The medical room at No. 3 Outpost was underground.
Sunlight never reached it.
Qian Ye leaned against a battered wooden bed in the corner.
His ninja clothes had been cut open.
A masked medical ninja was treating his wounds.
Most were shallow cuts from branches.
The real damage was the muscle strain in his legs.
Forcing Chakra into his muscles had left his legs riddled with tiny tears.
Green Chakra light glowed around the medical ninja's hands.
The energy of the Mystical Palm Technique spread over Qian Ye's calves.
The cool sensation eased the piercing ache a little.
"Severe muscle fiber strain."
The medical ninja spoke without looking up.
"You're a civilian Genin, and you dared to use Chakra like that?"
"You're lucky your legs didn't give out on the spot."
The medical ninja withdrew his hands and picked up a roll of bandages from the tray beside him.
He swiftly wrapped Qian Ye's legs tight.
He showed no emotion throughout.
On a battlefield like this meat grinder, countless people died every day.
A Genin with nothing more than strained muscles hardly warranted much of a medical ninja's attention.
Qian Ye grimaced in pain.
But he did not make a sound.
He knew this was no time to complain.
"All right. Find yourself a spot in the wounded soldiers' camp outside."
The medical ninja pointed toward the door.
"We need the beds for serious cases."
Qian Ye nodded and slowly rose, bracing himself against the wall.
The instant his feet touched the floor, weakness shot through his legs and straight to his head.
Gritting his teeth, he limped out of the medical room.
The wounded soldiers' camp outside was just one enormous tent.
People lay packed together inside.
Some had lost hands or feet. Others were burned beyond recognition or blinded by poison gas.
Screams and groans rose and fell around him.
Qian Ye found a relatively clean corner and sat down.
He leaned back against a cold wooden post.
At last, he let out a long, heavy breath.
He had survived.
He had truly survived.
Qian Ye closed his eyes and turned his attention inward.
The Cross-Border Mutual Aid Group interface was still lit up.
He immediately opened the chat window.
"Old Zhao! That rocket of yours really packed a punch!"
"I sent that Sunagakure elite straight into the sky. There wasn't a whole bone left of him."
"Without your help, you'd have been burning offerings for me this time next year."
He sent the message.
The chat window stayed quiet for a dozen seconds or so.
Qian Ye grew uneasy. Had something happened to Old Zhao too?
Just then, a long string of exclamation marks popped up on the screen.
A voice message from Zhao Hai followed.
Qian Ye quickly played it.
Zhao Hai's grating voice exploded inside Qian Ye's head, brimming with excitement.
"Son! Your old man's made it!"
"My big break finally came!"
"I'm not at the East Blue No. 16 Branch anymore. I've taken off!"
The sudden bellow left Qian Ye's head ringing.
He hurriedly typed a reply.
"Did you find a Devil Fruit? Or steal the Heavenly Tribute?"
Zhao Hai sent another voice message at once.
"Even better! That bastard Captain Nezumi's going to Impel Down!"
Qian Ye stared at the virtual screen, his mind buzzing.
Captain Nezumi was going to Impel Down?
The story had gone wildly off course.
He hurriedly sent a voice message asking for details. "How did you pull that off? Nezumi's got that place in his pocket. You managed to bring him down?"
Zhao Hai's reply came quickly, thick with the giddy relief of a man who had escaped death.
"That old bastard wanted me dead!"
"He came back after the Straw Hat Crew beat him to a pulp, scared Marine Headquarters would investigate his dealings with Arlong."
"He needed a fall guy to take the blame for colluding with pirates."
"I was a menial Marine with no connections, and I'd talked back to him before. That made me the perfect target."
Nezumi's reasoning was brutally simple.
Dead men told no tales.
All he had to do was plant forged evidence under Zhao Hai's bed, then find any excuse to execute him.
With Zhao Hai dead, no one could challenge Nezumi's version of the Arlong affair.
Nezumi had even held a Fire Pistol to Zhao Hai's head and tried to force his thumbprint onto a forged letter.
Qian Ye's scalp prickled as he listened.
Life at the bottom of the Pirate World was no kinder than in the Naruto World.
"What happened next? How did you turn it around?" Qian Ye typed, urging him on.
