Intelligence / The Loser's Lament

As for how Atlas had recognized Jonathan at a glance, it wasn't because she had met him before. The epaulets on his Justice Coat had given him away. He was probably the only person in the entire fortress with the rank of Vice Admiral.

"First, wash your hands before eating!"

"Second, never leave food on your plate!"

"Third, no talking about work during meals!"

"Fourth, always brush your teeth after eating! Young lady, you haven't washed your hands yet!"

Jonathan chimed in from the side.

"Yes, sir!"

Atlas answered loudly, then headed straight for the sink in the kitchen. She was the sort to follow local customs. Now that she was at G-8 Fortress, she would follow its rules.

"Um, miss, sorry for the trouble, but could you make me a hearty dinner?" Atlas asked, bracing herself. Her stomach was already protesting fiercely.

As for whether she might offend this formidable-looking woman, Atlas couldn't worry about that now, even if the woman looked like Jonathan's girlfriend or wife.

"Oh, just call me Jessica. Take a seat and wait a moment. I'll make you something."

Fortunately, Jessica was more understanding than her fiery manner suggested. As a chef, she was unquestionably excellent. Atlas let out a long breath of relief.

"Ugh, these vegetables taste awful."

Once Jessica had left, Jonathan frowned and complained, but his hands never stopped moving. He polished off the vegetables on his plate in no time. Clearly, he did his best to follow the fortress rules Jessica had laid down.

"Vice Admiral Jonathan, I'd like to take on a mission tomorrow and start hunting down pirates!"

Atlas sat down opposite Jonathan. With dinner taken care of, her thoughts turned to the graduation trial ahead.

"Now, what's the branch's third rule, young lady?" Instead of answering, Jonathan asked about the rules he had just recited.

Atlas raised an eyebrow, then fell silent and waited for dinner.

After they had eaten their fill.

"Come on, kid. Follow me somewhere." Seeing that Atlas had swept the food from the table like a whirlwind, Jonathan stood and motioned for her to follow.

Atlas watched as Jonathan took a fishing rod from his office, then went to a corner of the fortress and started fishing.

"Ah, sorry. I've only got one fishing rod. You don't mind, do you?" Jonathan scratched his head and smiled at the empty-handed Atlas.

Hey, Vice Admiral Jonathan! You don't look sorry at all! Atlas grumbled inwardly, though what she said aloud was entirely different.

"It's fine, Vice Admiral Jonathan. I'm not much of an angler."

"Hahaha, good. But kid..." Jonathan narrowed his eyes. "I never fish for nothing!"

"Ah, about my mission..." Atlas didn't understand what he meant, but she returned to the question that had been cut short in the dining hall.

"That? Go see Drake tomorrow!"

"Heh... What an impatient kid..."

Intelligence

In the first half of the Grand Line lay a region known as Paradise.

A battered pirate ship rocked across the sea. Its broken hull told of the brutal battle it had survived, while the pirate flag on its thick mast had been reduced to a few tattered scraps...

"Captain! Galil and the others... Their Vivre Cards have burned up!" cried a man with white gauze wrapped around his head and bandages around his arm.

The hush aboard the ship shattered. Like a stone dropped into a still lake, the news sent ripples through the crew. One by one, the pirates could no longer hold back their despair and began to sob.

"Waaah..."

"We should never have gone to the New World! What kind of monsters live there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you! Stop yelling." A bald, dark-skinned man with rough skin snapped at the noisy pirates. He appeared to be the captain, yet there was no sorrow on his face at the news that their comrades, who had stayed behind to cover their escape, were dead. His expression was blank; only a trace of fear lingered in his small eyes.

Maybe I should find somewhere quiet and live out my days as a rich man. The captain was exhausted enough to consider retiring. It wasn't just the casualties or the destruction of his fleet. More than anything, he feared that man—that man who was like a devil...

The others remained lost in fear and grief, unaware that their captain planned to take the ship's remaining treasure and retire in comfort. Of course, knowing wouldn't have helped them.

