A few days later, Zephyr's warship reached the Sabaody Archipelago.
Alone in the captain's cabin, Zephyr picked up a Den Den Mushi. He had to report this. A youth around twenty with power on the level of an Admiral left him uneasy.
"Moshi moshi, Zephyr. What is it."
At Marine Headquarters in Marineford, Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong sat in his office, a cigar at the corner of his mouth.
"Fleet Admiral, our warship encountered the Lion Pirates. We engaged and have captured their members."
"I see. Good. They were brought up at a meeting recently. I did not expect you to run into them so soon and bag them already. Well done."
Zephyr felt a twinge of embarrassment.
"Kong, there is something important I need to report."
A steady light flashed behind his lenses.
"Important. What is it."
Normally, Zephyr addressed him as Fleet Admiral. Only when the matter was weighty did he switch to "Kong." Steel Bone understood the signal. His lazy tone vanished. The air around him tightened.
"It was not us who wiped out the Lion Pirates."
"Oh. Not you."
Kong waited for Zephyr to continue.
"Yes. The one who destroyed them was a youth, not yet twenty. Our forces were fully engaged with the Lion Pirates when…" Zephyr retold the entire encounter. When he reached the part where a single youth casually annihilated the crew, even Steel Bone Kong's iron composure wavered.
"Crushed a pirate ship with his bare hand. To eliminate the Lion Pirates that easily… he must have Admiral-level strength. Is he a Devil Fruit user."
Compared to the average Marine, Steel Bone remained calm.
"Conservatively, he has Admiral-level strength. Ability unknown. As for a Devil Fruit, I have been investigating these last days. No results. The youth himself said he is not a fruit user."
"Not an ability user. You are telling me he used his body alone to crush a ship."
Kong's eyes narrowed. "Impossible. Is he lying."
A twenty-year-old with Admiral-level strength, and not a Devil Fruit user. That kind of monster was hard to accept.
"I suspected at first. But the youth showed no sign of deception. My guess is he did not lie."
Steel Bone trusted Zephyr's eye for people, so he accepted it.
"If he is telling the truth, then this is troublesome."
Kong snubbed out the last of his cigar. His face grew grave.
If the youth were a Devil Fruit user, Kong would be shocked, but still within expectations. The Marines could identify the fruit and target the weaknesses. The sea and seastone bind Devil Fruit users. Even if such a person shook the world, there would be ways to check him.
But a prodigy with Admiral-level strength who was not a Devil Fruit user made Steel Bone uneasy for the first time.
"Zephyr, find a way to keep this youth. At any cost. He must join the Marines. If he turns pirate, the future will be a disaster."
After a moment of silence, Kong's voice cut like steel.
Zephyr stared at the almost roaring Den Den Mushi and gave a helpless smile.
"What is it. He refused."
Kong connected the dots from Zephyr's smile and his years of working with him.
"Yes. He refused."
"Was the rank too low. If not, raise him to Vice Admiral."
"Vice Admiral was not enough."
"Then make him an Admiral."
Kong ground the words out, his face darkening.
"I offered Admiral as well. He still refused."
Bang.
Kong's fist slammed the desk, leaving a deep print.
"Does he not know what is good for him. Vice Admiral is not enough, Admiral is not enough. Does he want my chair as Fleet Admiral."