Aokiji really liked the oath: "A dark blade, watching over justice."
He made a point of taking pen and paper from his desk drawer and bent over to copy it out.
The scratching of his pen filled the Admiral's Office.
In the meantime,
Storm stared at the [Clay Fruit] in his hand.
Several lines of text, visible only to him, appeared out of thin air.
[Name: Clay Fruit]
[Star Rating: None]
[Description: Paramecia Devil Fruit]
[Effect: The user can turn any part of their body into clay and create clay from nothing.
Note: Devil Fruits represent an unnatural path of evolution. Those who eat them are cursed by the natural sea.]
[Review: I play in the mud by the sea.]
The [Clay Fruit]'s specific effects were just as Storm had expected.
It really was a "Special Paramecia" Devil Fruit.
Like Charlotte Katakuri's [Mochi-Mochi Fruit].
It wasn't a Logia, but it was as good as one.
Now, [Clay Fruit], lend me your power!
Storm secretly used the [Demon Ring] to draw out and seal away the supernatural factor contained within the [Clay Fruit].
The process happened without a sound.
The Devil Fruit still looked perfectly intact, but it had lost the extraordinary power it was supposed to possess.
With the [Big Trophy], Storm could still inspect the [Clay Fruit]'s current information.
[Name: Powerless Clay-Clay Fruit]
[Star Rating: None]
[Description: A weird-looking, disgusting-tasting Devil Fruit]
[Effect: Apart from being awful to eat, it's completely useless]
[Review: Eat shit!]
The side effects are gone, too. It's become a complete husk...
Storm held the [Clay Fruit] in his hands.
Although he hadn't eaten this Special Paramecia Devil Fruit,
he could still clearly feel that he had gained a new power.
As if, with just a thought,
he could make some soft, white clay appear...
Just as Storm was getting a feel for this strange and unfamiliar supernatural power,
Aokiji finally finished copying the oath.
He looked up and saw that Storm was still holding the [Clay Fruit].
"Storm, eat it."
Aokiji's voice drew Storm's attention back.
"Huh?"
Seeing how slow Storm was to respond, Aokiji raised his voice slightly.
"Storm, eat it!"
Storm realized Aokiji was telling him to eat the now-useless [Clay Fruit].
He'd meant to keep observing it a little longer, to see if the powerless [Clay Fruit] might undergo any unusual changes.
But if Aokiji wanted him to eat it, then fine!
Storm raised the oddly shaped [Powerless Clay-Clay Fruit] and took a hard bite.
In an instant,
a disgust so intense it defied description spread from his mouth through every nerve in his body.
It tasted like chewing wax—no!
Like chewing rubber!
Did the Sun God hand-make every Devil Fruit or something?
Storm tried to make the best of it.
In just a few bites, he polished off the [Clay Fruit], not leaving behind even a scrap of peel.
Seeing Storm's ashen expression, Aokiji seemed to recall what it had been like when he'd eaten the [Ice-Ice Fruit].
"Ah, well."
Aokiji chuckled.
"You never forget the taste of a Devil Fruit.
"Want to try out your ability, Storm?"
"Of course!"
Storm readily agreed—or, rather, he'd been itching to try it!
A clump of white clay appeared in his palm from nowhere, then shifted into one shape after another.
A head, a torso, a tail, and a pair of broad, flat wings...
Aokiji watched with interest as the chubby white clay creature took shape in Storm's palm.
"Is that a penguin? I'm rather fond of penguins, too."
"A penguin?"
Storm's mouth twitched. He almost awakened Sleeping Dragon's Wrath.
"That's a dragon!"
Vongola Storm, also known as Stormborn, dreamed of raising a dragon.
For now,
Storm couldn't raise a real dragon.
But there was nothing stopping him from making a little clay White Dragon.
Sure, this little White Dragon was a bit small, a bit round in the belly, and didn't seem to have any Dragon Scales or horns...
But surely it didn't look so much like a penguin that anyone could mistake it for one?
Feeling like Aokiji had just mocked him to his face, Storm felt a malicious thought stir.
At his command, the fist-sized Little White Dragon slowly turned into a chubby little chicken.
No!
It wasn't a chicken.
It was "clay" pheasant, "white" pheasant, "ice" pheasant.
Just not "Aokiji."
"Ahem."
Aokiji glanced at the little chicken, which might have been meant as a jab, and gave a quiet cough.
Storm knew when to quit.
He clapped his hands. "Little Aokiji" turned into "Little Bian Que," then disappeared.
"Sir! I'm willing to accept the undercover mission!"
Storm straightened up and eagerly made his request.
"I need to become a pirate now.
"Should I just defect from Headquarters? The charge can be 'stealing a Devil Fruit'?"
Wait, why are you so eager?
Aokiji's eyes widened slightly.
And why did you say "defect" like you'd done it before?
"No! There's no rush!"
Aokiji hurriedly called a halt, trying to talk Storm out of the dangerous idea.
The Marine Headquarters had established the Sword Unit, carefully selected promising recruits with spotless backgrounds, and even given them a precious Devil Fruit.
It hadn't done all that just to send them off to die in the New World!
In Aokiji's view,
with Storm's current strength, going to the New World in the second half of the Grand Line would be suicide!
"You've only just eaten the [Clay Fruit], and you haven't done much to develop your ability yet."
