The warship Morito was aboard came under attack from the Vulture Pirates, a crew under the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates. Every unit received orders to cancel its patrol mission.
Everyone turned back and regrouped with Zephyr's flagship.
The Golden Lion was the mightiest king on these seas, and the forces under his command were, without question, the largest.
Not even Whitebeard or Roger could match him.
As for Kaido and Charlotte, they were just a pair of upstarts at this point.
The Elite Class students were not only Zephyr's pupils, but also the future pillars of the Navy. Zephyr couldn't risk sending a group of promising young talents who hadn't yet come into their own into danger.
The flagship returned to Marineford. At that moment, two reports lay in Zephyr's captain's cabin.
One was the battle report recorded by the accompanying Marine officer. The other was Kuzan's report on Morito.
The battle report recorded by the accompanying Marine officer was straightforward. The group had wiped out the Takaya Pirates, and with Kuzan's help, they had killed Vulture and driven off the remnants of his crew.
It was an easy report to accept, and one that wouldn't raise any suspicions.
After all, Vulture had escaped Zephyr three years ago. There was no doubt about how powerful he was.
But the report Kuzan had given Zephyr in private told a different story.
"Morito killed Vulture?"
Zephyr held Kuzan's report and remained silent for a long while. If Kuzan had killed Vulture, he wouldn't have been this surprised.
He had watched Kuzan's talent and growth firsthand. Vulture was strong, but Kuzan wasn't without a chance against him.
But Morito?
He had monstrous talent, no weaker than those three monsters.
But Morito was only fifteen. He had just finished the Training Camp's entrance exam and was only on his first day in the Elite Class.
Zephyr furrowed his brow and thought back to when he was fifteen.
Had he only recently joined the Navy? Was he still training his body?
Compared to Morito, it was downright embarrassing to look back on.
Zephyr knew Kuzan's character. Kuzan wouldn't joke about something like this, so it had to be true.
The battle report submitted by the Marine officer aboard the accompanying warship was true as well.
It was just the obvious conclusion everyone had jumped to.
After all, only Kuzan and Morito had fought in the main battle. Vulture was dead, so everyone naturally assumed Kuzan had killed him.
Because Morito was simply too young!
And Morito's most impressive achievement had been the Training Camp's entrance exam, but an exam and a naval battle were two entirely different things.
Even Zephyr wouldn't have believed Morito had killed Vulture if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.
But Kuzan's report left him no choice.
"I thought Morito wasn't strong enough, so I sent Kuzan along to babysit him." Zephyr couldn't find the words to express how he felt.
According to Kuzan, if Morito hadn't been there, his injuries would have been far worse.
Vulture had had the upper hand and could have killed Kuzan at any moment.
At the age of fifteen, Morito had taken down the captain of the Vulture Pirates, one of the Flying Pirates' main crews. Even those three monsters had never achieved such a feat.
And while others didn't know Vulture's true strength, Zephyr knew it very well, having fought him three years ago.
Though Vulture's bounty was only 102 million Beli, his true bounty would have been well over 300 million.
At that thought, Zephyr was stunned all over again.
He had already seen what Morito looked like when he boarded the flagship.
Everyone else, Kuzan included, had been in a sorry state, and most of them were wounded.
Morito, by contrast, had no more than a little dust on his clothes. Not a single tear, let alone an injury.
He didn't look like he'd been through a fierce battle at all!
If Morito had attacked while Kuzan and Vulture were locked in combat, it would have been understandable.
But Kuzan's report said he had passed out!
That meant Morito had fought Vulture alone and killed him by himself.
"Whew... what a monster."
Zephyr let out a slow breath. His arm had grown sore from holding it up, and only then did he lower Kuzan's report.
After a few seconds to compose himself, Zephyr began thinking about another matter mentioned in Kuzan's report: Vice Admiral Tarantula.
Was Tarantula's appearance really just a coincidence?
Was it really just a coincidence that they had run into the Vulture Pirates right after the patrol fleet left Marine Headquarters?
The two brothers who had died in battle, Luomen and Roer, seemed to have taken the hits meant for Morito!
The thought flashed through his mind. Zephyr picked up a Den Den Mushi and called Marine Headquarters. He wanted to check whether his suspicions were right.
He hoped he was wrong.
Buru, buru...
"Hello, Sengoku speaking."
The Den Den Mushi connected, and a steady, resolute voice came from the other end.
Before explaining what he wanted, Zephyr gave him a warning. "There's something I'd like your help with, but don't tell anyone else about it for now."
"Zephyr?" Sengoku paused, then his voice turned serious. "Go ahead. What can I help you with?"
"I want to know what Tarantula's mission was today," Zephyr asked directly.
Zephyr had stepped back from the front lines and become the Naval Academy's chief instructor.
He didn't have the authority to investigate military operations outside the Naval Academy.
Sengoku, on the other hand, was still an Admiral at Marine Headquarters. He had the right to know about any Navy operation, and asking wouldn't arouse suspicion.
"Tarantula?"
Sengoku casually covered the Den Den Mushi and called over a Marine soldier.
After speaking with the soldier, he waved him away.
Then he picked up the Den Den Mushi again and brought it to his mouth.
"Tarantula was assigned a routine patrol of the Sabaody Archipelago today. You—"
"The Sabaody Archipelago? I see."
Before Sengoku could finish, Zephyr hung up.
A patrol mission to the Sabaody Archipelago?
Their fleet's route was headed away from the Sabaody Archipelago, toward Reverse Mountain in the opposite direction!
And according to Kuzan's report, Tarantula had appeared straight ahead of them, in the direction of Reverse Mountain!
Tarantula should have been heading for the Sabaody Archipelago, yet he had appeared from the opposite direction.
What did that mean?
It meant Tarantula had never intended to go to the Sabaody Archipelago. He had gotten ahead of them and waited along the route taken by the warship Morito was aboard!
The Takaya Pirates and the Tarantula Pirates had likely both been drawn there by Tarantula!
"This must have something to do with Tarantula. Otherwise, there's no reason the Vulture Pirates would have attacked the warship Morito was aboard."
Especially since Vulture had only just barely escaped Zephyr three years ago.
Vulture wasn't stupid. He knew Zephyr's flagship was nearby, so why would he attack the warship Morito was on?
Zephyr could see it all as clearly as day. His sharp eyes seemed to pierce through everything.
"Looks like Tarantula didn't take my warning last time seriously!"
Luomen and Roer had been Zephyr's students, and according to the battle report, both had died at the hands of the pirate captain.
And the Vulture Pirates had been drawn there by Tarantula.
So Zephyr held Tarantula responsible for their deaths. What was more, Tarantula had brazenly plotted against Morito!
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