"That old geezer Garp sure knows how to enjoy himself."
Under Leon's resentful gaze, Zephyr flopped down onto the lounge chair Leon had just set up on deck.
"Garp's gotten stingier and stingier lately. Last time, you mentioned that... what was it? Kingdom Nectar Wine."
"I went to ask him for some, but that old geezer insisted he didn't have any!"
Maybe there was something magical about the lounge chair. The moment Zephyr lay down, his words and mannerisms started to resemble Garp's...
"This trip's been pretty eventful, hasn't it? I've seen plenty of stories about you in the papers."
Zephyr turned to Leon, a teasing smile on his face.
"Everyone says you'll soon inherit Garp's title and become the next Hero of the Marines."
"Morgans, that damn bird! He just loves exaggerating in the papers!"
Leon cursed those unscrupulous reporters under his breath and flatly denied Zephyr's claim.
Zephyr yawned.
"But you probably won't get a chance to show off during this training exercise. It's your first time training outside the base, so it won't last long."
"I brought you along especially so you'd understand that with your current strength, you can handle those small-time opponents on your own without any trouble."
"But sometimes, you also have to learn to rely on the strength of your companions."
"Leon, while you keep growing, they've been working twice as hard too..."
Uh...
Leon looked around at the familiar faces beside him. Rosinante was shouting excitedly at a strange fish leaping out of the sea. T Bone, seeing someone who'd grown tired of standing, solemnly invited him to sit on his lap. Hina stood with her arms crossed, watching the front with an impassive expression...
Smoker, though, had changed a little. He had two cigars in his mouth. It seemed his smoking habit had really grown...
Noticing Leon's confusion, Zephyr smiled without explaining.
Zephyr had clearly planned this training mission in advance. The warship headed straight into the first half of the Grand Line.
"Reporting to Instructor Zephyr: enemy ship sighted ahead."
A Marine holding a spyglass relayed the news. At Zephyr's command, the warship raised all sails and sped toward its target.
"Captain, what do we do?!"
"The Marines are too fast! We can't shake them!"
The pirates had just finished plundering a small island. They hadn't expected the Marines to catch up so quickly.
Pirates who made a living on the Grand Line naturally had some strength. Seeing that they couldn't escape, they simply stopped and prepared to fight the Marines.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
As the two ships drew close, they began with the usual round of cannon fire.
The pirates were certainly well supplied. Judging by the number of cannonballs alone, they managed to hold their own against the Marine warship.
The cannonballs rushed toward them. Seeing Zephyr sitting there calmly, Leon held back the urge to step in.
He wanted to see just how much his classmates had grown.
"Prison Bars!"
"Right Angle Sword Style!"
Hina and T Bone attacked at the same time. One used her Devil Fruit Ability, while the other wielded his self-created sword style. Together, they managed to intercept some of the cannonballs.
Explosions rang out, but some cannonballs broke through their attacks and were about to slam into the warship.
"White Hurricane!"
To Leon's surprise, Smoker's entire body turned into white smoke, and he shot straight into the sky.
The thick smoke stopped every remaining cannonball.
"Cough, cough. Surprised?"
Zephyr coughed a little after choking on the smoke aboard the ship, but still smiled at Leon. Unfortunately, with his head wrapped in bandages, it was impossible to tell whether Leon looked surprised.
Leon really was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Smoker to have eaten the Smoke-Smoke Fruit so soon.
Now he could smoke without worrying about getting cancer...
Smoker, flying through the air, clearly hadn't had enough. Thick clouds of smoke poured from behind him as he flew straight to the pirates' ship.
"Cough, cough, cough! I'm choking!"
"I can't breathe!"
"What kind of monster is this?!"
Before long, some of the pirates couldn't take the secondhand smoke anymore and jumped into the sea in a panic.
With his Logia Devil Fruit Ability mastered, Smoker's strength had indeed skyrocketed. He single-handedly wiped out the entire pirate crew.
"Heh heh."
Smoker returned on a cloud of smoke, unable to hide his grin. As he reported to Zephyr, he sneaked a glance at Leon, who'd been watching the fight.
Seeing smoke pouring from Smoker's seven orifices, Leon almost burst out laughing. He forced himself to hold it in and praised Smoker enthusiastically. Smoker was the one who ended up feeling embarrassed...
The warship pulled alongside the pirate ship and hauled aboard the surviving pirates from both the vessel and the sea.
Just then, Rosinante, who'd been silently standing beside Leon, suddenly dashed off, carrying a small case.
To Leon's surprise, Rosinante opened the case and took out various medical instruments. He then began treating the wounded pirates with surprising professionalism.
Feeling that he couldn't keep up with everyone else's rate of growth, Rosinante had found another path and switched roles to become a medic!
"Not bad, Rosinante!"
"Hehe."
As he bandaged a pirate, Rosinante turned and flashed Leon a peace sign.
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