Parting Ways

On the wide deck of a Marine warship.

Garen was dressed in a crisp white suit with smooth lines; his bulging muscles stretched the otherwise refined suit into a powerful, three-dimensional form.

Coupled with Garen's masculine and handsome face, he exuded a great deal of masculine charm.

The suit looked no different from those worn by ordinary elite professionals, and there was nothing particularly distinctive about it unless specifically pointed out. However, it was actually a formal dress uniformly issued to Marine Headquarters officers.

Wearing this white suit, paired with a Marine justice cloak, would make anyone look exceptionally dashing.

The original owner of this suit was none other than Captain Smoker of the Headquarters.

Smoker had always been a straightforward man who would casually throw on a motorcycle jacket and go out half-naked. He never bothered with such troublesome and cumbersome formal wear, so when his soldiers asked about it, he casually gave it to Garen.

Smoker was slightly taller than Garen, but their builds were roughly similar.

When Garen put on this already remarkable suit, he immediately displayed a dignified demeanor completely different from when he wore armor and wielded a greatsword, possessing both the masculinity of a warrior and the elegance of a gentleman.

There were so many strange and bizarre people in the sea that it was rare for a young woman like Nami to come into contact with a man of Garen's age who was so handsome and of decent character.

Standing next to Garen, Nami was unconsciously captivated. There were not many fantasies, just pure appreciation.

"Nami?"

Garen suddenly turned his head and called out Nami's name.

"What?"

Nami suddenly woke up, but did not show the slightest hint of panic.

"How old are you this year?"

Garen asked this somewhat personal question out of the blue.

"Sixteen."

Nami subconsciously answered, and after realizing it, a faint blush appeared on her usually calm face.

She pouted slightly, somewhat annoyed, and retorted, "Why are you asking?"

"Just asking."

Garen casually brushed off Nami, and then bluntly revealed his thoughts:

"You're so well-developed at sixteen..."

"You!"

Miss Nami simply ignored Garen's harassment and turned her head away in anger.

Garen, however, was secretly calculating the timeline--

He remembered that Nami was eighteen when she boarded Luffy's pirate ship in the original story;

And this year Nami was only sixteen, which meant that he should be two years, or less than two years, before the start of the original story.

No wonder Smoker had only just been dispatched to Loguetown to garrison.

Garen sorted out the timeline and then continued to watch a group of Marine logistics soldiers busily working on the deck, feeling bored.

They were assembling some kind of machinery to help Garen and the others change to a smaller ship.

After waiting for a long time, the Marine soldiers finally built a large device similar to a crane on the deck.

The scene that followed made Garen click his tongue in wonder:

The rear deck of the giant warship suddenly split open from the middle and slowly opened under the action of some kind of mechanism, eventually revealing the wide hold hidden under the deck.

The hold space was extremely large, like a large military depot.

And in this warehouse, a sailing ship that looked extremely petite compared to the Marine giant ship was quietly parked.

The newly assembled crane lowered hundreds of thick ropes, and under the operation of the Marine soldiers, they were tied to the hull one by one.

"Get on board!"

Smoker, with a smoking cigar in his mouth, said to his subordinates and the three of Garen.

The soldiers of the Marine Headquarters were all elites and future talent reserves of the Marines, so they would naturally not be dispatched in large numbers to the weakest sea, where nothing major ever happened.

Therefore, the elite direct line that Captain Smoker brought from the Marine Headquarters was actually only thirty people.

He needed to go to the Loguetown Marine Base to receive the East Blue Headquarters garrison from the outgoing garrison officer to complete the remaining establishment of his subordinates as a captain officer.

This was also the reason why Smoker decided to go to Loguetown first to change defenses and hand over before going to Cocoyasi Village to suppress the bandits.

After the thirty-odd people, including Garen and his party, boarded the small ship, it was crowded.

Before Garen could start expressing his feelings, the pulley block started to rotate slowly, and the huge boom pulled hundreds of traction ropes, suspending the ship parked in the warehouse, and finally gently placed it on the sea like dumplings.

Before long, a small sea ship was "proliferated" from Garp's giant warship.

Standing on this petite sea ship, Garen looked up at the giant warship like a sea mountain next to him.

The contrast between the two was like a grandson meeting his grandfather.

"Smoker..."

Garen couldn't help but complain:

"Are the benefits really that different between Marine officers?"

"Your flagship as a Marine Headquarters Captain doesn't even have an anchor as big as Vice Admiral Garp's warship."

Two veins instantly popped out on Smoker's forehead.

He didn't say anything, but the light on his cigar suddenly brightened a bit.

"Garen-senpai..."

Tashigi didn't notice her superior's ugly expression and stepped forward proactively.

Garen found it a bit strange:

This unfamiliar beautiful swordswoman was exceptionally respectful towards him, and even used the term "senpai" when addressing him.

Tashigi earnestly explained to Garen:

"Actually, what we're riding isn't a standard Marine warship at all, but a regular civilian armed vessel."

