Hina and the others had already stayed at the Marine base near Northric Town for several days.
Wuli's injuries had mostly recovered as well.
Hina then gathered the Marines under her command and prepared to leave the base.
Just as Hina was about to board the warship, a sinister voice drifted over.
"Rear Admiral Hina, where are you planning to sail off to?"
Wuli looked toward the voice. The newcomer was tall and thin, wearing glasses and a sinister smile.
He was not wearing a Marine uniform, but a blue suit with the World Government's emblem embroidered over the left breast.
Hina looked at him and said coldly, "Isn't this Lord Jerry of CP6? First, you had the base's commanding rear admiral reject my recommendation. What are you here for this time?"
The thought still made Hina angry. Her recommendation slot had been taken away, yet she had promised Wuli that she would definitely secure him a place in the World Military Draft. It was all because of the man standing before her.
When the rear admiral in charge of the base had already agreed, Jerry had whispered a few words to him and made the commander change his mind.
"You're about to set sail and leave. Naturally, I came to see you off." Jerry adjusted his glasses and looked at Wuli beside Hina, smiling sinisterly. "So this is the person you wanted to recommend?"
"Bounty hunter Wuli. He was once active in my hometown, the South Blue, known as the 'strongest sea.' He sent every wanted pirate into Marine prison. For a time, the pirates there were terrified at the mere mention of him. He became the nightmare of South Blue pirates, someone they dreaded encountering."
Hina could not help turning to look at Wuli beside her after hearing Jerry's words. She had not expected him to be so famous in the South Blue.
Wuli merely shrugged, neither confirming nor denying it.
Hina was somewhat puzzled. "Then why did you refuse to give him a slot if you knew all that?"
The organization responsible for overseeing the World Military Draft was CP, the secret intelligence agency directly under the World Government.
"Because of you." Jerry looked at Hina.
"Because of me?" Hina was still utterly confused when Jerry's next words made her face turn icy.
"How is your teacher?" Jerry acted as though he had not seen Hina's frosty gaze and continued in a sinister tone, "Someone as rebellious and unstable as him should have been eliminated long ago. Don't you agree, Rear Admiral Hina?"
Before his words had even faded, a powerful aura erupted from Hina's body. Iron bars extended from her arms and lashed toward Jerry.
"Soru!"
Clang!
Jerry used Soru, one of the Six Powers, to evade Hina's attack.
A deep, iron-bar-shaped gouge was left in the ground.
"Rear Admiral Hina, attacking a World Government official without cause will lead to accountability." Jerry smiled, showing no fear whatsoever toward Hina's attack.
The fury in Hina's eyes had yet to fade as she prepared to attack again.
But someone beside her moved even faster. Using his scabbard as a sword, Wuli attacked Jerry.
Jerry narrowed his eyes, struck a yoga pose, and threw a punch at Wuli.
In only a few breaths, the two exchanged dozens of moves. Cracks already covered the concrete beneath their feet.
The white bandages around Wuli's body were faintly stained red.
Hina gritted her teeth. "Wuli, enough. Stop."
Jerry smiled sinisterly. "Too late."
"Spiral Flying Kick."
Suddenly, Jerry leaped into the air and spun midair. His legs, wrapped in Armament Haki, kicked at Wuli with incomparably fierce force.
The wind from his kick shaved a layer off the ground as if it were tofu.
Sword energy wrapped around the scabbard in Wuli's hand as he used it to block Jerry's attack.
With a thunderous boom, it was as though the air had been compressed and burst outward. Hina's hair fluttered in the blast.
Alarms began blaring throughout the Marine base, and Marines started gathering in their direction.
On the warship, Hina's subordinates began to worry about Wuli as well.
Seeing that Wuli had blocked that move, Jerry rose into the air again, Armament Haki coating both fists.
"Aurora Flash Thrust Punch."
Jerry rapidly unleashed a barrage of downward punches, countless fist shadows dazzling the eye.
Wherever the fist shadows landed, the ground exploded apart as though it were being bombarded by artillery shells.
The surrounding onlookers were all shocked by the devastating power of that move.
