A Nighttime Talk Between Master and Disciple, Zephyr's Story

Once Loa had taken his place at the front of the line, Zephyr continued.

"Now, to prevent any more accidents, I've decided that Loa will stop participating in tomorrow's assessment."

"But for the sake of fairness, he must accept challenges from every recruit. Only after winning may he join the Elite Camp!"

At this point, an eager smile appeared on Zephyr's old face. "Understand?"

"Understood!"

At that moment, the lowest-ranking recruits at headquarters and Zephyr, the former Admiral at the very top, reached a silent agreement.

Aren't you great at fighting? Come on, then! A whole group of us against you—what are you scared of?

Feeling the malicious stares coming from all around him, Loa thought: I've got something to say, but I don't know whether I should say it.

This was supposed to be "for the sake of fairness"? How was this not abusing authority for personal revenge? Arudo had only stolen two boxes of your cigars. Was that really necessary?

That night, Loa leaned against the outer wall of the ice house, warming himself by the campfire.

Sizzle~

A drop of grease splashed onto the firewood, bursting into a tiny spark. Loa sniffed, sprang to his feet, and picked up the unidentified sea fish roasting beside the fire.

He carefully sprinkled it with salt and chili powder, then greedily inhaled its aroma. "Mm, cooked just right!"

There was plenty of food on the warship, but this was a Combat Assessment. Wilderness survival was also part of the recruits' test. In other words, there were "no meals provided." The recruits had to solve their own food and lodging problems.

Otherwise, why would a three-day assessment provide only one day's worth of rations?

The bright moon cast a hazy glow across the sea, swaying softly with the waves. The sea breeze brushed against their cheeks, carrying away the day's exhaustion.

On the beach and among the trees, recruits sat around campfires in groups of three or five, quietly preparing dinner.

Loa's ice house drew plenty of attention. On this desolate island with its biting winds, having an ice house to block out the cold would be incredibly comfortable.

But whenever they remembered what had happened during the day, everyone gritted their teeth in anger. No one wanted to curry favor with him.

Loa was happy to have some peace and quiet. Otherwise, the big bear frozen outside would not have been enough to entertain so many people.

That was his midnight snack!

Just as Loa was eating his grilled fish, a tall figure arrived outside the ice house.

Without so much as a greeting, Kuzan's hand slid into the ice as effortlessly as a heated knife cutting through butter, slicing off more than half the wall.

Casually tossing the chunk of ice into the sea, Kuzan looked at Loa, who was staring at him with dead-fish eyes from behind the wall. "What? Surprised to see me?"

"No." Loa shook his head. "I'm just feeling sad. You tear down someone else's house without even saying hello. Kuzan-sensei, did you used to work in demolition?"

Kuzan: "..."

The grilled fish by the campfire gave off an enticing aroma. Loa reluctantly pulled out a wooden skewer and handed it to Kuzan. "Here, have a taste, Kuzan-sensei. My exclusive recipe!"

If it had been anyone else, Kuzan probably would have taken it already. But facing Loa, he hesitated.

"You didn't put laxatives in it, did you?"

Loa was furious. He immediately pulled his hand back and took one huge bite, gnawing the grilled fish down to its spine. "Fine, don't eat it! Let's be fair here, Kuzan-sensei. Do you really think I, Loa, am that shameless?"

Kuzan: "Not really. Last time, you put laxatives in the water tank and gave the entire Recruit Camp diarrhea for a day. Your reason was that the infirmary's laxatives were about to expire, and you couldn't bear to waste them."

Loa: "..."

That was what happened when someone did not know how to chat. A few sentences, and the conversation was dead.

After picking apart the rest of the grilled fish, Loa chipped a piece of ice off the ice house and chewed it to quench his thirst. "So, Kuzan-sensei, what did you come to see me about?"

"Nothing important." Kuzan leaned against the ice wall and gazed out at the sea, his eyes deep and distant.

"It's just that today, I suddenly realized that Zephyr-sensei really is old."

The movement of Loa's mouth slowed at once. Kuzan's words stirred up his memories.

Indeed, Zephyr of this era was already old.

Judging from the original story,

Zephyr's life had been a tragic performance. He had admired heroes, grown up to join the Navy, and fought countless pirates throughout his life, yet he had never killed a single enemy. He had been known as the "Admiral Who Never Kills."

