One Year

Before long, it was March of the year 1507 on the Marine Calendar.

During this time, Gray felt as though a lot had happened, and yet nothing much had happened at all.

Over the past year, every day had been spent training, studying with Baby 5, and helping her develop her Devil Fruit abilities.

Every now and then, he also went out to sea with the others to help deal with some reckless pirates.

And then there was the show.

Watching Luo spend a whole year working to kill Corazon, Gray thought about what Luo would go through later and secretly found it amusing.

The more he hated him now, the more he'd love him later.

Oh, there was one more thing worth mentioning. Near the end of last year, the Donquixote Family had gained a new member.

Dellinger, a half-Fish-Man who'd been picked up as a baby.

"Knock, knock."

The knock at the door pulled Sengoku's attention away from the headache-inducing documents. "Come in!"

Click~

The office door opened, and Tsuru walked in with some files.

"Oh, it's you, Tsuru. What headache-inducing documents have you brought me this time?" As he spoke, Sengoku crumpled up the file he'd been reading and tossed it to the goat beside him.

"You guessed right. According to reports from the North Blue, an organization called the Donquixote Family has been starting wars in nearby countries to profit from arms dealing." As the Marine Grand Staff Officer, Tsuru rarely smiled. Her expression was usually calm, and her thoughts and emotions were always composed.

"You really are a fine staff officer!" Sengoku shot Tsuru a look and took the files she handed him.

"This has to be stopped. The Four Blues are the foundation of the Marines. We can't allow instability there. Neither we nor the World Government would want to see that."

"That may be true, but since this brat is a former Celestial Dragon, it's not easy for the Marines to act!" Anything involving the Celestial Dragons became troublesome. Even though Doflamingo was a former Celestial Dragon, Tsuru wouldn't make a decision or issue orders to act without Sengoku's signature.

That was the wisdom of a strategist.

If anyone had to take the blame or face punishment, Sengoku could shoulder it. After all, this was a decision made together by the Marines' three pillars.

"There's no need to worry about that." Sengoku thought it over, then gave his orders. "Their father gave up his Celestial Dragon status, so the family is no longer considered Celestial Dragons."

"Given the World Government's concerns, just send him to Impel Down." As the Marines of the World Government, they often had no choice but to consider the government's position.

Even though Doflamingo was a former Celestial Dragon, Sengoku couldn't simply order him killed.

"Capturing him shouldn't be a problem, but who should we send?" Holding Doflamingo's photo, Tsuru asked the crucial question. "An ordinary Marine Vice Admiral won't be able to handle this!"

Tsuru's words left Sengoku silent for a moment as he carefully considered the pros and cons.

The Vice Admirals were the Marines' elite. It wasn't that they couldn't take down Doflamingo. If one wasn't enough, they could send two or three.

They'd eventually capture Doflamingo, but what would happen afterward?

Would the World Government take its anger out on them?

No one dared to gamble on how the Celestial Dragons thought.

Losing a Vice Admiral for nothing would not only weaken the Marines' strength and reputation, but also deal an unprecedented blow to the sense of justice among the rank and file.

Sengoku didn't want that, and he couldn't bear to see it happen.

Seeing Sengoku agonize over the matter, Tsuru began to lay out the Marines' current situation for him. "Kizaru is currently responsible for Vegapunk's safety, Akainu is stationed in the New World, and Aokiji is in charge of mobile operations at headquarters. There's no one else we can spare."

"What about that bastard Garp?" Tsuru had mentioned the Three Admirals, so Sengoku wondered where Garp, the Marine hero and his old friend, was now.

Tsuru: ?

Tsuru looked puzzled. "He told me you'd agreed to let him take leave and go home to look after his grandson."

In an instant, veins bulged on Sengoku's forehead. His furious roar rang throughout Marineford. "You bastard, Garp!!!"

He'd never said anything of the sort. Garp had obviously decided that on his own, leaving Sengoku utterly speechless.

Even so, after venting for a while, Sengoku calmed down again.

There was nothing he could do. He knew that bastard Garp would never change.

"If no one else is suitable, then I suppose it's down to you and Zephyr?" After considering the options, given the Marines' current situation, Sengoku could only think of Tsuru and Zephyr as suitable candidates.

Zephyr was a former Marine Admiral and the current Marine chief instructor. He had trained countless people for the Marines over the years.

The famous Admirals, most of the Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals, and even the Colonels had all trained under Zephyr.

Hearing this, Tsuru shook her head. "That's impossible. Ever since that incident, Zephyr's spirit has aged."

"There's no helping it. We're old friends, so I'll go myself." Once she'd made up her mind, Tsuru wasn't one to fuss over it.

"Sorry to trouble you, Tsuru!"

"If you know I'm trouble, then stop troubling me! Honestly, I'm getting old. It's about time I retired."

"Hey, hey! I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. The Marines can manage without me, but they can't do without you!"

With Tsuru as the Marine Grand Staff Officer, she handled eighty percent of the Marines' affairs perfectly.

All Sengoku, as Fleet Admiral, had to do was hold meetings and sign documents. Without Tsuru, he'd never finish dealing with the paperwork, even if he worked overtime every day.

"Tch!" Tsuru shot Sengoku an irritated look, turned, and left to prepare for the voyage.

"Just another ordinary day!" After washing up that morning, Gray, now eleven, settled into his personal wheelchair.

"Armament—evolve!" Acting a little crazy and indulging in some chuunibyou nonsense now and then helped keep him in a good mood.

As he shouted, Gray put on another signature piece of equipment: sunglasses!

"The sunglasses are the real me. Until someone breaks them, I won't admit I've been defeated!" That was what he'd thought the first time he put on sunglasses, when his chuunibyou spirit had taken over.

His sunglasses, however, were a brand recommended by Doflamingo and Senor.

Ever since he'd started wearing them, Gray had become the Donquixote Family's fourth person whose sunglasses were practically part of his body.

The third was naturally Vergo, who was secretly undercover in the Marines.

If Gray hadn't seen this in his previous life, perhaps only Doflamingo in the Donquixote Family would have known about it.

After amusing himself for a while, Gray put away his playful thoughts.

He wore sunglasses so people wouldn't find it strange when he trained his Observation Haki.

He already trained his Devil Fruit abilities in a wheelchair. If he also closed his eyes to train his Observation Haki, people might think: this kid's legs are crippled, his eyes are blind too, but he's still living cheerfully and bravely.

Whenever they went out to sea and arrived somewhere unfamiliar, the pitying looks from the locals left Gray powerless, no matter how annoyed he felt.

After all, they didn't mean any harm.