But Hina's eyes held concern. Someone capable of contending with Kidd naturally would not be weaker than Jerry, but the problem was—
Wuli's injuries had not fully healed, even though his body recovered quickly.
The bandages around Wuli's body had now been completely soaked red, yet he showed no intention of retreating.
Black iron bars extended from Hina's arms as she prepared to rescue him, but the next sight left her staring in stunned silence.
Wuli, engulfed by the fist shadows, showed no panic at all. He slowly raised the scabbard in his hand, and sword intent burst forth.
"Floating Feather Divine Wind Sword Style, First Form: Swift."
A fierce sword energy like a gale swept through the air, scattering Jerry's fist shadows like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Jerry instinctively used Tekkai, one of the Six Powers, in that instant.
Yet he was still sent flying like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily onto the ground with a bloody gash across his chest.
He looked at Wuli, his eyes filled with hatred, and ground out, "Do you know the consequences of attacking a World Government official? You're dead."
Hina's gaze sharpened at those words. As a rear admiral, attacking a World Government official would at most earn her a verbal reprimand from her superiors. But a bounty hunter attacking a World Government official...
Jerry then turned toward the Marines in the base and roared furiously, "Didn't you see this bounty hunter attack a World Government official? What are you waiting for? Arrest them already!"
The next moment, the base's cannons aimed at Wuli, while Marines armed with weapons began closing in.
"What do you think you're doing? Stop right now!" Hina frowned and shouted at the Marines from the base.
The base Marines looked at Jerry lying on the ground, then at Hina in her Marine uniform of justice, and for a moment did not know what to do.
Just then, the rear admiral in charge of the base arrived with two people beside him.
One had a pink center-parted hairstyle and wore iron rings on his fingers.
The other wore heart-shaped glasses and held a circular saw suspended by a thin wire.
Jerry's eyes lit up when he saw the base commander arrive, and he was initially quite pleased. But when he saw those two, his expression darkened again.
Naturally, he knew who they were: Iron Fist Fullbody and Hypnotist Jango.
Both of them were subordinates of that woman, Hina.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, the rear admiral in charge of the base naturally understood that there was no way they could have failed to notice such a disturbance.
The base commander first gestured for the Marines to lower their weapons.
Then he said, "A few days ago, Wuli and Rear Admiral Hina drove back Kidd's group. They helped repel pirates from the region under my jurisdiction. This time was a misunderstanding. Let's leave it at that."
As he spoke, the rear admiral looked at Hina. Hina nodded slightly.
He then looked at Jerry, who reluctantly nodded under the rear admiral's gaze.
There was no possibility of shaking hands and smiling away their grudges.
So after Hina bade the rear admiral farewell, Wuli boarded the warship with Hina and the others under Jerry's gloomy gaze.
The warship slowly set sail, gradually vanishing beyond the horizon.
On the warship, Hypnotist Jango first gave Wuli a disdainful look, then gazed lovingly at Hina. "Where are we going?"
Hina did not look at him. She gazed at the rippling horizon and said blandly, "We're going to find Teacher Zephyr."
Under the radiant sun, the sea seemed covered in glittering fragments of silver, while waves chased one another across its surface.
"Former Marine Admiral 'Black Arm' Zephyr?" Everyone on the warship was astonished. They had not expected Hina to be a student of Black Arm Zephyr.
"No matter where Officer Hina goes, I will follow her with unwavering devotion until death." Hypnotist Jango clasped his hands together and spoke with a worshipful expression.
Hina glanced at the bloodstained bandages around Wuli's body. An inexplicable emotion flickered through her heart, though she had no idea what he was standing there so blankly thinking about.
Remembering what Jerry of CP6 had said, she began to frown. Could they be planning to make a move against Teacher Zephyr?
No one knew that Wuli was currently immersed in the Heroic Way System within his mind.
Sword Master; Lv2 (42/500) Name: Wuli Skills: Shigure Soen Ryu (99%), Floating Feather Divine Wind Style Sword (12%) Mission: Participate in and pass the World Military Draft. (200 experience points)
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