Setting Sail

At the Marine Headquarters docks, a seventy-meter-long warship raised its sails and set off amid the sailors' shouts.

Zhong Hao and Zephyr stood atop the ship's superstructure, watching Marineford gradually recede into the distance. Zephyr suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

Zhong Hao asked curiously, "Mr. Zephyr, what has you so happy?"

After laughing for a while, Zephyr pointed at the endless sea in the distance, then at the busy new recruits on deck. "It's been so long since I last went to sea. Thinking back to those days on the ocean, chasing pirates all over the world and sending them to prison... my blood is surging."

"Mr. Zephyr used to be an admiral too." Zhong Hao chuckled. "By the way, how are we getting to the West Blue? The Calm Belts on either side of the first half of the Grand Line should correspond to the East Blue and South Blue. To reach the West Blue, do we first cross the Red Line and pass through the Calm Belt of the New World?"

Zephyr nodded. "That's right. The Marines have a dedicated route that passes through Holy Land Mary Geoise directly into the New World. Security there is extremely tight, so pirates don't dare take that route. They can only travel through Fish-Man Island ten thousand meters beneath the sea. That route is fraught with danger. Eight out of every ten pirate crews end up buried on the ocean floor."

Zhong Hao suddenly understood. "Is that why Marine Headquarters was built here? To force pirates to take the dangerous route and use the power of nature to weaken them? But wouldn't that weed out the weak, leaving only the elites alive?"

Zephyr fell silent for a moment, his tone growing slightly heavy. "Yes. No pirate who reaches the New World is incompetent. Even the Marines' forces in the New World have been completely driven out. We can only hole up on islands near the Red Line. Vast stretches of the other seas are controlled by pirates, along with the people and the nations there."

Seeing that he was in a poor mood, Zhong Hao did not wish to disturb him. "Mr. Zephyr, it's morning. I should go train my physical fitness."

Zephyr came back to himself and asked in confusion, "Train your physical fitness? How are you going to do that on a ship?"

Zhong Hao smiled calmly. "I can swim in the sea. When Teacher Garp brought me from the East Blue to Marineford, he threw me into the ocean and made me desperately follow behind the ship the entire way."

Zephyr's mouth twitched. "That old bastard Garp. Wasn't he afraid you'd be eaten by Sea Kings?"

Remembering how several Sea Kings over a hundred meters long had chased him down while Garp stood at the rail laughing and watching the show, Zhong Hao did not know whether to laugh or cry at Garp's lack of conscience. Still, he said, "Sea Kings over a hundred meters long generally don't appear in the Four Blues, unless it's the Calm Belt. Ordinary Sea Kings would be even better—they'd make a fine extra meal. Well then, I'll be going."

Watching Zhong Hao's departing back, Zephyr's eyes flickered. A sly, wicked grin suddenly appeared on his lips. At the same time, every new recruit on the ship shuddered.

On deck, the new recruits gradually gathered at the stern and looked out toward the sea.

Smoker was among them. He shouted down at Zhong Hao, "Kid, do you really need to push yourself this hard? We're sailing with the wind. Are you trying to exhaust yourself to death out there?"

"It's precisely because of that mindset that you lost to him, Smoker." Zephyr stepped out from the ship's superstructure and roared sternly, "Now, everyone except those with duties, tie ropes to the ship, secure the other ends around your bodies, and get into the water. All of you will swim alongside the ship."

"Ze... Zephyr-sensei, you must be joking, right?" one recruit asked stiffly, stammering.

"This is no joke. I already made it very clear at the training ground earlier. If you want to become strong, you have to train desperately. The ropes aren't for you to slack off; they're to keep you from falling behind. Now, carry out the order." Zephyr looked every inch the iron-blooded instructor.

"Yes..." the group answered weakly.

There were many ships traveling between Marine Headquarters and Mary Geoise: Marine warships, World Government official vessels, merchant ships belonging to wealthy traders, and more. Traffic was constant. Today, the people aboard these ships witnessed a remarkable sight.

A warship sailed ahead, while more than two hundred Marines formed a dark mass behind it, swimming desperately in its wake. The splashes kicked up by their swimming were even greater than those made by the ship.

On a passing warship, a vice admiral saw Zephyr on deck. He first saluted, then looked at the more than two hundred people in the water. After a brief thought, he understood what was happening and shouted to the Marines beside him, "See that? That's Admiral Zephyr, the man responsible for training new recruits at Headquarters. The ones behind his ship are all elites from the training camp. Even those young recruits can train so desperately. You lot can't afford to fall behind either."

"Yes!" the Marines answered in unison.

When the recruits in the water saw people watching them, they were instantly invigorated and swam even harder.

"Keep it up, kid! You've fallen into last place!" a soldier shouted at the recruit swimming at the very back.

Fire blazed in the last-place recruit's eyes. He felt strength surge into him in an instant, and his arms began churning through the water as he gradually caught up to the second-to-last recruit.

"Haha! You there in second-to-last, don't let that guy behind you overtake you!" another soldier shouted encouragingly.

The second-to-last recruit glanced back and saw that the last-place recruit had already caught up to him. He was immediately startled and hurriedly sped up.

"Bastard, get back behind me!" "Bastard, stay in last place where you belong!" The two cursed at each other through gritted teeth, unknowingly closing in on the third-to-last recruit.

The third-to-last recruit's eyes widened, and a curse nearly slipped out. He quickly accelerated.

With so many people watching, the fourth-to-last recruit did not want to be overtaken either, so he sped up as well. One chased another, and before long, everyone's pace had risen.

Zephyr was very satisfied with the result. He nodded to the vice admiral aboard that warship and laughed heartily.

Of course, not everyone was like that. Smoker, at least, hung from his rope like a dead fish as he was dragged through the water. In Zephyr's words, this was partly to stop him from leaving the group to slack off alone, and partly to make him personally experience the side effects of a Devil Fruit so he would not become overly reliant on its powers.

Another merchant ship approached from the opposite direction. Seeing this scene, the people aboard also cheered loudly. After all, the stronger the Marines were, the safer they would be while conducting business at sea.

The third ship was a World Government official vessel, lavishly decorated with fine food, red wine, music, and a banquet. Elegantly dressed men and women engaged in hollow social pleasantries on deck.

As the two ships passed one another, the sight behind the warship came into view. One official sneered disdainfully, "How barbaric. What a bunch of filthy brutes."

A woman in a luxurious gown echoed him, "Governor, please don't say that. If not for those brutes, how could we possibly enjoy banquet wine like this?"

An ugly-faced man approached from the side and said, "Isn't that the value of those lowborn people? What use would they be otherwise? Don't you agree, Lady Lilith?"

The woman covered her mouth and laughed. "Isn't that so? Those lowly bloodlines ought to serve us noble aristocrats."

After saying this, the three walked gracefully into the crowd with wineglasses in hand, utterly ignoring the angry, sorrowful gaze of a soldier nearby.

Because they were some distance away, the recruits training desperately did not hear the three people's conversation. However, Zhong Hao, who was also swimming, and Zephyr, standing by the rail, heard every word. Zhong Hao had keen ears and sharp eyes, with highly acute senses, while Zephyr possessed Observation Haki.

Zephyr's fists clenched and loosened, then loosened and clenched again and again. The wooden railing beneath his unconscious grip was crushed into splinters.

How ugly. They are nothing but ants, yet they openly mock the strong. Zhong Hao sneered inwardly.

This was also one of the reasons he did not want to join the Marines. Even someone as strong as Zephyr could only endure such a situation no matter how furious he was. But Zhong Hao, if given the chance, could kill these people without mercy.