Too Late

After handing the information to Randall and the others, Zephyr returned to his little courtyard.

His students were going after a pirate, a major pirate with a bounty over a hundred million, yet Zephyr was not worried in the slightest.

He even leisurely began drinking tea.

After all, no one understood his three students' strength better than he did.

There was no need to mention Randall, the strongest. His strength had already put him in a different league from the other two.

After developing Qi Wave, Randall had sought out Zephyr to test its power.

When Zephyr saw the move, he was genuinely shocked.

Its power was such that even some Vice Admirals would struggle to withstand it!

All Zephyr could say was that this was what a genius looked like...

A monster-level genius, at that!

As for Milers and Aequus, their strength was nothing to scoff at either.

Milers had already become a swordmaster. Aequus was a little weaker, but handling a pirate with a hundred-million bounty would still be easy for him!

So why should he worry?

He was not worried at all.

But before he could finish a few cups of tea, his Den Den Mushi began ringing.

Purupurupuru~

This was his private line. Only a few old fellows knew the number.

So Zephyr slowly set down his teacup.

Unhurriedly, he took out the Den Den Mushi and picked up the receiver.

The Den Den Mushi then took on the appearance of a man wearing oversized sunglasses and sporting a braided beard.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

"Zephyr! Did you see a bounty poster on my desk?!"

Zephyr had barely picked up the receiver when he heard Sengoku's frantic voice from the other end.

"Stop, stop, stop. What's the hurry?

Are you trying to spray spit all over my face through the Den Den Mushi?!

Calm down first!

You're the Fleet Admiral. Why are you acting so flustered?"

Sengoku choked on his words, paused for a second, then repeated himself:

"You old geezer, did you see a bounty poster on my desk just now?"

Zephyr said, "I did! And not just one. There was a whole stack."

Sengoku nearly burst a blood vessel.

"You're still cracking jokes at a time like this...

The pirate on that poster is called Texas. Zephyr, did you see it or not?"

Zephyr rolled his eyes, thought back for a moment, and said:

"Texas... yes, I remember!

He's the target that kid Randall picked!"

At that moment, Zephyr suddenly sensed something wrong from Sengoku's attitude, and his expression turned serious.

"What is it? Is there a problem with this man?"

Alarmed by his words, Sengoku hurriedly said:

"Then call that kid back! Hurry!"

After pausing for a second, Zephyr said:

"Randall left half an hour ago... unless he contacts us himself, I have no way of reaching him now."

Now Zephyr was growing anxious too. He said:

"Then hurry up and tell me! What's going on with this man?!"

Sengoku fell silent at that.

Only after a few seconds, under Zephyr's urging, did he say stiffly:

"This Texas's strength is completely out of proportion to his bounty!

A Rear Admiral went to take him down earlier, but the only ones who returned... were a dozen or so soldiers...

Rear Admiral Tyr ranked among the strongest Rear Admirals.

Our preliminary assessment is that this pirate has strength comparable to a Vice Admiral's..."

Something had suddenly come up earlier, so he had forgotten to tell Zephyr.

Only now, after finishing his work, had he remembered.

He had immediately called Zephyr.

But he had never expected that he would still be too late.

"What did you say?!"

Zephyr cried out.

"How could this happen?

A bounty poster for someone like that...

You old fool! Why are you only telling me now?!"

Sengoku sighed and said:

"Don't panic yet, Zephyr!"

It was quite ironic. Earlier, Zephyr had told Sengoku not to panic.

Now Sengoku was telling Zephyr not to panic.

"Let's not argue about the bounty poster right now.

Let's think of a way to call Randall back!"

Zephyr roared:

"How can I not panic?!

Easy for you to say when he isn't your student!

He'll be one of your men in the future too!"

Sengoku's claim that the pirate's strength rivaled a Vice Admiral's had left Zephyr reeling.

As mentioned before, no one understood Randall's strength better than he did.

Yes, he had just developed a lethal move capable of threatening a Vice Admiral.

But it could only threaten one!

Not kill one!

Besides, the move had to land first!

He couldn't win!

Randall was absolutely no match for that man!

Now Randall would be lucky to survive!

Although Zephyr had never said it aloud, in his heart, he already regarded Randall as his disciple.

Not a student, but a disciple!

Now he could no longer sit still.

"Zephyr! Zephyr, don't get worked up!

Just like you, I absolutely don't want anything to happen to Randall.

How about this? You go deal with that pirate yourself. Then Randall won't run into him, will he?"

Zephyr asked bluntly, "Then do you know where he is?"

Sengoku fell silent for a second, then said:

"All I know is that he arrived on Merimee Island and plundered a village there.

But that information is already a day old."

In truth, if the Marines really wanted to find this pirate, they could.

But there was no telling how much manpower and resources it would cost.

Sengoku hesitated as well. Was it really worth doing all that for Randall?

He had great potential, but he had only been in the Marines for a few months...

"Wait right there!" Zephyr paused, then hung up immediately after those words.

In his office, Sengoku set down the receiver with a wry smile.

"Ugh, what a mess!"

At Zephyr's normal walking pace, it would take ten or fifteen minutes to get from his little courtyard to Sengoku's office.

This time, however, Zephyr pushed open the office door in just five minutes.

Seeing the furious Zephyr, Sengoku could not help shrinking back against his chair.

"Calm down first!"

He spoke hastily.

"I'm perfectly calm!" Zephyr replied stiffly.

Then he sat down on the sofa and stared silently at Sengoku.

The more Zephyr acted this way, the guiltier Sengoku felt.

After all, he really was in the wrong here.

He ventured:

"How about I send some people to see if they can find Randall?"

Zephyr merely glared at Sengoku.

Staaare—

Unable to bear that stare any longer, Sengoku said:

"What exactly do you want? Say something!"

Only then did Zephyr look away.

He sighed and said:

"I calmed down on the way here.

I think that even if Randall had known this pirate's strength beforehand, he would still have chosen to go after him!

So let's leave it at that!

sigh, that kid!"

Sengoku said blankly:

"Leave it at that? You mean we're not going to do anything?"

Zephyr said earnestly:

"What else can we do?

Even if we could forcibly bring Randall back now, it would leave a knot in his heart.

It might affect his strength in the future!

We can only trust him!"

But despite how lightly he spoke, his fists still clenched.

That was... an opponent whose strength rivaled a Vice Admiral's!

Sengoku nodded and said:

"In that case, let's leave it at that!"