Chapter 265: Axel Beneath the Mundane
Early morning.
Mist rose from the sea, not yet scattered by the sunlight, shrouding the entire coast in a thin, mysterious veil.
A burly man arrived early.
The sea breeze swept past him, blowing away a strand of mist from his face and revealing Zephyr.
As time passed, the sorrow on Zephyr's face had slowly faded. But that did not mean he had forgotten, nor did it mean the pain had lessened.
He had only hidden it.
Just as he had never forgotten his deceased family, he had never forgotten the students who had died before his eyes.
That grief had never disappeared.
And he hated his enemies more than anyone else.
However, Zephyr had turned that sorrow into motivation.
The motivation to teach students how to protect justice.
The motivation to end this Great Pirate Era.
Zephyr stared silently at the sea mist before him.
The mist layered over itself, making it difficult to discern direction within it.
He did not look away.
Because someone was training in this kind of weather.
And that person was Axel.
Zephyr sighed.
From this point alone, he knew Axel was no longer normal.
If it had been the original Axel, he would never have woken up so early and voluntarily trained in this weather unless someone forced him.
After discarding his emotions, had he even discarded his laziness?
Zephyr walked over slowly.
"It's time to rest. Training for too long before breakfast is bad for your body."
"Is that so?"
Axel stopped training and looked up.
"But based on what I understand, my ability automatically protects my body and will not cause physical damage. Of course, that also means the gains from training are lower than others."
Because he had removed his upper clothing for training, his slender and delicate lines were exposed, though there was almost no visible muscle definition.
With fair skin, a slim frame, and a flat chest, it was a physique that would make many women envious, with almost nothing to criticize.
Zephyr awkwardly turned his head away.
Although he was not some innocent young man, this was still a normal reaction for a man.
But considering Axel's male identity, the feeling became extremely strange.
It truly was a joke by the Creator.
Zephyr did not dwell on it.
"Cough... anyway, get dressed and then eat."
Axel nodded indifferently.
He did indeed need to eat.
Although his ability could protect his body from damage, it could not replenish what his body consumed.
Food was to him what a power source was to a machine.
A state of hunger would reduce his physical stamina and even harm his body.
That was something Vector Manipulation could not avoid.
Like a puppet, Axel dressed himself without any expression, then headed toward the cafeteria.
This was the training camp's cafeteria.
At breakfast, many Marine recruits were already eating there.
When they saw Zephyr arrive, they stood up one after another in awe.
"Eat," Zephyr said.
His voice was not loud, but it carried stern authority.
Under his command, the recruits sat back down in an orderly fashion.
However, compared to the occasional chatter and laughter from before, the atmosphere now became quiet and slightly heavy.
Axel glanced at Zephyr and ignored the situation.
Just like a student avoiding a teacher they feared, or one they did not want to be involved with, he circled around Zephyr, took his food from the counter, and found a quiet corner to sit down.
Watching this, Zephyr frowned slightly but did not speak.
After a moment, he followed and sat directly across from Axel.
"Why did you suddenly avoid me?"
Axel said softly, "To avoid trouble."
"Trouble?"
"Doubt, curiosity, jealousy, venting, impulse. No matter what form it takes, your proximity will bring trouble from other students, and I do not want that trouble."
"Why?" Zephyr asked. "You should be able to solve those troubles easily."
Axel answered with a question.
"Normally, you could easily crush the ants on the road, but how many people would stop specifically to do so?"
His tone remained flat.
"Although these troubles will not make me feel anything, they are boring and childish. My reasoning concludes that they are purely a waste of time."
"Uh... you really have changed a lot," Zephyr muttered.
Then he noticed Axel's plate.
"But you're eating this?"
Most of the breakfast Axel had taken consisted of vegetables.
One had to know that the old Axel was someone who could barely live without meat.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he could not go without it.
Yet this time, he had chosen an almost entirely vegetable meal.
Axel nodded and did not answer.
Because continuing to speak would only lead to a pointless explanation.
He understood what Zephyr was questioning.
But the past him and the current him were clearly different.
He had not deeply explored why such an abrupt change had occurred, nor did he plan to change anything.
Maintaining a natural state was best.
Zephyr did not interrupt Axel's meal.
He was thinking.
Thinking about how to return Axel to normal.
During this period, he had tried many methods.
Physical methods, including the temptation of food, the threat of fists, and external stimulation, had all been tried.
None had any effect.
As for psychological methods, he had also tried counseling Axel and had sought the opinions of experts.
There was still no effect.
So besides those, were there any other methods he had not tried?
Zephyr thought for a while.
In any case, he decided to check whether there had been any progress first.
"Come with me after you finish eating."
In a bright, open room, a man in a white coat was staring at an image.
Judging by his uniform, he was clearly a doctor.
At this moment, he kept hissing under his breath and taking repeated deep breaths, looking extremely troubled.
The man's name was Kokoilo.
He was a relatively famous doctor within the Marines and a specialist in neurology.
The problem he was currently facing concerned a young boy.
"This is simply a joke!"
With a thud, Kokoilo put down the image in his hand.
The image showed a photograph of Axel.
That was precisely the reason for Kokoilo's distress and anger.
What troubled him was not the medical issue itself, but the other party's behavior.
Former Admiral Zephyr had brought his student here for treatment.
At first, Kokoilo had been delighted.
After all, that was equivalent to recognizing his skill level.
After understanding the condition, he had requested a brain examination using instruments.
This was an indispensable process for neurological treatment.
But after the child refused, Zephyr had actually followed along and refused as well.
What followed was even more ridiculous.
They had given him a portrait and asked him to determine a treatment method from it.
What kind of logic was that?
He was a doctor.
Not a diviner.
Not a prophet.
How was he supposed to determine the cause of an illness based on a photograph?
The more Kokoilo thought about it, the angrier he became.
However, he did not dare truly lose his temper in front of Zephyr.
He knew Zephyr's influence.
Almost all high-ranking Marine officers had once been his students.
Offending Zephyr was equivalent to placing a full stop at the end of his own career.
Otherwise, Kokoilo would not have been this distressed.
.....
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