Battlefield Mission!

On the food street in the town behind Marineford, Morito stood outside a barbecue shop, waiting for his skewers.

It was early morning, and the sky had yet to brighten. There weren't many people on the street.

But there were already plenty of coins at Morito's feet. They'd been tossed to him by the old men and women out shopping early.

"Morito! Morito!"

A shout came from the end of the street. Morito recognized the voice—it was Kazan's.

What was he doing here?

After a moment's thought, Morito called back, "I'm over here!"

Following the sound, Kazan soon found Morito. He'd come here on Zephyr's orders specifically to look for him.

Only people familiar with Morito knew the places he frequented.

Zephyr had told Kazan to search for Morito on the town's food street.

"I finally found you. Come with me, quick! We're heading out to sea any minute!" Kazan looked anxious, though there was also a hint of excitement in his expression.

"Heading out to sea? Is this another naval battle exercise?"

Morito paid for his food and took a bag of barbecue skewers. He pulled one out and handed it to Kazan.

The two of them set off together toward the Naval Academy.

On the way, Kazan explained why he'd come looking for Morito.

Marine Headquarters had decided to go to war with the Flying Pirates. Even if they couldn't defeat Golden Lion in a single battle, they had to take him down a peg.

They'd already spent a whole month waiting. If Marine Headquarters did nothing, it would disappoint the people of the Four Seas and the Grand Line!

Losing the people's support was far more frightening than losing a battle.

After a full month of preparation, Marine Headquarters had assembled an elite force of fifty thousand, led by Marine Admiral Sengoku to fight the Flying Pirates.

The Naval Academy's reserve camp would also take part in the battle.

Marine Headquarters wouldn't send the reserve camp to the front lines to fight Golden Lion's main force head-on. The Naval Academy's reserve camp held the Navy's future.

The main reason for having its cadets take part in the operation was to let them experience the atmosphere of a major battle.

The reserve camp's forces would be stationed at the edge of the battlefield, behind the Navy's main fleet.

But the Elite Class was an exception.

The three monsters from the first class—Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Dragon—had already reached the rank of a vice admiral.

It would be a waste to leave such powerful fighters behind.

And it wasn't just the first class's monsters. Kuzan from the third class and Gion from the fourth class had also been assigned to the front lines.

Greenhouse flowers couldn't become hardened warriors. Only the battlefield could forge them.

The more than thirty Elite Class cadets had been split up and assigned to different units.

Each warship had been assigned around two or three Elite Class cadets, with a Headquarters Vice Admiral responsible for looking after them.

This would give the cadets a chance to train while keeping them safe.

Morito and Kazan had been assigned to the same warship.

"Do you know the details of our operation?"

Morito wasn't surprised by Marine Headquarters' arrangements. A horse had to be taken out and tested before anyone could tell whether it was good or bad. No matter how well they did in class or how fiercely they fought there, it meant nothing until they proved themselves.

The Elite Class brought together the greatest talents from the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line. They were the best of the best.

Every one of them had the talent to strive for the rank of Headquarters Vice Admiral.

All they lacked was time and experience.

There was no way to control how much time they had, but experience had to be built up little by little.

"Only Vice Admiral Akita knows the details."

Vice Admiral Akita was the highest-ranking officer on the warship Morito and Kazan would be taking for this mission.

"But I've heard a little rumor."

Kazan spoke mysteriously. "Our mission should be on an island in the first half of the Grand Line, one under the Flying Pirates' control."

In the world of the Pirate King, the Grand Line and the Red Line divided the world's oceans into four seas—east, west, north, and south—collectively known as the Four Seas.

The Grand Line was a ring of ocean that intersected the Red Line at a right angle. It was the strangest and most dangerous sea route in the world, with the perilous Calm Belts on either side.

There were only two ways to enter the Grand Line: cross the Calm Belt or pass through Reverse Mountain.

The World Government and Marine Headquarters' policy for dealing with pirates was to drive them all into the Grand Line, where they could fight and kill one another, reducing their numbers while keeping the Four Seas stable.

The Shichibukai system had yet to be introduced. The current seas had no balance of power among the Shichibukai, the Navy, and the Three Admirals controlling the New World. (The Shichibukai kept Paradise stable, the Navy occupied the Four Seas, and the Four Emperors controlled the New World.)

The seas were in chaos, with powerful factions carving up territory.

The fighting and power struggles were fierce in both the New World and Paradise. Golden Lion's forces weren't limited to the New World; they also controlled several islands in Paradise.

The purpose of Marine Headquarters' operation was to wipe out the Flying Pirates' forces in Paradise.

"Our target's Golden Lion? Aren't we worried he'll drop an island on us?"

How could Morito not know about Golden Lion? The Float-Float Fruit's ability didn't seem that impressive at first glance—not like the overwhelming power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

But in a real fight, the Float-Float Fruit was downright unfair!

You had to worry about an island dropping out of nowhere while you ate, drank, slept, or even went to the bathroom. And if you wanted to fight Golden Lion head-on, you'd have to ask whether he felt like letting you.

It was hard to imagine anything more frustrating.

If Golden Lion hadn't been an idiot—leaving behind his huge force of subordinates, failing to use his practically cheat-level Float-Float Fruit, and instead going alone to Marine Headquarters to challenge Sengoku, Garp, and the future Three Admirals—how could he ever have been captured?

"Don't you know?" Kazan suddenly asked.

"Know what?" Morito asked in return.

"Looks like you really don't." Kazan looked at Morito in surprise. Morito didn't even know that the Navy's G5 Branch had been steamrolled!

Morito had spent this whole time getting beaten to a pulp every day. He hadn't had the time or the inclination to pay attention to anything else.

Before dawn each day, he had to buy enough food for the whole day and head to the back mountain.

He didn't return to the dormitory until nightfall.

Morito had a private room in the dormitory. Apart from Zephyr, he'd barely interacted with anyone else during this time.

"The G5 Branch in the New World..."

Kazan gathered his thoughts, then explained how Golden Lion had steamrolled the G5 Branch a month earlier.

Just hearing that "Golden Lion dropped an island on the G5 Branch" was enough to imagine the carnage.

"No wonder."

Now Morito understood why Marine Headquarters had decided to go to war with Golden Lion.

Anyone would have to fight back!

Whether they could win was one thing. Whether they fought at all was another!

Besides, in terms of pure strength, Marine Headquarters was definitely stronger than the Flying Pirates.

For one thing, the two sides' top fighters were nowhere near evenly matched.

The Flying Pirates had only Golden Lion, while Marine Headquarters had Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr, and Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong!

There was only one problem that would be hard to deal with: Golden Lion could fly!

As they chatted, Morito and Kazan returned to the Naval Academy.