After the ship was booked, it felt like a pleasant end to the visit.
Having paid the deposit, Noah left Tom’s Shipyard with the mayor.
You could tell the mayor was bored.
Back at City Hall, they attended a cultural salon, and then it broke up.
The next day, Yamakaji came to say goodbye to Noah, as he had to report back to Marineford.
After a brief exchange, Yamakaji prepared to return to his warship and depart.
Before leaving, the writer kindly said he would send greetings to Noah’s friends.
Noah wondered if one of them was Vice Admiral Tsuru.
With that wise old lady, she shouldn’t be too troubled, he thought.
Yamakaji’s warship left the port, escorting pirates who had been captured along the way and in Water 7.
After handing these over to the nearest Marine branch prison, they headed back to Marineford at full speed.
Upon arriving at Marine Headquarters, Yamakaji immediately went to Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s office to report.
It was just a simple, small task.
After reporting, they chatted about personal matters for a while.
They gossiped together about why Zephyr was in a bad mood, but they had no clue.
Oh, Yamakaji also showed Sengoku a message that Noah had written.
Seeing Sengoku nod repeatedly, the words had truly struck a chord with him.
He immediately took up his brush and made a copy.
“A person’s life should be lived this way: when he looks back on his past, he should not regret wasting his years, nor be ashamed of his idleness; Thus, when he is about to die, he can say: I have given my whole life and all my energy to the most magnificent cause in the world—fighting for peace and justice on the seas.”
“Life may bring stormy weather, but we can hold onto a ray of sunshine in our hearts.”
He became more and more pleased as he read.
He had a duty officer by the door fetch those two copied calligraphy pieces to be framed and hung in his office.
“This Mr.
Adam truly has high literary talent, and he also understands Marine work very well.
In the future, the Marine internal publication should learn from him, or perhaps we could commission him for articles.
Also, cough, cough, I think~ Zephyr is so strong-willed internally, he might not really need this message.
I’ll keep the original with me for now.
If he wants it later, he can ask me.”
Yamakaji cast a look of disdain at Sengoku, his eyes barely open.
They had been friends for years; he knew what Sengoku was like before he became Fleet Admiral.
Without even looking at Sengoku, he turned and left.
He wanted to share such a great message with Tsuru too.
He found Staff Officer Tsuru and shared Noah’s message with her.
Staff Officer Tsuru also sighed repeatedly, saying how the written word conveyed meaning.
These simple sentences perfectly summarized the lives of those who yearned for justice.
Staff Officer Tsuru had actually been paying close attention to Adam.
After “Water Margin” began serialization, she analyzed every issue without fail, filling a wall in her office with newspaper clippings.
She felt that Adam’s way of thinking was very dangerous, possessing a magic that could sway people’s hearts.
After reading the message this time, though moved, she raised her alert level even higher.
Someone who could write such words was definitely dangerous.
Finally, Yamakaji found Zephyr in his office.
Normally, this head instructor would be at Marineford’s new recruit training camp and rarely in his office.
In his opinion, a man should constantly hone his body.
That’s why Zephyr’s recent presence in his office had everyone worried.
He knocked on the door, and Yamakaji entered Zephyr’s office.
“Oh, Yamakaji, what brings you here?”
“Teacher Zephyr, it’s like this: a while ago, I was on a mission and met a great writer.
I benefited greatly.
Zephyr thought to himself, oh, that mission, to maintain order in Water 7.
That great writer there…
Noah?!
His heart skipped a beat.
“Did Adam say anything to you?”
Zephyr asked casually.
“Teacher Zephyr, you know Adam?”
“Cough, cough, just a chance encounter.”
“Oh, I didn’t get to talk much with Mr.
Adam because the mission time was limited.
What a pity.
Take a look at this message, it’s very well-written, heh-heh.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku wanted to keep it, but I didn’t agree.”
He took the notebook, and Zephyr’s mood became complex.
That book Noah gave him, he had originally planned to throw it away, but on second thought, it seemed a shame, so he brought it back.
He had read some of the beginning recently, it was detailed and well-written, very kind to the common people of the Four Seas.
But—it was very critical of the World Government.
This tortured him, and he put the book away in the safe.
