By mid-October, autumn was deepening.
A light breeze carried a fine drizzle, and a misty rain shrouded Marineford in the early morning.
At the naval port docks of Marine Headquarters, a middle-aged man sat atop a bollard, gazing out over the empty sea. His white Justice coat fluttered in the wind as the fine rain dampened his purple hair.
"Crunch, crunch."
"Hey, Zephyr, why are you sitting here?"
"Nothing going on at the academy today?"
At that moment, a burly middle-aged Marine walked up behind the purple-haired man and asked curiously.
"Oh, Garp!"
Zephyr turned around and saw Garp standing behind him, chewing on senbei with a suspicious look on his face.
"Nothing much. Yoriichi should be arriving this morning, judging by the time."
"I had nothing to do, so I came to the docks to take a look."
Zephyr answered casually, then seemed to recall something and asked Garp, "What are you doing at the docks? Heading out to sea?"
"Hehehe."
"No. There hasn't been any news about Roger lately, so why would I set sail?"
"I came to the docks, hehehe, for the same reason as you!"
Hearing Garp's words, Zephyr could not help frowning. His voice turned wary as he asked, "To pick up Yoriichi? What are you picking him up for?"
"What kind of question is that? Tsugikuni Yoriichi was the one I brought into the Marines. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to show some concern for him?"
"Hahahaha!"
Garp swallowed the senbei in his mouth and answered with a hearty laugh. But Zephyr's expression changed at once. He sprang up from the bollard and shouted at Garp:
"Dammit, Garp! Can you stay away from that kid Yoriichi?!"
"He only sailed with you for three months, and he's already picked up all your bad habits!"