A Chance Encounter with the Straw Hat Pirates

Koby and Helmeppo spotted Wuli in the restaurant and came over to sit down as well.

"Colonel Wuli, I haven't congratulated you on your promotion yet. From now on, we'll all be members of the Navy. Do you know who the higher-ups assigned as your partner at that meeting?" Koby asked curiously.

Helmeppo also looked curious. Perhaps because they had to consider how the newly recruited Marines would carry out missions, the Navy higher-ups had assigned partners to help them adapt as quickly as possible.

"It's another colonel, Shu. But I heard he's still out on a mission and hasn't returned yet," Wuli said.

Just then, three people suddenly walked into the restaurant. Koby looked over, waved, and called warmly, "Grant, Zepa, Burnham, over here!"

Seeing Koby's enthusiasm, Grant and the others came over and sat down. Wuli smiled and nodded as well. Though these men were battle maniacs, they were not bad people; they were simply far too competitive.

After Grant sat down, Koby looked at him in confusion. "I heard you applied for the base closest to Totto Land on Whole Cake Island. Why would you want to go there?"

"That base mainly monitors the movements of one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom. Sooner or later, I'll personally take down Big Mom. That's my ambition. I believe I'll achieve that goal very soon," Grant said.

"One of the Four Emperors? They're the emperors of the New World. Isn't aiming for someone like that setting your sights a little too high?" Helmeppo could not help cutting in. He did not even dare dream of such things. All he wanted now was to train steadily under Garp and grow stronger. He had no such lofty ambition.

Thinking of his dream of becoming an admiral, Koby nodded. "I believe you can do it. Let's work hard together to achieve our respective dreams."

Perhaps it was because they had started talking about dreams, but Koby seemed somewhat excited. Looking at Wuli, who was devouring food like mad, he asked, "Colonel Wuli, what's your dream? Is there anything you want to achieve?"

Wuli paused with his knife and fork in hand and replied indistinctly, "A dream? What's that? Can you eat it?"

Koby could not help rolling his eyes, but Grant did not believe Wuli was a man without goals. During their previous fight, he had felt Wuli's unshakable will.

"I want to marry a beautiful woman and have lots and lots of children!" Zepa said, clenching his fist. Burnham immediately exposed him from the side, scoffing, "Didn't you want to become the world's strongest swordsman?"

"That was before. Forget Hawkeye Dracule Mihawk, I can't even beat Colonel Wuli right now," Zepa said dejectedly. They had sparred some time ago, and he had lost to pure swordsmanship. In particular, Wuli had not even used Haki. What Zepa did not know was that Wuli truly had yet to awaken Armament Haki.

If he knew that, he would surely be even more dejected. Wuli was already this strong without knowing Haki.

"When I pull one of the Four Emperors from their throne someday, I hope you'll have the strength to fight me," Grant said arrogantly, pointing at Wuli.

As one of the Navy's new generation, there were very few among his peers stronger than him. It was no wonder he had the courage to say such things.

Wuli did not crush his inflated confidence, because the gap between them—including himself—and the Four Emperors was as vast as heaven and earth.

After they had eaten their fill, they each went their separate ways. A few days later, Grant and the others set off for the base tasked with monitoring Totto Land on Whole Cake Island, while Koby and Helmeppo continued training under Garp's instruction as usual.

After Wuli waited impatiently for a long time, his partner, Colonel Shu, finally arrived at Marine Headquarters.

Looking at Shu, whose face was covered by a white cloth, Wuli said, "I'm glad to have you as my partner. Let's carry out missions together."

"Mm," Shu replied.

Seeing how quiet Shu was, Wuli sighed inwardly. Damn it, I got stuck with a gloomy mute.

Even so, Wuli thought highly of the future of the somewhat sinister-looking colonel before him. Shu's Rust-Rust Fruit was an incredibly overpowered Devil Fruit. If developed properly, Shu would definitely become very strong.

On a bright and sunny morning, after saying goodbye to Hina, Wuli set sail with Shu and began his career in the Navy.

However, on the day they put to sea, Wuli experienced the ever-changing weather of the New World. The beautiful, tranquil ocean suddenly became furious and ink-black as a storm descended, while the rolling waves roared toward them like a stampede of ten thousand horses.

The Marines aboard the warship panicked, and some began scrambling about in confusion.

"Colonel Shu! Colonel Wuli! What should we do?" a Marine shouted.

The warship could be overturned by the waves at any moment, but Shu looked toward a patch of brighter sky in the distance and decisively said, "Don't panic! Head toward that bright patch of sky!"

The weather in the New World was unpredictable. The sky could be clear on one side and raging with wind and rain on the other. Wuli did not understand much about such things, so he left it to Shu.

After two hours of sailing against the wind and rain, the weather gradually improved. The dark clouds slowly dispersed, and sunlight once again shone upon Wuli's warship.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Sailing the sea meant facing more than just the danger of pirates; they also had to constantly confront the threats of nature.

Suddenly, a Marine peered into the distance through a telescope and shouted, "Look! There's a pirate ship over there!"

Shu and Wuli both froze, then took the telescopes handed over by several nearby Marines.

"That is...?" Shu said uncertainly.

As the distance closed, Shu finally saw the ship's lion-shaped figurehead and pirate flag: a skull wearing a straw hat.

"It's the Straw Hat Pirates' ship! After two years, we've finally run into them again!" Shu said with rare excitement.

"Speed up! We absolutely cannot let them escape this time!"

Wuli was somewhat surprised. He had not expected to encounter the most plot-armored people in this world so soon.

Thousand Sunny.

Usopp, dressed in loose overalls, blue-and-white striped wristbands, a large slung tool bag, and a white wide-brimmed hat, had been happily playing with Chopper.

Suddenly, he spotted a ship sailing toward them. He lowered his goggles and saw the seagull carrying a scale on the warship—the symbol of the Navy. He could not help crying out, "It's the Navy! A Navy warship is heading toward us!"

Chopper and the others were all startled. Why had they suddenly appeared? Zoro, who had been sleeping, instantly got up. Squinting one eye, he gradually made out Shu's appearance and said flatly, "So it's an old acquaintance."