“Teacher Zephyr, I’m here.”
At Marine Headquarters, Kuzan arrived at Zephyr’s residence carrying two bottles of sherry.
Although there was no additional conferment ceremony for Admiral candidates, when the news was announced, Kuzan and the others still returned to Marine Headquarters together. This sort of situation was not all that common.
Although the Marines had an enormous army, the area they had to operate in was equally vast. Even though there were many Vice Admirals, only a handful stayed at Marine Headquarters.
On ordinary days, they all had to move around various places, dealing with all kinds of possible situations. Usually, only when major incidents or special events occurred would the number of high-ranking officers at headquarters increase.
“You’re already an Admiral candidate, Kuzan. The Admiral rank should only be a matter of time for you. But shouldn’t you be celebrating with your colleagues right now?”
“How should I put it… I really can’t get along with that Sakazuki after all.”
At this time, Sakazuki and Borsalino were together. The two of them had entered the Marine training camp earlier than Kuzan, and they were even in the same cohort, so they were naturally on closer personal terms.
Moreover, after the Ohara incident, although Kuzan and Sakazuki had not reached the point where they would fight to the death the moment they met, the incompatibility of their ideals could not be concealed. At the very least, Kuzan was unwilling to make friends with him.
“The Ohara operation? Justice has never been a simple word, Kuzan. Your position still isn’t high enough. In the future, you will see even more things that cannot be brought into the light.”
Zephyr had also heard a little about what happened during the Ohara incident, but he did not say much. After all, the Ohara incident was still something that could be passed around. Compared to those incidents that were forbidden to even mention, this actually did not amount to much.
“Ara ara, that really is frightening. I suddenly understand a little why Vice Admiral Garp has always refused promotions.”
Kuzan pulled over a nearby chair and sat down carelessly, looking extremely lazy.
The Ohara incident had affected many people’s lives, and Kuzan was one of them. The original Kuzan had been full of drive in every operation, upholding “Burning Justice” like blazing fire.
But after that incident, the passionately burning flames had already gone out, and all that remained was lazy justice.
Zephyr, who had put down the burden of being an Admiral, also felt much more relaxed at this moment, and just chatted idly with Kuzan like this until an “unrelated person” barged in.
“I’m so damn mad! That b*stard Dragon really doesn’t give anyone a moment’s peace!”
The door was kicked open, and Garp stormed in angrily, slapping the newspaper in his hand onto the table in front of Zephyr.
“That so-called Revolutionary Army that brat set up stirred up an armed uprising in the West Blue. The Marines in the West Blue couldn’t deal with him, the news was reported all the way up, and in the end Sengoku dumped it on me!
“At least your Yerick is no trouble. If Dragon had stayed in the Marines…”
“Vice Admiral Garp, that criminal Dragon… is your son?”
“Kuzan? You’re here too? Remember to keep it secret. Don’t go blabbing.”
Garp seemed not to have seen Kuzan at all, only responding to the matter after Kuzan spoke up. However, Zephyr did not respond to Garp at all.
The other man seemed to be complaining, but for some reason, Zephyr always felt there was a hint of showing off in his tone.
“You should know best why he left the Marines. But why are you so idle too? Shouldn’t you be off carrying out a mission?”
“I’m only a Vice Admiral. How could I be as busy as that Sengoku?”
Picking his nose, Garp answered as though it were only natural. And that was indeed the truth. Over the years, Sengoku had shouldered quite a bit of Garp and Zephyr’s work.
“Do you see, Kuzan? This is what happens when your colleagues are unreliable. If your peers are people like this, you’ll have your hands full.”
“Don’t worry, Teacher Zephyr. The ones who will be busy should be other people.”
……..
“Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji—the three future Admirals.”
After returning to Fishman Island, Nereus saw the information published in the newspaper and did not have much of a reaction to it. During the time he had been away, nothing major had happened on Fishman Island either.
There were quite a few hotheaded fools, but everything was still within a reliable range.
If there was anything particularly noteworthy, it was that while Rayleigh was pondering ways to make money, he ran into a shipwreck and was saved by Hachi, who was on vacation.
After the slave trade in the Sabaody Archipelago was cracked down on, Rayleigh had also become a “victim.” At least for now, he could no longer use the ridiculous method of auctioning himself off to make money.
Among the rookies of Fishman Island, Jack was also beginning to show his talent. Although he was still only a child, his strange strength was already no weaker than that of an ordinary adult. It was truly not easy to find an opponent among his peers who could defeat him.
However, there happened to be one beside Nereus.
Bzzzt…
As the sound of an electric current rang out, Nereus casually raised a hand toward his back, blocking the “sneak attack” from behind.
“Not bad strength. Looks like you haven’t slacked off while I was away.”
The one who came was Chloe. If there had been any surprise during this period, it was that another portion of the power in Chloe’s bloodline had awakened.
Theoretically, it was an ability that came from fish such as electric rays. In short, aside from the Lunarian ability to use flames, Chloe could also release electric currents.
Together with Fishman Island’s inherited techniques for controlling water currents, Chloe alone could now unleash composite attacks combining the three attributes of water, fire, and lightning.
“Of course! Uncle Wobbegong said the electricity I release is stronger than that of any other Fish-Men or Merfolk!”
The cellular activity of Lunarians was far stronger than that of other races. This bloodline made Chloe’s electricity generation appear more powerful in both quantity and quality.
When she first released it at full power, she had even directly paralyzed the circuitry in Wobbegong’s laboratory.
“Dad, Sister said before that once you came back, she was going to go out for a while. I want to go with her!”
“Go out? Where is she going?”
“To that place called Dressrosa. A friend of hers asked to meet her.”
“If you want to go, then go. But when you’re outside, remember to listen to your sister.”
Nereus was quite at ease with Nanamo taking Chloe out. Although Nanamo had not yet reached the point of being invincible, there were only a handful of people she could not beat, and they could be counted.
Coincidentally, Nereus knew all of those people, and they were also well aware whose daughter Nanamo was. Unless things reached a life-or-death point where they had no choice but to fight, they would not lose their senses and choose to make a move against Nereus.
Besides, the outside world was still dominated by the sea. At worst, they could dive into the sea, and the others still would not be able to do anything to them.
“Then I’ll go tell Sister. This time, she has no reason not to take me.”
As she spoke, Chloe directly flapped the wings on her back and flew upward, even running into Amphitrite face-to-face.
However, Amphitrite had no objections to this either. She had never minded Chloe growing up a little earlier. In fact, according to Amphitrite’s way of thinking, Nereus was already being somewhat overprotective.
When she herself was six years old, what she controlled flames to strike at were not targets, but those disgusting Marines and Cipher Pol agents.
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