"Knock knock!"
Just as Wang Hao was racking his brains about how his predecessor had clashed with the Empress, a crisp knock sounded on the door.
"Is that Ain? The door's unlocked."
Recalling his predecessor's memories, Wang Hao determined that the only person who could have come looking for him at this time was his female disciple Ain.
This Ain is one of the survivors after the battle with Whitebeard II. In the original story, she possesses the Return-Return Fruit, which involves the power of time, and she is also a female Swordmaster.
However, at this moment, this girl has not yet advanced to the level of Swordmaster, nor has she obtained the Return-Return Fruit, but her own strength should not be underestimated. Since the incident of being attacked by Whitebeard II., she has stayed by her predecessor's side to assist him in teaching the naval cadets.
"Teacher, this is the list submitted by each branch this year!"
Ain pushed open the door and handed a document to Wang Hao's desk. Then she went to the side and tidied up the somewhat messy bed that Wang Hao had been sleeping on.
This predecessor had a rather tragic past. Just like in the original story, his wife and children were killed by the pirates he had once captured but failed to kill. From then on, this predecessor was afraid to go home and lived in his office.
Fortunately, as a former general, he still enjoys this privilege.
Wang Hao stared blankly at Ain, who was making the bed. Unlike the original plot, the real-world Ain did not have long blue hair, but rather a light purple one. She was tall, had a top-tier appearance, and was a stunning beauty.
Judging from her skillful movements, it was clear that she had helped her predecessor make the bed more than once or twice.
With a sigh, Wang Hao turned his gaze back to the document on his desk and began to read it.
Apart from a portion of the elite cadets at Marine Headquarters Marine Headquarters descendants of the mid- to high-ranking officers stationed there, the majority of them are elite naval personnel recommended by various branches, essentially coming to Marine Headquarters for advanced training.
This document is quite extensive, exceeding a thousand pages, and contains basic information on tens of thousands of trainees.
And this is just this year's; this amount is submitted every year.
In other words, the Marine Headquarters trains tens of thousands of elite naval personnel every year.
Browsing through the information of so many people is no easy task, but fortunately, my cheap disciple Ain is very capable. He thoughtfully browsed through it beforehand and selected the students with the highest potential, placing them at the top.
This is also the key focus for Wang Hao. As for the ordinary trainees, they will only receive special attention if they demonstrate outstanding performance during the training process.
He quickly glanced at the student profiles that Ain had checked, and to his disappointment, there wasn't a single "familiar face" among them.
Then I thought about it and it made sense. After all, there were only four years left before the start of the story, and the Marine Headquarters ' training was held every three years. At that time, the recruits would still be greenhorns, so it would be difficult for them to have any outstanding performances. At most, they would just be extras.
"One-tenth less than last year, damn Roger!"
Wang Hao habitually cursed under his breath, a habit he inherited from his predecessor.
As the Pirate King Roger ushered in the Great Pirate Era, more and more people flocked to the sea to become pirates, and the outstanding ones became the backbone of the pirates.
With these people becoming pirates, the number of elite personnel in their navy naturally decreased.
Over the past decade or so, fewer and fewer elite cadets have been sent to Marine Headquarters for training, and this year, fewer than one hundred have been selected by Ain.
Before Roger became the Pirate King, thousands of the most promising elite personnel came to the Marine Headquarters every year for advanced training. Among them were monster-level figures like the current three admirals: Akainu Sakazuki, Kizaru Borsalino, and Aokiji Kuzan.
However, not a single monstrous genius has emerged in the past decade or so. If this continues, the Navy will inevitably become weaker and weaker.
Although the Navy appears as a villain in Pirate King original One Piece manga, that's only because of the protagonist's perspective.
Anyone with a brain can understand the difference between the Navy and pirates. No matter how bad the Navy is, it is still infinitely better than pirates.
" Ain, is there something you want to say?"
Wang Hao turned his gaze to Ain, who had finished making the bed and seemed hesitant to speak.
This girl has been like this for several days now. It's only because the original owner was depressed and very busy that he didn't notice.
