Chapter 60: Promotion to [Grade C: Navy Field Officer]! Heading to Sabaody

Chapter 60: Promotion to [C-Rank: Navy Field Officer]! Heading to Sabaody!

Early the next morning.
Marine Headquarters, Enlisted Men's Barracks.

Half-asleep, Zephyr suddenly sensed a sharp wave of danger approaching from his side.
Almost instinctively, he rolled across the bed several times, executing a clean and agile tumble into the narrow gap between the wooden bed and the wall, adopting a textbook semi-crawling posture on the floor.

Using the wooden bed as temporary cover, Zephyr fixed his gaze on the source of the danger while shouting sharply.
"Who goes there—"

Upon recognizing the face of the "danger creator," Zephyr instantly dropped his volume to avoid drawing the attention of the other marines in the dormitory.
"Oh, it's Boss Kizaru..."

The "source of danger" that had suddenly appeared in Zephyr's room was not some stranger, but Kizaru, whom he had met briefly the day before in the headquarters building.

Smiling amiably, Kizaru dismissed the small, glowing point of light condensed on his index finger. He looked at Zephyr, who was half-crouched in the corner, and praised him in his customary drawl.
"Little Zephyr, your vigilance is top-notch, oh~"

"Personal habits. What brings you here, Boss Kizaru?"

Not in the best of moods, Zephyr stood up from the floor, vigorously brushed the dust off his clothes, and spoke in a stiff tone.
Anyone whose sweet sleep was disrupted early in the morning would react with this kind of impatience.
Not to mention that Zephyr had fished multiple times yesterday, only to haul up a bunch of incomprehensible junk.

One had to remember that this was Marine Headquarters, Marineford, a place swarming with powerhouses and monsters!
A hat, a pistol, a muzzle-loading cannon...
And that utterly baffling [North Star Steel-Splitting Fist]!
Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

"It's nothing all that important, though~
"Now that Teacher Zeph has thrown little Zephyr into the SWORD unit under my command, the vast majority of your future operational plans will be directed and handled by me."

Unfazed by Zephyr's change in address, Kizaru first offered an explanation, then pulled out a folder and handed it over.
"This is little Zephyr's rank assignment, salary and benefits, and the details of that 'extraction plan'."

Hearing that it was official business, Zephyr managed to suppress his lingering irritation.
He accepted the folder with both hands, opened the internal documents, and began reading through them one by one.

"Navy Headquarters Lieutenant Commander... Monthly salary... Bereavement compensation..."

Skipping past some of the less important details, Zephyr quickly flipped to the end of the document, to the section concerning the so-called "extraction plan."
"Head to the Sabaody Archipelago, attack the individual in the photograph, and then retreat via Route XX..."

He carefully examined the photo of the blond, curly-haired uncle.
He confirmed it was an unfamiliar face.
"Who on earth is this guy?"

Zephyr raised the photo in his hand and asked curiously.
"Attacking him will allow me to directly slip away from the Marines?
"He's not wearing the signature bubble helmet, nor is he a Celestial Dragon..."

Hearing this entirely irreverent remark, Kizaru's expression shifted abruptly, and the look he gave Zephyr grew significantly more serious.

Attack a Celestial Dragon?
You certainly live up to your reputation!

Kizaru adopted his classic drawl, "Could it be that little Zephyr is planning to attack a Celestial Dragon? That is truly terrifying, oh~"

"Without a doubt, attacking a Celestial Dragon is the fastest way to make a name for oneself on this ocean, and it guarantees you can never shake off the label of a pirate." Zephyr shrugged and stated bluntly.

"Besides, didn't Boss Kizaru promise to cooperate with me in staging a fake fight? Striking a Celestial Dragon suits Boss Kizaru's style of intervention just fine. By then, I'll be a legendary pirate who 'beat up a Celestial Dragon and wrecked a Headquarters Admiral'!"

Hmm...
Even with Zephyr's boldness, what he had in mind at the moment was merely beating up a Celestial Dragon, not killing one.
After all, if he were to actually murder a Celestial Dragon...
The World Government would certainly not let the matter rest!

Zephyr was not yet fully prepared to face the all-out pursuit of the World Government at this stage.
For now, he decided to ignore that bunch of human trash known as the Celestial Dragons.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Kizaru actually started applauding, looking at the marine before him with appreciative eyes.
"Little Zephyr, since you have such lofty ambitions, I wholeheartedly encourage you to take action~ And I promise I won't forget to visit you in Impel Down, provided you don't die on the Sabaody Archipelago."

