Giant Fortress!

(Author's note: Please open your music player and play the background music "Giant Fortress" to view this chapter!)

"Hey, it's finally January 1st, 1994. It feels like this day has been taking forever, even though it's only been half a month."

Vidal stood on the 'Oxhead Battleship', feeling the gentle sea breeze of Marlene, and sighed softly as he looked in a certain direction of the square.

This day marked his official appointment as the commander of the Marine Base in the Sabaody Archipelago, and also the start of the third Zephyr Training Camp.

His gaze was fixed on the place where the students from all over the sea had gathered, exactly the same place they had been back then, where Zephyr was once again standing in front of fifty students.

However, the young faces in front of him had changed. Bullet, Kuzan, Gion, Tokikake were students that Zephyr was already familiar with. But the most eye-catching person in the group was not them, but a Giant Tribe wearing a large naval hat!

"Haguvar D. Saul, no wonder he and Kuzan are friends in the future, they were classmates." The warship beneath Vidal's feet had already moved some distance from the plaza, but the tall figure could still be seen.

"Aren't Giant Tribe usually directly assigned to the giant army? Why are they in the Special Training Camp?" This puzzled him.

"But it seems this third Special Training Camp is getting interesting. Bullet must be thrilled." Thinking of this, Vidal's face broke into a kind, fatherly smile.

He was right. Seeing that Saul's Bullet was eager to try his luck, he had long wanted to find a giant to fight. He didn't expect that this Special Training Camp had prepared one for him.

With the addition of Kuzan, a top-tier Logia Ice-Ice Devil Fruit User, Bullet is now very much looking forward to the coming year.

Today I'm beating up Kuzan, tomorrow I'm hammering Saul, and every now and then I'll kick the other trainees Tokikake Gachi. Tsk tsk tsk, how wonderful!

"There seem to be a few familiar faces in the group." Vidal stroked his chin and thought for a moment. Only after the warship arrived at the Gate of Justice with the ocean current did he shake his head, turn around, and enter the cabin.

Now his 'Oxhead Battleship' is quite famous in the navy. After the marines responsible for guarding the Gate of Justice opened the gate, they quickly came out, lined up, and saluted in unison, watching the warship slowly sail towards the Sabaody Archipelago.

Sabaody is so close to Marineford that Vidal felt like he had just had a cup of coffee before he arrived, but in fact more than an hour had passed.

"Wow! Wow!"

As soon as he came out of the cabin and onto the deck, the manatee, who was practicing boxing with two Boxing Cabbages on the deck, immediately stopped and happily hopped over.

At the same time, the two Boxing Cabbages withered and disappeared on their own.

"Okay, okay."

Vidal took the manatee's little fist and pointed to the mangrove grove appearing on the distant sea. "We've arrived. Look over there; that's where we'll be living for the next few years."

"Rear Admiral, Colonel Noel has sent word that the island is ready. We can land in District 31," Lieutenant Isoka said softly as he approached.

"Good."

Vidal nodded, looking expectantly at the familiar island. Although he had been there many times before, this time was special.

This time, he will take over the base there as the highest-ranking naval officer in the Sabaody Archipelago.

Since it's so special, it naturally needs to have a different form than usual!

In the Sabaody Archipelago, in District 30 where the Soap Bubble Park is located, a wide avenue has been cleared by marines. Countless tourists and residents have gathered around it, discussing what has happened.

However, many people noticed that huge image screens appeared in the sky, and the content of the images was the dock in District 31.

However, the area had been temporarily cleared by the navy. Apart from four warships guarding the left and right sides, there were no other ships. On the dock stood a group of officers and soldiers wearing Justice Coats, facing outwards from the island, seemingly waiting for someone to arrive.

In Sector 60, Vice Admiral Antoine stood at the entrance of Sector 69, which faced Sector 70, looking helplessly at the ranks of naval officers and government personnel standing around him.