Aokiji tried to reassure him.
"For now, your mission is to stay in the Marines and get stronger.
"Besides, a Marine turning pirate needs the right opportunity.
"All in all, we'll proceed one step at a time."
By "one step at a time," Aokiji meant that Storm should set aside the fact that he'd joined the Sword Unit.
He should think of himself as an ordinary Marine who'd just graduated from the Rookie Training Camp.
To that end, Aokiji asked him directly:
"Storm, would you rather stay at Headquarters, go to a G Series Branch, or serve in the Four Seas?"
Those were the three usual career paths for Marine recruits.
Storm knew that, too.
His original plan had been to go to an ordinary branch in one of the Four Seas.
Marine Headquarters was an elite organization within the Marines.
The strength of Headquarters Marines was roughly three tiers above that of Marines in the outer-sea branches.
Storm was already qualified to become a "Marine Headquarters Lieutenant."
That meant that if he went to a branch in the Four Seas, he'd immediately become a Marine officer at the rank of colonel.
At a branch in the Four Seas, a Marine Colonel was practically the highest-ranking officer in charge, with the greatest authority over the base.
In three words: a local king.
If Storm went to a branch in the Four Seas,
he'd have the greatest possible freedom to act.
And it would make his future "fundraising plan" easier—a fundraising plan aimed at buying a Devil Fruit.
But that had been the plan before.
Now Storm had changed his mind!
"Sir! I request a transfer to Impel Down!"
The [Big Trophy] required him to fight to earn it.
Storm needed as many opponents as possible to improve every aspect of his strength.
He was a Marine, so naturally his most suitable opponents were pirates.
Looking at the whole ocean,
when it came to the two crucial measures—the number and strength of pirates—
nowhere could compare to Impel Down!
Not even the New World, home of the Emperor Pirates!
The prison's a stage; if you've got a role, step right up.
"Impel Down?"
Aokiji frowned. He hadn't expected that answer at all.
"Why do you want to go there?"
"Because Impel Down is teeming with pirates."
Storm answered with a perfectly straight face.
"I want to observe as many pirates as possible up close, so I can prepare for the undercover mission later.
"Besides, Impel Down is dull enough to be a good place to focus on training and getting stronger."
Aokiji nodded slightly.
He couldn't agree with the first half of Storm's answer.
But the second half did make some sense.
Impel Down was in the Calm Belt, and getting in or out was extremely difficult.
The guards working there didn't have much in the way of recreation, either.
If you ignored the nature of Impel Down,
it really was a decent place to get stronger.
Still,
a thought suddenly crossed Aokiji's mind.
A prison.
And the world's number one prison, at that.
Was there really much difference between the guards and the prisoners?
"Although the Marines and Impel Down are both government agencies, they're not part of the same organization."
Aokiji paused for a moment, then spoke slowly.
"Transferring you to Impel Down will take time.
"At least three days, and no more than a week."
"Yes, sir!"
Storm saluted and answered loudly.
"Oh, right. There's one more thing."
Aokiji suddenly remembered something.
"Besides you, another member of this year's Rookie Training Camp was recommended for the Sword Unit."
A suspect had already come to Storm's mind.
Before he could ask, Aokiji told him outright.
"Grandma Tsuru's granddaughter, Peacock."
So it was that woman!
Storm ground his teeth in secret.
He'd been wondering how Zephyr had found out he'd been criticizing the Celestial Dragons in private.
So a "little bird" had been sneaking around and reporting on him behind his back.
If only he'd known, he wouldn't have counted stars and watched the moon with Peacock that night!
What a disaster!
Aokiji was just about to say something, probably along the lines of telling Storm and Peacock to get along.
But just then—
BOOM!
Someone violently kicked open the door to the Admiral's Office from the outside.
Storm hadn't even gotten a good look at the person yet.
A loud bellow rang through the office.
"You bastard!"
Storm looked closely.
A gray-haired old man had grabbed Aokiji by the collar with one hand and was yelling right in his face.
"My grandson says he wants to 'become a pirate' again! I won't allow it!"
That manner, that tone, that appearance—
Storm immediately recognized him.
Wasn't this the famous Garp, Garp the Cannon?
Vice Admiral Garp, could you put on that performance again?
You know, that one.
'Stop me just like this, Sengoku! Otherwise, I'll kill Sakazuki!'
A little scene played out in Storm's mind. On the outside, he kept his eyes lowered and his thoughts to himself.
Aokiji frowned deeply. His face was glistening, though Storm couldn't tell if it was sweat or spit.
"I've heard this hundreds of times already!"
Aokiji replied, thoroughly irritated.
"Who cares about your grandson!"
As he spoke, Aokiji waved Storm away.
Storm took the hint and slipped out of the Admiral's Office without a word.
Aokiji and Garp's "argument" continued.
But Storm had already left the "battlefield" far behind.
It's Marineford Calendar 1518.
The grandson Garp says wants to become a pirate should be Portgas D. Ace!
Storm walked along the top-floor corridor of the Headquarters building, his mind racing.
The Flame-Flame Man will set sail in one year.
The Sun God will set sail in four.
The Old Era's departure, the transition between the old and new orders, the Sun God's Awakening, the Great War that will split the sea in two...
There's no time to lose!
Before you continue