Kizaru meant every word.
Right now, he genuinely appreciated Zephyr.
There were plenty of marines who loathed the Celestial Dragons, and Kizaru was one of them.
However, a marine like Zephyr, who dared to openly express his hatred for the Celestial Dragons and, right to the face of a Headquarters Vice Admiral, boast about how he intended to beat them up...
As far as Kizaru knew, this kid was the only specimen of his kind!
Even pirates weren't this daring!

"..."
Zephyr's mouth twitched slightly, and he stopped talking nonsense.
"So, who exactly is the person in the photo?"

Kizaru twisted his mouth, "If I told you he 'isn't a Celestial Dragon,' would it make little Zephyr feel disappointed?"

Zephyr responded with a cold stare.

Finding it uninteresting, Kizaru simply revealed the answer.
"Alright, although he isn't a noble descendant of the gods or a World Noble, he is still a heavyweight with considerable power.
"Henry Cavendish, His Majesty the King of the World Government-affiliated kingdom, the Kingdom of Bourgeoisie!
"Furthermore, not long ago, the Kingdom of Bourgeoisie..."

...

"Has completely occupied the entire territory of the fallen Kingdom of Tobias!"

Standing on the sightseeing cruise ship as it sailed away from the town behind Marineford, Zephyr, wearing a platinum peaked cap, gazed at the sparkling sea ahead while the intel Kizaru had given him at the very end flashed through his mind.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru really found me the most suitable target for an attack..."

For Zephyr (whether his past self or his current one), the true enemy that had destroyed the Kingdom of Tobias and left him with a ruined homeland was the Four Emperors pirate crew ruling the New World—the Big Mom Pirates!

As for the Kingdom of Bourgeoisie, which later occupied the entire territory of the Kingdom of Tobias, they could at best be considered "hyenas" that caught the scent of food and eagerly rushed in.

To be frank,
Zephyr didn't hold deep animosity toward the Kingdom of Bourgeoisie.
Even without the Kingdom of Bourgeoisie, some other kingdom's forces would have eventually seized the ownerless territory of the Kingdom of Tobias.
For any kingdom or any king, "expanding territory" was an absolute top-tier achievement, the kind worthy of going down in history books. No nation could resist the temptation of such an accomplishment!

But having said that,
Even if Zephyr's hostility toward the Kingdom of Bourgeoisie wasn't overwhelmingly high, it didn't affect his plan to attack this World Government-affiliated kingdom that had usurped the lands of the Kingdom of Tobias!

Whether out of his predecessor's nostalgia for his fallen homeland or from his current standpoint as a marine,
This World Government-affiliated king...
Zephyr was going to lay the smackdown on him!
Not even Kizaru could stop him!
His word!

"Henry Cavendish..."
The appearance and name of the blond, curly-haired uncle flashed through Zephyr's mind.

"A somewhat familiar name...
"I wonder if this has any connection to the future captain of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet's 1st ship, Cavendish of the White Horse...
"But I clearly remember Cavendish being the 'White Knight of Rommel,' while this is the completely unfamiliar Kingdom of Bourgeoisie..."

Zephyr shook his head, casting the irrelevant information out of his mind.
Regardless of whether this "Kingdom of Bourgeoisie" had any ties to the future Pirate Prince, Cavendish of the White Horse,
Zephyr was going to execute his plan.

Quietly admiring the ocean scenery for a moment,
Zephyr suddenly summoned the light screen to check his current personal attributes.

Thanks to the undercover pirate plan devised by Zeph,
Zephyr had attained his military rank much earlier than the rest of the elite training camp members.
And on his very first day as a marine, Zephyr had learned one thing:
Becoming a marine yielded information traits!
And promoting in rank naturally yielded even higher-level information traits!

The light screen prompts flowed like water, refreshing frantically.

[Your E-rank information trait [Elite Marine] has been upgraded!]
[You have acquired the D-rank information trait [Marine Corporal]!]

[D-rank Information Trait: Marine Corporal]
[Trait Description: A military rank within the Marines, symbolizing a step into the non-commissioned officer class.]
[Trait Effect: Grants a 1-point D-rank bonus to your Strength, Durability, Agility, and Command attributes.]
[Trait Evaluation: We all have a bright future.]

[Your D-rank information trait [Marine Corporal] has been upgraded!]
[Your D-rank information trait [Marine Corporal] has changed to [Marine Sergeant]! Trait effects remain unchanged!]
[... [Marine Sergeant] has been upgraded!]
[... changed to [Marine Staff Sergeant]! Trait effects remain unchanged!]
[... [Marine Staff Sergeant] has been upgraded!]
[You have acquired the C-rank information trait [Marine Company Officer]!]
[... [Marine Company Officer] has been upgraded!]
[... changed to [Marine Field Officer]! Trait effects remain unchanged!]

