บท 64: 64. Awarding

"Not bad!" Sakazuki shook his fist slightly and nodded in appreciation. This is the first time he has praised Atlas. If his subordinates were here, they would be surprised. After all, Vice Admiral Sakazuki is usually unsmiling. It's rare for an Admiral to praise someone so often!

Meigo(Dark Hound).

Sakazuki's attacks are always so explosive and unexpected. His arms suddenly turn into lava and extend rapidly!

Atlas doesn't dare to be careless. You must know that in the original anime, this move directly knocked off half of the old Whitebeard's face. Even if the current Sakazuki is not as strong as he will be more than ten years later, this power cannot be underestimated.

Tekkai Bushin ude Jūji gari(Iron Body Martial God Arm Cross Hunting).

Atlas quickly crossed his hands in front of his body, and rapidly enlarged his arms through the Return of Life. The Armament Haki covering his whole body suddenly faded away, and the rich and almost tangible Armament Haki was condensed on his arms. The black and red colors became more vivid and eerie, resembling giant arms that almost covered his entire body!

Boom!

The scorching hot lava struck Atlas's black and red arms, and the splashing magma quickly eroded the ground, sending thick smoke rising into the sky.

The tremendous impact nearly prevented Atlas from maintaining his upright posture, forcing him to fly backward in embarrassment!

"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, that's enough!"

Atlas noticed that Sakazuki seemed to be preparing for another attack, so he promptly intervened to halt any further action.

Considering Sakazuki's immense destructive power, engaging in a full-strength battle could lead to extensive damage to the headquarters. Atlas is a bit concerned about the resources and manpower it would take to repair, feeling a bit sorry for Sengoku.

Furthermore, facing Sakazuki is a real challenge for Atlas. Sakazuki's physical strength and Haki overwhelm him, and the high damage from Logia is something Atlas cannot withstand.

Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit truly deserves to be recognized as the top Logia. His development and utilization of the fruit are impressive. It's remarkable how he enhances the explosive power by simulating a volcano's eruption!

"I recognize your strength, it's very good! Canos Atlas!"

Sakazuki also showed a bit of satisfaction when he heard this, acknowledging Atlas with his words. While Sakazuki may not be known for smiling, there was no denying his approval of Atlas in his eyes.

Atlas is impeccable both in terms of strength and his approach to handling pirates. With a bit more training, it's only a matter of time before he becomes the next formidable Vice Admiral!

...

Early morning, Marineford.

The red sun is rising, and dappled sunshine pierces through the dissipating mist. The sky is empty and cloudless, mirroring Atlas's state of mind at this moment—clear and flawless as ever.

Atlas strolled out of the dormitory building. Despite returning to the headquarters a few days ago, he found the dormitory at the recruitment camp unoccupied. Smoker and the others were likely on a mission with Teacher Zephyr, leaving Atlas alone in the dormitory.

As anticipated, Rosinante also opted for early graduation after Atlas left. Despite not meeting the criteria for early graduation based on his strength, it seemed he volunteered to apply to Sengoku upon learning about Doflamingo's malicious activities during his undercover mission.

The award ceremony took place in the square in front of the headquarters building, across from the crescent-shaped port.

This is considered the most central location in Marineford. The later Summit War took place here, and the Naval Headquarters where the Golden Lion Shiki caused a commotion a few years ago was also captured here by Sengoku and Garp. It was eventually thrown into the underwater prison.

Shiki is also quite ruthless. He cut off his own legs, which were encased in seastone, to escape, shattering the myth of Impel Down!

At this time, the square was crowded with people, but most of them were spectators. Marineford not only housed a significant number of Marines, but also accommodated many officers' families in the family area behind the headquarters, making it one of the safest places in the world.

Of course, Atlas wasn't the only one receiving honors that day. However, he didn't know most of the other individuals on the stage, so he didn't feel the need to exchange greetings and walked directly to the stage.

Under the gaze of countless eager eyes, Atlas moved through the crowd, making his way to the podium to receive his medal.

Today, Atlas donned a pure white suit, with a cloak of justice fluttering behind him in the wind. Marine officers at the general level are not required to wear standard Marine uniforms; instead, they have the option of choosing casual attire along with the symbolic cloak of justice.

The suit worn by Atlas was custom-made at a clothing store, tailored to fit his figure perfectly. The material was comfortable, and Atlas didn't experience any discomfort. Quality comes at a price, but considering that the cost was covered by the headquarters, Atlas spent it without any financial strain.

Atlas appeared to be waiting on the stage for about three minutes. Sengoku and Sakazuki arrived belatedly, walking to the stage one after another.

This investiture ceremony was undoubtedly hosted by Sengoku, and Sakazuki just came to join in the fun.

The originally noisy square suddenly became a lot quieter, and countless eyes immediately gathered on the stage, most of which were directed at young Atlas.

Atlas's appearance is not the handsome type; his face is very resolute, exuding a kind of iron-blooded style unique to soldiers. What is striking is that at his current age, he is standing in the queue of the Commodore. It is said that Atlas will become a glorious Commodore of Naval Headquarters during this investiture ceremony!

On the other side, Sengoku had already taken out a document and began to read out the list of honorees.

"Pimentel! Passed the physical fitness test! Passed the actual combat results! Approved to graduate! Conferred the rank of major!"

A tall and strong man trotted up from the end of the team to accept the award.

"Peraza! Excellent physical fitness evaluation and good actual combat performance! Approved to graduate! Awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel!"

"Darius...!"

"Leo Gago!"

"Berdin!"

...

Atlas was a little surprised. It seemed that the awarding personnel were not only people who were not from the training camp but also some training camp recruits who graduated from the previous training camp. Atlas just happened to graduate with them.

The awards were awarded smoothly. Most of them were given the rank of major or lieutenant colonel. A small number of battlefield veterans were awarded the rank of colonel.

Suddenly, Sengoku cast his gaze in Atlas's direction, a smile forming on his face as he read aloud.

"Canos Atlas! Outstanding physical fitness evaluation! Outstanding performance in actual combat assessments! Graduation approved! Conferred the rank of Commodore!"

"boom!"

The announcement caused a stir among the crowd. Even though they were expecting something significant, the reality of Sengoku announcing it in person was still hard for them to believe.

While the headquarters recruitment camp is indeed known as the elite training camp and serves as the foundation for general Marine training, no one expected that graduating after just two years would result in being awarded the rank of Commodore!

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Man I am shocked as f**k. I just checked the status of the fanfic today and saw we reached 51 power stones. Thank you all the readers for your support. So I decided to have you guys shocked as f**k and give out 2 bonus chapters instead of 1, also another chapter when we reach 60 power stones.

Also about the new fanfic, I decided not to. As the saying goes, don't bite more than you can chew, I would become more busy, hence the updates may becomes inconsistent. Also thank you ASimpleHuman for your thoughts, and as all my paid patr*eon members voted no, I would follow it, though comment if you guys want a tier of $1 with 5 advanced chapters.

Read 20 chapters in advance in Patr*on: patr*on.com/Cosmic_Kaminari