Chapter 61: A Future Admiral And A Past Admiral
“Just now…… what was that? Tina is scared!”
Major Tina, with a lady’s cigarette in her mouth, couldn’t control her verbal tic and directly voiced the shock in her heart.
“……I don’t know either.”
Smoker stared in astonishment at the cleared sky, the shock lingering in his heart for a long time.
In just a short instant, the pitch-black cloud sea that blanketed the sky for thousands of miles was swept clean, revealing a breathtakingly clear and beautiful azure sky.
Such mighty power,
he had never seen before.
Although he had seen many monsters at Navy Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, former Admiral Zephyr, and the current three Admirals…… the monsters at Navy Headquarters were countless, but in a place like Navy Headquarters, he had no chance to see these monsters in action.
Even when he had gone on a few missions with Admiral Kuzan, the opponents’ strength was too lacking, so Admiral Kuzan didn’t need to go all out.
As for the earth-shattering major event nineteen years ago when the Golden Lion attacked Navy Headquarters, Smoker, who was just a new recruit at the time, was not at Navy Headquarters and did not witness that fierce battle said to have destroyed half of Navy Headquarters.
Of course,
this was perhaps his fortune.
After all, that battle claimed numerous Navy officers. Facing the legendary Great Pirate Golden Lion, even Sengoku and Garp together took three days and three nights to finally defeat the unyielding Golden Lion.
The postwar casualty list reportedly nearly gave the Fleet Admiral at the time a stroke from anger.
“It’s a monster!”
Elus said without turning his head.
Standing on the railing, facing the cold sea breeze still laden with moisture, he gazed at the approaching merchant ship. His Neuro-Scan clearly sensed the majestic and vast aura like a towering mountain range, his eyes widening with excitement gleaming in his emerald green eyes.
“Mister Garp, do you really not know this monster mister?”
“If I haven’t seen him, I haven’t seen him.”
Garp rolled his eyes.
“That’s not it, I just thought a knowledgeable old senior like you would recognize this unheard-of monster mister…… Never seen him? That’s really rare. How has such a terrifying monster remained nameless until now?”
Elus was very curious.
This world is truly vast, with countless islands on the sea. Hiding on some uninhabited island would indeed make it hard to be found, but this world is also truly small. Any slightly outrageous major event would spread across the world.
A strong person’s rise is built on the bones of countless failures.
Countless legendary tales are sung in taverns and on streets.
Out of this curiosity, he borrowed the Navy’s name, sent someone to contact that fleet, and extended an invitation to the Blind Swordsman. Garp merely watched throughout without any obstruction; he too was curious about this suddenly emerging nameless strong person.
Powerful to this extent, yet no reputation has spread.
It was utterly abnormal.
His Navy duty prevented him from ignoring this suddenly appearing monster. Such an unstable element on the sea could be overlooked if unknown, but now that they had encountered it, pretending not to see it…… he couldn’t do such a thing.
“Who knows!”
Hearing Elus’s question, Garp responded, digging his pinky into his nostril.
“But since we’ve met, we should at least say hello and see what this nameless monster is made of!” After digging his nose, perhaps feeling refreshed, the old man’s face broke into a brilliant smile like the blazing sun, his sharp eyes filled with utmost exhilaration.
The ship kept approaching.
Finally, when no telescope was needed and the naked eye could vaguely make out the figure standing at the bow of the opposite ship,
a purple glow suddenly lit up on the opposite side,
and the tall figure at the ship’s bow suddenly flew into the sky, speeding toward the warship. As the distance closed, everyone finally saw the full appearance of the flying figure: a tall man flying while standing on a wooden bucket.
He held a long cane in his hand, wore deep purple coarse cloth robes, wooden clogs on his feet, and his robes fluttered loudly in the wind.
“Bang!”
Accompanied by a huge sound, the wooden bucket landed on the warship’s deck.
At this moment,
everyone finally noticed that the man standing on the wooden bucket was a blind man, one who looked about fifty years old.
“He’s actually a……”
Tina covered her mouth, not saying the impolite word “blind man.”
