The Youngest Marine Admiral in History: Black Arm Zephyr!

Alubarna.

The royal capital of Alabasta was prosperous beyond belief.

"This place feels even more impressive than Mary Geoise..." Vikengam remarked as he walked down the street, unable to help marveling at the bustling crowds.

Mary Geoise's prosperity had been built on exploitation and slavery. Though it too appeared vibrant and luxurious, it inevitably gave people a chill.

This place was different. The streets teemed with people, commerce was thriving, and as the royal capital, the average income should have been quite decent. Poverty was not entirely absent, but along the way, they had seen very few people who looked impoverished.

"It truly is remarkable. We've sailed the seas for so many years and visited so many places, but a city as prosperous and densely populated as Alubarna... well, there's simply nowhere else that compares," Rayleigh said in praise.

The Roger Pirates had wandered all over the world and visited countless places, yet even Rayleigh admitted that nowhere could rival Alubarna's prosperity.

As humanity's oldest nation, Alabasta possessed an army of nearly a million professional soldiers and a population in the tens of millions. It truly was extraordinary.

Vikengam even thought carefully about it. From the lofty perspective of Mary Geoise, it seemed that fewer than ten countries in the entire world had reached Alabasta's population scale.

And as for places as prosperous as this, Vikengam had not encountered any so far.

"Hey, hold on. Isn't that the Marines?" Jaba said, pointing toward the royal palace in the distance as if he had spotted something.

Hearing that, everyone turned to look. Sure enough, a group of Marines was stationed near the steps of the Nefertari Family's palace.

"Isn't this strange? Alubarna is Alabasta's royal capital, deep in the desert. Why would Marines be here?" Rayleigh asked doubtfully.

Vikengam considered it for a moment, then said, "They should be the Marines who escorted Wadiye back from Mary Geoise."

"I see." Roger nodded. "That makes sense. The Reverie was held not long ago, after all. Alabasta was also one of the rotating host nations this time. Now that it's over, the Marines brought them back."

It was now Sea Circle Calendar 1486. The World Government had indeed convened the Reverie in the middle of the year.

Quite a few of the related proposals had even made the newspapers.

For example, Alabasta had proposed abolishing the Heavenly Tribute.

Then there was the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf, which hoped to join the World Government and become one of its affiliated member nations. However, that proposal had not passed at the Reverie, leaving the Giant King Harald deeply disappointed.

Still, Marine Headquarters had officially approved a proposal to recruit some Elbaf Giant Tribe warriors to fight for justice.

It was worth noting that this was not the first time the Marines had formed a giant unit.

Even earlier, Carmel, who appeared to be a nun but was actually a human trafficker, had sent some Giant Tribe members into the Marines.

This time, however, the World Government and Elbaf had reached an agreement.

To some extent, it also promoted changes in Elbaf's international relations.

To put it bluntly, because of Elbaf's historical traditions, the nations of the seas were basically all deeply afraid of them. Harald could not overturn that impression in a short time, while Elbaf's warriors joining the Marines and fighting for justice would indeed help reshape Elbaf's image.

Over the past two years, Harald had done plenty for the Marines. He had clashed with many great pirates in the New World, but his strength truly was formidable. He was on the same level as Rocks, and at this stage, when it came to one-on-one combat, he was the strongest.

The so-called strongest in a one-on-one fight later on, Kaido, was not even enough for one of Harald's fists right now.

Speaking of Kaido, he was considered an easy target in the New World. After the God Valley battle ended, he had been the first one captured.

He had indeed broken out of prison again afterward, but his luck did not last. Sengoku caught him once more last year, and he had not shown his face since. Who knew how he was being dealt with?

"With Marines around, let's keep a low profile. We'll rest for a day and return to Nanohana tomorrow," Roger said after thinking for a while.

Unless they ran directly into the Marines and had nowhere to hide, the Roger Pirates generally avoided them.

It was not that they feared the Marines. In fact, with the Roger Pirates' current lineup, the Marines would have to gather a great deal of top-tier strength to have any chance of taking them down.

They simply hated trouble. Once the Marines latched onto them, it was like being targeted by hyenas. They would not get a moment of peace for a long while, which would undoubtedly delay their real business.

And that was not even the key issue. The most important thing was that one careless mistake might summon that bastard, Marine hero Monkey D. Garp.

Once that happened, there was no way things would end without complete chaos.

So over time, the Roger Pirates had basically taken detours whenever they saw Marines.

Because the sun was so scorching, everyone in the group was dressed very "conservatively," wrapped from head to toe in thick veils. Unless someone looked closely, they would never recognize them.

Using that cover and keeping away from the Marines, they quickly found an inn and rested.

After taking baths and changing into clean clothes, they gathered again and headed to a tavern to have some fun.

"Boss, give me a newspaper." As the intelligence officer, Spencer bought a paper whenever he saw one.

"Oh, sir, there's major news today. You won't want to miss it." The tavern owner smiled as he handed him a newspaper.

Meanwhile, Jaba ordered a huge pile of alcohol and grilled food. He even had his arm around a tawny-skinned barmaid with a distinctly Alabastan charm.

Was he truly worthy of being called a warrior of love? Could any normal person marry a Giant Tribe woman and have children with her?

"Your true nature is showing, Senior Jaba," Vikengam teased with a smile as he watched Jaba hold the barmaid.

"Sigh, I tried to change, but I found that no matter what I did, I could never make Shakky look my way. Since that's the case, I might as well be myself. I'll be a warrior of love!" Jaba laughed, raising his glass.

Shakky could not be bothered to respond, while Rayleigh said with a chuckle, "Now you know who the second-in-command on this ship is, right?"

"You looking for a fight?" Jaba cursed.

Back when Vikengam had first joined the ship, Jaba had acted like a proper gentleman. But later, after realizing that Shakky and Rayleigh were truly devoted to each other, he stopped causing trouble and began letting himself go.

Whenever they arrived somewhere, he would inevitably immerse himself in the local customs, studying love and culture and fully giving expression to his emotions.

Vikengam had only been aboard for two and a half years, yet he had already seen Jaba suffer forty-six heartbreaks. It was absurd.

As they drank and chatted nonsense, Spencer walked over from the bar with the newspaper in hand. "This really is major news."

"What happened?" Roger asked curiously.

"Three days ago, those two old Marines retired. Then Marine Headquarters promoted Sengoku and Zephyr, both vice admirals, to Marine admirals. One is thirty-eight, the other forty-three. Black Arm Zephyr in particular broke Marine Headquarters' record, becoming the youngest Marine admiral in history!" Spencer said.

"Oh? Looks like the Marines are constantly adjusting themselves too," Jaba said, smacking his lips.

"It shows that the turmoil in the New World has truly put them under considerable pressure... A Marine admiral at thirty-eight. Zephyr really is impressive," Roger said with emotion.

Then, as though recalling something, he asked, "Since we're talking about the Marines, did the paper mention anything about Garp?"

Clearly, it was not only Garp who constantly hunted Roger down. At times, Roger also paid attention to Garp's situation.

Though the two stood on opposing sides, they actually regarded each other as friends worthy of entrusting their lives to, especially after fighting together at God Valley.

"It didn't," Spencer said.