Such was the tragedy of the weak.

Knock, knock, knock... Knock, knock, knock...

Early the next morning, Atlas arrived at the Staff Office. Perhaps because of the hour, Major Drake was the only one there. The door was open, but Atlas knocked politely all the same.

"Can I help you, Captain Atlas?"

Surprised to see Atlas at the door, Drake stopped what he was doing and asked why she had come.

"Vice Admiral Jonathan sent me, Major Drake."

"Vice Admiral Jonathan?" Drake was baffled. She only arrived at the base yesterday, and she's already met the Vice Admiral?

Atlas briefly explained why she was there.

"You want to leave the fortress for a mission?" Drake looked surprised. "You only settled in yesterday. Don't you need a few days' rest before taking one on?"

"It's fine, Major Drake. I'm in good shape and ready to take on a pirate-hunting mission whenever one comes up."

"All right, then..." After a moment's hesitation, Major Drake began searching through the documents piled on his desk.

A short while later.

Drake shook his head apologetically. "Sorry. Our fortress is fairly early along the first half of the Grand Line, so things are relatively peaceful here. We can give you intelligence on a few pirate crews, but there aren't many missions involving warships. There is a crew returning from the New World that's expected to pass near the fortress tomorrow..."

Drake hesitated again. "Personally, though, I wouldn't recommend pursuing them. There's a new pirate crew that just entered the Grand Line from the Four Seas. With your strength, you should have no trouble catching them."

Clearly, Drake had taken the assessment of Atlas's strength that Zephyr had given Jonathan with a grain of salt. He assumed it was simply a teacher exaggerating the abilities of a favorite student.

"I'd like the intelligence on the crew returning from the New World." Atlas didn't care what Drake thought. She had no interest in wasting time on small fry.

"But—"

Before Drake could say more, Atlas took the report from his hand, thanked him politely, and walked straight out.

What an arrogant kid!

Drake watched her go, somewhat annoyed. Then he hurried out of the Staff Office and headed for the base commander's office...

Atlas didn't notice what Drake did after she left. She simply picked up the report and began reading the fresh intelligence to herself.

Ekrum Pirates. Captain: Ekrum, bounty of 200 million Beli. Vice-captain: Wirtz, bounty of 160 million. Officers: Galil, Ibe, and Duerte, bounties ranging from 50 to 90 million. After encountering Katakuri of Big Mom's pirate crew in the New World, they suffered a crushing defeat and escaped with severe injuries. Only one ship remained of their three-ship fleet, and over half the crew were dead or wounded. The vice-captain's fate was unknown, and all the officers had been left behind in the New World.

"Tch. I thought they'd be big-name pirates. They're just beaten dogs." Atlas curled her lip in disdain. The crew had probably imagined themselves special enough to challenge Big Mom, only to be wiped out before they even saw her. The sea was never short of fools like that.

Judging by their route, the pirates would not pass through the waters near G-8 until tomorrow. Atlas decided to take a look at the fortress training ground in the meantime.

The training ground at G-8 Fortress was enormous. Its walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered in thick iron plating, giving people room to cut loose without worrying about damaging the place.

At Atlas's current level of physical strength, ordinary training was no longer enough. Nor was there anyone here like Zephyr or Shuzo to spar with her.

As for Vice Admiral Jonathan, he had attended the same training camp as Sakazuki, and the two seemed to be on good terms, so his strength was probably nothing to scoff at. But the fortress commander could hardly abandon his duties to spar with a mere captain.

So Atlas chose the simplest training method. She asked someone in logistics for a huge block of hundred-forged steel and made do with pounding it with her fists.

Time always flew during training. Before she knew it, evening had fallen. Atlas looked at the pitted block of iron and the blood dripping onto it, then let out a long breath.

She hadn't coated her fists in Armament Haki. She had struck the block with her bare hands, trapping them in a cycle of injury, healing, and injury again. The results, however, had been impressive.