Now he had received a message from Noah.
He really was haunting him.
With a strange feeling, he opened the notebook.
His eyes widened instantly as he read it word by word.
Yes, yes, I’ve been too fixated.
As long as I’m fighting for peace and justice, that’s what I should be doing, no need to overthink it.
If that day ever comes, I’ll stand on the side of the people.
For now, I just need to continue upholding justice.
He felt a sense of relief after figuring it out.
Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable sitting in his office.
He put on his sunglasses, donned his cape of justice, and headed for the new recruit training camp by the sea.
Yamakaji was somewhat puzzled by how inspired Zephyr was by the message.
It seemed…
too effective?
“You bunch of brats, are your legs weak?
Run another 100 laps.”
His familiar booming voice rang out.
Hearing this, Sengoku and Tsuru smiled slightly, their worries about Zephyr eased.
Noah, far away in Water 7, never expected the people in the Marines to be so strange.
Some became more wary of him after reading his message, while others had their stances swayed.
And it wasn’t just the people at Marine Headquarters who were thinking about Noah.
Others were also interested in the articles written by the alias “Adam.”
For example, in a secret base in a small country in the Grand Line.
Monkey D.
Dragon.
On Dragon’s desk were all the novels Noah had published, including newspaper clippings and bound volumes.
There was also the latest issue of the World Economic News.
In the photo on the paper, Mr.
Dragon was very interested in Adam.
Perhaps it was because their ideals were similar.
In “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” Dragon had already seen the power to awaken people’s courage.
In the later work, “Water Margin,” there was even the idea of rebellion within it.
He never expected to find such a like-minded friend on the sea, using such clever methods.
To spread ideas across the seas in the form of entertaining novels, accomplishing what Dragon believed was impossible in recent years.
Therefore, he wanted to meet such a person, hoping for greater gains.
The early development of the Revolutionary Army had been very difficult.
The biggest problem was how hard it was to liberate the minds of ordinary people.
If their minds weren’t liberated, then even if they overthrew the old ruling class, the new rulers would just be a copycat version.
No one in the Revolutionary Army could help him with these core issues at the moment.
But his intuition told him that finding the person in the newspaper would lead to an unexpected surprise.
As for the risk of finding Adam, it probably wasn’t high.
This person was likely not part of the World Government.
Those decaying corpses in the World Government couldn’t write such articles.
Besides, Dragon’s own strength was his greatest guarantee for being able to roam the seas.
Now, he rose.
The wind and rain were intensifying.
His target: Water 7.
What was Noah doing at this time, when he was causing the wind and rain?
He was taking Robin out to play.
Water 7 was the city with the best commercial and entertainment atmosphere among all the cities Robin had visited so far.
Its developed shipbuilding industry meant that most of the products circulating on the seas were found there.
Robin found several ancient books there that she couldn’t even find in Ohara, and she treated them like treasures, spending all day studying them in the hotel.
Noah thought this wouldn’t do.
It was bad for her health, so he often took Robin out to relax.
The place they went to most often was Tom’s shipyard.
One reason was that it was safe; for some reason, CP5 hadn’t returned yet.
Another was that it was interesting.
Little Franky’s various ridiculous inventions were too amusing.
It seemed that every genius had a peculiar way of thinking.
These little inventions delighted Robin.
As is well known, Robin’s aesthetic taste was unique.
Furthermore, the interactions between Little Franky and Iceburg were also amusing.
Robin most enjoyed seeing Franky puncture Iceburg’s poker face.
Every time Iceburg got flustered, Robin and Franky would burst into laughter together.
Noah rarely saw Robin so happy, so he indulged her.
After all, it was Iceburg who suffered, not him.
He hoped little brother Iceburg could hang in there.
Tom was also happy to see his two disciples getting along so well with their new playmate.
He whistled as he built ships, feeling content, and occasionally chatted with Noah.
He found that Mr.
Adam knew a little about everything—humanities, geography, even shipbuilding.
Concepts like radar and bulbous bows even inspired him.
On these trips to the shipyard, Noah also saw a young Granny Kokoro, which shattered Noah’s fantasies about mermaids.
Time slowly passed, and the ship gradually took shape.