And yet, even such a kind old man had still been retaliated against by vicious pirates, his wife and son brutally murdered. That was also why Zephyr became the chief instructor of recruits. Disheartened, he chose to remain in the Navy after Sengoku persuaded him to stay.

However, more than ten years later, another disaster struck. The training ship he led was attacked by Edward Weevil. Of all the students aboard, only two survived, and one of his own arms was cut off by the enemy.

His beloved students died before his eyes, yet he could do nothing. Loa did not know how Zephyr had endured it back then. Perhaps it had been hatred.

Cruel reality changed the old man. The Zephyr of today might no longer be the person he once was.

When Smash was fitted onto Zephyr's arm, he completely embarked on the road of revenge.

First, he formed the Pirate Guerrillas and hunted pirates, breaking his vow never to kill. Later, when the Navy recruited new Shichibukai, he learned that Edward Weevil—the pirate who had killed his students and cut off one of his arms—had become a Shichibukai.

That was when Zephyr completely fell into extremism, or perhaps it was merely a powerless act of resistance. He resolutely betrayed the Navy and formed an organization called the NE Navy in the New World, with the goal of wiping out all pirates in the world.

In the end, Zephyr died at the hands of his own student, Admiral Kizaru, at the age of seventy-four. Kuzan buried him on the island where he fell.

"Wait!"

Loa suddenly felt a chill run through his heart, enlightenment flooding his mind like Conan.

The current year was Sea Circle Calendar 1516, and Zephyr died two years after the Paramount War. Working backward, that should have been the year 1525.

Zephyr had been seventy-four at the time, which meant he was sixty-eight now!

And Zephyr formed the Pirate Guerrillas to hunt pirates when he was seventy. That would be two years from now!

During these years after suffering such severe injuries, Zephyr had shown no abnormalities. He had continued teaching recruits obediently at the Recruit Camp. So the question was, why would he change so drastically two years later? If he wanted revenge, why wait another two years? Was Smash not finished yet?

Perhaps that was part of the reason, but Loa had a bold idea. The reason Zephyr had dragged his aging body into forming the guerrillas was likely because the recruits from these past years had all been utterly useless, leaving him with the stifling feeling that revenge was hopeless.

That was why he decided to act personally, hoping to avenge himself before he became completely old.

Just think about it. Zephyr had taught the three Admirals and several headquarters Vice Admirals!

With the trash in the current Recruit Camp, even Loa, who lacked much experience, dared guarantee that barring unexpected events, they would spend their whole lives hovering around the rank of field officer. At most, one might become a branch Vice Admiral.

The so-called backbone also represented mediocrity in another sense. Defeating Edward Weevil with disciples like these was nothing more than a fool's dream. If that was the case, then...

Loa swallowed the ice and leaned against the other side of the wall like Kuzan, asking casually, "Yeah. Admiral Zephyr is sixty-eight this year, right?"

"Kuzan-sensei, do you think Admiral Zephyr will seek out that pirate for revenge someday?"

Over the past month, Loa had pretended to be curious and asked Kuzan about Zephyr's prosthetic arm, so Kuzan was not surprised to hear him say that.

Kuzan gave Loa a calm sideways glance and said in a deep voice, "Listen, Loa. No matter what Zephyr-sensei does, that is his own choice. No one can interfere."

Loa's scalp tingled under that gaze, and his heart tightened. "Understood, Kuzan-sensei."

That icy killing intent vanished in an instant. Loa was smart, and so was Kuzan. Laziness did not mean stupidity. Both were shrewd, and without saying anything further, they reached an understanding.

Loa sighed inwardly. Sure enough, Kuzan noticed something long ago. He's warning me not to get involved. But if that's the case, why don't you stop him, Kuzan-sensei?

The two remained silent. After a long while, Kuzan got up to leave. "By the way, kid, once the assessment is over, the recruits will rest for a week. Then you'll have to accept challenges from the entire camp, so prepare well. I'm heading to the East Blue next. Don't slack off in your training while I'm gone."

"Yes! Kuzan-sensei~"

Loa waved goodbye. Once Kuzan had gone some distance away, he suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "Hey! Admiral Aokiji! You tore down my house. Aren't you going to compensate me? Even if you won't compensate me, you could at least fix it!"

Kuzan: "Ice Age!"

Whoosh~~~

Frost filled the air, and Loa's house was fixed—except it was now completely solid.