"He sent two of his loyal Marines to grab me from the barracks." Zhao Hai sounded immensely pleased with himself.
"They thought I was just some useless grunt."
"I focused my Chakra into my fists and dropped both bastards with two punches!"
Zhao Hai had been desperate.
He was dead either way, so he might as well fight.
After knocking out the Marines, he immediately used the Transformation Technique from the Three Body Techniques Qian Ye had taught him.
He transformed into Captain Nezumi's sharp-featured adjutant.
Then he strolled right into Nezumi's office.
Nezumi was in the infirmary getting his broken ribs treated, so the office was empty.
Zhao Hai searched everywhere and found the secret ledger hidden in a compartment of the safe.
It contained page after page detailing how Nezumi and Arlong split their profits.
"Once I had the ledger, I didn't dare say a word about it inside the branch."
"The 16th Branch was full of Nezumi's people. Showing it to anyone there would've got me killed."
"I rushed straight into the communications room and faxed Nezumi's ledger to Marine Headquarters, page by page!"
At that, Qian Ye could not help slapping his thigh.
Zhao Hai had gone straight for the source. It was brilliant.
He had bypassed the East Blue power network and blown the whole thing wide open.
"Marine Headquarters is so far away. Could they act on a fax that quickly?" Qian Ye asked, getting to the crucial point.
Zhao Hai burst out laughing, the sound making Qian Ye's ears ache.
"That's where my luck came in!"
"Garp the Hero's Dog-Head Warship happened to be patrolling the East Blue!"
"He was on his way to Foosha Village to see his grandson."
"Marine Headquarters got the fax and contacted Garp, who was closest."
"His warship was only half a day's sail from the 16th Branch."
Zhao Hai described what happened next in vivid detail.
Captain Nezumi had just left the infirmary and was about to order a citywide search for Zhao Hai.
Then an enormous black iron ball came flying out of the sky.
The cannonball Garp had thrown with his bare hands smashed straight through the branch building's roof.
Vice Admiral Garp stepped through the rubble, holding a copy of the fax from Marine Headquarters.
Nezumi wet himself on the spot. He did not even have the strength to run.
One punch from Garp shattered every tooth in Nezumi's mouth.
Then Garp kicked him more than ten meters, straight through the branch's perimeter wall.
Nezumi ended up embedded in the bricks and passed out on the spot.
It was a swift, immensely satisfying comeuppance.
Garp clapped Seastone Handcuffs on Nezumi and all his loyal men.
"That old man's terrifying. His fists are bigger than cooking pots," Zhao Hai said, still shaken.
"How did you catch Garp's eye?" Qian Ye hurriedly asked.
"After Garp arrested Nezumi, he casually asked who'd sent the fax."
"I'd run out of Chakra for the Transformation Technique by then, so I was back to normal."
"That old man has sharp eyes. One look, and he could tell strange energy was flowing through me."
Observation Haki!
The term flashed through Qian Ye's mind.
A top-tier powerhouse like Garp had to have monstrous powers of perception.
Chakra was an energy never seen before in the Pirate World. There was no hiding it from him.
"Garp insisted on testing me," Zhao Hai continued.
"Like hell was I going to fight him? I just steeled myself, focused Chakra into the soles of my feet, and ran."
"The old man laughed three times, then grabbed me by the back of my collar."
"He said the way I used my strength was interesting and that I had potential."
"Then he tossed me aboard the Dog-Head Warship!"
Zhao Hai could not keep the elation out of his voice.
"Son! I'm on my way to Marine Headquarters at Marineford with Garp right now!"
"Garp said he's going to train me himself!"
"Once I learn Armament Haki, I'll send you good stuff every day!"
By the time Zhao Hai finished, Qian Ye was green with envy.
Comparing their fortunes was enough to drive him mad.
He had been chased all over by Sunagakure forces and had nearly died in pieces.
Meanwhile, Zhao Hai had latched on to the most powerful patron in the entire Pirate World.
Personal training from Garp? Even Koby and Helmeppo would have to get in line behind him.
Training at Marine Headquarters meant direct access to the World Government's central resources.
The Six Powers, Haki training methods, even Devil Fruits.
Things that had once been impossibly out of reach might now be his for the taking.
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