"A Marine Headquarters Captain-level ship should be a third-rate warship with a double-layered combat deck and capable of carrying 60 cannons."

"It's just that Captain Smoker was dispatched to the East Blue, a territory that has always been peaceful, and..."

Smoker's face became even more gloomy, the White Smoke Hunter instantly turning into a Gray Smog Hunter.

"And what?"

Garen didn't care about Smoker's attitude; after all, he was a man who could go toe-to-toe with Garp.

Tashigi paused, but still told the sword master she admired about her superior's glorious achievements:

"When Captain Smoker was at Marine Headquarters, he had a few fights with his superiors in the logistics department."

Tashigi became more engrossed as she spoke, adding even more colorful details on her own:

"Actually, the scale of our garrison wasn't just thirty people at first, but..."

Before she could finish, Smoker's dark face blocked Tashigi's view.

"Ugh..."

Without Tashigi finishing, Garen could guess what Smoker had done.

He probably understood why Smoker was arranged to be the security chief in the East Blue countryside:

This kind of capable but hot-tempered guy really needed to be sent down to the grassroots to temper himself.

"Captain Smoker should be the future head of the Loguetown Marine Base, right?"

Listening to Garen and Tashigi's discussion, Wallace suddenly asked a nonsensical question.

"That's right!"

Smoker himself answered, as he was standing not far from Garen and the others, smoking a cigar into the wind.

"In that case, if Garen-sama wants to exchange the bounty..."

Wallace suddenly said meaningfully:

"You can just exchange it here with Captain Smoker, right?"

"That's right!"

Garen's eyes lit up: wasn't the NPC he was preparing to go to for the bounty reward standing right next to him?

Nami's eyes were also shining with golden light; she had long wanted to exchange the heads in that box for real cash.

"Wait..."

Smoker said in a deep voice:

"I don't have any cash on this ship."

"A Marine Captain doesn't have any money on him?"

Garen showed a disdainful expression without any politeness.

"Actually, the Marines should have reserve funds with them when they set sail, but..."

Tashigi popped up again at the right time, explaining Smoker's great achievements to Garen.

Smoker was so angry that white smoke came out of his head, the kind that really came out.

Tashigi had to avoid her superior's gloomy gaze and explained in a low voice:

"If you want to exchange the bounty, you can only wait until we reach Loguetown and complete the handover with the previous garrison commander."

"Alright."

Garen didn't have any objections; anyway, there was less than a day's voyage left to Loguetown, so there was no need to be too anxious.

"The garrison commander of Loguetown?"

Wallace muttered to himself in a strange tone.

"What is it?"

Tashigi asked strangely.

"It's nothing."

Wallace shook his head again, saying with a meaningful tone, "Nothing should happen."

The small boats, fully loaded with the Loguetown garrison, finally unfurled their sails, and Smoker and the other Marines stood on the deck, saluting Vice Admiral Garp on the giant warship.

Garen also waved goodbye to Garp, who had been quite friendly to him, as they parted ways.

The two ships finally moved away from each other, heading in completely different directions.

"That clown Buggy..."

"He actually became Garp's sidekick."

Garen recalled the clown Buggy he had seen during the farewell, and a strange, bizarre feeling arose in his heart.

Buggy had his hair tied back in a neat blue ponytail, and he had changed into a Marine's white shirt and Justice cloak, giving him an unexpectedly righteous air.

"Haha... who cares!"

Nami, however, revealed a relaxed smile and said nonchalantly:

"Luckily, that red-nose is a bit slow on the uptake; he didn't ask us for his treasure in the end."

"Huh?"

Garen was slightly stunned, then remembered that he had extorted a lot of money from a newly appointed Marine officer.

"How much did we make this time?"

Garen immediately moved closer to Nami, eagerly discussing the division of spoils.

"A huge profit!"

Nami's face was filled with happiness and satisfaction, with the golden light of Beli dancing between her brows:

"That big red-nose is different from the penniless Steel Cutlass; there were eight million Beli worth of treasures in that big box alone."

"And I carefully appraised the jewelry and jade in that small box; if we sell it all, we can get thirty million Beli!"

The excitement in Nami's voice grew stronger, and she began to calculate the accounts in front of Garen:

"Plus the twenty-five million bounty we can get after going to Loguetown..."

"In just two days, we've earned a total of sixty-three million Beli!"

Nami had never imagined such a rapid way to make money.

Following behind Garen, that big oaf, she had earned assets in two days that would have taken her four or five years of hard work to accumulate.

"Wait..."

Garen noticed something was wrong: "Where did the twenty-five million bounty come from?"

"What do you mean, where did it come from?"

Nami had already calculated this number in her mind and happily recalled it countless times:

"Steel Cutlass is ten million, and the clown..."

The smile on Nami's face suddenly stopped.

Nami, who had just been happy and elated that the stupid red-nose hadn't asked her for his money, instantly put on a look of heartache:

"Fifteen million..."

"It's gone."