Target: Water 7, New Warship!

Inside the Zephyr Training Camp.

"Water 7."

In the dormitory room, Luo Yi, who had just finished a day of training, murmured to himself about the information he had recently received from Dragon.

The fruit he needed, along with the Vegapunk laboratory he had learned about by chance, had indeed convinced him that he had to make a trip to Water 7.

But the question was, how would he get there?

"Have Rooster and Dragon make the trip? That wouldn't be ideal. The influence of what happened with them hasn't faded yet."

"Make another Slice Clone? That wouldn't be appropriate either. The Three-Army Martial Arts Tournament is approaching, and security around Marine Headquarters is extremely tight. Even if the Slice Clone could fly, it would have a hard time leaving."

"Besides, Water 7 is basically CP9's old stronghold. There are informants everywhere, and it's close to Enies Lobby as well. If anything went wrong, it would become a major problem."

Luo Yi pondered this silently.

In the end, he reached a conclusion.

The best choice was actually for him to go there personally. CP9's informants wouldn't be on guard against a Marine soldier, so he wouldn't risk exposing himself.

And once he obtained the fruit he wanted, everything afterward would be much easier.

"Luo Yi!"

Just as Luo Yi was thinking, Binz's voice made him jolt.

Only then did he take a deep breath. "Binz, I know it's time to prepare for training."

His voice was somewhat heavy as he spoke.

Yes—although Luo Yi had the determination and perseverance to grow stronger, he had to admit that going into the deep sea every day and fighting against the deep-sea currents was truly an intense training regimen.

Even Luo Yi felt that he was beginning to struggle after training continuously for a month.

"No, that's not it."

To Luo Yi's surprise, Binz said, "Teacher Zephyr went to the SSG today to test the 'Crusher.' He won't be back for a few days."

Luo Yi was stunned when he heard that.

The Crusher—of course he knew what that was.

After Zephyr's arm had been severed by pirates, the SSG had been researching how to restore the former admiral's combat strength.

The Crusher had been created for that purpose.

It was a massive steel arm constructed from the special alloy known as Z Alloy, with Seastone embedded in it to counter Ability Users.

According to the SSG's estimates, its special structure and power system would give the arm enough strength to crush anything.

Once they attached the arm to Zephyr, the admiral would return to his peak.

Of course, Luo Yi now understood Zephyr's strength well enough to know that estimate was nothing but a joke.

Zephyr's Black Body Flow required the tempering and control of every part of his body. No mechanical arm could possibly replace his original limb.

Still, he said nothing more and merely looked at Binz in confusion.

"Then why did you come to call me?"

"Oh, it's about those two subordinates of yours. Um, the two named Fal and Hans—they came looking for you."

Binz scratched his head. "They said their leave was over, and Vice Admiral Billoss had assigned them a mission. They wanted to know whether you were going with them."

As he said this, he looked at Luo Yi.

To this day, he still remembered the "ambition" Luo Yi had once told Zephyr about.

"I'll remain in the Detention Unit and change the Detention Unit. It's an indispensable part of justice."

Those words had been nothing short of earth-shaking to Binz.

And now, the entire Marine Headquarters had already heard the news.

The former Marine admiral and one of the Marine legends, "Black Arm Zephyr," had officially taken Luo Yi as his disciple.

In other words, as long as Luo Yi was willing, he could now join the direct unit of any Vice Admiral or even an admiral at any time—and would certainly hold an important position in the future.

So Binz was curious.

Could Luo Yi still hold to the thoughts he had expressed back then?

Then he heard Luo Yi's answer, given without the slightest hesitation.

"Of course!"

His voice was clear and firm.

"Of course I'm going!"

Binz was deeply moved.

Luo Yi Amos—what a righteous and loyal man!

But clearly, that wasn't what Luo Yi was thinking at all.

"When you're sleepy, someone sends you a pillow. Hans, Fal, and old man Billoss, you've done well!"

He had been worrying about not having a suitable reason to leave Marine Headquarters. Wasn't this opportunity practically being delivered to him?

Not long afterward, Luo Yi returned to the long-missed port of the Detention Unit.

Then—

"Boss!" 2

He heard two excited shouts and saw two familiar figures.

"I told you Boss would definitely come!"

"Hey! Hans, what do you mean by that? Do you think I don't trust Boss? I only said that Admiral Zephyr's training was extremely strict, and he might not allow Boss to come."

There was no need to say more.

The two fools speaking were naturally Fal and Hans.

Besides them, the other Marines under Luo Yi in the Detention Unit were also standing in the distance, cheering.

"Long live Boss!"

"Long live Chief Luo Yi!"

"Even though we've been living pretty comfortably without our superior around, it really doesn't feel right without Chief Luo Yi!"

Clearly, Binz hadn't been the only one to have those thoughts.

Looking at the scene, Luo Yi's lips curled into a smile.

It was as he had said before.

He had no particular sense of belonging toward the Marines.

But he didn't dislike these Marines, who had been with him for eight years.

However, just then, Hans and Fal came over again.

"By the way, Boss—we've prepared a surprise for you!"

Hans looked excited, while Fal's expression was somewhat peculiar.

"A surprise?"

Luo Yi naturally raised an eyebrow.

"Yep!"

Hans nodded smugly and pointed his thumb at himself. "It was my idea, Sergeant Hans's, and everyone helped prepare it. It's your favorite thing, Boss!"

"Oh!?"

Luo Yi grew expectant at once.

His favorite thing couldn't possibly be a Devil Fruit, could it?

With anticipation in his heart, Luo Yi soon followed Hans and Fal to the berths.

Then, from far away, he saw the distinctive ship moored there.

"......"

Luo Yi fell silent.

At the berth, a warship with sleek lines but an extremely bizarre design floated quietly on the water.

The warship still retained the outline of the former DT-31, but the entire hull had been refurbished.

The bow and stern formed a curve. Combined with the black coloring of the hull, the unique bottle-cap-like bow, and the straw-like mast, it looked unmistakably like...

No! It was a bottle of cola!

The sail hanging from the mainmast made Luo Yi question his own eyes even more.

Because a name was clearly written across it.

[Loy (Luo Yi Amos)]

"How is it, Boss?"

Hans said smugly, "Satisfied? I told you that you'd like it!"

Just as he had said before,

After being promoted to officer of colonel rank or above, Luo Yi could theoretically have a warship of his own. He had the authority to make basic modifications and renovations to it, officially becoming the "captain" of the ship.

That was why Hans was so pleased with himself.

After Zephyr accepted Luo Yi as his disciple, he became extremely busy and was impossible to reach.

Fortunately, Hans still remembered something Luo Yi had said before.

"You said back then that if you ever had a ship of your own, you'd definitely make it look like your favorite thing. Hahaha!"

"Still laughing!?"

Luo Yi punched the idiot in the head.

Gritting his teeth, he covered his face. "How could my favorite thing be cola? Well—fine, even if it was, I was obviously joking back then."

Halfway through, he himself couldn't help laughing helplessly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" N

All the Marines of the Detention Unit at the scene, except Hans, who had been punched, burst into laughter together.

And so—

"Fine."

After a moment, Luo Yi stopped dwelling on it.

There were all kinds of strange ships on these seas anyway. What difference would one more make?

Besides, he didn't actually dislike this ship.

So he strode onto the warship and looked down at the Marines below.

"All right, you lot."

"Prepare to set sail!"

His order naturally received an immediate response.

"Aye, Captain!"

Actually, "Aye, Captain" seemed to be something pirates often said in real life, but I thought it sounded pretty cool, so I used it here.