#25 - Chapter 25 Meeting the King
It was early morning, and the sky was still dark.
Kuma, Ginny, and Shanks appeared on the island's training ground right on time.
Jin was amused to see the three of them; although they hadn't had breakfast yet and were a bit listless from just waking up, their attitude towards training was definitely there.
Especially Shanks, who seemed unaccustomed to waking up early, looking like a frost-bitten eggplant, all蔫 and droopy.
Jin woke up even earlier than the three of them, ran a few laps around the island, prepared breakfast, and then came to the training ground.
He knew that the three of them didn't have the habit of eating breakfast, but they would definitely be hungry after exercising, so he prepared a portion for each of them anyway.
When the three saw Jin coming, they were all excited; they all had their reasons for wanting to become stronger.
Originally, they wanted to secretly learn from Jin when he wasn't teaching them, but now that they had the opportunity to learn openly, they were ecstatic.
A smile appeared in Jin's eyes, and without saying more, he walked directly in front of the three.
"You've all heard of the Navy's Six Styles, right?"
The three nodded in unison. The Six Styles were techniques spread within the Navy, allowing ordinary people to compete with typical ability users after training.
However, learning these moves required a lot of talent; some people could learn it after being taught once, while others needed to train for a long time.
"Is big brother going to teach us the Six Styles?" Shanks asked.
Jin nodded first, then shook his head: "I'll teach you the Six Styles later, your bodies aren't ready to adapt to the conditions for training in the Six Styles yet."
"Do you know the daily training tasks of the Navy Headquarters soldiers?"
Ginny and the others exchanged glances, then slowly shook their heads.
"2000 push-ups, 100 rope climbs back and forth, 200 laps of long-distance running, and finally, live combat training," Jin said in the calmest tone, uttering the most terrifying words.
Hearing these training items, even Kuma, the most physically robust of them, couldn't help but swallow.
"I know your bodies can't handle these exercises, so, every morning, just do some training that suits your own physical condition."
"I've put breakfast here for you, eat it after you finish training."
"What about you, big brother?"
Shanks was a little curious; their training tasks had all been arranged, so what was Jin going to do?
Jin grinned: "These exercises are useless to me, I'll just watch you train."
"Don't mind me, just pretend I'm not here."
"Don't you have to go to work?" Ginny asked the question that the three of them were most concerned about.
Jin said matter-of-factly: "I'm the biggest in the entire South Sea, who can arrange for me to work!"
Ginny, Kuma and Shanks were speechless; you're a big official, you're amazing...
"Alright, start training, I'll cheer you on from the side."
"......"
Shanks found that the content of these exercises was different from what he had imagined.
He had thought that Jin would give them each a wooden sword and teach them hand-in-hand. Since he was a child, he wanted to become a swordsman, hoping to wield a sword and move like the wind in the future.
Unexpectedly, reality slapped him in the face; the training content was so boring and repetitive.
"Maintain your breathing, don't mess up the rhythm," Jin reminded them from the side at appropriate times.
He was still very strict during training, firmly believing that the less sweat you shed during training, the more blood you'll spill in battle.
After mastering the breathing rhythm, the three felt the pressure seemed to lighten, and the training gradually entered a state.
"....."
Just as Jin was getting interested in watching.
"Colonel Jin, the King invites you, please come with us," a soldier in heavy armor said in a cold, hard voice.
"The quality of you kingdom guards is getting worse and worse," Jin shook his head, "You don't even show your face, is this how you invite people?"
The armored man continued to ask: "Does Colonel Jin mean that you don't plan to come with me?"
"I didn't say that, don't wrong me, I happen to have nothing to do right now, so I'll go with you,"
Jin patted the armor with a chuckle, saying it was quite imposing.
He had been to the royal palace several times, all invited by the old king.
Although with his status, entering the royal palace was as simple as eating and drinking, he wasn't so idle that he would go there for no reason.
Before the armored man could act, Jin took the lead and walked towards the royal palace.
"Didn't you eat? You're walking so slow..." Jin complained to the armored man behind him, he had deliberately slowed down, but he was still so slow.
Armored Man: Do you think I don't want to walk faster? This armor is really heavy...
He even had difficulty breathing and really didn't want to pay attention to Jin......
In a short while, Jin stood at the entrance of the royal palace.
"Reporting to the King, Jin has arrived."
King Becley squinted his eyes and pretended to doze, then slowly opened them after hearing the report.
"Let him in."
Under the 'escort' of the guards, Jin walked into the palace.
Being summoned by the king was within Jin's expectations, he thought the king would wait a few more days, but he didn't expect him to be so anxious.
Was it to discuss something, or was there another plot...
Looking at King Becley lying on the rocking chair, Jin showed a smile, just like meeting an old friend.
"Your Majesty, what do you want me for?"
"Alas... hasn't it been a while since we last met? You've been busy catching pirates all the time, it's really not easy for this old bone of mine to see you."
Jin shook his head: "I don't like hearing what the King is saying, I'm doing this to maintain peace and stability."
"Look, I came here directly as soon as you called me, I even put down other things to see you."
Becley glanced at Jin, who was not too far away from him: "You still have such a silver tongue."
He suddenly reached out to the servant next to him and said: "Help me up for a walk, this old bone of mine is really getting weaker."
He glanced at Jin: "You come walk with me too."
Jin naturally had no objections, lifted his feet lightly, and followed behind the old king.
In Jin's perception, the king was in good health and didn't need anyone to help him at all. Was he doing this to make him lower his guard?
Unfortunately, whether the king was really sick or pretending to be sick, it was all the same to Jin.
"Just tell me straight what you called me here for."
Becley frowned slightly, obviously not satisfied with Jin's reaction. He was the king, and he contributed a huge amount of 'heavenly gold' to the world nobles every year.
It was already bad enough that a navy officer was jumping up and down in front of the king, but now he didn't even have the most basic respect.
But thinking of Jin's terrifying strength, he still chose to endure it.
"Nothing, I just wanted to catch up with you."
Jin smiled disdainfully, even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that.
"I heard you've been promoted to colonel, congratulations," Becley forced himself to congratulate him.
Jin responded simply: "Thank you."
"I heard that the base of the successive governors of the South Sea is Stuart Island, when do you plan to go there?"
The old fox finally couldn't help it.
"I told Vice Admiral Garp that I won't go there for the time being, after all, moving around is too troublesome."
"I still like it here, the people here are good-looking and speak nicely."
Jin directly made it clear, this old king is ugly and has wishful thinking.
The factory he built here can't be moved away so easily, the manpower and financial resources spent will be enormous.
Besides, he is now the boss of the South Sea Navy, wherever he is, that's the headquarters!
...
...