Normally, according to past practice, the appointment and departure of the base commander only require a brief meeting at the port within the base. But who knew that Vidal would want to make a big fuss about it!

Not only was the landing point placed directly opposite Soap Bubble Park, but according to Colonel Noel, the plan was not to cross directly through District 10 and District Zero, but rather to bypass them from the lawless Large District 20 and Large District 70, where the Inn Street is located!

What's the intention behind this? Do we even need to think about it?

It's simply about going wherever there are lots of people! It's about going wherever there's excitement!

"This kid is not only greedy for money and power, and acts domineeringly, but now it seems he also has a penchant for being high-profile." Antoine Vice Admiral had no choice but to play along with Vidal's act. It wasn't that he couldn't refuse; in fact, he could have simply stayed out of it, since he had no obligation to do so.

But as a mature middle-aged man, I always felt there was no need to create a major conflict with Vidal at the last minute.

That's just Antoine's personality, or rather, he has too many concerns.

Especially after Vidal personally killed 'The Red the Aloof' a few days ago, he completely gave up the idea of fighting against him.

This guy is definitely a future Admiral; there's no need for me to cause a major conflict with him at this crucial moment just for a moment of pleasure.

"But thinking about it carefully, when has this kid ever been low-key? He snatched a piece of the cake from those guys as soon as he arrived and even regained control of the situation."

Thinking about all this, Antoine Vice Admiral couldn't help but admire Vidal's shrewd methods. Not to mention his younger self, even now as Vice Admiral, he wouldn't dare to do such a thing.

After weighing the pros and cons, he finally chose to stand here and silently wait for the arrival of the newly appointed base commander, Vidal.

"Young people these days are really getting more and more impressive!" Lieutenant Vice Admiral Antoine sighed inwardly. Just then, he heard music playing in his ear, which was completely unexpected.

Listen carefully, and you'll find that the sound isn't coming from a particular direction, but rather that the entire Sabaody Archipelago is playing this piece of music!

"This... this..."

Antoine Vice Admiral was stunned. Wasn't this a bit too much? It was just a handover of duties; did you really have to go this far?

A minute ago, at the port of District 31, the people gathered on both sides of the main road immediately saw the source of the music. It was those strong marines holding horns and lined up not far away. As soon as their horns sounded, the sounds of other instruments came from all directions, but these were obviously pre-recorded.

At the same time, on the screen projected into the air by the Image Den Den Mushi, a huge warship topped with an Oxhead slowly sailed in from the sea, accompanied by horns and music.

The music was so tense and solemn, as if some great crisis was about to unfold. Almost everyone, even the children who came to play, was forcibly silenced by this suffocating atmosphere.

People could even be seen subconsciously swallowing. At this moment, regardless of age, gender, or whether they were pirates or marines, there was complete silence, with only the latest instrumental piece that Vidal had given to Colonel Noel in advance in their ears.

Giant Fortress!

This piece, originally titled "Giant Fortress - Advance," was the background music used when the Three Admirals appeared during the Paramount War.

Ever since selling 'The Bible Future' to the Celestial Dragons, Vidal has been thinking about creating his own custom background music. Now, taking advantage of his official appointment as the head of the Sabaody Archipelago, he has finally decided on the track and is bringing it to the world stage.

"They're here!"

"That Oxhead... it's 'Ryokugyu,' Rear Admiral 'Ryokugyu' is coming!!"

In that instant, regardless of which faction you belonged to, all eyes were focused on the 'Oxhead Battleship'.

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Ding ding! Vidal officially became the commander of the Sabaody Archipelago Marine Base during the Spring Festival of 2021 (the Year of the Ox)! It's quite a coincidence, even the author didn't know this would happen. How amazing! But this is a very good omen!

Please use your votes to congratulate Vidal on his promotion to base commander!!

Forrest Vidal clasped his hands in a gesture of blessing to everyone watching on screen. "Wishing you all a prosperous Year of the Ox, smooth sailing in all your endeavors, good health for your families, and freedom from all illnesses!!"