Chapter 10

The ship was ablaze with lights, and cups clinked amid laughter.

"Everyone, let's hic... raise a toast to Brother Longinus, hic... cheers!" Louis, drunk and unsteady, slung an arm around Longinus's shoulder and shouted loudly, revealing a side completely at odds with his usual calm dignity. Standing beside them, Hina covered her flushed face in embarrassment, looking as though she did not know her own father.

"Hahaha! Drink... To Brother Longinus... to General Louis... to Captain Jacks..."

"Today... I'm really so happy! Not only did we foil the enemy's plot, but we... we also got to know a future pillar of the Marines like Brother Longinus!"

The people around them joined in the raucous cheering. Some were so drunk they collapsed onto the floor, only to suddenly raise the hand clutching their cups as if resurrected from the dead, then giggle foolishly as they poured liquor over their own faces.

Longinus's mouth twitched speechlessly. He had always kept his distance from alcohol. He disliked the feeling of losing control, since that would put both him and the people around him in danger.

Fortunately, his childish face provided excellent cover, keeping these drunkards from pressuring him too much. Besides, Longinus knew that these drunks were merely looking for an excuse to open their hearts and drink to their fill. It was not as if they truly needed him specifically.

"I... I'm not drunk. Bring me another bottle..." Longinus tossed Louis, whose face looked like that of a zombie, onto the bed. Louis still struggled desperately against the bedclothes' seal, but as a magical artifact possessing powerful sealing properties, the bedclothes were not something he could easily escape. Louis's voice soon grew inaudible, and he fell into a deep sleep.

"Hina feels so ashamed to have caused you so much trouble, Big Brother Longinus!" Hina stood prettily to one side, her little face flushed as her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes.

Hearing that familiar catchphrase, Longinus instantly confirmed that this little girl of about ten was the same dashing and graceful female Marine she would become more than twenty years later.

"It's nothing." Longinus smiled and shook his head before walking outside.

Hina hurried after him in tiny steps and asked curiously, "Big Brother Longinus, Hina really wants to know, how did you manage to tame the Sea Kings?"

"Submitting to a strong individual is the instinct of every living creature. The Sea Kings are no exception." Longinus delivered his nonsense with a solemn expression.

"Oh! Hina understands. It was your overwhelming strength that made them too afraid to resist." Admiration sparkled in Hina's eyes. "But Big Brother Longinus is really amazing. I heard Dad say that Sea Kings are extremely ferocious creatures. Even the Fish-Men in the ocean don't dare provoke them lightly."

"Of course. Only powerful strength can protect peace. It is precisely for that reason that I intend to become a Marine who upholds the ideals of justice!" Longinus's Kind Personality came out in full. Like a gentle older brother, he placed a hand on Hina's head. "Have you ever thought about what you want to do in the future, Hina?"

A little girl of only ten naturally had no grand ambitions. She merely felt that the big brother's palm was warm, and answered in a crisp, sweet voice, "Hina also wants to become a Marine like Big Brother Longinus. If... if I can become a Marine, I won't be restricted to just one country or one island. I'll be able to travel freely across this beautiful sea."

"The Marines may not be as wonderful as you imagine. They are both a restraint and a responsibility. Once you take on those two names, you will often find yourself unable to act according to your own wishes."

"Then why does Big Brother Longinus still want to become a Marine?" Hina tilted her head. She did not entirely understand what Longinus meant, but somehow felt that his words made a great deal of sense.

"Killing someone may require a reason, but where is the need for a reason to help someone?" Longinus said with a smile. In this personality state, every word he spoke carried pure goodwill.

The next morning, Louis appeared as though nothing had happened. The moment he saw Longinus, he burst into laughter. "Brother Longinus, I heard from Hina that you're planning to enlist at the Marines G2 Branch?"

Longinus smiled kindly. "Yes. I hope I can succeed!"

"Brother Longinus, excessive modesty is just another form of pride. In my view, with your strength, it would be no difficult feat for you to be appointed a colonel directly." Louis spoke with complete sincerity.

Longinus shook his head. He knew very well that although the Marines were, at their core, a place where strength spoke for itself—for example, more than twenty years later, Fujitora and Ryokugyu would be promoted directly to Marine Admirals despite having no accomplishments or military merits—that was built on their monstrous strength and the unprecedented weakness of the Marines at the time.

His own strength was still far from enough to make the Marines break their rules for him. What was more, three monsters were steadily rising within the Marines. With the situation improving so rapidly, he could only start from the bottom.

Of course, the Marine high command was not foolish. They knew what kind of terrible impact Roger's final words before his execution would have on the coming era. That was why they had begun a new World Military Draft. They desperately needed more mid- and high-ranking personnel to fill the vacancies.

Under these circumstances, anyone with strength and talent could rise through the ranks far faster than before. Longinus had chosen to join the Marines at this time precisely because it would give him more avenues for promotion.

If he wanted to make use of Marine resources to find Demi as quickly as possible, he had to demonstrate his value as fully as he could, even becoming a model figure within the Marines.

Longinus knew very well that the saying about how a tree that rises above the forest will be battered by the wind was not wrong. But if one did not even have the courage to face the raging winds alone, it would be even more impossible to grow into a forest.

"Let me make one more joke. If you ever become dissatisfied with the Marines, the gates of the Hisca Kingdom will always be open to you. Although our Hisca Kingdom cannot compare with a superpower like Alabasta in influence over Lodestar Island, throughout the first half of the Grand Line, we are still a World Government-affiliated nation with considerable influence."

Longinus merely treated those words as something to listen to. Unless it was a top-ranked power like Elbaf or Wano Country, a nation's strength was utterly incapable of standing against the Marines and the Government.

Even any moderately powerful pirate could overthrow a royal family. As for the Guardian Deity of a superpower like Alabasta, at most, it was merely on the level of a pirate with a bounty of twenty or thirty million. Under such circumstances, Longinus would have to be an idiot to join a national power.

"Dad~" Hina drawled unhappily. "Big Brother Longinus is going to become a Marine Admiral. Who would want that Guardian Deity position in your kingdom?"

"Ahem, ahem..." Louis began coughing violently. He muttered aggrievedly, "My little princess, could you at least leave your dad some dignity in front of outsiders?"

"No way! You can't even beat a pirate with a bounty of twenty-four million! Dad, you're so embarrassing!"

"A strategic retreat doesn't count as losing." Louis's face flushed as he defended himself. "When it comes to war... can that really be called losing?"