A gleam of curiosity flashed in Raizen’s eyes.
Ever since arriving at Marineford, he had been stuck in the Elite Training Camp and had never gone out to sea.
Truth be told, it was a bit embarrassing.
In the fifteen years he had been here, he had only ever been to two places.
One was the deserted island where he grew up, and the other was Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Now that an opportunity had presented itself, he naturally wanted to tag along and see the world.
“Oh?
You want to tag along for some fun?
Sure.”
Garp stuffed a rice cracker into his mouth.
“It’s the perfect chance to find a few pirates for you to practice on!”
The master swordsman Bogard spoke up again.
“Vice Admiral Garp!
Raizen is still a member of the training camp.
According to the rules, he shouldn’t be joining us on missions.
Besides…
we need to explain this to Instructor Zephyr.”
Bogard used the word ‘explain’ rather than asking for Zephyr’s permission.
In principle, Raizen was indeed unqualified to join them on a mission, but unfortunately for the rules, Raizen had several rule-makers backing him up.
Zephyr, Garp, Sengoku—every single one of them was his teacher.
If it were anyone else, they would have been arrested for ‘probing into classified missions’ the moment they asked their first question.
This was also one of Raizen’s goals in eagerly taking on these teachers.
With them backing him, couldn’t he walk around completely untouchable in the Marines?
An orphan with Admiral-level potential—he was an absolute, dyed-in-the-wool Marine insider!
Garp stroked his chin.
“That’s true, we do need to let Zephyr know.
Raizen, my boy, go tell him yourself.
We’ll wait for you on the warship!
Hahaha!”
With that, Garp patted Raizen on the shoulder and continued walking toward the warship with Bogard.
Raizen waved his hand, casually swiping a rice cracker and tossing it into his mouth.
He then tried coating his body in faint lightning to stimulate his cellular activity.
Soon, Raizen’s eyes lit up.
“It actually works!”
Using lightning to stimulate cellular activity not only tempered his body but also enhanced his overall physical functions!
Pushing off the ground slightly, Raizen shot forward like a bullet.
While rushing back, Raizen finally had a moment to carefully check the loot he had acquired in Instructor Zephyr’s office.
[DING!
Congratulations to the host for successfully robbing former Marine Admiral “Black Arm” Zephyr at Marine Headquarters!
Rewarded with “Life Return” cultivation insights!]
Insights into Life Return?
That was good stuff!
He had already mastered the Marine Rokushiki to perfection.
The next step was Life Return.
With these insights, he could save a massive amount of time.
Moreover, these might very well be Zephyr’s personal insights.
The experience of a top-tier physical combat expert was absolutely invaluable!
Half a minute later, crackling with electricity, Raizen burst back into Zephyr’s office.
After casually swiping another box of Admiral-exclusive cigars, Raizen plopped down onto Zephyr’s desk.
“Instructor Zephyr, I’m going on a mission with Instructor Garp!”
Looking at the scorch marks left on his desk by the faint lightning, Zephyr felt his blood pressure skyrocketing.
“What made you suddenly want to go on a mission?”
“You punched me all the way to the harbor, and I happened to run into Instructor Garp and Instructor Bogard.
So, I figured I’d head out to sea and take a look around.”
Hearing this, Zephyr pulled an internship mission form from his drawer, quickly scribbled a few lines on it, and stamped it with his seal.
“Take it.
This will give me a few days of peace and quiet anyway.”
Since that old geezer Garp was leading the team, there was no need to worry about Raizen’s safety.
It was a good opportunity for the kid to go out and broaden his horizons.
How could a man who yearned for the sea stay cooped up in Marineford forever?
“Awesome!
I’ll bring you back some souvenirs when I return!”
Raizen’s eyes lit up.
With this document, his mission procedures were fully compliant, and no one could find any fault with it.
Although it didn’t really matter whether he had it or not—he could have just tagged along without issue—following proper protocol was always a good thing.
Raizen tucked the internship mission form away and turned to leave, but Zephyr suddenly called out to him.
“Hold on a second, Raizen.”
Zephyr pulled a small box from the cabinet behind him and tossed it to Raizen.
“Take this and get the hell out of here!”
Raizen opened it to find it packed full of Admiral-exclusive cigars.
Seeing this, Raizen chuckled, flashing a wide, toothy grin.
He then wrapped his legs in lightning and quickly sped off.
After Raizen left, the corners of Zephyr’s mouth curled up slightly.
“Hmph, that brat.”
In truth, that box of Admiral-exclusive cigars had been set aside for Raizen all along.
Even the boxes Raizen swiped every time he visited were intentionally placed in conspicuous spots for him to take.
He had terrible lungs and didn’t smoke at all, let alone cigars.
Since Raizen liked them so much, he figured he might as well save them all for him.
After all, everything he owned would eventually belong to Raizen anyway.
Meanwhile, Raizen hurried back to the harbor.
With a slight leap, he boarded Garp’s dog-headed warship, a standard-issue Marine longsword now hanging from his waist.
Although he studied swordsmanship under Bogard, to be completely honest, he rarely practiced with a sword.
Most of the time, he only drilled the basic stances.
In the words of his teacher, the master swordsman Bogard, this was called solidifying the foundation and waiting for the right moment to unleash his accumulated potential.
On this voyage, Raizen also planned to see if he could get his hands on a famous sword.
His future goal was to develop his skills across three different paths simultaneously.
How could he do that without a good blade to show for it?
He couldn’t exactly face Hawkeye in the future and clash against a Black Blade using a standard-issue Marine longsword, could he?
Garp, who was already lounging in a deck chair, turned his head to look at Raizen and grinned.
“You’re looking pretty energetic, kid.”
“It’s my first mission, after all.
I’m really looking forward to it.”
Garp chuckled, pulled his dog-hood down over his face, and quickly fell asleep.
Raizen was then pulled aside by Bogard, who began briefing him on a few important details.
“The mission Vice Admiral Garp received this time is very dangerous.
Remember, if a fight actually breaks out, don’t hesitate to run when you need to.
Vice Admiral Garp and I might not be able to look after you.”
Raizen was puzzled.
“What’s the mission?
Is it something even Instructor Garp finds troublesome?”
“Ah, it’s nothing too crazy, really.
One of the Four Emperors of the New World, Big Mom, has invited another Emperor, Kaido of the Beasts, to attend a Tea Party on Whole Cake Island.
Admiral Sakazuki is currently there keeping an eye on things.
Just in case, Fleet Admiral Sengoku sent Vice Admiral Garp over as well.
In all likelihood, a fight won’t break out.”
Raizen suddenly understood.
So it was Big Mom and Kaido.
A meeting between two Emperors was definitely worth the Marines’ attention.
He might even get to witness a battle between the top powerhouses of the sea.
And then there was his system.
Challenging stronger opponents…
that should count as pirate-like behavior too, right?
Raizen felt like he had pretty much figured out the underlying logic of this so-called pirate behavior.