Journey to the East Blue

A few days later, somewhere at sea.

Because of the talent he had displayed and the strategic value of his Devil Fruit ability.

And because Dawn had led the others so impressively in responding to Golden Lion's attack.

Aokiji had personally been assigned to lead Dawn, Hina, Sola, and the others to the East Blue for practical combat training along the way.

This treatment was exceptionally generous. Having a future Admiral serve as a babysitter for a group of children was an extravagance rarely seen.

What Dawn had not expected was that the final destination of this practical training was Loguetown!

In other words, while the Marines had Aokiji spend extra time selecting opponents for Dawn and the others, their primary mission was to guard Roger's execution and ensure it went smoothly!

The Marines had practically mobilized their entire force to escort Roger, with even Aokiji taking the vanguard.

And that meant they had a chance to witness the coming "history."

Thinking of this, Dawn could not help wondering whether he, this butterfly, had already flapped his wings and changed certain people's fates.

For instance, Sola? Or the training camp companions in his little group who had never appeared in the anime?

Should those people have died in Golden Lion's wide-ranging attack? The survivors would probably have been too busy grieving for their companions afterward, let alone receiving this reward of practical training.

Shaking his head, Dawn cast aside this question, which was destined to have no answer. Those were not the matters he needed to focus on now.

As mentioned before, their warship was part of the vanguard fleet.

Because they were escorting the important prisoner Roger, Dawn did not know the fleet's exact route, but he knew that the ship they were on was headed for the East Blue, one of the Four Seas.

The warships responsible for escorting Roger were packed densely together. The fleet's numbers and firepower were even more terrifying than a Buster Call.

As one of the vanguard units, Dawn's group was naturally the most unusual.

Most of the vanguard was commanded by Vice Admirals, spread far apart in formation to clear the way through extensive reconnaissance.

But these brats from the training camp were here to temper themselves, so Aokiji had personally led them to ensure their safety.

Letting Dawn and the others gain experience during such an important vanguard mission—one could not tell whether that was reckless confidence or true confidence.

But there was no denying that it would be immensely beneficial to Dawn and the others' future development.

After all, the Marines had always upheld a tradition of veterans guiding newcomers.

And this tradition was no simple matter. One only had to look at the representative examples: Garp guided Aokiji, while Sengoku guided Borsalino.

It could be said that as long as their strength kept up, they would practically become future Admiral candidates.

And having Aokiji lead them through the waters increasingly close to the Four Seas, selecting suitable opponents for them to train against, was the best proof of that.

Because Dawn had prepared early for Golden Lion's surprise attack, there had been no casualties in his little group.

After experiencing that disaster, everyone had been deeply shaken, but their fighting spirit had not been extinguished.

After witnessing the natural-disaster-like destruction caused by Golden Lion, Garp, and Sengoku's battle, every trainee, Dawn included, felt not only awe but an even stronger desire to become powerful.

Even now, whenever they recalled that feeling of helplessness, it still lingered in their hearts.

The feeling of being casually crushed to death had deeply provoked every one of them.

And Dawn's outstanding performance—using the defensive ability he had prepared and developed in advance to block Golden Lion's attack for a moment until reinforcements arrived—had earned the attention of Sengoku and the others.

Though it had merely been a casual, wide-ranging strike from Golden Lion, it was not something that could be dealt with easily. Even the Vice Admirals had been held up for a time.

Dawn had covered that gap, giving the Vice Admirals who had quickly dealt with the attacks before them time to return and reinforce the others, preventing major casualties.

There had been even less to worry about on the Marines' families' side. After all, Marine officers on leave had also been present, so there had been plenty of protectors.

Thus, aside from the severe casualties suffered by those at Marine Headquarters who had directly confronted Golden Lion, the rest of the damage was mainly to the buildings.

But without Dawn, more than half the people in the training camp would likely have died.

And afterward, even the companions around Dawn had performed well. Their eye-catching performances had earned them all sufficient attention.

As for Dawn, whose performance had been especially outstanding, he had truly entered the sights of the Marine high command through this incident.

After this event.

Because none of his companions had died, and with Dawn's guidance, the incident had been successfully turned into positive motivation.

That could be seen from the increased intensity of everyone's training over the past few days.

Perhaps the reward Dawn and the others received this time was also due to the changes the Marines had seen in their mindsets.

They had already been the elites of their age group, and coupled with their transformed resolve, they were now worthy of the Marine high command's attention.

After all, if one wanted to become strong, willpower came first!

Across the azure sea, the dispersed warships sailed along their assigned routes.

Suddenly, the warship to the front left discovered a group of unknown pirates, and the scattered warships around it began closing in after receiving the report.

Dense cannon fire crisscrossed from every direction, blanketing the battered pirate ship. Before long, the pirate ship was blazing fiercely beneath the barrage.

At sea, cannons were the first means of attack when encountering pirates.

First, the Marines' standardized artillery had greater power and longer range, with assured quality. Second, warships were far more maneuverable than ordinary pirate ships.

This advantage in maneuverability allowed the Marines to pursue or retreat much more easily.

Good maneuverability also ensured that, when encountering certain disastrous weather conditions on the ever-changing sea, they could escape the affected area more quickly.

Therefore, when encountering pirates, using cannon fire to destroy their ship first was the tactic that best expanded the Marines' advantages.

After all, if they could destroy the ship and avoid close combat, there would be no soldier casualties. What did it matter if they used a few extra shells?

And if the pirates were strong enough, destroying their ship would place them in an extremely disadvantageous position on the vast sea.

If they were Devil Fruit users, the advantage would be even greater. They only needed to wait patiently and catch turtles in a jar.

Moreover, once the ship was destroyed, if the living forces aboard resisted, they would become fixed targets—the favorite kind in a war of attrition.

They only needed to bombard them with a few more rounds. Even if the pirates could knock every shell out of the air, it would be useless, because the shells would only grow more numerous while their strength could not be replenished.

As one side depleted and the other gained ground, the outcome naturally could not be good for them.