One Piece: sign-in to Ryujin Jakka

Roman didn't take Akainu's words to heart at all. After all, Akainu was nothing more than a defeated subordinate.

What would Akainu think if he knew that the person he had looked down on earlier was the mysterious individual who had defeated him with a single move?

In his thoughts, Roman brushed his messy black hair and returned to his room.

The next day arrived quickly—the first day of the promotion tournament.

Roman had slept decently the night before. As he walked out of his room, he saw the main training ground already packed with people.

"Hey, don't you know where to stand?" Califa's voice rang out from behind him.

Roman turned to look at her. There was something different about Kalifa today, though he couldn't quite figure out what had changed.

"They only arranged accommodation for me and didn't mention anything else," Roman said.

"Well, stand next to me. But don't get any ideas," Kalifa replied with a sly smile. "I'll never forget how you toyed with me yesterday. If I get the chance, I'll definitely make you regret it!"

Roman couldn't help but notice the slight distraction in her eyes when she spoke.

They soon reached the front of the line, where they saw Sengoku and Garp standing at the highest point of Marineford, looking down at everyone below.

After a long and pointless speech filled with meaningless words, Sengoku finally announced the start of the tournament.

As he turned to leave, Sengoku briefly glanced at Roman, who stood out due to not wearing a Marine uniform.

Garp noticed Sengoku's glance and followed it, spotting Roman next to Kalifa. He chuckled and said, "Youth is such a wonderful thing. This young man is so handsome, no wonder he's so popular with the girls."

Sengoku remained expressionless and asked, "Garp, what do you think of him? Do you think he can reach a high level?"

"Well, I watched his match against Califa yesterday afternoon. His Devil Fruit ability is strange, but it doesn't seem to enhance his combat abilities that much. At best, he's at the level of a Commodore," Garp replied.

Sengoku nodded but then shook his head. "I think he could make it to Rear Admiral."

Garp blinked, repeating what Sengoku said in shock. "What? Rear Admiral? You really think that highly of him?"

Sengoku smirked. "Want to bet? If you lose, you can never steal my rice crackers again, and no more slacking off!"

Garp thought for a moment and agreed, "I'll bet. But if you lose, all your rice crackers will be mine!"

"Deal!" Sengoku said with a smile.

What Garp didn't realize was that among the people Roman had defeated were those with extraordinary abilities from the Strength Devil Fruit, meaning Roman likely had other powerful methods at his disposal.

Moreover, Sengoku saw Roman's potential and, if possible, wanted to recruit him into the "Dove faction" of the Marines.

The Dove faction was a more moderate group, as opposed to the Eagle faction led by Akainu or the Neutral faction led by Kizaru and often referred to as the "salted fish faction."

As the name implies, the Dove faction was more peaceful and didn't rely on harsh methods. Every member had their own sense of justice.

The Eagle faction, on the other hand, believed that the Marines were the embodiment of justice and that pirates were inherently evil, willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals.

The Neutral faction didn't take sides and worked for pay, doing whatever task was assigned to them.

Of course, even then, there were individual variations within these factions.

Roman eventually received his turn to fight in the main training ground.

He had a bye, meaning he didn't need to fight and would advance directly to the next round.

Kalifa smiled at him. "Lucky you. The later you lose, the better."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Because the later I lose, the stronger I'll look, and it won't make your previous defeat seem so bad, right?"

Kalifa's face flushed with embarrassment and frustration when Roman called her out on her thoughts.

"You look so gentle and handsome, but why are you so sharp-tongued? Hmph, I am not talking to you anymore!"

She turned away, pretending to ignore him but clearly hoping for him to come over and comfort her.

Roman, however, didn't respond and just went back to sleep.

This only fueled Kalifa's frustration.

For the next few days, Roman continued to have byes, making him feel like someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

But Roman didn't mind; he enjoyed the relaxation. His days consisted of sleeping or watching other people fight, which was quite pleasant for him.

On the sixth day in Marineford, Roman finally faced his first opponent: a combatant at the level of Major General named Smoker!

Outside the training ground, the crowd was enormous.

By now, many marines had heard of Roman, but only a few had seen him fight. This match attracted a large crowd of marine soldiers, and the area was packed tightly.

Kalifa appeared from somewhere and warned Roman, "Roman, Smoker is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, Smoke-Smoke Fruit. He's won six days in a row and is very strong!"

"Mm," Roman responded indifferently, not seeming too bothered by the warning.

Kalifa felt a bit hurt by his lack of appreciation and muttered, "Hmph, if you don't believe me, fine, I'll just wait and see how Smoker defeats you!"

She didn't realize it, but she was becoming more and more concerned with Roman's every move.

Roman, for his part, hadn't expected Smoker to be his first opponent in Marineford.

Smoker had won six consecutive days and, with his Smoke-Smoke Fruit, had been dominating his opponents.

But would that be enough to stop Roman?

Roman slowly walked into the training ground.

He saw his opponent: a tall man with a white pompadour hairstyle, holding Seastone handcuffs and smoking a cigar. Smoker gave him a cold look and said, "Let's have a good match!"

"Let's have a good match!" Roman replied calmly.

In the background, Smoker's friend Hina cheered, "Hina's here cheering for you, don't lose!"

Roman turned to look at the pink-haired girl, but at that moment, Smoker transformed into smoke and charged toward him!

"Getting distracted in battle is a big taboo!" Smoker shouted as he raised the Seastone handcuffs and aimed them at Roman.