"CRACK—!!!"
Thunder exploded across the sky.
Silver-white lightning flashed like a blade, tearing through the dark sea of clouds. For an instant, the vast ocean was bathed in pale light. The seagull flags snapped in the storm, and the Marine warships pitched and heaved like toys in a child's bathtub.
"All ships, turn to starboard..."
On the flagship, whose bow bore the image of a dog's head with a bone in its mouth,
the navigator, a man over forty, shouted himself hoarse as he relayed orders through a Den Den Mushi.
"Mr. Garp, aren't you going to do something? With your abilities, breaking up those clouds shouldn't be difficult, right?" On the flagship's bridge, Aleus toyed with a game piece carved from lodestone and glanced sideways at Garp, who sat nearby eating doughnuts.
"Why would I go to the trouble?"
Garp gave Aleus a strange look.
"I'm not a babysitter, and my Marines aren't children who need someone to look after them. Don't underestimate them, kid! They might not be monsters like you, but they're Marines. A little storm isn't going to knock them down so easily," Garp said.
"No."
"I'm not underestimating anyone. It's just that all this tossing about is a real nuisance."
Aleus frowned, holding a game piece in one hand and a cup in the other.
The lodestone game pieces stayed put on the iron board, even in the choppy seas, but the cup full of coffee and milk couldn't be left on the table. He had to keep holding it and adjusting his grip to stop it spilling everywhere.
"Wahahaha! What a silly thing to say. Isn't this the charm of the sea?"
"If this counts as charm, then I guess it's not to my taste."
As he spoke, Aleus set down his game piece