Hina and Tsuru

Hina stepped out of Tsuru's office and looked toward Wuli, who was still fighting.

Wuli noticed Hina as well. Between blocking Koby's attacks and knocking Helmeppo back, he even waved to her in greeting.

Helmeppo found that incredibly frustrating. This guy could still spare attention to greet someone under both their attacks—wasn't that basically saying the two of them were weak?

With that thought, Helmeppo roared and launched an even fiercer assault, leaving Wuli unable to divide his attention for the moment.

Hina smiled and nodded back at Wuli's greeting, though her smile carried a trace of bitterness. She exhaled a puff of smoke, then took another deep drag.

A look of worry flashed through her eyes. Her mind was still replaying the conversation she had just had with Chief Staff Officer Tsuru.

"I heard that you and Smoker met Zephyr in some town." Seated behind her desk, Tsuru—the tall, thin Marine chief staff officer with gray-white hair and a face full of wrinkles—handled documents as she spoke indifferently without even looking up.

Hina's heart suddenly tightened. Ever since encountering Jerry from CP6, she had realized that the World Government—or rather, the Celestial Dragons—paid close attention to her former Admiral teacher, Z. But she had not expected the news to reach Marine Headquarters so quickly.

Could Staff Officer Tsuru already know that I secretly gave Teacher Z the map? But that map wasn't anything important...

"Ah, I know that you and Smoker value Zephyr's teachings, but your actions will only make his current situation even more dangerous." Tsuru stopped writing with her right hand, which wore two bracelets. Resting her chin on both hands in a thoughtful pose, she slightly raised her head and looked at Hina.

Given her high position, Tsuru had access to far more information than Hina did. Although Hina and the others had meant well, what they had done was still a dereliction of duty. By rights, both she and Smoker should have been suspended, but Tsuru had not done so.

Because Zephyr was not only Hina and Smoker's benefactor, but also a companion of her own generation. They had trained together and hunted pirates together; there was friendship between them as well.

Hina's gaze fell on Tsuru's green earrings before lowering again. She was deeply confused and had just been about to look up and ask.

Tsuru continued, "The current Zephyr is no longer the man he once was. Though we are also deeply saddened by what happened to him, we have to admit that he now lives only for hatred."

"Living for hatred itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least it gives him something to live for. But you gave him hope for revenge. That will only drive him toward an extreme."

There were things Tsuru did not say aloud. If Zephyr truly went to extremes, then they could only use the Marines' power to stop him. When that time came, old ties would no longer matter. They all had their own positions, and she could only hope that the day they faced one another in battle would never come.

Seeing the lost look in Hina's eyes as she stood there blankly.

"All right, you may leave." With that, Tsuru waved her hand and lowered her head once more to deal with the documents before her.

"What are you thinking about?" A familiar voice sounded beside Hina's ear.

Hina slowly came back to her senses from the conversation that had just taken place. Turning her head, she saw Wuli, who had been fighting only moments ago.

She had been so absorbed in thought that she had not even noticed when he finished the fight.

"You passed?" Hina said with a smile. She trusted Wuli; this sort of assessment could not possibly be a problem for him.

"Yeah."

"Come on, I'll take you out to celebrate." Hina buried her worries deep in her heart and smiled.