Navarone Fortress

The G-8 Branch, also known as the G-8 Fortress, was directly under Marine Headquarters and located in the first half of the Grand Line.

It was a vast military fortress built in a valley surrounding a lagoon at sea.

Unlike the branches in the four seas, the Marines here were little different from those at headquarters, and their ranks were not three grades lower.

In other words, the Marines at these G-series branches were actually part of Marine Headquarters, assigned to oversee different regions of the Grand Line.

As such, each branch was headed by a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, who held the title of commander.

Besides patrolling and clearing pirates from the surrounding waters, the fortress was responsible for providing visiting Marines with rest, medical treatment, and supplies, as well as repairing warships.

Hence its third name: Navarone Base!

The G-8 Fortress base had a permanent garrison of over ten thousand, ten large headquarters-grade warships capable of carrying nearly a thousand people each, and 188 fortress cannons.

It was one of the largest Marine forces near the Alabasta Kingdom.

The weather was clear that day, and everyone in the fortress went about their assigned duties and work as usual. Some of the Marines on patrol even yawned from time to time.

It couldn't be helped. In this stretch of sea jokingly called a paradise for pirates, there were practically no pirate crews that would attack the fortress of their own accord.

"Wow, the selection matches these past few days have really brought some rare excitement to the base!" a burly Marine said with a yawn and a smile, a musket slung over his shoulder.

"It's just a shame nobody from our dorm got selected," said the small, skinny Marine at the very front of the formation.

"Hmph! If I hadn't gotten careless and lost to that bastard Moses, I could've been in the finals tomorrow!" the burly Marine said angrily, pounding his chest.

The two Marines in front of him stopped responding. Everyone had seen what really happened that day.

Careless? Moses from room 404 had unexpectedly mastered Tekkai and beaten him with sheer strength.

But neither of them would say that outright. The big guy might not be able to beat Moses, but he could certainly beat them up.

"But I heard headquarters gave us three spots. Why did the commander say he was selecting two people?" asked the brown-haired Marine in the middle of the formation, who also had a musket over his shoulder.

"Oh, you only got here this year, so you don't know we have a monster at the fortress." The small, skinny Marine at the front looked back with a smile as he kept walking.

"That last spot must be reserved for him."

"A monster?"

"Yeah, a monster who mastered all the Six Powers at seventeen!"

"He's that good? But how come I've never even heard of him, let alone seen him?" The Marine in the middle stared in surprise at the back of his comrade's head.

The big guy behind him grinned. "Because the young master left the fortress over a year ago. By the time you arrived, everyone had already finished talking about him, so naturally nobody brought him up."

The Marine in the middle had mixed feelings. He seemed to have heard another puzzling term. Young master?

But asking questions all the time made him look stupid.

So was that monster this young master?

"If the spot's being reserved for Young Master Vidal, I don't think most of the old-timers at the base would object," the burly Marine said.

He was still training hard in Tekkai even now, and could hardly imagine what level someone who had mastered all the Six Powers three years ago had reached!

"And the young master's an ability user too. Huh, what's that?"

Just as the Marine at the front was about to continue, he suddenly sensed something overhead and instinctively looked up.

He saw a black dot plummeting through the blue sky and white clouds. A moment later, the three of them realized it was a small sailing ship.

At the same time, many people in the fortress noticed what was happening in the sky.

Soon, a piercing alarm rang out, alerting everyone throughout the fortress, including Vice Admiral Cornell, who was enjoying lunch in his office.

His knife and fork stopped in his hands. Sure enough, after a rush of footsteps and a knock, his adjutant pushed open the door.

"What happened?" The Vice Admiral casually picked up a napkin and wiped the corner of his mouth.

"Commander, a ship flew down from the sky and landed in the fortress's lagoon!" the adjutant reported loudly.

Vice Admiral Cornell raised an eyebrow, thinking that a ship flying down from the sky sounded interesting. "Is it a pirate ship?"

"We can't be sure yet. There's no skull on the sail, though. It's just a plain white sail," the adjutant replied.

Then more familiar footsteps and a knock came from outside. The Vice Admiral and his adjutant turned to look as a Marine saluted and shouted.

"Reporting, Commander! Young Master Vi—Vidal is back!"

"Really?" Delight spread across Vice Admiral Cornell's face.

He immediately stood and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window. Looking down, he could clearly see his son standing on the deck of a small ship, holding a little boy in his arms.

But they were currently surrounded by several warships and over a dozen small boats packed with Marines, while the surrounding fortress cannons were trained on them as well.

"It really is that boy. He's been gone over a year and finally thought to come back!"

Once Vice Admiral Cornell had made sure, he immediately turned and headed out of the office, instructing the Marine as he went.

"Let Enid know. She's been nagging me about him all this time."

"Yes, sir!"

While the whole of Navarone Fortress was in an uproar, Vidal, who had caused it all, was smiling awkwardly at the Marines around him.

After recovering from the thrill of free fall, little Enel, held in his arms, had been curiously examining the enormous warships and the even larger mountain fortress in the distance.

Fortunately, Vidal was soon recognized, and the tense atmosphere vanished in an instant.

Several officers wearing coats of justice vanished from the warships and appeared on the small ship's deck in the blink of an eye.

"You're finally back! I thought you weren't going to make it in time!" one of them, a blond man, said with a familiar laugh.

"Yeah, tomorrow's the last day of the selection matches," another officer said, eyeing little Enel.

"The selection matches don't matter. With Vidal's strength, he doesn't need them at all," an officer with two long swords at his waist retorted with a curl of his lip.

"What I'm worried about is that if you still don't come back next year and miss the day we're supposed to report to headquarters, then we'll have a real problem."

"Not needing to is one thing, but not taking part is another. Quite a few recruits arrived this past year, and not all of them know how strong Vidal is," the previous officer said, shaking his head.

"What's there to worry about? If anyone objects, just fight them!" the officer with the two swords snorted.

"Even we can't beat Vidal. What are those brats who've only just mastered one or two of the Six Powers?"

Listening to them, Vidal understood what was going on. After all, it wasn't as if he'd been completely out of contact with his family this past year.

What else were Den Den Mushi for?

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