But obviously,
the attention of many on the deck was drawn to those blinded eyes, with reactions of astonishment, sympathy, disbelief…… complex emotions all perceived by the ‘Blind Man’ standing on the wooden bucket in his ‘heart.’
“Navy folks.”
He stood on the water barrel like that, gently tapping the outer wall of the wooden bucket under his feet with his cane, drawing everyone’s attention, then asked in a deep voice:
“I wonder what you want with a blind man like me?”
His voice was very deep, giving a sense of weathered by wind and rain.
“I am Sokachio Elus.”
Flapping a pair of jet-black wings, Elus flew over and hovered in midair, facing the man on the wooden bucket directly.
“Sokachio Elus…… So it’s the famous Black Prince. What does Your Highness want with an old blind guy like me?”
“Your name?”
“Ah! It was my rudeness. As for my name…… just call me 【Fujitora】.”
“Mister Fujitora, are you interested in coming to Eckmond Kingdom?”
Elus issued the invitation straightforwardly.
“……Huh?”
Fujitora was stunned.
He had roamed the Four Seas and Grand Line for so many years, and not a few people had seen his extraordinary nature and extended invitations, but no one had ever invited him so directly upon first meeting, without prolonged observation and detailed investigation.
Just directly inviting a guy of unknown background like him.
This Black Prince didn’t quite match the image he had heard.
However, he had seen such things many times before.
Name not matching reality, reputation overblown—such things were not rare at all. It was precisely because the world had too many filthy and despicable scum that he closed his eyes.
“If Mister Fujitora is willing, I can give you a ministerial position: Navy Minister, Security Minister, Defense Minister…… whichever you prefer, Your Excellency.” Elus said sincerely. Fujitora, Paramecia ability user of Doflamingo’s Devil Fruit, future Navy Admiral—such a person was worth this great cost to recruit.
“……Sorry, Your Highness. This old man is a free spirit, used to wandering freely and afraid I can’t stand constraints.”
Fujitora hesitated for a moment but still refused.
Eckmond Kingdom was a first-class power in the New World. With the Black Prince’s support, it was bound to become one of the New World’s overlords in the future. Most importantly, Eckmond Kingdom was not a pirate nation but a proper World Government affiliated nation, with over two hundred years of history and a solid positive image.
Honestly…… such a stage was quite good. Though it still had a gap from the grand stage Fujitora desired to fully display his ambitions, missing this opportunity might not yield a better one for him to shine.
But,
the long-suppressed ambitions in his chest made him unwilling to settle for reality.
Moreover, it had only been a few minutes since they met; how could he rashly decide his future? Such matters…… needed caution.
“I must temporarily decline this kindness.”
Fujitora refused very politely.
“No, it was my presumption.”
Elus was equally polite.
For this top strong person who valued the safety of ordinary people immensely, he had great admiration. So even knowing the hope was slim, he still extended the olive branch. What if, what if he could recruit this future Navy Admiral.
Eckmond Kingdom could truly dominate the New World.
Continuing to grow and expand, rivaling the World Government might not be impossible. Well, it was too early to say that now. Current Eckmond Kingdom still couldn’t do without the World Government’s massive umbrella.
“Mister Fujitora, my invitation remains open. Whenever Your Excellency comes to Eckmond Kingdom, the conditions I mentioned won’t change a word. Eckmond Kingdom always reserves a position for you.”
“Cough cough!!!”
A deliberate cough interrupted Elus’s overture.
Garp glared at Elus. If this monster were recruited by Eckmond Kingdom…… the New World would be turned upside down by this kid, right? Well, it might not be a bad thing for the Navy.
But his intuition told him this kid was up to no good!
If Elus succeeded in recruiting this monster, the ones in trouble wouldn’t just be the New World pirates; the World Government and Navy might face unexpected shocks too. This Navy Hero’s intuition was sharper than a beast’s.
Elus had never revealed any dissatisfaction with the current World Government.
But Garp still keenly detected some clues.
