Heading to the East Blue

# One Piece: Devour Fruit - Chapter 31: Heading to the East Blue

A few days later, in a certain sea area.

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

Combined with how Dawn had led everyone in responding to the Golden Lion's attack with outstanding performance.

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

This treatment was extremely generous—having a future Admiral babysit a group of children was a luxury rarely seen.

What Dawn hadn't expected was that the final destination of this practical training was Loguetown!

In other words, although the Marines had asked Aokiji to spend extra time selecting opponents for Dawn and the others, the main purpose was to serve as escort guards ensuring Roger's smooth execution!

Faced with escorting Roger, the Marines had deployed in full force, with even Aokiji taking the vanguard.

And this meant that Dawn and the others would have the chance to witness the approaching "history."

Thinking of this, Dawn couldn't help but wonder if he, this butterfly, had already flapped his wings and changed some people's destinies.

For example, Sola? Or the training camp companions in his small group who hadn't appeared in the anime?

Those people—shouldn't they have been sacrificed in the Golden Lion's large-scale attack? The survivors probably wouldn't have had time to grieve for their companions, let alone enjoy this reward of practical training.

Shaking his head, Dawn cast aside this question that would never have an answer. The issues he needed to focus on now weren't these.

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

Because this was for escorting the important prisoner Roger, although Dawn didn't know the fleet's current navigation route, he knew the ship they were on was heading toward one of the Four Seas—the East Blue.

The warships responsible for escorting Roger were densely packed together, waiting in formation. The number of ships and firepower in this fleet was more terrifying than a Buster Call.

And as one of the vanguard units, Dawn's team was naturally the most special.

Because most of the vanguard units were commanded by Vice Admirals, with the formation spread wide apart to maximize reconnaissance range for clearing the path.

But Dawn and the other kids from the training camp were there for tempering, so Aokiji had been specially assigned to ensure their safety.

Having Dawn and the others train during such an important vanguard mission—whether this was called being bold or being confident was hard to say.

But undeniably, this was extremely beneficial for Dawn and the others' future development.

It was well known that within the Marines, there was a tradition of "veterans mentoring newcomers."

And this tradition was no simple matter. Just look at the representative examples: Garp mentored Aokiji, Sengoku mentored Borsalino.

It could be said that if one's strength could keep up, they would be a future Admiral candidate.

And now, having Aokiji lead everyone to select suitable opponents for training in the seas approaching the Four Seas was the best proof.

Because Dawn had been on guard against the Golden Lion's sneak attack early on, there were no casualties in Dawn's small group.

After experiencing this disaster, although everyone had been greatly shaken, their spirit hadn't been crushed.

Having witnessed the calamitous destructive power when the Golden Lion fought against Garp and Sengoku, all the trainees—including Dawn—felt not only shock but also an increasingly burning desire to become stronger.

Because even now, thinking back to that feeling of powerlessness still lingered in everyone's hearts.

That sensation of being casually crushed by someone deeply stimulated every single person.

And Dawn, because of the defensive abilities he had developed in advance, had managed to block one of the Golden Lion's attacks for a moment, holding out until reinforcements arrived. This outstanding performance earned him the attention of Sengoku and the others.

Although it was just a casual area-of-effect attack from the Golden Lion, it wasn't something that could be easily dealt with. Even the Vice Admirals were momentarily held back.

Dawn had bought time during that blank period, allowing the Vice Admirals who quickly dealt with the immediate attacks to come to the rescue, preventing major casualties.

As for the Marine families, there was even less to worry about, since there were still Marine officers on leave, so there were plenty of protectors.

Thus, aside from the heavy casualties among those who directly faced the Golden Lion, the Marine Headquarters only suffered severe damage to its buildings.

But if it hadn't been for Dawn, probably more than half of the training camp personnel would have died.

Afterward, because Dawn and the companions around him all performed well, their outstanding displays earned them sufficient attention.

And Dawn, with his exceptional performance, truly entered the sight of Marine high command.

After this incident.

Because there were no casualties among his companions, and with Dawn's guidance, this event was successfully transformed into positive motivation.

This could be seen from the increased training intensity everyone had shown in the past few days.

As for this reward for Dawn and the others, perhaps it was also because the higher-ups had seen the change in their mentality.

Originally, everyone was already an elite among their peers, and with their transformed will, they were now worthy of the Marine high command's attention.

After all, to become a strong person, willpower comes first!

On the blue-gray sea, the scattered warships each sailed along their planned routes.

Suddenly, the warship on the left front discovered a group of unknown pirates, and the surrounding scattered warships received reports and began to encircle them.

Dense crossfire covered the dilapidated pirate ship from all angles, and within moments, the pirate ship was blazing fiercely from the concentrated bombardment.

On the great sea, when encountering pirates, cannon fire was the first means of attack.

First, because of the Marines' standardized artillery, they had greater power and longer range, with guaranteed quality. Second, the mobility of warships far exceeded that of ordinary pirate ships.

And this advantage in mobility made it easier for the Marines whether pursuing or retreating.

At the same time, good mobility was also necessary to ensure that, on this ever-changing sea, when encountering certain catastrophic weather, one could escape its range more quickly.

Therefore, when encountering pirates, using cannon fire to first destroy their ship was the tactic that could best maximize one's own advantage.

After all, if the ship could be destroyed without resorting to close combat, then there would be no casualties among the soldiers—so what did it matter if a few more cannonballs were wasted?

Moreover, if the pirates were strong enough, destroying their ship would put them in a highly disadvantageous position on the vast ocean.

If they were Devil Fruit users, that was even more advantageous—one only needed to patiently wait to "catch the turtle in the jar."

And once the ship was destroyed, if the living forces on board put up resistance, a stationary target was exactly what a war of attrition loved most.

Just bombard them with a few more rounds of cannon fire, and even if you could shoot down every cannonball, it would be useless, because the cannonballs would only keep coming, while the strength you expended could not be replenished.

As one side grew and the other waned, naturally, there would be no good outcome.