Rear Admiral Austin's Day Trip to Marine Headquarters

Marine Headquarters, Marineford!

Captain Dick's patrol warship slowly returned and dropped anchor at the port.

Ignoring Dick, who was searching everywhere for the esteemed guest's whereabouts, Austin's figure slowly disappeared into the warship without anyone noticing.

Strolling on the grounds of Marine Headquarters, Austin walked leisurely with his hands in his pockets, as if he had returned home.

"So this is Marineford, and there really are many powerful individuals here."

Within Austin's exaggerated Observation Haki range, inside the central Headquarters building, there were several presences comparable to Rayleigh and Captain Roger.

If it came down to a real fight, Austin wouldn't gain much advantage. After all, Garp, Sengoku, and the others should still be at Marine Headquarters.

However, Austin had no intention of causing trouble.

Austin's plan this time was to find a warship heading to Impel Down to imprison criminals, sneak aboard discreetly, and then meet Captain Roger.

Marineford was not far from the underwater prison Impel Down, and it was also the region with the largest and most elite Marine presence. The number of pirates captured there was naturally enormous.

Therefore, the ship he boarded didn't necessarily have to be one that transported major criminals.

After all, the criminals on the first and second levels of Impel Down were mostly minor figures with bounties in the tens of millions of Belly. There was no need for an Admiral to escort them every time or for the warden to supervise.

Scanning the vicinity of the naval port with his Observation Haki, Austin didn't find any ships transporting criminals.

He decided to wait. Austin didn't believe that such a massive Marine Headquarters wouldn't have a single ship heading to Impel Down.

Although breaking into Impel Down by force was an option, having the Marines facilitate his passage would undoubtedly make the journey much easier, much like how King Luffy hid among the Empress's robes.

If all else failed, he would just have to warp in using brute force.

With that thought, he began to wander around Marineford.

Perhaps it was because after disembarking, he had ruffled his hair a couple of times, resulting in a fringe now.

As he walked, instead of being met with shouts of "attack" and "kill" from the Marines, he received many salutes.

"Good afternoon, Rear Admiral!"

"Hello." Austin looked down at the small soldier beside him and nodded.

This was the tenth soldier who had saluted him.

Was this what the One Piece World was like? Everyone was all muscle and no brain. They completely failed to recognize him just because he changed his hairstyle and clothes.

Strolling on this island, which was considered a forbidden zone by pirates worldwide, Austin found that it wasn't a giant military base like in the manga.

Rather, the formal workplace for the Marines' operations was only a part of Marineford.

In addition to that, there were many Marine families, residential areas for ordinary citizens, apartment buildings, markets, restaurants, taverns...

With Marine Headquarters nearby, this place was arguably the most livable city for ordinary people that Austin had ever seen.

Unlike other countries or islands, no matter how prosperous they were, they could easily turn into a living hell if a slightly more brutal Great Pirate appeared.

As evening approached, In a restaurant in the residential area, many Marines who had finished their shifts or duties came in groups, arm in arm.

While eating dinner, they also ordered several barrels of beer and drank heartily.

"Gulp gulp... Ahhh! So refreshing!!" The small soldier, wearing a Marine tank top, finished a whole barrel of beer in one go and let out a sigh, a look of extreme satisfaction on his face.

They chatted, complaining about the recent high intensity of their work.

"This is the only time we have to relax in a day. It's exhausting!"

"There's no helping it, is there? There's only a little over a week left until Pirate King Roger's execution. The Headquarters has ordered a full lockdown..."

"Tch... If you ask me, there's no need to be so tense. Pirate King, my foot. Wasn't he captured by Vice Admiral Garp? We have the Marine Hero on our side!"

A group of soldiers were discussing current events, bragging, and freely complaining. After drinking a couple more cups, they even started to criticize the Headquarters' orders.

Just as one Marine was about to say something more, a soldier who had been drinking nearby casually glanced towards the restaurant entrance. Suddenly, as if seeing something unbelievable, he spat out a mouthful of beer.

The soldier who got sprayed with beer was unhappy.

"What are you doing..."

"Shut up!!!"

Before his companion could finish speaking, this guy immediately stood up in a standard military posture, sweat beading on his forehead as he stared straight ahead.

Perhaps seeing that his companions were still bewildered, he had no choice but to shout:

"Good afternoon, Rear Admiral!!!"

"Huh?!?!"

Upon hearing this, even the slowest person realized what was happening. A group of soldiers hurriedly stood up, not even bothering about their overturned stools, and assumed a standard military posture.

We're doomed, doomed, doomed, doomed...

Cold sweat streamed down all the soldiers' faces.

They had spoken ill of Headquarters' orders and were caught red-handed by a Rear Admiral. They probably wouldn't be charged with undermining morale, right...

Especially the one who had just drunk alcohol and was shouting the loudest, he was regretting it deeply right now.

And standing before them, The so-called Rear Admiral who ran to the residential area's restaurant to eat instead of going to the officers' mess hall, It could only be Austin.

"Uh..."

He was speechless. He had just come to eat, how could he run into this.

"Um, you guys eat your food, don't mind me."

"Ah... Yes!!!"

Seeing that Austin had no intention of paying attention to them and instead walked directly to the counter to order, then sat by the window to watch the scenery, The soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously sat down.

Only after confirming that Austin really had no intention of causing them trouble did they finally relax and continue eating.

"Thank goodness, we met a lenient superior, that's great~"

"Yeah, I thought we were definitely going to be punished. I heard some generals are very strict, like Rear Admiral Sakazuki."

"But, after staying at Headquarters for so many years, I don't think I've ever seen this Rear Admiral before, strange..."

"What are you talking about? I just feel like this general looks very familiar, as if I just saw him not long ago."

"Right, right, I have that feeling too. It's like I saw him somewhere not long ago, but I just can't remember where."

As the few of them chatted, Austin heard everything they said, without missing a single word.

Perhaps they had seen his bounty poster, Austin guessed.

However, their perception had been misled from the start. They were projecting their familiarity with him onto his Marine identity, so naturally, they couldn't find a corresponding person.

But, even a small figure like me has already entered the public's view?

The New Era that Captain Roger started is truly having a profound impact