Atlas glanced at the sky outside, cleaned up after her training, and headed for the dining hall. She didn't see Vice Admiral Jonathan there today.

The Howl of a Beaten Dog

At the harbor of G-8 Fortress, a navy-blue, single-person speedboat lay quietly at anchor.

It was the same standard-issue military model Atlas had sailed from Marine Headquarters. Thanks to the modifications involving an Impact Dial, though, that boat had given up the ghost as soon as it got her to G-8 Fortress.

Atlas had obtained this one from an old man in the branch's maintenance crew. It had taken several bottles of liquor to get him to approve it.

A short while later, Atlas steered away from the fortress into the mellow morning light.

Sunlight pierced the clouds and fell evenly across the blue sea.

After several hours at sea, the vast G-8 Fortress was far beyond sight. Empty water stretched in every direction, leaving Atlas feeling adrift.

"Hmm. If I follow their route, I should run into the Ekrum Pirates."

Atlas compared her course with the intelligence she had memorized, passing the dull hours at sea.

In the waters near G-8 Fortress.

A battered pirate ship rocked across the vast sea. A handful of bandaged pirates sat scattered over its broad deck, many looking unnaturally pale from blood loss.

A burly, bald man leaned against the scarred mast, his expression cold. His complexion, though, had regained its color, as if the injuries he had suffered were almost healed.

"Ekrum! Where are we going next?"

Beside the bald man stood a sickly-looking pirate who seemed to have only just recovered from a serious illness. Unlike the others, however, he showed no fear of Ekrum when he spoke.

"First, we'll return to South Blue and replace the crewmen we lost. Then we'll decide what to do next..."

Ekrum slowly laid out his plan to Vice-Captain Wells, but Wells missed the ruthless glint that flashed through Ekrum's eyes...

"Captain Ekrum!"

At that moment, the pirate on watch in the ship's only intact lookout tower went pale and hurriedly called out a warning. "Trouble! Marines at three o'clock!"

"Hm?"

Ekrum and Wells tensed. They had lost so many men, and most of their strongest fighters were wounded. They could still fight, but their strength had taken a serious hit. And now they had run into the Marines...

The two exchanged a glance, then shouted, "How many are there?!"

They were already bracing for a desperate last stand. Ekrum's desire to retire only grew stronger. The sea was too cruel, and he was tired of it.

"Looks like..." The lookout sounded uncertain. "Just one Marine!"

"What?!"

The pirates erupted in anger. They might have suffered terrible losses in the New World, but in Paradise they were still among the biggest pirate crews around!

Sending a single Marine after them was an insult!

"Men! Bring the ship alongside!"

"Kill that bastard!"

Ekrum bared his teeth in a vicious grin, cruelty flashing in his eyes. He seemed ready to vent all his recent frustration on the approaching Marine.

Atlas had spotted the Ekrum Pirates' wreck of a ship too. She rose from her speedboat at once.

Geppo!

As though climbing invisible steps in the air, Atlas ascended at an unhurried pace and looked down at the panicked pirates on deck.

"What are you panicking for? It's only Geppo!" Ekrum roared. Having reached the New World, he wasn't about to be frightened by one of the Six Powers. He merely grew a little more wary of the young Marine.

The New World might be crawling with monsters, but a Marine who could use Geppo was still unusual in Paradise, especially one who held only the rank of captain. Perhaps she was a monster the Marines had been secretly training.

"Hey, Marine brat! I'm Ekrum, and I've got a bounty of 200 million Beli!"

Ekrum had clearly lost his nerve and hoped his enormous bounty would scare Atlas off. But he had misjudged her: the higher his bounty, the more excited she became!

"I know. You're just a beaten dog!"

Before Ekrum could fly into a rage, Atlas's hand went to the Sandai Kitetsu at her waist...

One Sword Style: Starfall!

Countless enormous slashes fell upon the pirate ship like meteors. Shock froze the faces of many pirates in their final moments. Already battered, the ship was cut into a storm of splinters.

"Bastard! I'll kill you!"