What Do You Mean I Became Smoker's Boss?

A few days later, Garp finished spending time with his family and prepared to return to headquarters.

At Wang Chuan's suggestion, the group visited Marine Branch 153. Sure enough, they found no certain Admiral named Lucil Culu, a master chief petty officer whose dream was to live a peaceful life and whose strength was close to the level of the World's Greatest Swordsman.

Baratie wasn't famous yet, and not many people were spreading word about it. Wang Chuan hadn't deliberately gone looking for it either; he'd deal with it if he came across it.

On the way back, Garp brought up the matter of a posting again. The details went as follows.

"Kid, do you want a posting?"

"A posting? Who wouldn't want one? What, are you giving me yours?"

"I don't have one, but if you want one, I can help you talk to Sengoku."

"I don't want to steal someone else's posting and offend them."

"Don't worry, you definitely won't offend anyone."

And so Wang Chuan returned to headquarters with Garp, utterly baffled.

After smoothly handing over his assignment, Wang Chuan didn't take a break. With the Marines' major operations following Akainu's recent appointment, he planned to find a few Vice Admirals he knew and join them on large-scale missions.

He was very popular among the veteran Vice Admirals in the Marines. He was strong, but his rank wasn't particularly high. Bringing him on a large-scale mission was like adding another Vice Admiral-level fighter, but they didn't have to give him as much credit as they would a Vice Admiral.

Bringing him along meant they could complete the mission safely, befriend a young powerhouse, and avoid sharing a Vice Admiral's portion of the credit. Everyone was happy to do it.

But before long, Sengoku summoned him.

"Reporting, Fleet Admiral. Marine Headquarters Colonel reporting for duty."

"No need to be so formal. Come, sit."

Sengoku had high hopes for the young man before him. He had more potential than the others, and with a little more training, he could catch up to Momousagi and Chaton.

On top of that, he didn't have a fruit, and he was absurdly young.

"You've been quite active since you got back. Planning to become a Rear Admiral in one go?"

"I am considering it."

"Would you like to hear my advice?"

When the boss said that, it meant you were about to start doing the hard work.

"Please advise me, Fleet Admiral."

"At present, the Marines don't have a suitable G branch in the Grand Line to offer you. You should be aware of that."

"Yes."

"I know your goal. For you, it would be best to acquire authority and strength as quickly as possible."

"But while you can earn credit right now, promoting you would be difficult."

Wang Chuan understood what Sengoku meant. His biggest problem right now was that there was no position available for him.

Unless he joined a major faction and had one of its veterans make room for him. But even then, he would have to wait, and the matter would have to be discussed with the veteran in question.

Ultimately, he had grown too quickly. Generally, becoming a Rear Admiral in one's early thirties was appropriate. After another ten years or so, one would become an Admiral candidate at around forty, then succeed an Admiral. That was the usual path to becoming an Admiral.

And now, he was ten years ahead of schedule.

Since Sengoku was willing to call him over to discuss it, he surely had something arranged.

"What advice do you have for me, Fleet Admiral?"

"I have a few options. Let's see if any interest you."

"First, you could go to Sabaody as the stationed Rear Admiral."

"Second, once this round of operations is over, you could go without a promotion and be stationed in the waters near Loguetown. You would be Smoker's superior and the Colonel overseeing the East Blue."

"Third, again without a promotion, you could go back to your home in the West Blue and oversee things there."

"You could also choose the South Blue or North Blue. It's up to you."

"Or..."

Here it came, the boss's "or." This was what he really wanted him to do.

"Become a Rear Admiral, then go to Twin Cape and establish a new G branch, with responsibility for patrolling all four seas!"

Sengoku's proposals were all feasible.

First was Sabaody, which was directly under the G-2 Branch. The Vice Admiral stationed there, Comil, was relatively easy to get along with.

But Sabaody was too close to Mary Geoise, and Celestial Dragons frequently came down. Wang Chuan was genuinely worried that one day he wouldn't be able to resist cutting those bastards down.

Being stationed in the East Blue or West Blue was much the same. The reason his promotion would be held back was that, by convention, the highest rank in the four seas was Headquarters Colonel.

Of the two seas, the West Blue was more difficult, but his home was there and he had plenty of connections. Handling things there might be easier than in the East Blue.

But neither compared to the final proposal.

Patrolling all four seas!

That was already beyond a Rear Admiral's responsibilities. It could even be considered a job for a renowned Vice Admiral, or even an Admiral!

"Patrolling all four seas. That's really tempting."

"Don't get excited too soon. Overseeing the four seas is nominal. On paper, you'll report to Aokiji, but in practice, you'll also report to me."

"So nominally I'd be under Admiral Aokiji, but in practice I'd report directly to you, Fleet Admiral?"

Generally speaking, even if a Rear Admiral didn't belong to an Admiral's faction, the allocation of authority still couldn't escape the three Admirals.

Becoming an Admiral not only expanded the authority of one's own faction, but also gave one command over a large number of officers outside the faction, as well as certain covert units. Only by controlling these did an Admiral truly possess an Admiral's power.

For example, Borsalino controlled the Science Unit.

No one knew who actually controlled SWORD. Some said Kizaru, some said Aokiji, and others said it answered directly to the Fleet Admiral.

There were also various covert operations units that only Admirals could mobilize.

And most importantly, there was the Buster Call. It was a truly devastating weapon. Those who controlled it and had taken part in one were the true core of absolute power in the Marines.

So there was something unreasonable about the way his rank and post were being arranged this time.

A Rear Admiral should have a Vice Admiral over him, who would then report to an Admiral. Only after that would the Fleet Admiral receive word.

No matter how complicated the process was, the process was the process.

