and the final grade will affect your distribution after graduation."
"If you do well in the exam, you will stay on the Naval Headquarters and take on several important positions, if you do poorly in the exam, you may be assigned to another branch, so how you officially enlist in the Marines in the future will depend from the results of your final exams this year."
The expression on the face of the vast majority of people changed as soon as they heard that their final test scores would affect their post-graduation assignments.
The reason why everyone tried so hard to get into this elite class was to become Zephyr's disciple in order to have a good future, get more resources, and reach a higher rank in the future.
Now that there was an exam that could affect their future, it was hard not to pay attention to it.
"Remember, you must fight as a group, the members of the winning side get the same extra points, there is no difference between the commander or the chef, this time the test is mainly for your group fight, not individual strength."
"A group of one warship other than your respective twenty men will have no other personnel for you, so all you can rely on is yourself."
Quickly finishing how and what the test would be this time around, Zephyr finally gave the order.
"Now everyone get up and follow me to the port, all the ammunition is ready for you, they are all on board the warship, you only have to wait until you board the warship and then immediately lead it."
Zephyr was truly a man of action, he would give orders and move on without giving John and the others a chance to think, the first class could only quickly follow him.
"What the hell? This old man is really playing this game and now he is sending us out to sea to fight the pirates?"
Borsalino said to John in a low voice: "I heard that ordinary recruits will not have a chance to fight on their own at all, we have not even finished school yet, and we are already going to fight against the pirates, is he afraid that we will suffer losses?"
John said: "We must have someone following us, and if we meet a pirate that we can't handle, they will definitely intervene."
He recalled that when Zephyr was an instructor, he often led his students into battle at sea, and later, when Zephyr's hand was cut off by Edward Weevil, he led his students into battle at sea.
So John wasn't too surprised by Zephyr's sudden decision.
The group soon arrived at the harbor, where a large number of military sailors had already gathered, and two warships were moored at sea, which were supposed to be the warships used for the test.
Zephyr told all the students to stand up and then said: "Next I will group them, those whose names I will call, stand on the left side."
"Sakazuki, Vitesse, Doberman, Pullman, John...".
There were twenty of them in all, and soon they were standing on the left.
"You are a group of twenty people, the other twenty are a team, remember, you act as a team, if there are losses in any of the groups, your rating will suffer."
"Come aboard immediately!"
Sakazuki led the group and all members of John's group boarded the warship on the left side, while members of the other group boarded the warship on the right side.
"Sorry, but not being in John's band, next month will definitely be a lot less fun."
Borsalino was full of frustration, he had the best relationship with John and thought about being in John's band, but now things didn't turn out the way he had hoped.
After John and his group boarded the warship, they saw that there was still one person on top of the ship, surprisingly the commodore.
"You don't have to pay any attention to me, I'm just taking notes and it's none of your business."
Everyone in the audience looked at each other, but it was normal to think that this was a test, someone should take the protocol.
After John and the others were surprised, they all gathered at the top of the deck and they began to confer.
"Which of us will command, who will steer the ship, who will be the navigator and who will be the cook?"
An impromptu group, despite being classmates for most of the year and having a good relationship with each other, it was a very important test and everyone took it very seriously.
Although the additional points after the victory were the same, it would undoubtedly have been more impressive if they had performed well in the process.
But if you want to win, you cannot do anything recklessly, you must be clearly divided and organized, otherwise it is impossible to defeat another scattered group.
There was silence for a long time, until one person broke it.
"I will be in charge of managing the ship, I grew up on a warship, I am still experienced in this area, and listened to the teachings of Master Zephyr, I should be able to manage this warship, only I still need one more person to help me ".
John looked around, and the speaker was Terry Caffrey, a man of little presence in the class, whose strength was not outstanding in the class, but who had a good theoretical knowledge and several times received Zephyr's praise.
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief when the first man spoke, for being in charge of running a warship was a hard job that many didn't want to take on, and now that someone else had taken it on, it was to their advantage.
"I'll go with Caffrey, we know each other well." One of the men, a little shorter, spoke up.
"Then I'll be a cook, I was a cook before the Navy, I promise I won't let you down."
A slightly plump, round-faced man, smiling, said that his name was Peberton, he was the oldest of their batch of recruits, and everyone liked him because he was old and knew how to deal with people.
"I'm good at observing the climate, but the sea is so changeable that I can only do my best."
Another thin man with a white face and over two meters tall spoke up, his name was Mills, he was an absolute school teacher who definitely ranked first in theoretical knowledge among the recruits of this issue.
Thus, the navigator, cook and helmsman were installed, but the commander should have been proposed first, but no one opened his mouth first, apparently everyone had some remorse.
This is a very special position, unlike the previous ones, and they are all very proud people who do not easily obey people of the same age as him.
But also, there are many people who want to sit in this position, after all, it is the most important position, but also the easiest to make mistakes, even if they have strength and confidence, they still hesitate.
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