Zephyr and the Rookie Camp

Another day passed, and the Flying Pirates finally found a source of raw materials.

Although the Flying Pirates rarely interacted with the sea below, their contact was not entirely nonexistent. With things like Den Den Mushi, gathering information was not difficult even from tens of thousands of meters in the air.

"Found it. This should be the native source of the Mandora Fruit, and it is also the most important blending agent in the entire formula." Dr. Indigo held an enormous telescope as he looked down at the sea from the peak of the Floating Island.

"Jihahahahaha! Excellent! I'll go bring the island up right now! Once that's done, we can expand production and modify all those little ones. The first step toward ruling the world is about to begin!"

Golden Lion was in quite a good mood and prepared to head down.

"Wait, Lord Shiki. There seem to be ships near the island below. They should be Marine vessels! Should we avoid them?" Dr. Indigo took another careful look before speaking.

"Marine vessels?" A trace of nostalgia entered Golden Lion's voice. "There is no need to avoid them anymore. I will openly tell those Marines that Golden Lion has completely returned."

Back then, whether to carry out his "great plan to destroy the East Blue" or simply because of his brain injury, Golden Lion had always acted cautiously and had never drawn the Marines' attention. Now that he had recovered, Golden Lion would no longer be so careful.

Minos, standing nearby, vaguely felt that something was wrong, especially when Golden Lion said that he had returned.

There is probably a real monster hidden aboard that Marine ship... Otherwise, it wouldn't have triggered my danger sense.

However, Minos was not afraid. Golden Lion was right in front of him, wasn't he?

Among the Marines' upper ranks, practically everyone had their own ship. It was impossible for two Admirals to share one vessel. In other words, even if Golden Lion dragged that ship up here, at most one top-tier fighter would appear. Under those circumstances, his safety should still be guaranteed.

A moment later, Golden Lion descended to the sea and activated his ability. The entire island began rising steadily, becoming part of his Floating Island group. The Marine ship was dragged up as well and tossed directly onto the island.

"Jihahahahaha! Let me see which lucky Marine I've caught!"

Golden Lion laughed as he walked toward the ship, now stranded on shore. Then, with a boom, the entire deck of the Marine vessel suddenly exploded. A cannonball the size of a human head slammed into him with another boom and detonated completely.

Could that be Garp? Minos gripped his weapon as he silently guessed, watching the bomb being hurled by hand.

"Golden Lion, you bastard! You're actually still alive!" Amid a powerful roar, a Marine officer with purple hair, a muscular body, and a white Justice coat draped over his back stepped out. Thick, pitch-black Armament Haki covered his wrists.

"Jihahahahaha! So it's Zephyr! Where's your old ship? Why did you switch to a ship like this?"

The smoke from the explosion gradually dispersed, revealing an entirely unharmed Golden Lion. That cannonball had appeared to strike him directly, but it had actually been split in two by Golden Lion before reaching him. Combined with the protection of his Armament Haki, Golden Lion naturally suffered no injury at all.

"Hmph." Zephyr snorted coldly, a flicker of anger passing through his eyes. Golden Lion's words had struck right at his wound.

Marine Admirals, and even some powerful Vice Admirals with great seniority, possessed their own customized ships. Just as Garp had his own dog-headed vessel, Zephyr was naturally no exception.

But that had been when he was still on the front lines. Later, after Zephyr's family was killed by pirates, he withdrew from active duty and turned to teaching, becoming a Marine Instructor.

Naturally, after leaving the front lines, he could no longer use his heavily armed personal modified warship. Nowadays, Zephyr generally used training ships when going to sea, ships that looked no different from the vessels used by ordinary colonels.

That was why Golden Lion had failed to recognize him at first. Since it was a small warship used by a colonel, Golden Lion had not even used Observation Haki.

Golden Lion's words made Zephyr think of his dead family again, and his expression turned extremely grim. "I thought that after escaping from prison, you had died somewhere unknown! I never expected you to appear again after lying low for ten years... Wait!"

Zephyr looked at Golden Lion's intact body and the absence of a rudder on his head, his eyes widening. "You... you actually recovered from your injuries!"

Although Zephyr had not witnessed Golden Lion's injuries firsthand, he had heard about them. Both the severed legs and the rudder embedded in his head had been extremely serious injuries. It would not have been strange for Golden Lion to suddenly die at any time.

That was also why Marine Headquarters had not been particularly puzzled by Golden Lion's absence over the past decade. In their eyes, that Great Pirate from the previous era had likely died quietly in some forgotten corner long ago.

Yet now, Zephyr discovered that Golden Lion had not only survived, but had recovered from all his injuries. Judging by his bearing, he seemed even stronger than he had been at his peak.

"This really is troublesome," Zephyr muttered.

Ever since his family's death, Zephyr had become dispirited after retiring to the second line, and his strength had declined considerably. He had assumed that Golden Lion, riddled with old injuries, would be in even worse condition than himself. He had never expected Golden Lion to have fully recovered, and worry could not help rising in his heart.

He was not worried about himself. He was already an old man, and with his whole family dead, he had nothing left to cling to.

But his students...

"Instructor Zephyr! We're here to help you!" At that moment, a group of Marine soldiers poured out from the cabin. Although they wore Marine uniforms, their bearing was completely different from that of ordinary soldiers.

Of course, these people were not regular Marine soldiers. They were reserve officers from the Marine Training Camp, the cream of this class of Marines.

Perhaps they would become the pillars of the Marines in the future, but that could not change the fact that they were currently only a group of somewhat stronger cannon fodder.

Seeing his students behind him, Zephyr's expression became extremely ugly, while Golden Lion could not help bursting into loud laughter.

"Zephyr, do you expect these little brats behind you to help you defeat me?!"

At their current level, they might not even be able to defeat the ragtag bunch under Golden Lion's command. Not one of them had even awakened Armament Haki. In a battle between Zephyr and Golden Lion, they would not only be unable to help, but would become a burden instead.