New World's Beachhead!

New World's Beachhead!

A week after Yoriichi began training Haki, a small portion of the supplies aboard Garp's warship had been used up.

Since setting sail, Garp had received no new information regarding the Roger Pirates' whereabouts.

Garp realized that this operation would once again turn into a prolonged pursuit, just like the previous ones.

Therefore, when they passed by a place called the Neil Kingdom, Garp ordered the warship to dock at the harbor and instructed the officers and soldiers aboard to replenish their supplies.

Taking this opportunity, Garp also planned to gather information about the Roger Pirates.

The Neil Kingdom was a small country in the New World. Though it was called a kingdom, it was really only a large island. In terms of area, it was likely even smaller than the Sabaody Archipelago. The island's permanent population was only several tens of thousands.

The Neil Kingdom was small and insignificant, with little military strength of its own. Its royal army numbered only around a thousand men.

However, the Neil Kingdom was located in the chaotic region of the New World. For its own safety, it became an affiliated nation of the World Government. At the same time, it served as the Marines' beachhead in the New World and housed a Marine Branch.

Yet in secret, the Neil Kingdom also maintained ties with underground forces. It flew Whitebeard's banner and opened its doors to pirates entering the New World, giving them a place to resupply.

With one foot in the underworld and one in the light, the Neil Kingdom had managed to gain a foothold in the New World.

The Neil Kingdom's political environment directly resulted in a chaotic mix of all sorts within its borders. The Marine Branch stationed here also kept an exceptionally low profile, more often acting as intelligence gatherers and rarely engaging in direct conflicts with the local pirates.

Whenever a serious incident occurred, the Neil Kingdom's royal army would generally handle it. Most of the time, it was merely pirates slaughtering one another, and the royal army would not interfere. But when civilians were harmed, the royal army would turn to the Marines.

Whenever pirates set their sights on the Neil Kingdom's nobles or ministers, they would raise Whitebeard's banner and use it as their shield.

At times like that, asking the Marines for help was useless. After all, what pirate capable of entering the New World did not have a bounty on their head? There were so many pirates in the world who needed to be hunted down, and with the Marines' influence and forces in the New World, there was simply no way they could pursue every pirate.

After pirates killed someone, they could load their treasure onto their ship and set sail. How could the Marines possibly hunt a small pirate crew across the world? But the Whitebeard Pirates were different. If someone truly challenged Whitebeard's authority, the Whitebeard Pirates really would hunt them across the world.

In the New World, Whitebeard's name was far more useful than the Marines'.

As for the Marines' role, it was more often about maintaining relative regional stability. Whether they hunted pirates depended on the level of threat.

In the end, the Marines simply lacked sufficient strength. This was why the World Government would later introduce the so-called Shichibukai system to strengthen regional stability.

Pirates legally plundering others—wasn't that ridiculous?

Chaotic places like the Neil Kingdom were often where intelligence traveled fastest and most accurately. Garp had come here mainly to obtain the Roger Pirates' whereabouts.

"Splash, splash, splash!!!" In the Neil Kingdom's Naval Port, the Dog-head Warship dropped anchor. A wooden gangplank extended from the ship and was secured to the ground.

"Creak... creak..."

Garp, draped in his coat of justice, slowly walked down from the warship. Behind him, his two adjutants, Aokiji and Bogard, followed closely. At their sides walked a red-haired youth wearing an eyepatch and carrying a long sword at his waist. It was Tsugikuni Yoriichi.

Yoriichi had wheedled this eyepatch from Aokiji. Using black cloth all the time and tying it around his head was somewhat inconvenient. Aokiji's sleeping mask was much more convenient.

In order to speed up his Haki training, Yoriichi wore the eyepatch for most of the day. After these days of training and adaptation, his Observation Haki had barely reached the beginner level. Even with the eyepatch on, it no longer affected his movements.

The speed of his progress left everyone aboard who knew about it dumbfounded.

As for Armament Haki, Yoriichi's training progress was rather mediocre. Although he could already skillfully apply Armament Haki to his attacks, his Armament Haki was simply too weak.

