Eve of Setting Sail

"Alright. If you have nothing else to do, we can leave immediately."

Zephyr finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At last, he had persuaded this guy.

"Nothing else."

"Oh, right. I want a Devil Fruit. I assume you can get one, can't you?"

Ye Tong said directly.

"A Devil Fruit?"

Zephyr was somewhat puzzled. Wasn't this kid already a Devil Fruit user?

Why was he asking him to find a Devil Fruit?

"Yes. Any ability will do, even an unknown one."

Ye Tong repeated.

"No problem. I'll go ask Fleet Admiral Kong for one right now."

"You should go familiarize yourself with your warship first!"

After saying that, Zephyr left.

"Hey, don't just run off by yourself."

"I don't even know..."

"Colonel Ye Tong!"

Just as Ye Tong was complaining, a Marine appeared behind him and saluted.

"You're... Hina?"

Ye Tong froze when he saw the person behind him.

Shouldn't Hina still be a student at this point?

Why was she already wearing a Marine uniform?

"Yes, Colonel Ye Tong. I am your navigator, Captain Hina."

"I'm responsible for taking you to your warship."

Hina said directly.

"Alright, let's go!"

After all, Hina was an excellent navigator.

And she was beautiful too. Having her by his side was not bad at all.

Before long, they arrived at the harbor.

"This is the warship we'll be taking out this time."

"It comes equipped with eight cannons, has a displacement of 1,280 tons, and one hundred cabins."

"Personnel: twelve gunners, three lookouts, five helmsmen, two navigators, five cleaners, ten cooks, and forty combat personnel."

"This is the roster. Please review it."

Hina handed over a roster, then reported all the details here.

"Seventy-seven people?"

"We don't need the cleaners. I can handle the sanitation myself."

"Oh, right, Hina. You and Gion are friends, aren't you?"

Ye Tong said slowly.

"Yes."

"Hina and Gion are friends."

Hina replied slowly.

"Mm, board the ship. Once Admiral Zephyr gets here, we'll set sail."

After saying that, Ye Tong boarded the ship.

Two hours later, Zephyr arrived carrying a box.

After handing it to Ye Tong, Zephyr had originally wanted to chat with him.

But then Ye Tong said, "Let's dump some trash!"

Zephyr fled in defeat.

"Ye Tong, you're amazing!"

"Hina likes you a lot!"

Seeing Ye Tong scare even his own instructor away, Hina looked at Ye Tong with admiration.

"Alright, Hina. Check where the nearest pirates are."

"Oh, right. Our destination is the West Blue."

Ye Tong said directly.

As for why it was the West Blue, there was someone there who greatly interested Ye Tong.

Moreover, there were many pirates there. There were quite a few pirates with bounties exceeding ten million.

Most importantly, setting out from Marineford—

they could pass through the Calm Belt and reach the West Blue directly, which was even closer than going to the East Blue.

Garp often patrolled the East Blue, so there were basically no major pirates there.

There were only a few, and their current bounties were merely a few million.

Even someone like Buggy the Clown had only just reached eight million. So there was no need to go to the East Blue.

"I've checked. The nearest pirate crew in the West Blue is the Jelas Pirates."