[C-rank Information Trait: Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander]
[Trait Description: A military rank within the Marines, belonging to the officer class.]
[Trait Effect: Grants a 1-point C-rank bonus to your Strength, Durability, Agility, and Command attributes.]
[Trait Evaluation: Time to sit back and collect your pay~]

[Your comprehensive evaluation has subtly improved.]

A dense stream of information flowed past.
To sum it up:
Zephyr had acquired the new C-rank information trait [Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander]. Except for [Haki] and [Luck], all four major attributes had received a boost, significantly increasing his overall strength!

"A Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander is already a C-rank information trait?"
Zephyr rubbed his slightly sore eyes.
"Looking through this series of contents, I can roughly deduce a few things.
"Company and field officer information traits are all C-rank.
"Then general-class officer information traits should correspond to B-rank.
"As for Admiral candidates, Admirals, or Fleet Admirals, their information traits must be A-rank!"

A-rank and B-rank marine information traits were still somewhat distant for Zephyr, so he didn't need to consider them for the time being.
However, since Zephyr was about to become an undercover pirate,
"If marines have information traits, it stands to reason pirates do too..."

Zephyr closed the light screen, his thoughts racing.
"Once I become a pirate, the light screen will likely update to include pirate information traits as well...
" petty pirates, great pirates, Supernovas, Warlords...
"I just don't know if the pirate information traits and the marine information traits will conflict with each other...
"And there's another matter to keep in mind: if I ever restore my marine status one day, I wonder if the pirate identification traits will be wiped out..."

Just as Zephyr was pondering his future,
A sound of footsteps came from behind him.
Then, a hand patted Zephyr on the shoulder.
Smoker, with two cigars clamped in his teeth, poked his head out from behind.

"Zephyr, aren't you going down to the cabin to hang out? There's a big shot on the same ship as us!"

Zephyr turned his head, looked at the Smokoker standing uncomfortably close, and waved his hand vigorously in front of his nose to disperse the dense smoke.
"There probably isn't another madman in this entire ocean who smokes two cigars at once like you do."

Smoker didn't care, shaking his head as he said, "Anyway, you said all expenses on this trip are on you!"

"I said expenses on the Sabaody Archipelago, and right now we're still on the ship!" Zephyr kindly reminded him.

"...... Whatever!"
Smoker stubbornly held his ground, though he secretly extinguished one of the cigars.
"I smoke because I want to, and I'm happy!"

Without a sugar daddy to foot the bill, Smoker's current financial resources couldn't truly support such an extravagant personal hobby.
Smoking two cigars at once was very expensive!

Too lazy to expose this poor excuse of a man, Zephyr asked directly, "Who was that 'big shot' you were just talking about?"

The distance between Marineford and the Sabaody Archipelago was extremely short.
During their routine leaves, many headquarters marines chose to go to the Sabaody Archipelago for recreation.
After all, the Sabaody Archipelago could practically be considered the most prosperous island in Paradise; its commercial, entertainment, and leisure aspects far outshone Marineford.

Just as Zephyr was about to guess whether that person was Boss Kizaru, he heard Smoker say,
"It's Vice Admiral Gyukatsu!"

Gyukatsu?
The future Marine Headquarters Admiral Candidate—Chaton (Piggy) Gyukatsu?
Zephyr was stunned.
On the same ship as such a big shot?
Could it be such a coincidence?
It shouldn't have anything to do with my undercover mission...

Smoker continued, "Zephyr, you haven't been in the Marines long, so you might not have heard of Vice Admiral Gyukatsu's reputation. He's very famous at headquarters."

"No, actually, I've heard of him."
Zephyr snapped out of it and said nonchalantly,
"The legendary terrifying man who confessed his love one hundred times and failed every single time." (Chaton Gyukatsu had confessed his love to Gion a total of one hundred times, but was rejected every time.)

Smoker's cheek twitched a few times; clearly, he had also heard this story.
Lust was a source of power, after all.
Not to mention this story featured the legendary combination of "Beauty" and "Beast"!
And to be completely honest,
Judging by Gion's looks,
Calling Chaton a "beast" was actually flattering him a bit!

"Cough! Speaking ill of people behind their backs is bad form," Smoker said with a straight face.
"Let's talk about how we're going to have fun on the Sabaody Archipelago instead!"

Zephyr glanced sideways at Smoker, filled with disdain for this corrupt marine whose brain was full of nothing but cigars and leisure.
This was a warship of the righteous Marines, not a taxi to the red-light district!

Zephyr used his index and middle fingers, strengthened by the [Steel-Splitting Finger], to forcefully poke Smoker in the shoulder.
"The hotel district is between Groves 70 and 79."