The Descent to the Seabed

Half an hour later.

Nosh was tied securely in front of the sofa. Three lumps had risen on his head, sizzling and smoking.

Shizi had dealt the blows.

Though she looked like a frail, scrawny old woman, she was a Marine from the same era as Garp and Zephyr. She had always been a master of Justice Iron Fist.

Across from him sat Shizi and Hina, and on the coffee table between them rested a small Den Den Mushi.

Momousagi's somewhat helpless voice came through the receiver:

"Anyway, that's more or less how things happened, just like I told you."

"I'm sorry, Big Sis Shizi. I was wrong to hide it from you. This has nothing to do with Nosh, so please let him go. I'll apologize properly the next time we meet."

"No need!" The old woman folded her arms and snorted, sounding rather haughty. "I'm still angry. Until I've cooled off, I don't want to see you again, little Gion!"

With that, she hung up and gave Nosh a cold look, sizing him up from head to toe.

Nosh felt guilty and instinctively scooted backward.

Once he realized their bodies had switched back, he'd actually handled things pretty cleverly—

As a stranger in Shizi's eyes, he knew that no matter how he explained himself, the old woman wouldn't believe him.

So he'd immediately called the ship and gotten in touch with Momousagi, letting her explain the whole story herself.

The misunderstanding was more or less cleared up now, but explaining how it had started also meant Nosh couldn't hide why he'd come here in the first place.

When the old woman learned that Momousagi, who had spent two warm and comforting days with her, hadn't come to visit her after all, but had instead brought a Marine Headquarters mission to persuade her to return, she naturally felt hurt and deceived.

And once she realized that the Momousagi she'd spent those days with was an impostor, her anger rose another notch, gathering like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

Watching Nosh sit there in anxious trepidation, the old woman finally spoke without expression:

"Nosh, nineteen years old. You joined Marine Headquarters last year and are one of the new Elite Training Camp recruits in Zephyr's latest class?"

"Yes, Sister Shizi... Rear Admiral."

He'd gotten used to calling her that over the past two days. The words almost slipped out, but he managed to correct himself in time.

"Impressive. You had this muddleheaded old woman wrapped around your finger for two whole days." Shizi's voice was devoid of emotion. "With acting skills and a talent for sweet-talking like that, it's a shame you're just a Marine. Ever considered joining Cipher Pol?"

"...Huh?"

"The World Government's intelligence agency. They could use a talent like you."

Shizi took a fountain pen from the table and laid out a sheet of paper. "Here's what I'll do. I'll write Zephyr a letter now and have him recommend you to the head of Cipher Pol. A place in Marine Headquarters' Elite Training Camp is precious. It should go to someone who needs it more..."

"Come on, Rear Admiral Shizi!"

Nosh sprang to his feet, only to be tripped by the rope and flop back down a second later. He clutched his backside and grimaced in pain. "Cipher Pol really isn't for me. I'm exactly the kind of person who needs a place in the Elite Training Camp..."

"Is that so?"

Shizi held her pen poised and looked up at him coldly. "What are your dreams and ambitions? Why do you want to join Marine Headquarters?"

So he'd be qualified to sit with his legs crossed during the Paramount War twenty years from now? And maybe satisfy his compulsive need to correct Aokiji's sitting posture while he was at it?

He certainly couldn't say that, so Nosh answered, "To stop the world from being destroyed, to defend its peace, to uphold love and truth..."

Thud!

Another steaming lump appeared on his head.

"To grow stronger, to gain the power to protect my family, and..."

Nosh was thoroughly humbled this time. He paused to think seriously before finishing, "To uphold the justice I believe in."

"That's passable. It sounds like the truth, at least."

Shizi snorted and finally put the fountain pen back in its holder. She looked at Nosh with contempt. "So, kid, do you think impersonating someone else and deceiving an old woman like me is something a proper Marine should do? Don't you feel the least bit guilty?"

"I'm sorry, Rear Admiral Shizi!"

Nosh apologized sincerely, then tried to defend himself again. "But I really had no choice. Commodore Gion told me to do it. She's my superior, and I'm just a rookie who hasn't even graduated yet. I couldn't exactly disobey an order..."

"I'll settle things with Gion later," Shizi cut him off with a cold laugh. "Right now, we're discussing what to do with you."

"..." Nosh wore the expression of a man who had accepted his fate. "Just tell me. Whatever the punishment is, I'll take it..."

"How about tying a rock to you and sinking you to the bottom of the sea?"

Shizi glanced out the window at the night sky. "The harbor isn't far. I may be an old woman, but I can still carry you there and make it back before dawn..."

Nosh stared at her in shock.

"...You're a Marine Rear Admiral, not a gangster or a pirate."

"That's why I'm only sinking you to the bottom of the sea. If I were a pirate, you'd already be fertilizer under my garden."

"Please don't say something that horrifying so casually in front of Hina."

"Then let's skip this part. Any last words? I can ask Gion to pass them on to your friends and family."

"Honestly, I don't think my crimes warrant the death penalty." Nosh grimaced. "That could be my last words, or you could put it on my tombstone."

Hina had been curled up in Shizi's arms, quietly listening to the two of them. At that, she couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

"You got fooled by this guy for two days, too. How can you still laugh?"

Shizi helplessly tapped Hina's little head, then looked up at Nosh again and sighed. "You're such a smooth talker, and you happen to have such a handsome face. No wonder that girl Gion let you complete the mission while using her identity..."

"Judging by the way you act, I bet you've flirted with plenty of girls at Marine Headquarters."

"Then you've got the wrong idea about me. I've never been in a relationship, and I've never even held a girl's hand."

Given Bell-mère's existence, only the first half of Nosh's answer was true. Still, plenty of people watching might have found the rest pretty relatable.

Shizi couldn't be bothered to figure out which parts were true. She waved a hand. "Forget it. You kept to your place these past two days, and you did a decent job keeping an old woman like me entertained. Even if those feelings were fake, I don't want to make a bigger deal of it."

"Now, there's only one thing I want to know."

Before Nosh could feel relieved, Shizi fixed him with another cold stare. "Even at Marine Headquarters, only a handful of senior officers know about Rouge's file. How did you recognize her identity at a glance from a photograph?"

Here it came. The real question.

Nosh's heart tightened. This was what he'd been worried would provoke the old woman's anger in the first place.

He was a nameless rookie who'd accidentally learned that the Pirate King's wife had been Shizi's adopted daughter. It was clearly a secret Shizi didn't want getting out. Even Momousagi, who was so close to her, knew nothing about it.

All he could say was that Rear Admiral Shizi was a good person, a veteran Marine whose character and integrity were on the same level as Garp and Zephyr.

If she'd been a more calculating senior officer with fewer scruples, Nosh couldn't help wondering if he really would have been sunk to the bottom of the sea today, vanishing under mysterious circumstances...