When sparring with Garp, he could not even break through his defenses. He was far inferior to Axe-Hand Morgan~

The commander of the Marine G-10 Branch stationed in the Neil Kingdom was a major general named Rocca. He seemed to have known Garp was coming and had been waiting at the harbor for quite some time.

Major General Rocca was rather old, seemingly over seventy. His long white eyebrows covered the corners of his eyes. As he stood waiting at the harbor with his eyes closed, his head bobbed now and then as though he were dozing off.

Though his body was still robust, the wrinkles on his skin, the age spots on his face, and his head full of white hair all revealed the old Marine's age.

The sound of the gangplank being lowered seemed to awaken him. His closed eyes opened into narrow slits, and upon seeing Garp, a smile appeared on the old Marine's face. His aged voice rolled from his throat and reached everyone's ears.

"You're here so quickly. Your temperament really hasn't changed at all, Garp."

Although Rocca was only a major general, he addressed Garp directly by name. None of the Marine officers and soldiers following Garp showed any surprise, and they all greeted Major General Rocca familiarly.

"Major General Rocca!"

Rocca waved at the officers and soldiers behind Garp, told them, "Get to work," then turned his gaze to Garp and said bluntly, "There hasn't been any more news about Roger recently."

"Hahahaha, Uncle Rocca, I mainly came to see you this time," Garp said with a laugh. Rocca merely shook his head and said calmly,

"Come on. Let's go inside and rest first."

With that, Rocca and Garp walked side by side toward the Marine Branch in the distance. By then, Yoriichi had removed his eyepatch. He looked curiously at Major General Rocca ahead, patted Aokiji's thigh beside him, and asked,

"Kuzan, who is this Major General Rocca?"

"He seems very familiar with Vice Admiral Garp?"

Aokiji lowered his head and smiled as he explained, "Oh, Major General Rocca? He's the Marines' most famous intelligence officer."

"When Vice Admiral Garp was young, he studied under Major General Rocca. It wasn't just Vice Admiral Garp—Vice Admiral Tsuru and Admiral Sengoku also spent time under him."

Yoriichi looked puzzled and continued, "The most famous intelligence officer? Then doesn't that mean his ability and seniority are both exceptional? Why is he only a major general?"

Yoriichi lowered his voice, clearly confused.

Yet this time, it was not Aokiji who answered Yoriichi, but Major General Rocca, who was walking at the very front.

"That's because this old man grew tired of life at sea."

"People need to live with their feet on solid ground. That way, they can live a few more years."

Rocca and Garp were four or five meters ahead of Yoriichi and Aokiji, yet Major General Rocca had still heard Yoriichi's deliberately lowered voice perfectly clearly.

Yoriichi lowered his head in embarrassment. He had not expected this major general's hearing to be so sharp. Being caught asking about someone behind their back was somewhat impolite.

"I'm sorry, Major General Rocca," Yoriichi apologized after a brief moment of awkwardness.

Rocca had stopped and was waiting for Yoriichi and the others to catch up. Hearing Yoriichi's apology, he waved a hand, not caring in the slightest. He sized up Tsugikuni Yoriichi, then asked Garp,

"Who is this kid? I've never seen him before."

Garp jerked his chin toward Yoriichi, signaling for him to introduce himself.

"Major General Rocca, my name is Tsugikuni Yoriichi."

Rocca nodded. A look of emotion suddenly appeared on his aged face. "A Marine this young... I haven't seen one in a long time."

"Kid, are you curious why I could hear what you just said?"

"Hehe, this old man ate the Listening Fruit. I'm a Hearing Man. If I want to, I can hear everyone on this island speak!"

Yoriichi's expression cleared with understanding, and he said with feeling, "You can hear everyone speak? That must be really exhausting."

Rocca froze at his words. After being stunned for a long while, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha!"

"What an interesting kid!"

Then, no longer paying attention to Yoriichi and the others, he pulled Garp along toward the base.