Vidal, Send Money

Hearing Vidal say that, Issho immediately picked up the conversation.

"This time, besides coming to fight you as agreed, I also wanted to ask you to come with me to Alabasta."

"Why?"

Vidal picked a piece of fruit from a tree that had just grown beside him and ate it as he looked over in confusion.

"Because I think your ability could help Alabasta." Issho's gaze grew distant as he recalled the past.

"The people there are kind, warm, and able to endure hardship and hard work, even though they often face invasions of yellow sand."

"But every time, they smile as they sweep everything clean, inside and out, even if they have to do it three, four, or even five times a day."

"Even so, I've seen villages buried by sandstorms overnight, and scenes where fierce winds swept away people and livestock, even houses along with them."

"Prince Nefertari Cobra has fallen to his knees on the sand and gravel, wailing and weeping, more than once. Then he joined the royal army and the people in finding the bodies buried in the sand and giving them proper burials."

At that point, Issho turned his gaze to Vidal and said, "This country has a good ruler, good nobles, and good people. Only its climate and environment are major problems."

"I want to help them, but my ability isn't enough. Yours is, though, so I'd like to ask you to find time to visit and take a look. It would be best if you could meet Prince Cobra."

Vidal fell silent for a moment, then said, "I can't go anytime soon. You know I have to leave for Marineford next month."

Disappointment appeared on Issho's face, but then his friend continued, "Besides, with my current ability, I could only make a small patch of woodland there at most."

"But if my strength improves in the special training camp, or I even awaken my fruit ability, that would be a different story."

"Completely changing the terrain of Alabasta isn't very realistic. After all, it's more of a continent than an island."

"But I think turning a third of the desert into an oasis shaded by trees should be doable, or planting a windbreak forest outside the major cities, something like that."

At those words, a light of hope flickered in Issho's eyes again. That was just the kind of person he was, always thinking about making life better for people.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Vidal nodded.

In the future, Sakazuki and Kuzan's battle would turn Punk Hazard in the New World into a permanent island of ice and fire.

Punk Hazard was a large island in its own right. Presumably, if Vidal reached Admiral-level strength someday, turning an island like that into a forest island wouldn't be difficult either.

After talking with Issho about Alabasta for so long, he had also come up with many ideas related to it.

His ultimate goal was to take complete control of the Marines, so he had to free himself from dependence on the World Government to a certain extent.

That was especially important when it came to finances and outside support.

Alabasta was comparable in scale to one of the "five permanent members" of this world. If he could establish an exceptionally good and close partnership with it...

"Then how long will it take you to awaken?" Issho asked. Vidal rolled his eyes, at a loss for words, and replied, "How should I know?"

"Didn't I tell you before? Awakening a fruit ability isn't something you can achieve through training alone. It also takes the right opportunity and a bit of luck."

Issho opened his mouth, thinking, Then what you said before isn't reliable. Something like luck...

"Still, by the time I become a Marine Admiral, I expect my fruit ability will have awakened."

With that, Vidal glanced at him and asked irritably, "Or do you think I can't become an Admiral?"

"Not at all." Issho shook his head thoughtfully. In his eyes, Vidal's talent was absolutely among the best.

"But wouldn't it take decades to become an Admiral?"

"Just about..." Vidal felt awkward. As he recalled, Borsalino was still a Vice Admiral at forty-six.

Still, this really was a serious problem worth considering. He didn't want to be nearly fifty and still a Vice Admiral. He had to think of a way around that.

Zephyr had been promoted to Admiral at thirty-eight, which meant that being over forty wasn't a requirement. That was a relief.

"How about this? When you get back, find a chance to tell Prince Cobra."

"Once I graduate from the special training camp, I'll go to Alabasta and make them a windbreak belt first."

"Then how long will you be in this special training camp?" Issho asked.

"Not long. My father said it's a one-year program." Vidal lay lazily in his chair, gazing at the beautiful Milky Way.

Actually, he also thought a one-year program was odd. How much could anyone learn in a year?

He thought two or three years would make more sense, but unfortunately, he was nobody right now and could only obediently follow the Marines' rules.

But if it was a one-year program, Admiral Zephyr's seniority would be staggering. He would be forty-two next year, and according to the original story's timeline, he kept teaching until he was sixty-five.

That meant he had trained a full twenty-three classes of Marine elites. It was no exaggeration to say that twenty-three years from now, nearly eighty to ninety percent of the senior officers at Marine Headquarters, from Commodore upward, would be his students!

With that prestige, seniority, and experience, plus Admiral-level strength, even if he was a little weaker than Sengoku, he would have no trouble competing for the position of Fleet Admiral.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fated for it.

It was precisely because he had seen all this that he had previously taken precious time away from training to work on promoting the so-called Konoha Squad and three-three tactics.

After all, his future rivals for the Fleet Admiral position were those two, Sakazuki and Kuzan. He was preparing for a rainy day.

"That's great!"

"But let me make one thing clear first. I'm not helping Alabasta for free. They'll have to pay," Vidal suddenly said in a leisurely tone.

"You need money?"

Issho found it strange. For people as strong as them, money was optional, let alone for someone from a family like Vidal's.

"I do. Desperately." Vidal nodded emphatically.

"So when you talk to the prince, you'd better prepare him. The amount I'm charging won't be small, and they'll have to pay it once every year."

"And if I make them an oasis later, they'll have to pay me separately for that too."

"How much are you going to charge?" Issho frowned. He couldn't imagine what Vidal needed so much money for.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll decide when the time comes." Seeing that something was off with Issho's expression, Vidal laughed.

"Heh, don't worry. Even if I collect the money, I won't take it right away. I'll leave it in Alabasta's hands for safekeeping."

"But whenever I need it, they'll have to hand it over without making a fuss. I'll tell them that myself when the time comes."

"So that's it." Issho felt he understood.

Vidal wasn't really going to take the money. He was only helping through a transaction like this to spare Alabasta's pride.

But this time, he had it completely wrong. Vidal really would collect the money; he just wouldn't readily use it for several years, or even ten or twenty years.

The editor said all the recommendation slots for this week have already been filled, so I can only wait until next week. I hope I get a recommendation next week, and that it does a little better. When will my bookmarks reach a thousand? They aren't even at 500 yet. As of now, there are 498.