While Caelan was enjoying himself, Marine Headquarters was about to undergo a drastic change.
All because Whitebeard II, Edward Weevil, had been accepted as a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
This decision, long settled but repeatedly delayed by Sengoku, had finally been carried out.
Marine Headquarters didn't even notify Zephyr. He only learned of Weevil's induction through Morgans' newspaper.
Upon receiving the news, Zephyr immediately abandoned his mission of hunting Devil Fruit users and rushed back to headquarters without pause.
On the warship.
"Edward Weevil!"
Zephyr gripped the portrait of Weevil tightly, his eyes bloodshot.
The burly man with the vicious face in the portrait was his lifelong enemy.
After his family was slaughtered, Zephyr had thrown himself into training new blood for the Marines.
But the pirate in the portrait had attacked a Marine training vessel.
Zephyr's right arm was severed, and of the hundreds of cadets accompanying him, only two survived.
Just looking at the portrait filled him with searing hatred, making him want to kill that pirate immediately.
"Why would Sengoku let him join the Shichibukai?"
Zephyr slammed his mechanical arm against the railing in fury.
He could hardly believe it. The pirate who had cut off his arm, the same pirate who had massacred hundreds of cadets, had now become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Not just that, but he had become someone the Marines were expected to cooperate with and even court.
What about his lost arm?
What about those dead cadets?
What about the justice he had upheld all these years?
Zephyr felt nothing but disgust. Being betrayed by the very institution he had spent his life protecting was beyond painful.
He wanted to return and confront Sengoku. He wanted to fight him if necessary.
He wanted Sengoku to understand that he was old, not dead!
"Sensei, please calm down. This is probably not Fleet Admiral Sengoku's decision," Ain said softly, patting his back to soothe him.
As one of the survivors, she understood better than anyone how devastating this was for Zephyr.
Anyone who found out that the man who had killed hundreds of their comrades and taken their arm had been recruited by the leader they trusted would feel uncontrollable rage.
It was as if their lives had been treated as worthless.
But even so, Ain still had to worry about his health.
At his age, he shouldn't let his anger consume him.
"I know this wasn't Sengoku's intention. But I still need to speak to him," Zephyr said, his tone slightly calmer.
He understood Sengoku well enough to know this likely came from above.
But that didn't mean he could forgive it.
For the Marines to recruit Weevil, someone with such a deep grudge against them, was utterly shameless.
This wasn't strengthening their power. It was digging their own grave.
He couldn't remain in such an organization any longer. But before leaving, he would give Sengoku a final warning.
"This time, I'll probably be leaving the Marines," Zephyr said, preparing Ain and Binz mentally.
"Sensei, we'll go with you!" the two responded firmly without hesitation.
"There's no need. You two should stay in the Marines and make good use of your time…" Zephyr started, but both immediately cut him off.
"Sensei, have you forgotten? We were there with you. Even if we hadn't been, we wouldn't stay in the Marines now."
Weevil wasn't just Zephyr's enemy. He was theirs too.
"Then follow me," Zephyr finally said, no longer objecting.
He had thought it best for them to remain, but he knew they were resolute.
If it had been anyone else, he might have let it pass. But why did it have to be Weevil?
Zephyr felt exhausted. Waving them off, he said, "Go rest. Leave me be."
Ain and Binz exchanged a look. They wanted to speak but, seeing his mental and physical exhaustion, they withdrew.
Perhaps it was best to leave him alone now.
They quietly retreated into the cabin, recalling the other Marines as well.
In an instant, only Zephyr remained on the deck, standing alone at the railing and staring at the sea.
"Edward Weevil."
"Whitebeard II."
Zephyr repeated the name over and over.
He stood at the bow of the warship, his mechanical arm pounding against the railing again and again.
The force of his strikes rattled the entire deck.
If the warship hadn't been reinforced to the highest standards, the railing would have already been reduced to scrap.
Even so, the finely forged steel bent and warped beneath Zephyr's suppressed rage.
Only Zephyr himself knew how deeply his heart ached.
(To be continued.)