29 Chapter 28

[One Week After, Marineford]

In the Marineford, under the bright sunlight, two boys were sitting atop one plain-looking building, with their eyes—having dark bags underneath—locked onto the vast sky.

"Haa..." One boy, Akehende, sighed deeply, "I feel like dying..."

The other boy, Shu, held his head in misery, "It's... it's just too much! I've been training under Zephyr-sensei for almost 2 years by now, and I still am baffled by the sheer amount of physical exercises we were tasked with, every single day!"

"I mean, he really is a great teacher. We improved a lot in comparison to who we were in the past, but..." Akehende shook his head, "We aren't monsters like the others. Hell, I dunno how they managed to improve so much within years..."

"I don't know either, man," Shu slumped in the end, not even having any more strength to continue staring at the sky, "Weren't they on the same level as us when we first came here? Just how the hell..."

"Hey, you two, what are you doing here again?!" Then, a feminine voice interrupted their whines. turning around, Shu and Akehende were met with the sight of Doll, who had hands on her waist, "Although it's a day off for us, that doesn't mean you should be slacking off like this! Learn from Bastille and Dalmatian, you lazy asses!!!"

Shu bickered, "Tch, what are you, my mom?"

Akehende frowned while picking his ear with his pinky, before plucking said finger out and blowing the ear wax at Doll, "F*** off, Doll."

"What the f***, Akehende?!!"

"It's just a matter of talent, and nothing more," Ignoring Doll's exasperation, Shu shrugged powerlessly, "I mean, look at Cancer. You know that he's even lazier than the two of us, but he still manages to ace every single task given, as if it's nothing..."

Shu turned back and muttered, "The only salvation for me is to eat a devil fruit."

"Agreed," Akehende nodded, "I would like a real strong one, like Vice Admiral Garp's fruit."

Shu whined in frustration, "Marine Hero... he's one lucky bast***."

"For sure."

"...You idiots," Doll seemed astonished by the antics of two boys, "Marine Hero didn't eat a devil frui!"

"Yeah, keep lying and see if I'll fall for it."

"He definitely ate something like Strong Strong fruit."

Just then,

"Hey!!! All of you!" From some buildings away, Bastille was seen to be jumping and running across the roofs, to the three at rapid speed, while waving his arms excitedly. Doll, Shu, and Akehende turned their heads at the masked teen with long orange-coloured hair.

"Calm yourself down, Bastille! You might end up breaking those roofs, you know?" Doll shouted with a concern, but Bastille didn't seem to have heard. Instead, he shouted jovially,

"Smoker is back-dara!!!"

Upon hearing Bastille's excited cry, Shu and Akehende looked at each other with blank expressions. Bastille, noticing their demeanours, looked at Doll with confusion, to which she responded with a shrug.

__________

In the Marineford tower, at top-most floor, there lies the Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office. Within this room, the four of us: Kuzan, Happy, Gion, and me, were standing upon receiving the call from Sengoku himself. In contrast to the three of us, Kuzan seemed to be relaxed, however.

"Welcome back, all of you." Sengoku said sternly, as I stood strictly while gazing forward. He, with his hands on his back, walked across each and every one of us, "I've heard of your outstanding feats for the past few months. It is without a doubt that many's lives were saved under your hands; I am proud of you."

"...And I believe that it is unfair to leave you unrewarded."

Sengoku stopped in front of Gion.

"Ensign Gion. I've been keeping my eyes on you since your time under Vice Admiral Tsuru's command. Exquisite swordsmanship, combined with the strong sense of justice... I've got high expectations on you." Sengoku paused briefly, before stating, "I hereby grant you the promotion to the rank of lieutenant. May your sense of justice not waver."

Gion, whose hands were clenched in delight, said out lout, "Thank you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

Sengoku then moved on, to where I was standing.

"Ensign Smoker. I cannot help but be baffled to see that all these achievements... are the works of a 13-year-old. Regardless, it is wrong to judge you by your age, and there is no one in the Marine who'd deny of your formidable belief in justice. Although you were given the promotion to Ensign just two months ago, it will be wrong for me to leave you out after all the deeds you've done... I hereby grant you the promotion to the rank of lieutenant. May you advance further."

"Thank you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

Sengoku continued forth. Captain Happy, the one whose role was to oversee the battle and manage the marine soldiers, received a promotion to Commodore. Rear Admiral Stainless, although he wasn't able to come due to his injury, was promoted to Vice Admiral. That's how significant the victory over the Goldtooth pirates was.

"And finally, Vice Admiral Kuzan." Sengoku's expression became sullen as he stopped in front of Kuzan, "You have strength. You have leadership. Considering the sheer number of pirates you caught, and the fact that each one of them are dangerous on their own right, the rank of Vice Admiral is unfit to determine your capability. However,"

I, staring at the front with my body still, listened to Sengoku's words carefully.

"the decision to grant you a code name is not something I am able to decide by myself." Sengoku then stated, "Therefore, what I will be granting you this time around, is an opportunity."

"Yesterday, Jaguar D. Saul reported that he captured Nico Olvia, the one who broke the law and went on her journey to decipher the poneglyphs. And it was determined that she, and her colleagues, were from Ohara within the West Blue. By tomorrow, he will reach G-1."

