After rushing to the Ordnance Department and retrieving the custom-made revolver, Sakazuki happily hurried toward the residential area of Marineford.
When Vice Admiral Onigumo finished his work and stepped out of his office, he saw Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Chief of Staff Tsuru also leaving work early together. This surprised Vice Admiral Onigumo. He listened in briefly and gathered that they were both discussing Ace attending the Marine Academy.
"That little guy Ace is certainly highly anticipated," Onigumo smiled and muttered to himself. Should I go see him too? After all, thanks to Admiral Sakazuki, Ace is quite close to me, Onigumo.
Moreover, the hardline Marines like Onigumo generally regarded Ace, the violent brat who constantly talked about "killing every damned pirate," as the future successor to Admiral Sakazuki.
On the other side, Sakazuki quickly reached the Marine Club, the bar in the Marineford residential area.
He pushed the door open and saw Garp pulling Zephyr aside for a conversation. Kuzan was sitting alone in a corner, drinking and looking bored. Ace, wearing a brand-new "Justice" vest, was showing off to the idiot kid, Luffy, with a smug look.
"Don't get it dirty! Zephyr-sensei gave this to me. I'm wearing this uniform to the Marine Academy tomorrow," Ace said excitedly.
It was clear that Zephyr had given him this "Justice" vest. Ace had also calmly changed his previous address of "Zephyr-jiichan" to "Zephyr-sensei." Theoretically, his seniority had just skyrocketed, and he could now refer to people like Sakazuki as his senpai.
Luffy tugged at Ace's uniform with some envy and said, "Let me try it on!"
"Only excellent Marines can wear this. You can't wear it yet," Ace refused without hesitation, then tossed his old, ragged vest, which he'd presumably dug up from somewhere, to Luffy: "I don't need this anymore, so I'm giving it to you."
Even though the old "Justice" vest was practically washed yellow, the foolish Luffy happily accepted it, saying excitedly: "Thank you, Ace!"
"It's nothing. What are brothers for?" Ace, wearing his new vest, patted the dumbfounded Luffy on the shoulder.
Garp laughed loudly from a distance: "In two more years, Luffy, you can go to the Marine Academy too! I'll have Zephyr give you one then."
"Hahaha, that's no problem at all," Zephyr laughed as well.
Just then, Ace spotted Sakazuki. His expression immediately lit up with joy, and he excitedly rushed over: "Sakazuki-jichan!"
When Sakazuki saw Ace, his naturally stiff expression softened considerably, and he forced a gentle smile: "Oh, Ace! Congratulations on being admitted to the Marine Academy! You truly are an excellent fellow."
That's right, even though Ace was close to Zephyr, he hadn't pulled any strings this time. He got in entirely on his own merit. He should be thirteen this year. After three years of study, he would be sixteen upon graduation, allowing him to join the Marines through the formal procedure.
"I'm using you as my role model, Sakazuki-jichan," Ace said, knowing exactly what to say.
Sakazuki was greatly pleased by Ace's flattery and couldn't help but pat Ace's shoulder: "Good, Ace. This is my gift to you..."
With that, Sakazuki handed the custom-made revolver to Ace.
Boys tend to have a natural interest in firearms. Ace immediately took the revolver, exclaiming excitedly: "Thanks, Oji-chan."
"As long as you like it," Sakazuki replied.
On the other side, Garp chuckled as he took a bag of rice crackers from Nojiko, then asked curiously: "Nojiko, are you really not planning to become a Marine? I think you have a lot of talent. Tsuru and Gion are both very fond of you."
Nojiko, with her indigo-purple hair, looked quite cute, like a little adult. Recently, she had even started working as the bar's hostess.
Listening to Garp's question, Nojiko said helplessly: "Garp-san, out of five people in my family, one is a retired Marine, one is heading to the Marine Academy tomorrow, and one is the loudmouth who keeps shouting he'll be the 'King of the Marines.' As for Nami..."
"I've already passed the First-Class Navigator Qualification Exam. I'm just too young to sail. Next, Hina-nee has helped me send a letter to Weatheria Island. A climate scientist there greatly appreciated my thesis and is coming to Marineford to pick me up for advanced study. Once I return from Weatheria, I can join the Marines through special recruitment," Nami, with her short orange hair, calmly stated while flipping a golden Berry in her left hand and reading a book on climatology in her right.
Compared to the reckless styles of Ace and Luffy, Nami was clearly following the path of an academic genius.
"Yeah, Nami will definitely join the Marines too. At that point, four out of five of us will be Marines. I really don't want to join the Marines anymore. Just let me quietly inherit Bell-mère's property and be a wealthy little lady, hahaha," Nojiko said with a laugh.
Garp heard this and agreed that if Nojiko wasn't interested, there was no need to force her.
