Sending Borsalino Off
Marines Second Division, Marineford.
In the yard of Teacher Zephyr's house, Ortolan was helping to water the flowers and plants.
Not far from him, Teacher Zephyr, dressed in coarse linen clothes, looked like an old farmer and was turning over the soil. The two of them, teacher and student, were busy and happy.
"We devised so many plans, but in the end, the Roger Pirates disbanded. What a mess! All those meetings over the past few days have been wasted." Ortolan chuckled as he watered the plants.
"Indeed, no one expected this. There must have been some unexpected event," Zephyr said with some emotion as he planted a sapling in the ground.
"They didn't try to capture Roger Pirates when they first came here, but now that they've been reduced to a few scattered pieces, they're even harder to find. As for this unexpected turn of events, who knows?" Ortolan picked up a bucket of water and shook his head.
"Let's not talk about their business anymore, it has nothing to do with you." Zephyr smiled.
Indeed, it had nothing to do with Ortolan; none of the missions related to Roger fell to him.
After laughing, Zephyr asked Yu, "I heard you're going to conquer the South Blue soon?"
"Well, regarding the matter of the students, intelligence indicates that their whereabouts may appear in the South Blue," Ortolan said.
"Although I trust your abilities, and the South Blue isn't a particularly dangerous place, you still need to be careful in everything you do. Before you act, think carefully about whether there are any oversights. Don't be too lazy to do academic things. You've done a really good job." Teacher Zephyr patiently advised her.
"Ai-yi." Ortolan agreed with a smile.
He poured the water from the bucket under a flowering tea tree and exclaimed, "This tree is really growing well; it's obvious that you, teacher, often take care of it."
Teacher Zephyr turned to look at the camellia tree, her expression slightly somber, and said softly, "That's the tree that Mick planted with me when he was two years old. I originally hoped that he could grow up healthy like this tree. If he hadn't caused all those troubles back then, he would probably be watering it for me now, right?"
Ortolan paused for a moment, a hint of sadness appearing in his eyes. Mick, the son of Teacher Zephyr, had tragically perished.
Ortolan had known about this matter for a long time. At that time, he had no feelings for Zephyr, so he didn't feel anything. But now, hearing Teacher Zephyr's words, he felt a little sad.
"I'm sorry, teacher..." Ortolan said with some self-reproach.
"What are you apologizing for? It has nothing to do with you. I've already dealt with those pirates." Zephyr shook his head and said softly.
After a brief pause, Zephyr's eyes still held a hint of gloom. "Perhaps..."
However, he did not finish his sentence, and Ortolan did not press him for details.
The incident Teacher Zephyr is indeed very strange. The Marines' living quarters were attacked by pirates, which sounds incredibly absurd. Even Golden Lion would have fallen here, and Newgate would have died in this place. Yet, a random group of pirates were able to infiltrate and attack the living quarters, accurately killing Teacher Zephyr's family. How can this not be outrageous?
It's highly unlikely that there's no problem behind this.
So many people, including Sengoku and Garp, have done a thorough investigation for Zephyr, but they haven't found anything in the end, which is very strange.
Some things are better left unsaid, but Ortolan also suspected that the World Government might be behind this.
Presumably, Teacher Zephyr also had his suspicions, but he couldn't find any evidence and was worried that it might be a frame-up. His unfounded suspicions and falling out with the World Government only made him the target of those schemers' expectations.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Teacher Zephyr started to criticize the Marines for not putting in the effort after that?
They neither trusted the World Government nor turned against it, thus finding a middle ground.
Ortolan thought to himself that when he had the chance in the future, he would help Teacher Zephyr investigate this matter thoroughly and see if he could find any clues.
Firstly, it's to repay Teacher Zephyr for his guidance and care. Secondly, if there really is something fishy about the righteous government of the world, then we can use this as an excuse to establish our own independent entity with Teacher Zephyr at the right time.
Without continuing on this sad topic, the two quickly shifted their focus to other matters concerning the Marines.
"How are the freshmen this year?" Ortolan asked with a smile.
Teacher Zephyr waved his hand and said, "Although they're all pretty good, they're definitely not as impressive as your class. I think it will take another three years to accumulate enough elites like you..."
After a pause, Teacher Zephyr continued, "But it's alright, I had already anticipated this. This is the normal situation. It would be strange if several geniuses like you, Gion, Tokikake appeared every year. Even if they were all elites like Momonga, it would still be absurd... That's why we need to hold several sessions to accumulate more experience so that we can officially establish this training camp as a military academy in the future."
"I think the commander-in-chief still agrees with this plan," Ortolan nodded.
Teacher Zephyr has accumulated a lot of experience. Before the training camp started, he ran a tutoring class. He trained Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan. Now he has a group of elites including Ortolan, Gion, Tokikake, and Momonga. After running two or three more sessions, the experience should be enough for the military academy to open.
At that time, Teacher Zephyr's prestige within the Marines will gradually reach its peak, which will also be a good thing for Ortolan.
Not long after, after helping Teacher Zephyr settle the situation in the courtyard, Ortolan took his leave. Teacher Zephyr didn't try to stop him, patted him on the shoulder, and saw him off.
Leaving the living area and returning to the Fortress of Justice, Ortolan soon arrived at Borsalino's office.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Borsalino packing his things, looking like he was about to move.
In fact, he is indeed moving. Borsalino will be settling in Punk Hazard to oversee the establishment of the Marine Science Unit. It is estimated that he will stay there for a long time unless there are any major developments.
Judging from his expectant expression, you can tell that this guy must have wanted to go there to slack off for a long time.
"Why are you laughing so happily?" Ortolan teased as he entered.
"After leaving the 2nd Division, I'm the head of the Science Unit myself. I don't have to be bossed around all the time anymore. And with someone as capable as you taking over my work under Admiral Sengoku, I doubt Admiral Sengoku will be coming to give me assignments so often. I'll have a much easier time, so of course I'm happy." Borsalino said without any attempt to hide his lazy and carefree attitude.
"Tsk..." Ortolan clicked his tongue, glanced at Borsalino with displeasure, and then said, "There's something I need you to find out for me."
"Go ahead," Borsalino agreed without hesitation.
"Didn't we talk about this when we went on the mission before? Dr. Vegapunk are working on that... life blueprint, Lineage Factor technology and stuff," Ortolan said.
"That's right, but let's make this clear first: if you want me to do anything dangerous, don't even ask." Borsalino paused for a moment, then quickly said.
"No, you know about my health problem. What I mean is, when you have some free time, could you ask Dr. Vegapunk if his techniques can solve my condition? If he could help me solve this problem, wouldn't that be a huge blessing?" Ortolan glanced at Borsalino and said.
"That's no problem," Borsalino said with a smile. "I'll ask around for you later and see if there's any way."
"Thank you very much. I'll treat you to dinner when you have time," Ortolan said with a smile.
"Don't wait, come and help me pack my things, I'm in a hurry to get on the ship." Borsalino directly chose to use Ortolan as a laborer.
Ortolan didn't refuse and stepped forward to help pack the documents on the table into boxes, jokingly saying, "I think you're rushing off to your wonderful life, aren't you?"
The two laughed and chatted about interesting matters, quickly finishing up the matter. Ortolan then took the opportunity to send Borsalino on his way.