" Sal and the others are preparing to return to their hometown. Let me say goodbye to their teacher on their behalf!"
After hesitating for a moment, Ain finally decided to tell the truth.
Although she didn't know if telling the teacher about this now was the right or wrong thing to do, Sal and the others were in such a terrible situation that only the teacher had the power to solve it.
" Sal and the others!"
Wang Hao quickly found the impressions of Sal and the others in his predecessor's memories; they were survivors of the attack by Whitebeard II. along with Ain.
Of the thirteen survivors, only Ain and Binz were relatively unharmed and recovered well. The others were severely injured, suffering either serious internal organ damage or missing limbs; in short, they were rendered useless.
Sal and his eleven companions were assigned to logistics positions in the Navy, and their predecessor even used connections to get someone to look after them.
"No, I remember Sal's mother has been seriously ill, and she's only been able to survive on her navy salary these past few years. Where will he get the income to buy medicine for his mother if he goes back in his condition? And what about Meizi..."
At this point, Wang Hao suddenly realized something, looked directly into Ain's slightly reddened eyes, and asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened?"
He knew something must have happened!
"Admiral Kizaru proposed at the conference to concentrate military funds on replacing the new warships developed by the Science Department, which would require layoffs. Sal and the others...?"
Before Ain could finish speaking, Wang Hao suddenly stood up and walked outside, Ain quickly followed.
Wang Hao strode forward and soon arrived at the uniform warehouse, where he had arranged for Sal and the others to be placed. The warehouse contained a large number of military uniforms.
Unlike Earth, being a naval officer in this world is a high-risk profession, as they frequently fight with pirates, so their clothes wear out very quickly, even for admirals.
Therefore, the Marine Headquarters maintains a large stock of military uniforms year-round, and guarding these uniforms here is a relatively easy job, which is very suitable for Sal and others.
However, after walking around the uniform warehouse, they did not see Sal and the others. Finally, they found a young navy man who was counting and recording the number of uniforms.
"Instructor Zephyr!"
The young navy officer clearly recognized Wang Hao and immediately saluted.
"Where are Sal and the others?"
Wang Hao didn't waste any words and went straight to the point.
"They submitted their resignations three days ago and left headquarters by boat that same day."
The young navy officer immediately replied that he was colleagues with Sal and the others, so he naturally knew about their affairs.
" Ain, I'm giving you a mission. Immediately lead a team out to sea and bring back all the disbanded soldiers, including Sal!"
With his left fist clenched, Wang Hao coldly gave an order to Ain behind him, then turned and left the uniform warehouse, walking quickly towards the naval building.
He had to demand an explanation from Sengoku, who was the Fleet Admiral of the Navy.
"Instructor Zephyr!"
"Teacher Zephyr!"
Zephyr's students were spread throughout the entire Marine Headquarters. As soon as he entered the Naval Building, most of the naval officers greeted Wang Hao, to which Wang Hao nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
"Thump thump... bang!"
Despite his anger, Wang Hao had no intention of taking it out on his former friend Sengoku, so he still knocked on the door politely.
To his surprise, the entire office door collapsed when he knocked lightly, leaving Wang Hao completely bewildered. Then, peeking inside, he saw a burly old man sitting on the sofa, munching on senbei (rice crackers), and it dawned on him.
" Garp! The cost of replacing the door will be deducted from your salary!"
While working, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's forehead veins bulged, and his old face darkened as he roared at Garp, who was sitting on the sofa eating his senbei. He clearly knew that it was this bastard who had kicked the door open when he came in.
I thought the new gate would be sturdy enough, but it still couldn't be saved.
That old bastard!
What did you say?
Picking his nose, Garp looked at his best buddy Sengoku with a blank expression, not paying attention to what the guy had just said.
"Creak!"
With his fists clenched and the veins on his forehead bulging again, Sengoku really had the urge to beat his good buddy up.
That old guy is infuriating!
" Zephyr, sit down!"
Having barely managed to swallow his anger, Sengoku smiled and gestured for Wang Hao to come in and sit down.
