The Weight of Marine Headquarters

The morning sea breeze carried a bone-piercing chill.

Winter in the East Blue often arrived earlier than in other seas.

A massive warship bearing the insignia of a Headquarters flag officer slowly dropped anchor at Locke Village's dilapidated dock.

The shadow of its enormous hull completely enveloped the entire pier.

When Rochi stepped off the warship via the gangplank, the villagers on the dock all unconsciously took several steps back, their eyes filled with reverence and even a trace of fear.

By now, Rochi had long shed the immaturity of a recruit.

He wore a crisp Navy warrant officer's uniform, his figure tall and straight.

Yet even that uniform, symbolizing justice and order, could not conceal the terrifying Sha Qi around him, as though he had crawled out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Commodore Carl had given him only three days of leave.

Rochi did not pause at all and headed straight for the low, shabby wooden house at the end of the village.

"Creak—"

The wooden door was pushed open.

Mary and Roski, who were inside mending fishing nets by the dim light, looked up at the same time when they heard the sound.

When they saw the stern young man standing in the doorway like an iron tower, Justice coat draped over his shoulders, the needles and thread in the mother and daughter's hands fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Ro... Rochi?"

Mary rubbed her eyes in disbelief, her voice trembling beyond recognition.

It had been less than three months since Rochi had enlisted.

Yet the young man before them had an aura as deep as the abyss and even wore an officer's rank on his shoulders. They could hardly believe their eyes!

"Mom, Sis, I'm back."

The coldness on Rochi's face rarely softened by a fraction as he strode forward.

Smack!

He casually tossed a heavy, enormous burlap sack onto the rickety wooden table.

With a dull thud, the mouth of the sack came loose.

Under the dim yellow glow of the kerosene lamp, a dazzling glimmer instantly lit up the entire broken-down house!

It was stack after stack of neatly bundled Beli!

The largest denomination, ten-thousand Beli notes, was piled in the sack like bricks. At a rough glance, there were at least several million!

"Th-this is?!"

Roski covered her mouth in fright. She had never seen so much money in her life.

"This is the military reward money the branch gave me for wiping out pirates around here over the past two months."

Rochi's voice was steady.

"I'll soon be transferred to the Grand Line."

Rochi's feelings toward his family were simple.

The same blood ran through this body, so he had an obligation to keep them away from all the filth and suffering on these seas.

Looking at the money covering the table, then at Rochi's shoulders, broader than when he had left yet faintly carrying the scent of blood, Mary broke down in tears and hugged him tightly.

Over the next half day.

As the first snowflakes of winter drifted down, Rochi entered the deep forest behind Locke Village alone.

This time, he did not even activate the most basic Observation Haki.

If he had to use his trump card against beasts of this level despite the crushing superiority of his level 11 officer-grade body, it would be an insult to him!

Boom!

A terrifying roar, like a cannonball striking the ground, erupted through the silent mountains!

A striped tiger over three meters long and weighing eight hundred jin did not even have time to roar before Rochi's lightning-fast side kick snapped its spine.

Its enormous body flew like a rag sack, smashing through three massive trees!

"Too weak..."

Rochi moved through the perilous forest as leisurely as if strolling through a garden.

To him, the lairs of ferocious beasts that meant near-certain death for ordinary villagers did not even count as a warm-up.

In just half a day.

When the afterglow of the setting sun spread across Locke Village's square.

The village's hundred-odd residents all stared dumbfounded at the small mountain of beast corpses in the center of the square, standing as high as a two-story building!

Black bears, tigers, boar kings...

Almost every beast had been killed in a single blow, without a single unnecessary wound.

"This meat will be enough to get everyone through the winter."

Standing amid the blood, Rochi casually flicked the beast blood from the back of his hand, his tone as indifferent as if he had merely tossed out a few cabbages.

The villagers dropped to their knees one after another, frantically kowtowing to Rochi. Some even cried out, "May the God of Death protect us!"

Rochi ignored their hollow gratitude.

He looked up at the sky, waved to his teary-eyed mother and sister, then turned around without hesitation and strode onto the gangplank leading back to the warship.

His concerns had been settled.

Next, it was time to go to that legendary sea and savor the finest blood and feast!

Yet at the instant Rochi turned away.

A complicated light flashed through young Roski's eyes. Only the wind heard her soft murmur:

"Little brother, your sister is proud of you."

"When you return again, you'll know all the answers, all the truth..."

The first half of the Grand Line.

After crossing the deathly silent Calm Belt.

As the ocean currents suddenly accelerated, a magnificent island that seemed capable of piercing the heavens crashed into Rochi's vision like an ancient beast lurking upon the sea!

Marineford! Marine Headquarters!

The entire island had been built into an incomparably massive crescent-shaped fortress!

Towering, impregnable walls, heavy coastal cannons as numerous as stars, and reconnaissance units constantly circling overhead on alert.

This was the supreme violent institution that upheld the World Government's rule!

"Hah—"

Standing at the bow of the warship, Rochi slowly closed his eyes. His basic Observation Haki silently spread outward like radar.

Bzzzt—!

The instant his Observation Haki touched the island, a sharp pain stabbed through Rochi's brain as if needles had pierced it!

Within his sensory world, this island... was filled everywhere with terrifying flames of life, blazing like furnaces!

Officer ranks were everywhere, and field-grade officers were as common as dogs!

And at the highest point of the fortress, several terrifying auras as unfathomable as the abyss, powerful enough to tear apart the sky, burned silently like suns!

"So this is the center of world power..."

Rochi abruptly opened his eyes. Not only was there no fear in them, but the dark, profound depths of his pupils instead erupted with the utmost madness of a starving wolf spotting a flock of sheep!

"They're all experience packs! All high-level experience packs!!"

Rochi clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms. Only through the pain could he barely suppress the urge to throw back his head and laugh wildly.

The warship slowly docked.

As Commodore Carl had to report in, she directly took Major Kuhn to the highest main building.

Meanwhile, a Headquarters captain approached Rochi expressionlessly, holding a stack of files.