Men's Friendship

Why had I joined the Navy?

Leon stepped forward, his gaze firm as he answered without hesitation.

"To follow your orders, sir!"

The moment he said it, everyone froze. They couldn't help glancing sideways at Leon.

The Steely Instructor stared blankly at Leon. He had trained countless recruits, and he'd asked them all the same question.

He'd heard noble answers about upholding the Navy's justice, and he'd heard from recruits whose families had been killed by pirates that they'd joined to seek revenge.

He'd even heard plenty of simple, down-to-earth answers like joining the Navy so they'd have enough to eat.

But never had anyone's answer struck him to the heart quite like Leon's!

The Steely Instructor took a deep breath.

"Seaman Third Class Leon! You're the finest soldier I've ever met!"

"You'll definitely become a Marine Admiral one day!"

"Fall back in!"

"Yes, sir!"

Apart from Rosinante, who was waggling his eyebrows at Leon in admiration, most of the recruits looked down on Leon, whom the instructor had placed such high hopes in...

What a slick-tongued kid. He thought he could become a Marine Admiral?

Dream on!

Leon had blurted out a classic line from a movie in his previous life on a whim. He hadn't expected it to work so well.

Leon took in the changes in everyone's expressions, but they didn't stir the slightest ripple in his heart.

In the world of One Piece, true power belonged to the individual.

The Navy was merely a large, formalized force kept by the World Government. It was a long way from being a real military...

His only reason for joining the Navy was to improve his own strength.

After a day of training, Rosinante, who'd been full of fighting spirit that morning, could barely make it back to the dormitory with Leon supporting him.

Calling it a dormitory was generous. It looked more like a huge warehouse, with barely any furnishings.

Rows of hammocks hung along both walls. Those were their beds, and a way to get them used to life at sea in advance.

Leon had just laid Rosinante, who was so exhausted he felt like he was falling apart, onto his bed when Rosinante let out a scream.

"Ah!!!"

"P-please... be gentler, Leon. I... I hurt all over..."

"Got it..."

Leon shook his head helplessly.

You had the same parents, so how did you end up so different from Doflamingo...

Watching Rosinante groan on the bed, Leon couldn't help asking, "Rosinante, if you wanted to join the Navy so badly, didn't Admiral Sengoku train you beforehand?"

"I did bring it up with Father once..." Rosinante said, a little embarrassed. "He said I was still too young, and it wasn't time yet. So I didn't insist..."

Well, that explains it. He was spoiled.

The old saying that a doting mother spoils her son was true...

"Oh, right!" Rosinante suddenly remembered something. "Father prepared some ointment for me. It should be in my bag..."

Leon sighed, pulled Rosinante's bag over, and rummaged through it.

As soon as he opened the bag, he spotted an old-fashioned medicine jar. It was surprisingly heavy when he picked it up.

Sengoku! As expected of you. Had you really seen this coming?

He opened the jar, and the strong medicinal smell wafted out. One whiff was enough to tell it was a family remedy.

And unless Leon's eyes were playing tricks on him, the moment he opened the jar, he seemed to see a golden glow rising from the ointment!

Was this Cooking Master Boy or what?!

Leon pictured Sengoku transforming into Buddha Form when nobody was around, solemnly and reverently brewing the ointment...

"..."

"Leon, you have to be gentle this time..."

Rosinante's voice brought Leon back to reality. He stared at the jar in his hand, caught in a dilemma. He didn't want to get the bandages on his hands dirty.

But if he took off the bandages and applied the ointment to Rosinante with his bare hands, Rosinante would be exposed to nuclear radiation.

Let's leave it like this. People in the world of pirates are built differently, anyway. A little muscle strain like this will probably be gone after one night's rest.

"Le-Le-Leon!!!"

"What are you shouting for? I haven't even started applying it."

"N-no..."

"There's... there's a zombie!!!"

"Huh?"

Leon followed Rosinante's pointing finger. A man who looked like a zombie crawling out of a graveyard on Thriller Bark was walking toward them.

Rosinante's teeth began chattering uncontrollably, but Leon thought the man looked a little familiar.

The zombie stopped in front of them, a creepy smile spreading across his thin, pale face.

"My name is T Bone. If you don't mind, let me apply the ointment to this young man."

"That's not necessary..."

Even after realizing the man in front of him wasn't a zombie, Rosinante was still a little scared and wanted to refuse.

Leon had already swiftly handed the jar to T Bone.

This was a good man, a true Marine.

"Then I'll leave it to you, T Bone."

"Hahaha, don't mention it."

T Bone's face twisted into another rather frightening smile.

"We're all Marines. We should help each other! Before I joined the Navy, I served as a knight in a kingdom, so I often treated injuries like this..."

T Bone took out the ointment and carefully spread it over Rosinante's body.

Unlike the pain they'd expected, a burning warmth spread through Rosinante's body as T Bone worked, instantly easing his discomfort.