I felt my heart dropping as Sengoku spoke.

"The attempt to unveil the poneglyphs is one of the worst crimes possible, one that may erupt the whole world into chaos. Therefore, a top-secret mission was issued from Gorosei. Five Vice Admirals will lead ten warships that have the recent seastone technology planted, to Ohara in the West Blue."

Kuzan, whose eyes were covered behind his sunglasses, remarked in a low tone, "...Buster Call, I see."

Sengoku said while placing his hand on Kuzan's shoulder, "And you will be one of the five, Vice Admiral Kuzan. Show your justice—the willingness to erase all the dark of the world. Gorosei will be watching you."

'This... this isn't a reward,' I couldn't help but think, 'This is a test.'

The doomsday for Oharans has begun its countdown.

__________

Currently, I was in one room that consisted of bed, table, and some more utilities for living. This room was meant to be used all by myself, being one of the perks of having the status of a Marine Officer.

'Ohara incident, huh.'

Saul will arrive at G-1 tomorrow. Nico Olvia will primarily be interrogated by the specialists, before being transferred to the Impel Down... or perhaps, Mariejois, where she will be 'interrogated' again. Saul will eventually use his status to bring Olvia out and flee, using himself as a sacrifice to ensure that Olvia reaches the Ohara.

Then, the five Vice Admirals will sail to the Ohara, directly across the Calm Belt, promising nothing but destruction.

'And... one of them will be Sakazuki.'

"Ha..." I couldn't help but sigh. Lying down on the bed, I took out a gum dispenser from my pocket, which Gion threw at me, saying that it was my early birthday present.

<According to Vice Admiral Kuzan, the archaeologists of Ohara initially found and brought this to Dr. Vegapunk, who managed to restore it. Their analysis concluded that this is a weapon that was used by the people from the past... fascinating, isn't it?> Gion said back then.

'...How powerless Marine really is...' I chuckled with my eyes still on the gum dispenser, as I recalled upon the case of Vice Admiral Victorious, 'The monstrosity known as the Absolute Justice, is no different from admitting yourself as the World Government's dog. Marine-centric justice, World-Government-centric justice... those ideals speak of nothing but idiocy, blatantly claiming that they are always in the right. However, reject those views, and you shall be eliminated.'

In this Buster Call, I knew for certain,

'That Vice Admiral Bayard... he surely will be one of the five.'

Buster Call isn't preventable. Ohara incident is bound to happen. And I didn't plan to stop them from destroying the island whatsoever—I simply couldn't.

However, I had this indescribable feeling in me. Though my head gave up, my heart surely didn't. It was telling me, that even if I was bound to fail, I had to try at the very least. It was telling me, that there surely must be a way to tweak the future, without risking anything.

I stared at the gum dispenser in my hand once more, with my mind simulating through many different possibilities, looking for an answer in this situation.

Then, the door was banged all of a sudden, waking me up from my thoughts.

"Hey, Smoker!!! I know that you are in there-dara!!!"

'That familiar voice...' The gloomy feeling in me vanished in an instant, and I found a grin on my face,

"How come you haven't come to see us after your arrival?!! Get out of there, right now-dara!!!"

Standing back up and placing the gum dispenser in my pocket, I put on a standard marine cap that lied on the table. Reaching for the door, I opened it, and was met with the sight of my friends. Hina's arms were crossed, with her face stoic as always. Bastille, who grew even taller, grinned behind his usual mask. Doll, who seemed to have gotten tattoos on her arms, stood with her hands on her waist, more endowed than she was a year ago.

And the first thing I said was, "Hey, Bastille, your left arm—it has become notably thicker."

Bastille responded with his chin lifted up high, proudly, "Of course, I trained a lot. But on the other hand..."

He looked at my left arm, which seemed to be of same thickness as my right, "Someone's been neglecting his training-dara."

"Ah, but you're wrong, my friend." I said with a smirk, "You see, I am ambidextrous."

Bastille's jaw dropped. He then knelt in front of me and asked, "P-please teach me your ways, Smoker-sensei-dara!"

"Heh, listen well. You see..."

"You boys..." Doll, who seemed to understand what we are speaking of, sweatdropped.

"Neglecting his training? Hina heard otherwise, Bastille." Hina then commented in a monotone, "Hina heard once that Vice Admiral Garp made Smoker climb up the entire cliff with his fingers alone."

Doll patted Hina on the head with a smile, causing the latter to frown in annoyance, "Please stay the way you are, Hina."

"Don't touch Hina!"

I dazed off with nostalgia upon hearing Hina, "Ah, the cliff one. I remember having all my fingers swell and broke, while doing five thousand vertical push-ups... man, those were good days."

Hina, Bastille, and Doll all looked at me with widened eyes, as if they heard something wrong. Doll then whispered at two of them, "He's been completely brainwashed."

"Hina is afraid that Smoker already became our generation of Vice Admiral Garp..." Hina shook her head with a feigned sadness, "There is no going back."

Bastille snorted, "Maynard's been itching to fight you again, Smoker. And I can tell... he's f*****."

"Come on, let's go elsewhere. I'm hungry." Yawning, I motioned forth while beginning to walk,

'Let's... just take a rest for now. I'll think after.'

I was standing within the 'calm before the storm' situation.

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