"Wondering why we're not doing this the usual way?"

"Yes. I should have a Vice Admiral as my superior."

"Usually, yes. But Twin Cape is both important and unimportant."

"Ultimately, it's still Paradise, not the New World. Stationing a Marine with the rank of Rear Admiral and the strength of a Vice Admiral there is sufficient. Besides, that bastard Aokiji is too lazy."

Wang Chuan understood. If the rank for this position was too high, it would seem as though the Marines were placing too much importance on it, damaging their prestige. But if the rank was too low, the person's strength would also be insufficient, and they might not be able to hold back the surging tide of pirates.

So those strong enough were too high in rank, while those who weren't strong enough were also too low in rank.

And he was just right.

The rank of Rear Admiral wasn't low, but above it were Vice Admirals, Admirals, and the Fleet Admiral.

As for strength, although he didn't have a fruit, being a swordsman with full-body Armament Haki gave him enough strength to match an ordinary Vice Admiral.

As for Aokiji being too lazy, that might be true, but it was also true that Sengoku couldn't feel at ease about the place. It was a new G branch, and he would surely keep an eye on it in the early stages.

"Do I have to stop every pirate?"

"That's up to you. Just act according to your own justice. I trust you won't let those heinous villains go."

"Justice, huh."

"Come to think of it, you've never said what kind of justice you follow, kid."

That was true. To this day, Wang Chuan had never proclaimed his justice to others, because he wasn't sure himself what kind of justice he followed.

Justice of peace?

He did yearn for peace, but how was justice of peace supposed to be realized?

Justice that punished evil?

Then who would define evil? Would he rely on his own sense of justice? Besides, could he really handle it all? And could he deal with the Celestial Dragons?

Justice of the people?

In this world of extraordinary powers, the masses had even less say. Those who longed for peace and stability really could only rely on a mighty man of justice descending from the heavens to obtain them.

"Pursuing Justice."

"Pursuing Justice?"

"The world shouldn't be like this, but I might not be able to change it. Still, I want to pursue a world of true peace and stability, and keep moving forward."

"Pursuing your dream, never stopping?"

"What a beautiful justice."

"Go on, get to work, Wang Chuan."

"Become a Rear Admiral, then pursue your justice."

"Yes, Fleet Admiral."

The days that followed passed without much incident.

He successfully completed several major missions and then became a Commodore.

The reason he didn't immediately become a Rear Admiral was that he needed to undergo a background check.

All Marine officers of flag rank had to undergo a background check.

His process went quickly, and his appointment as Rear Admiral came through together with his appointment to the Twin Cape branch.

It was time for him to take up his post.

Inside the space.

"It hasn't been easy. I finally made it to a high rank in the Marines, and I have a base now too."

"Yeah, you've finally made something of yourself."

"But there are so many pirates in the four seas. Can you hold them back?"

"Catch the big ones and let the small ones go. This is just the starting point of the Grand Line. There are still the Shichibukai and all the Vice Admirals stationed farther along."

"But the calligraphy Sengoku gave you is interesting. That 'Pursuing Justice' looks like it means, 'If you don't agree to let me pursue my justice, I'll beat you to death.'"

At that, several Wang Chuans exchanged strange looks.

Sengoku, who liked calligraphy, had given Wang Chuan a piece reading "Pursuing Justice" and even had it made into a plaque so he could hang it in his office.

But no matter how they looked at it, the writing was strange. It carried far too much of Sengoku's "Justice That Reigns Over the World."

"Speaking of which, Smoker actually became your subordinate."

"I'm responsible for patrolling the four seas now, and nominally I'm still under Aokiji. Naturally, that makes me his boss."

"Too bad there aren't any suitable fruits to get right now. Otherwise, in a few more years, you might have reached Admiral-level strength."

"Why not keep training your swordsmanship and become the World's Greatest Swordsman?"

"As if it were that easy. Unless a few more newcomers show up, it'll be hard to make another huge leap in strength anytime soon."

"Too bad there aren't any suitable fruits. The powerful fruits currently known to the world have basically all been eaten."

"It doesn't matter. Once there are more of us, we can become absolute powerhouses with Armament Haki alone."

"Come to think of it, no newcomers have shown up lately."

"Since you arrived, three more have come in a little over two years. That's plenty."

"I wonder if the more of us there are, the faster newcomers arrive."

"Speaking of newcomers, Brother Bonsai still hasn't shown up. Could it be that once he logged off, he really couldn't get back on?"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

A Fire Spirit Tree that was noticeably much taller logged on. Now he really was a tree.

Then a human face grew on his trunk.

"I finally got back in. That took a hell of a lot of effort."

"A face growing on a tree feels kind of eerie and creepy."

"You think I wanted this? I transmigrated into a tree; what could I do? I only got my sentience back in the last couple of days."

"Let me see directly what you've been through during this time."

"Wait, let me block a few things first."

But he clearly failed to stop a certain quick-handed fellow.

"Bleurgh, what the hell were they feeding you? Stuff from spirit oxen, spirit pigs, spirit horses?"

"What else? I'm a tree! When I first went back, even my roots were broken."

As they spoke, the others who were online began moving away from the two of them. They had gathered that what Brother Bonsai ate over there might be a little unusual.

"Trying to run? Think you can get away?"

"We're all our own people here. There's no need for this, right?"

But unfortunately, it was their own people they were screwing over.

For a moment, none of them had any desire to go on living.

It took them quite a while to recover.

"Come to think of it, time is moving a little slowly over in Naruto. The Chunin Ninja Exams are only just about to end."

"I really can't make sense of how time flows, but this exam is probably just a formality. Most likely, I won't get promoted to Chunin."