He was quite satisfied with his good buddy who had worked with him for many years. Most importantly, this good buddy was much more quiet than Garp. He even knew to knock before coming in, unlike that old bastard Garp would just kick the door open and sometimes even break it apart.
He's had to replace the door to his office countless times; it's always been kicked down by that old geezer, Garp.
Wang Hao sat down silently on the sofa opposite Garp, without saying a word, but his expression was very unpleasant, and Sengoku also noticed that something was wrong.
Garp, sitting opposite him, also put down his senbei, his expression turning serious.
He knew his friend's personality very well; he rarely showed any displeasure to anyone, but whenever this happened, it meant something big was about to happen.
" Zephyr!"
Sengoku called out, already guessing his friend's purpose, since he had been mentally prepared for this when he issued the order.
"I heard that headquarters has ordered layoffs and cuts in military spending to replace warships!"
" Zephyr..."
Before Sengoku could explain, Wang Hao waved his hand and continued, "I want to know your thoughts on this matter, your true thoughts!"
He had already inquired with his former students on his way here. The scale of this layoff was quite large, and it mainly affected those who were injured or disabled in battles with pirates. His students, such as Sal, were just a tiny, insignificant part of it.
According to the intelligence he had gathered, the entire Marine Headquarters had discharged more than 100,000 disabled naval personnel this time, not including naval branches in various regions. If all that is added together, the number would definitely be in the tens of millions.
This is quite egregious.
You must understand that this world is in a state of true chaos. Not only are local governments corrupt and ruthlessly exploit the people, but also vicious pirates are running rampant.
Those disabled sailors find it difficult to find work to make a living when they return to their hometowns, and many of the more severely disabled ones even become a burden on their families.
This isn't the end of it. What will the people in these areas think of the navy when these people return home?
It's a place that makes you bleed and cry, who would want to join the Navy!
This will definitely weaken the Navy's prestige again and trigger a new wave of pirates, thus creating a vicious cycle.
The damage caused is unimaginable!
Of course, he didn't come here to blame Sengoku or to make him retract his orders, because that was impossible, and he also knew that Kizaru Borsalino represented the World Government.
He mainly wanted to see what his former friend's attitude was towards this matter.
This will determine my future plans!
If Sengoku's explanation satisfies him, then he will remain at Marine Headquarters and use it as a base for further development.
After all, the Navy is the second largest power in the World Government. Although it has many problems, it is still much better than him starting from scratch.
After a long silence, Sengoku got up and walked to the French windows. Looking at the huge bay below, he said in a deep voice, "With the start of the Great Pirate Era initiated by Roger, the power of pirates has expanded rapidly. The New World has become a paradise for pirates, and the so-called Four Emperors have emerged."
The World Government and major member states have long harbored resentment towards our navy. We must acquire even greater power to suppress pirate forces and demonstrate the strength of the navy...
To be honest, the Sengoku period was also quite helpless.
As a naval admiral, he was naturally intelligent and well aware of the consequences of that order, but for the sake of the bigger picture, he had to do it.
" Sengoku, I remember I currently hold the rank of Vice Admiral, which gives me the authority to independently organize a fleet, right?"
After listening quietly to Sengoku's words, Wang Hao coldly replied, adding the title "Marshal" to Sengoku's title.
After resigning from his position as general, his rank was reduced to lieutenant general.
This wasn't meant to suppress him, but rather to make room for the current three admirals. Garp's consistent refusal to become an admiral also stemmed from this intention.
" Zephyr..."
Sengoku realized something was wrong and tried to persuade him, but Wang Hao had already gotten up and walked outside.
"I can't let our navy bleed and weep, and I can't let the people lose faith in it. I want those 100,000 sailors! I'll also reserve the sailors that are being disbanded from each branch!"
Reaching the door, Wang Hao said coldly.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, disabled soldiers are a useless burden, but he is different. He only has some physical disabilities, and as long as he is alive, he has ways to repair them.
He will then have tens of millions of battle-hardened soldiers as his core, and their absolute loyalty is guaranteed. Even if he were to leave the Marine Headquarters and go solo, he could rise rapidly.
So he's determined to have those tens of millions of people!