A Conversation at the Ramen Stand

More than a decade later, aside from veterans like Garp and Tsuru, nearly all the vice admirals at Headquarters had come from Zephyr's Elite Squad... As for the three admirals, they were the first three students personally taught by Zephyr, aside from Wright.

Of the four, Sakazuki and Borsalino had been in the same class and could still hold a conversation. Kuzan had joined several classes later, and his personality clashed even more with Sakazuki's. Despite serving at Headquarters together for so many years, the two had barely interacted.

What about Wright? He had joined more than a dozen classes after Kuzan! But because of Kuzan's personality, his relationship with Garp, and his relationship with Smoker, Kuzan had actually been the first among them to cross paths with Wright—

It was just that Wright's status had not been high enough at the time. Kuzan had not brought it up, and Wright would not take the initiative to invoke their "senior-junior brother" connection.

Now that Wright had rapidly risen to commodore, he had proven his influence, strength, and potential. He was qualified to stand on equal footing with these "monster" senior brothers—reaching their level was only a matter of time.

Still, Wright had not expected Borsalino, who got along worst with Teacher Zephyr, to be the first to bring this up. It seemed that, just as he had said, as a light-type ability user, he was very interested in Wright's Holy Light Power.

The Marine Headquarters residential district was where Marines lived, relaxed, and unwound. There was a massive cafeteria here, along with no shortage of specialty snack stalls—some run by Marines with exceptional culinary skills, others by Marine family members from the inner district.

All the stalls shared one defining trait—they ignored rank. Whether you were a private third class or the Fleet Admiral, once you came to a snack stall, you followed the owner's rules!

At the most popular ramen stand in Headquarters, Wright watched with dark lines across his face as Borsalino, a dignified vice admiral, tried every possible way to get the owner to add another soft-boiled egg. The ramen vendor, meanwhile, gave no face at all to this famed Monster Vice Admiral of Headquarters, repeatedly insisting that authentic Miso Ramen came with one soft-boiled egg. Any more would affect the flavor of the noodles, so absolutely no extras!

Rubbing his temples with both hands, Wright felt that his understanding of Borsalino was still far too shallow. Senior Brother, you're showing off like this—does Teacher Zephyr know?

Junior Brother will give you two eggs. Can you just eat your noodles properly?

"Mm~ The owner is really strict~ So~ scary~" Borsalino had hit a wall. Afraid that the noodles would not taste as good if he delayed any longer, he could only carry his bowl over while muttering to himself, sit down, and grin at Wright across from him.

"Give it a try, Junior Brother~ This is Headquarters' very~ best ramen stand~"

Wright stiffly nodded and gave an awkward laugh. "Haha... The owner is so dedicated to the flavor of his noodles. He must have great confidence in them... Junior Brother truly admires that!"

"Slurp~ slurp~"

Wright and Borsalino ate their steaming ramen, heaping it with praise. As a ramen stand at Marine Headquarters, it had to accommodate the astonishing appetites of the Marines—the bowl was big enough to fit two of Wright's heads!

After finishing half the bowl, Borsalino let out a comfortable sigh. "Mm~ This really brings back memories~ I've been running all over the place lately~ dealing with matters in Mary Geoise~ I didn't even have time for a hot bowl of ramen~"

"Mary Geoise? You mean the incident where that Fish-Man... freed the Celestial Dragons' slaves?" Wright had been busy doing hard labor lately, but he had still learned about such explosive news after getting out.

Borsalino took a slurp of noodles, then a sip of broth. Only after slowly savoring the half soft-boiled egg he had saved did he leisurely say, "That's right~ That Fish-Man was so scary~ He actually climbed all the way up that~ high Red Line. Truly impressive~"

"For you, Senior Brother, flying up there would only take a few blinks, wouldn't it?" Wright laughed. "But that isn't the point... He actually freed slaves of every race and even set fire in Mary Geoise. Just thinking about it is thrilling. The Celestial Dragons were probably angry enough to fall ill."

"HOHO~ It was more than just getting angry enough to fall ill~ He was the first person in history to~ wreak havoc in Mary Geoise, and also the first~ to dare challenge the World Government~" Borsalino still spoke in that unhurried tone, though what he said carried plenty of meaning.

"As a Glint-Glint Fruit user~ I have the best mobility~ so I get sent to handle all kinds of cleanup and pursuit work~" Borsalino put down his chopsticks and stretched. "He really~ is someone who won't let people rest easy~ Even the vacation I had planned went down the drain~"

"Senior Brother, you're in charge of pursuing that guy?" Wright narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "Senior Brother... what do you think of that audacious fellow?"

"Mm~ I don't really care what he did~" Borsalino narrowed his eyes as well and continued in his leisurely manner. "But Senior Brother is still a fairly dedicated worker, you know~ He slapped the boss in the face and ran off, so it wouldn't look good for someone drawing a salary like me~ If I fail this assignment, having my bonus deducted would be awful~"

"That's certainly a unique way of putting it, Senior Brother. You really are... carefree!" Wright looked unsurprised—just as Borsalino himself had said, he clocked in, collected his pay, and steadily coasted into the position of admiral more than a decade later. Considering his attitude toward the Celestial Dragons, he truly was a dedicated employee.

But only a dedicated employee. The legendary Yellow Monkey Borsalino, said to be able to cripple even the Four Emperors when the pay was right, had never truly displayed his immense strength. He only took the initiative to fight halfheartedly because he was worried about having his bonus deducted—perhaps because the Celestial Dragons did not give him bonuses?

"Care~free?" Borsalino slowly swallowed his final mouthful of ramen, then wiped his mouth in satisfaction. "HOHO~ Junior Brother, you're the first one~ to make that evaluation~"

"Senior Brother had thought that a young man like you, who exterminates pirates without mercy~ would be like Sakazuki~ talking about how evil must be thoroughly eradicated~ before criticizing me for being lazy in my work~"

At that, Wright picked up two strands of noodles and fell silent for a while before slowly saying, "Everyone who becomes a Marine has their own justice... The pirates I have exterminated without mercy were all asking for death."

"Capturing pirates alive earns the full bounty, while dead pirates only earn seventy percent. Back when I was a Pirate Hunter in the East Blue, when I had an overwhelming advantage in strength, very few pirates survived under my hands—I can tell the difference between true evil and those forced into desperation."

"The crimes they committed cannot be erased, but whether they were forced into desperation is one of my criteria for judgment. If they are truly evil, or do not possess enough value to offset their own wrongdoing, then they will undoubtedly die by my hand—otherwise, if they were forced into it and have enough value of their own, I can give them a chance to atone."

"For World Peace."

"Oh~ Junior Brother~" Borsalino's eyes widened, genuinely surprised. "You truly have~ exceeded Senior Brother's expectations~"

"Judging things this way~ it would seem~ that Fish-Man..."