Although Aokiji usually looked lazy and listless,
there was no denying that his personality allowed him to better grasp the proper limits after accepting an order. He could generally carry out Sengoku's commands precisely instead of causing additional trouble.
Furthermore, Aokiji was younger than the other two, having entered two classes later than both Kizaru and Akainu. His military achievements were still somewhat lacking if he wanted to succeed to the position of Admiral in the future.
That was why Sengoku had arranged for Aokiji to go, taking many factors into consideration.
It would serve as a moderate warning while also giving Aokiji more tempering and more military achievements.
Although Aokiji always complained that things were troublesome, he did not slack off after receiving the order. He stood up and prepared to leave.
After all, now that the meeting was over, taking a bicycle out for a stroll across the sea and eliminating a few pirates along the way sounded like a pretty good voyage.
Besides, compared to the Aokiji who would later become an Admiral, he was still Garp's little fanboy at this point. With Garp here, he was merely showing off with his words.
"Wait," Sengoku said, seemingly recalling something. "Since you're heading out, take care of one more matter while you're at it.
Yukimura previously captured a group of Slave Catchers, but they actually retaliated against him. Though they failed, it was still a provocation against the Marines. Go with Yukimura and wipe them out!"
"Ah la la, Admiral Sengoku really knows how to find things for me to do." Aokiji waved a hand but did not object.
There were no especially important missions at the moment anyway. If he went out to sea by himself, he would just wander around and destroy whichever pirate crew he happened to encounter. Having a mission would save him from aimlessly running around.
"I didn't expect Admiral Sengoku to remember..." When Yukimura arrived at the Fleet Admiral's office and heard Sengoku's arrangements, he could not help feeling secretly excited.
Yukimura knew that Admiral Sengoku had asked Aokiji to accompany him against that pirate crew because he wanted to look after his feelings.
After all, ever since the ambush last time, he had wanted to take revenge. That ambush had also caused the child he had rescued earlier to fall into a hellish place like Stomach Baron, and the child's fate was still unknown.
The sudden battle back then had been too fierce, their ship had been damaged, and the enemy had brought multiple ships. They had no choice but to retreat and could not return to search for the child.
At that thought, Yukimura's expression darkened. Though that child had been young, he had been clever and diligent, and even the ship's doctor had praised him as a medical genius. Yet now, his life or death was unknown.
"All right, I know a child from your ship fell onto the Boin Archipelago. We'll stop by and take a look this time. If he could survive in a place like that, it would prove that he's promising.
Even if he isn't suited for combat, a promising doctor is still worth putting in some effort for." Aokiji yawned.
"Thank you!" Yukimura knew Aokiji was saying that for his sake, and gratitude appeared on his face.
Sengoku adjusted his glasses and looked at Aokiji. "Aokiji, since you're going out on a mission, make sure you handle these matters properly."
"Ahhh... haaa... I don't object if there's a warship to ride." Aokiji put away his eye mask, yawned, and headed outside with the eager Yukimura beside him.
Yukimura did not think much of it, but Sengoku had sent him with Aokiji for more than just those reasons. He wanted Aokiji to develop his own faction.
After all, although Akainu and Kizaru currently belonged to the "neutral faction" and the "hawk faction" respectively, they had entered in the same class.
By comparison, Aokiji's faction was somewhat weaker. But since those following Garp belonged to the "dove faction," they were on Sengoku's side. Since there was an opportunity, he naturally wanted to help Aokiji develop his faction.
The backbone of a faction consisted of Commodores through Vice Admirals. Yukimura's current rank of Commodore was enough to enter Sengoku's notice, and Yukimura was young enough to have plenty of time to improve.
Leaving aside Sengoku's considerations, the two who had already set out slowly advanced toward their target aboard the warship.
Meanwhile,
Abraham Dawn was constantly trying to develop the powers of the Devil Fruit he had eaten.
Even with an immense imagination, he still needed great strength and abundant stamina to keep experimenting until he finally succeeded.
Power Aura.
Unlike the previous blue aura, this red aura granted unparalleled strength.
The enhancement to Dawn's own strength was enough to let even a child like him grab a blade and directly confront those annoying man-eating flowers.
In exchange, however, it consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
At present, this ability could be described as trading stamina for explosive strength far beyond what he could normally achieve.
However, Dawn believed that as he developed the fruit and trained the ability, the stamina consumed by Power Aura would decrease while its enhancement to his strength would gradually increase.
But that was not the important part.
Compared to developing the Aura Fruit, something Dawn had played countless games to understand and did not need to put much special effort into developing,
he could see an extremely distant future for this fruit's potential.
Of course, whether he could truly develop it that far would depend on the fruit's limits and the actual circumstances.
Even though people said there were no strongest fruits, it was undeniable that fruits had superior and inferior ranks.
For example, the Mera Mera no Mi and the Magma-Magma Fruit had different potential when it came to temperature.
Clearly, the Magma-Magma Fruit held the advantage in temperature from the very beginning after being eaten.
But that did not matter. To Dawn, such a problem was something to consider only after he had stopped growing stronger.
Right now, Dawn faced an important problem.
It concerned the development of the "Snatch-Snatch Fruit." Compared to the straightforward ability of the "Aura Fruit," Dawn could only feel his way forward when developing the "Snatch-Snatch Fruit."
Even the fruit's name was merely something Dawn had inferred from the techniques used by that pirate who had eaten himself into a fat ball.
Naturally, he could not be said to have any deep understanding of this fruit's abilities.
Compared to the "Aura Fruit," his understanding of the two was like the difference between university and elementary school.
But Dawn had steeled himself to eat this strange Devil Fruit precisely to gamble on that bold idea that might possibly exist.
Even if they were merely the "Aura Fruit" and the "Snatch-Snatch Fruit," Dawn was confident he could develop them to the level of an Admiral or one of the Four Emperors.
But if, instead of developing the two fruits separately, he could combine their abilities and fuse them into a single fruit,
then Dawn was confident he could become a top-tier combatant even among Admirals and the Four Emperors.
Take Golden Lion, for example. As a man who had contended with Roger and Whitebeard, he had faced the combined forces of Garp and Sengoku. The three had destroyed nearly half of Marineford's town before he was finally captured.
But if Dawn could truly develop the ability he envisioned and combine the powers, then even against two Admiral-level fighters, he was confident he could remain undefeated!
Before you continue