“Mister Garp, if you’re catching a cold, go see a doctor for some medicine.” Elus shot Garp an annoyed glare.
“Garp?”
Hearing this name.
Fujitora’s expression changed again.
“Navy Hero? Vice Admiral Garp?”
————
Navy Headquarters, Marineford.
This was an island backed by the Red Line, with a narrow strait separating Marineford from the Red Line, preventing it from becoming a peninsula jutting from the Red Line, maintaining its independent island status—just like the relationship between the Navy and the World Government.
As everyone knew, the Navy was one of the World Government’s direct armed forces, the most renowned and largest in troop numbers among the three services.
However,
the Navy was unwilling to accept a bunch of stupid and evil idiots bossing them around from above. They had never given up striving for more autonomy from the World Government, wholeheartedly maintaining peace on the sea rather than the Celestial Dragons’ rule.
Though from an observer’s perspective, there was no obvious difference between the two.
But only the Navy officers themselves knew what they fought for. Without the justice in their hearts supporting their beliefs, given those Celestial Dragon bastards—except for CP0’s lackeys—no Navy Headquarters officers would willingly approach Celestial Dragons without orders from superiors.
It was because Celestial Dragons frequented Sabaody Archipelago,
even knowing it was a must-pass for pirates heading to the New World, few were willing to station long-term there to clean up after Celestial Dragons. Once, a certain Navy Vice Admiral, after witnessing Celestial Dragon atrocities multiple times, finally snapped and attacked that Celestial Dragon.
The end result: the Vice Admiral was defeated by CP0 agents and died by angry suicide, and that full-strength elite Navy unit collectively chose to resign.
This matter,
caused a period of strained relations between Navy Headquarters and the World Government.
If not for Fleet Admiral Kong’s deft handling, with one administrative measure after another to soothe and suppress, pacifying the anger of Navy Headquarters officers, a major purge by the World Government on Navy Headquarters wasn’t impossible.
In any case, the current Navy remained the World Government’s armed force but always sought greater autonomy, ideally escaping the clutches of those idiot World Government officials.
“……Zephyr?”
Fleet Admiral’s office,
Sengoku looked at the one-armed man who barged in, rubbing his temples with a headache.
He hadn’t seen Zephyr in front of him for a long time. For him to suddenly barge into his office now meant trouble had arrived.
“Zephyr, what is it?”
“Sengoku, I heard the Seven Warlords are changing members?”
The one-armed man, former Admiral 【Black Arm】 Zephyr, stared at Sengoku behind the desk.
Sure enough,
it was trouble!
Who told Zephyr about this? Jinbe planned to voluntarily give up his Seven Warlords position to 【Black Prince】 Sokachio Elus…… Garp had only told him about it not long ago; even the Admirals at Navy Headquarters didn’t all know yet.
“Garp told me.”
As if seeing Sengoku’s doubt, Zephyr said straightforwardly.
“That big-mouth bastard.”
Sengoku’s forehead veins throbbed with anger.
“Sengoku, so this is real? That Black Prince is replacing that Whale Shark Fish-Man to become a new member of the Seven Warlords.”
Zephyr’s eyes widened, his gloomy expression finally breaking into a fierce smile. “Pirates…… are ultimately pirates. Even with the bullshit Seven Warlords signboard, it can’t change that they’re pirates. Better to recruit more strong persons like the Black Prince.”
“Zephyr, this isn’t confirmed yet!”
Sengoku looked at this old friend who had become somewhat unfamiliar at some point and asked: “What are you going to do, Zephyr? I know you hate the strategy of using pirates to fight pirates with the Seven Warlords, but this is the World Government’s will. Don’t do anything stupid.”
He issued a warning.
Zephyr merely gave Sengoku a deep look. “Don’t worry! What can a retired admiral like me do now?” With that, he left the Fleet Admiral’s office like a storm, taking his two disciples waiting outside far away.
Leaving Sengoku vexedly tugging at his long braided whiskers.
Silently praying in his heart that Zephyr wouldn’t do anything stupid.
