“Bastard Sengoku!”
Having taken a hit for no reason, Garp immediately tried to stand up and settle the score with Sengoku.
Vice Admiral Tsuru shook her head.
“You two quiet down.
Let’s check on young Raizen first.”
At her words, the two instantly fell silent.
Sengoku snorted coldly, while Garp casually snatched a bag of rice crackers from Sengoku’s cabinet, shooting him a provocative glare.
Sengoku pretended not to notice.
He simply stood up, walked around his desk, and squeezed the muscles on Raizen’s body, a look of satisfaction quickly appearing on his face.
“Not bad, your physique is very sturdy.
I heard you also ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit?”
Raizen nodded and raised his right hand.
Elements of fire, water, lightning, clouds, and air currents shifted back and forth over his palm.
“I ate the Zoan-type Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Mythical Beast Model: Yellow Dragon.”
Sengoku nodded, a look of relief and gratification welling up in his eyes.
“How about it?
Do you want to graduate early from Zephyr’s Elite Training Camp?
Your strength is more than enough.
I can make an exception and grant you the rank of Commodore!”
The Five Elders had already given him permission; as long as Raizen graduated from the Elite Training Camp, he would be awarded the rank of Commodore.
If this went through, Raizen would become the youngest Commodore in Marine history!
Those damn Five Elders had finally done something right for once.
In terms of strength, Raizen could already take a direct attack from one of the Four Emperors.
In terms of merit…
well, his merits were a bit lacking, having only captured a pirate with a bounty of 220 million Berries.
But that wasn’t a big issue; an exception could easily be made for the Commodore rank.
After all, even an elite Vice Admiral might not be able to withstand a single strike from an Emperor!
Merely granting him the rank of Commodore actually felt like a slight injustice in Sengoku’s eyes.
Ultimately, Raizen was simply too young.
A fifteen-year-old Commodore was already shocking enough to stun the world.
However, after careful consideration, Raizen slowly shook his head.
“No, Instructor Sengoku.
This recent experience made me realize that I still have many areas that need refinement.
Graduating early wouldn’t be a good thing for me right now.”
Once he graduated, he would have to start worrying about a lot more things, which would undoubtedly eat into his training time.
He was only fifteen; there was no rush to graduate.
“Hmm, that works too.
You’ve made quite a name for yourself now.
If you were to take on missions after graduating, there would probably be quite a few pirates looking to kill you to make a name for themselves across the seas.”
Vice Admiral Tsuru chuckled, nodding in agreement.
In her eyes, Raizen was still just a child.
Why should such a young kid be in such a hurry to graduate?
It was better to train more and wait until his strength grew even further.
Sengoku pondered for a moment before also voicing his agreement.
“Then it’s settled.
Following the normal schedule, your class still has a year left until graduation.
We’ll grant you the Commodore rank in a year’s time.”
At this point, Tsuru spoke up to ask, “Do you have any requirements for your future subordinates?
If you have your eye on anyone, you can tell us directly.”
Look at that.
This was the perk of having a mentor.
He hadn’t even graduated yet, and they were already letting him handpick his own crew.
This was the power of connections.
“As for subordinates…
Smoker and Hina would actually be great.”
Sengoku raised an eyebrow slightly.
“I remember those two.
Smoker is a Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, and Hina is a Paramecia-type Bind-Bind Fruit user.
Both have solid strength.
When they graduate, they can be awarded the rank of Major.”
“Yes, both of them are quite strong.”
Sengoku nodded.
“In that case, I understand.
Once you graduate, we will have everything you want prepared for you.”
“Alright, thank you, Instructor Sengoku.
Thank you, Instructor Garp.
And thank you, Auntie Tsuru.”
Raizen grinned playfully.
Then, he reached back, swiped a bag of rice crackers from Sengoku’s cabinet, and turned to leave.
Just as he stepped out the door, Sengoku’s exasperated voice rang out from inside.
“You brat, Raizen!
Why are you picking up Garp’s bad habits!”
Half a year later.
March 6th, Sea Circle Calendar 1531.
The East Blue.
The weather today was clear with a gentle, warm breeze.
Across the vast expanse of the sea, a warship with a dog-head figurehead was currently sailing.
Raizen was currently shirtless, doing a one-finger handstand.
The warship lacked proper physical training facilities, so he could only use this method to keep warmed up.
Just ten days ago, he had still been living his daily routine of training and disciplining Smoker at the camp.
But then, that old geezer Garp had stormed right into the training grounds and dragged him out, claiming he wanted to introduce Raizen to his adorable grandson.
Raizen figured it wouldn’t hurt to go see Luffy.
He might even get to see Sabo and Ace.
Those three were top-tier talents.
It would be an absolute waste for them to become pirates or join the Revolutionary Army.
How great would it be if they followed him and joined the Marines in the future?
Even as Marines, they could still overthrow the World Government.
And then there was that damn Red-Haired Shanks.
At this point in time, Luffy should have only recently been sent to Foosha Village.
Shanks hadn’t arrived there yet, which naturally meant he hadn’t brainwashed Luffy with his pirate ideals, and there was certainly no sign of the Nika Fruit yet.
In other words, he had the perfect opportunity to explain the true evils of pirates to Luffy first, then gently guide him into joining the Marines!
Garp was his mentor.
As Garp’s disciple, he naturally couldn’t just stand by and watch Luffy go down the path of piracy.
At that moment, Bogard walked over.
“Raizen, get ready.
We’re about to arrive at Foosha Village.”
Hearing this, Raizen stopped his one-finger handstand and stood up.
His robust muscles gleamed under the sunlight as if dusted with a layer of gold.
Combined with his current height of 2.9 meters, he gave off an incredibly oppressive presence.
“Hahahaha!
I’m finally going to see my adorable grandson!”
Garp laughed heartily as he stood by the edge of the warship, winking playfully at Raizen.
“Luffy is even cuter than you used to be, Raizen.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”
Raizen agreed sarcastically.
‘You picked me up when I was already fourteen.
Luffy is only seven or eight right now, okay?’
Once the warship docked, the two walked down the gangway.
Bogard stayed behind to guard the ship and prevent any pirates from stealing it.
“Yo, Dadan!
Long time no see!
Where are my adorable grandsons?”
Garp was clearly in an excellent mood, flashing a massive grin at Dadan, who had come to greet them.
Dadan, however, let out a cold snort.
“Hmph, Garp!
Do you think this is some kind of daycare?
It wasn’t enough that you dumped Ace here, but then you dropped off Luffy too!
I’m a mountain bandit, you bastard!”
Dadan complained, but the faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth betrayed her true feelings.
“Luffy and Ace recently made a friend named Sabo.
I heard he’s a noble.
All three of them should be up in the back mountain right now.”
Hearing this, Garp immediately strode forward, fully unleashing his Observation Haki as he rushed toward the back mountain.
“Hey, Raizen!
Hurry up and follow me!
I’ll take you to meet my adorable grandsons!”