It seemed the cheering from his subordinates gave Tokikake immense confidence.
He held the rose high, shook his slick hair, and flashed a smile he believed could charm anyone.
"Accept me, Gion! There's no man in this world more outstanding than I am!"
Gion simply stared.
After struggling internally for a long moment, she finally sighed
"Tokikake, you're a good person, but we're really not suited for each other."
The jubilant scene on deck fell silent, as if someone had hit a mute button.
No one dared to speak.
They just cast sympathetic glances at Tokikake, who was still kneeling with the rose.
Although Commander Tokikake was known to be a bit sleazy and unkempt, they couldn't help but feel for him.
His silhouette just looked so... desolate.
The marines began to whisper among themselves.
"Commander Tokikake failed again..."
"He even came up with a new way to confess. Why is the result always the same?"
"Sigh..."
A few marines who were friendlier with Tokikake edged forward to comfort him.
Before they could speak, Tokikake turned his head with tears streaming down his face.
"You... you all heard it, right?"
He bit his lip, trying to hold back the sobs.
"Uh, Commander, we all heard..."
"Commander Tokikake, the sea is a man's romance. Don't cry."
"Honestly, you don't need to be this sad. A real man should..."
The marines, moved by his tears, all started to offer clumsy words of comfort.
"Gion... she actually said I'm a good person!!!"
Tokikake suddenly sprang up from the ground, startling the men who had come to console him.
His eyes were still full of tears, but they were shining with an unbelievable light.
He exclaimed excitedly, "She finally saw through to my heart! What does that mean?! It means Gion has been quietly paying attention to me all along! She's just too shy to say it directly!"
"Today, she personally acknowledged my efforts! Hahahaha! As long as I keep confessing, maybe next time she'll agree to go out with me! Yes, that must be it!"
The marines stared, utterly speechless.
'Was that... a compliment?' they all thought.
'This guy is in a league of his own. He's completely delusional.'
Their eyelids twitched, and the corners of their mouths curled.
Their expressions were stiff and exceptionally awkward.
After exchanging glances, they all forced smiles and said in unison:
"That's right! We think so too!"
"Commander Tokikake, congratulations on taking the first step!"
"We always knew you would succeed, Commander!"
Hearing their "approval," Tokikake's confidence surged.
"Gion just has that girlish temperament, afraid I'll change my mind. But I'll prove to her that my love will never waver!"
He turned and walked back to Gion with a grin.
"Gion, you really don't need to test me anymore. We've known each other for so long—you know how sincere I am. Come on, give me a kiss."
He puckered his lips and leaned his entire body toward her face.
The next second...
BAM!
With a loud crash, Tokikake's round body flew like a cannonball, slamming hard into the warship's mast.
It was as if he were testing whether his head or the mast was sturdier.
Clearly, Tokikake lost.
He slid down the mast like a lump of mud, two streams of bright red blood trickling from his nostrils.
His body twitched on the deck, the only sign that Gion's kick hadn't actually killed him.
The nearby marines seemed completely used to this.
The farce over, they quickly put away their "support items" and returned to their posts as if nothing had happened.
Gion rubbed her temples and let out a heavy sigh.
She reopened the military document in her hand. It contained the personnel files for the East Blue's 133rd Branch.
Only two names stood out: the branch chief, Christian Raleigh, and his deputy, Momonga.
Name: Christian Raleigh
Age: 16
Origin: North Blue, orphan
Position: Chief of East Blue Branch 133
Rank: Marine Headquarters Captain
Abilities: Robust physique, unparalleled combat intelligence, proficient in Marines Six Styles.
Evaluation: Similar to Kizaru; tends to do the bare minimum and is skilled at slacking off. Surprisingly, however, he excels at coordinating various forces, finding balance, and reducing regional crime rates.
Note: Skilled at nurturing subordinates; several future admiral-level talents have emerged from under his command.
Beneath the summary were rows of achievements and merits from his tenure, detailing his successes.
Gion then opened the other file.
Name: Momonga
Age: 15
Origin: West Blue, orphan
Position: Vice Officer of East Blue Branch 133
Rank: Marine Headquarters Commander
Evaluation: A diligent and driven young man dedicated to the marine cause.
Possesses strength far exceeding his rank, with mastery in swordsmanship and Marines Six Styles. In battles, he often leads from the front, taking on the majority of pirate forces, and shows genuine care for his subordinates.
Gion had reviewed both documents multiple times on the way here.
She was quite familiar with them; they had been her classmates at the academy.
Her relationship with Momonga was average, but with Raleigh, it was somewhat antagonistic.
Gion had always been hardworking and despised marines who lacked ambition.
When the eternally slacking Raleigh appeared, she immediately disliked him.
It was infuriating.
During their academy days, while she could outperform him in academic subjects, she could never defeat him in any practical combat course.
And Raleigh seemed to have no interest in training or studying, always lazily sleeping or daydreaming.
Gion found it unbelievable.
Her own talent had been praised by Tsuru and Garp, and she herself was incredibly diligent.
Yet her progress always felt painfully slow compared to Raleigh's.
Sometimes, when she felt stuck, she could sense Raleigh growing rapidly stronger without any effort.
It made Gion seriously doubt herself and was another reason she deeply disliked him.
A marine genius like him... if he actually trained, he should have reached Rear Admiral by now.
As she knew, one of the most prominent Vice Admirals at Headquarters, the monster-level talent Borsalino, was Christian Raleigh's adoptive older brother.
While Borsalino had a tendency to slack, Christian Raleigh had practically given up on work entirely.
"Raleigh," Gion murmured, gazing at the sky, "I wonder how much stronger you've gotten?"
"Are you looking at Raleigh and Momonga's files?"
Tokikake, having roughly patched himself up, moved closer, his face already bruising.
"That guy is so infuriating! He humiliated me back at the academy."
"He never trained, but he was still so strong. I could never beat him," Tokikake grumbled.
"I wonder if I can finally give him a beatdown this time. After all, I've been training hard under Vice Admiral Garp for over half a year!"