Your Students Are Very Confident

In the Amazon Calm Belt, there were no seagulls symbolizing peace and freedom.

Instead, gigantic Sea Kings treated this place as their domain, surfacing and submerging from time to time, always appearing in vast schools.

Yet a warship sailed in unscathed, even passing right by the Sea Kings.

A blue G was painted on the side of the warship, while the two large blue characters for "Justice" were printed on its sails. It was a Marine Headquarters warship, with polished Sea-Prism Stone embedded in its hull.

Sea-Prism Stone was a crystallized substance of the sea. Its composition resembled that of the ocean; it could be considered the sea in solid form, or a solid ocean.

Dr. Vegapunk, a Marine scientist, had researched and invented a way to embed Sea-Prism Stone into the bottoms of Marine warships. Sea Kings would then regard the warships as part of the sea, allowing them to pass through safely and even dock in the Calm Belt of the Grand Line.

Elsewhere.

Norse and his group sailed the Kuja Pirates' ship straight toward them.

As the captain of the Kuja Pirates, Hancock was dressed exceptionally formally today. Clad in a long crimson robe, she carried herself like an emperor looking down upon all living beings.

This was what an absolute powerhouse looked like.

Sonia and Gorud stood at the very front of the deck, each holding a telescope as they watched and grumbled indignantly.

"Those people from Marine Headquarters must have eaten too much and have nothing better to do, coming here every other day to cause trouble."

"Exactly. We let them go last time, and now they really think we don't dare kill them?"

"Hmph! We can't go easy on them this time. They're Marines, and we're pirates."

"That's right. We're irreconcilable enemies. Let's clean this up properly this time!"

But as the two ships steadily drew closer, Sonia and Gorud became nervous, even unable to stop themselves from gulping.

Who would have thought that the Marines who had come to back them up today would be such an overwhelmingly formidable presence?

"Quick, quick, quick! Norse, get up! If you face Marine Headquarters' strongest admiral, are you sure you can beat him?" Gorud hurried to Norse's side and asked in fright.

"Stay calm. Always remember that you're a promising pirate. No matter what you face, don't panic.

"Not only must you stay calm, you must maintain a pirate's bearing at all times. Arrogance is fine, imposing presence is fine, fearing neither heaven nor earth is fine. Put simply, it's the resolve you need as a pirate."

Norse lay in a deck chair, wearing red beach shorts below and a white shirt above. With an exceedingly calm and leisurely expression, he continued, "So... let me finish this cigarette first. Then you can study my composure and other admirable qualities."

"Oh!"

Gorud froze on the spot.

What Norse said made so much sense that she had no reply. And judging by how steady he looked, he truly seemed unshakable. This must be what a powerful big shot was like.

Perhaps... she had been overthinking it.

By the time Norse finished his cigarette, the two ships had drawn within fifty meters of each other.

At that moment, no one needed Gorud and the others to point out who from Marine Headquarters had arrived.

Whoosh!

Norse suddenly rose to his feet.

With a light leap, he appeared atop the railing at the bow. Calmly, he said, "I thought Red Fist or Kizaru would be coming this time. I didn't expect you to make the trip personally, sir."

"Sir?"

Zephyr furrowed his graying brows. He had not expected a pirate to show him such respect. No wonder Aokiji had gone to such lengths to persuade the higher-ups and requested that he come convince this fellow, hoping he would join the Marines and return to the right path.

And now that he looked at him, this kid's nature truly did not seem bad. It was just that at his age, he could so easily stray down the wrong path and end up sinking deeper and deeper!

Today, Zephyr was not wearing a Marine uniform, nor was he draped in a Justice coat. The higher-ups had suddenly made the request, and since it was on the way, he had simply brought the current class of students under his command into the Amazon Calm Belt.

In response to the other man's pause and question, Norse wore a smile that showed respect for the elderly and said, "You turned sixty-four this year, didn't you? I just turned eighteen, so calling you sir is only proper. You undoubtedly deserve it!"

"Hmph!"

Zephyr gave an overbearing snort and said forcefully, "I think I'd be happier if you called me senior instead!"

"No, no, no. How could 'senior' be as proper as 'sir'?"

Naturally, Norse disagreed, arguing, "Besides, I don't think I'm weaker than you. That's the arrogance and invincible attitude born from my confidence. I can't help it."

The moment Norse said those words, a strong scent of gunpowder seemed to fill the air.

Whether it was Zephyr's students behind him or Norse's companions behind him, they all believed that Norse was arrogantly provoking Zephyr.

After all, who was Zephyr?

He was Marine Headquarters' strongest admiral. Although he now served as an instructor at Marine Headquarters, the position of admiral had always been retained for him.

So if Zephyr cared about the dignity and prestige of being an admiral, he would probably be unable to hold back from erupting on the spot!

"How arrogant! You're nothing but a little pirate on the verge of death, yet you dare compare yourself to our Teacher Zephyr?" A burly man with long arms, his face covered in beard and nose hair, immediately flew into a rage.

This man was named Zoshu, one of the students Zephyr thought highly of. In his eyes, Norse was merely a young pirate. Where had he found the nerve to provoke the Teacher Zephyr they respected, even claiming to stand on equal footing with him?

"Teacher, let me go capture him!" Zoshu requested of Zephyr.

"Teacher, and us too..."

Immediately, more than a dozen of Zephyr's outstanding students behind him wanted to seize this chance to show off by capturing Norse and venting their anger for the teacher they respected.

Admiral Ain, with her blueberry-colored hair, was also itching to make a move. "Teacher, look at how arrogant and conceited that guy is. He's probably beyond saving. Why not let the sword in your student's hand punish him on the spot?"

She even sneered gleefully. "Hehehe... Of course, I wouldn't mind turning back his time either, so I can take a good look at what he ate growing up to become so arrogant and invincible."

Clearly, Zephyr's students still did not understand Norse at all. They had always believed that the stunning beauty on the ship was the main enemy their teacher needed to deal with personally.

At that moment, Zephyr really wanted to remind these foolish students that their senior, Aokiji, had been utterly crushed by the other party.

But Norse across from them could no longer hold back his laughter.

"Hahahaha..."

Norse looked seriously at Zephyr and said, "It seems this batch of your students is very confident in their own strength. How about letting them all come at me together?

"And while we're at it, you can give them a free lesson here—make sure they remember forever not to underestimate others just because of their age... right?"

After Norse finished speaking, he stepped directly onto the air. Ripples spread beneath his feet as though the void were vibrating at high speed, and he walked step by step toward Zephyr's warship, saying calmly, "I really don't mean anything else. I just think there's plenty of space on your warship, so when you gang up on me, all of you will be able to use your full strength."

"???"

The group of students behind Zephyr were dumbfounded on the spot, their hearts filled with shock and disbelief. Some of them even had an expletive they could not help but blurt out.

"H-He's walking on air as if it were solid ground?"

"W-What kind of Devil Fruit user is he?"

"Damn it!"

"This is a monster!"

Naturally, some of them felt their faces burning, as if they had suffered the greatest humiliation.

P.S. Thank you all for your votes and support. As you can see, I really have far too few votes.