However, just then, he paused: "What do you mean, 'five people in my family'? I'm your grandfather. We should be six people, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes, six people in the family, five Marines..." Nojiko replied dismissively.
"Hahahaha..." Zephyr roared with laughter nearby.
Just then, the bar door was pushed open again, and Gion walked in, looking slightly fatigued.
Bell-mère, the owner, walked up to Gion: "What's wrong? You look exhausted."
Bell-mère and Gion were, of course, very close friends.
Hearing the concerned question, Gion managed a small smile and said: "Too busy."
"You really should rest more. Take a page from that Diarmuid's book. I heard he's off on vacation again?" Bell-mère said.
"Tell me about it. He's the most carefree one among the entire Marine high command," Gion complained disgruntledly.
But after saying that, Gion saw Kuzan sitting alone in the corner, almost dozing off, and anger flared up again: "And that guy! Diarmuid was probably led astray by him!"
Kuzan was thinking: Do all you women have such poor logic? Why don't you blame Borsalino?
Before Kuzan could say anything in rebuttal, Sengoku and Tsuru also pushed the door open, looking at the people inside: "What's this? Everyone's here?"
Upon closer inspection, almost all the bigshots were present, except for Diarmuid and Hina, who were on vacation and naturally couldn't rush back for this. Borsalino was currently in the New World wrapping up the aftermath of Punk Hazard, and he wasn't particularly close to Ace anyway.
"It's because I have influence!" Garp declared proudly.
Look! My adopted grandson is going to the Marine Academy to become an excellent Marine, and all the Marine brass have come to see him off! How prestigious is that?
However, no one paid him any attention. Sengoku walked in, sat down next to Sakazuki, and asked: "Sakazuki, how is the situation in the New World?"
Gion was pulled aside by Bell-mère to sit with Tsuru, and they also started discussing Marine affairs.
Garp was instantly awkward and complained unhappily: "Ugh, without Diarmuid here, you people are no fun at all."
After grumbling, Garp turned to Zephyr: "Speaking of which, besides Ace, are there any other promising cadets this year?"
Sensei Zephyr took a puff from his asthma inhaler, then said contentedly: "There are indeed a few."
"Oh?" Garp was slightly surprised, then asked: "Someone comparable to Ace?"
"It's still too early to tell. I'll have to see once I start instructing them, but their potential seems quite good. Especially a young girl named Ain. Her Devil Fruit ability is quite rare and powerful," Sensei Zeff said with interest.
"What ability?" Garp asked curiously.
"The Paramecia-type, Return-Return Fruit..." Zephyr smiled.
"That truly is powerful!" Garp said, looking surprised.
After a brief pause, Garp asked with a strange expression: "What does the young girl look like?"
"What does she look like?" Zephyr was stunned. He hadn't really paid attention or considered that, being a man in his seventies; why would he notice such things?
After thinking for a moment, Zephyr stroked his chin: "I suppose she's quite cute? A real beauty-in-the-making..."
"Heheheh..." Garp suddenly burst out laughing.
Zephyr glared at Garp: "You're a man in your seventies. Control your filthy mind."
Garp was momentarily dumbfounded, then angrily retorted: "Bastard! What kind of person do you take me for? No matter how wild Garp is, I'm not that depraved! I was just thinking that since the girl is going to be Ace's classmate, maybe I'll be able to hold a great-grandchild in a few years! We'd be four generations of Marines in the family! That sounds exciting!"
"Four generations where? Dragon hasn't been a Marine for ages," Zephyr ruthlessly pointed out.
Garp's face stiffened, then he argued stubbornly: "He was a Marine at one point! Even if you don't count him, Bell-mère is my daughter now. She counts as one generation, right? Then it's four generations! I'm a bona fide Marine family!"
Meanwhile, Dragon, whom Garp and Zephyr were discussing, stood at Port Nanohana in the world's most ancient kingdom, Alabasta.
"Perhaps I should go to Alubarna first and meet King Cobra?" Dragon smiled, looking at the bustling port of Port Nanohana.
Despite the deep internal conflicts in Alabasta, the port city still showed signs of prosperity.
Soon, Dragon's figure disappeared into the crowd.
At a fruit stand on the docks, the young stall owner looked up in the direction where Dragon had vanished and frowned: "Dragon? I need to report this news to Headquarters."
If one looked closely, they would realize that the man selling fruit here was none other than X Drake, one of the members of the Marine's 'Special Combat Unit' in the Intelligence Division. He was the kid Diarmuid brought back from Minion Island years ago!
Diarmuid had recommended him to Zephyr. After Zephyr mentored him for a time, he was noticed by Tsuru due to his shallow connections at Headquarters, making him perfect for infiltration. He was quickly transferred to the Intelligence Division and participated in the actions of the 'Special Combat Unit,' which inexplicably led to him being sent to Alabasta.
The situation in this turbulent desert kingdom was becoming increasingly strange.