Chapter 103: Shocking Smoker
Smoker was outside smoking his cigar, feeling somewhat irritated. He thought Bane was being too abrupt.
He hadn't seemed like such a reckless character before, had he?
Wasn't this guy supposed to be quite smooth?
From their previous interactions, he had been quite measured in his conduct.
It was precisely because of this that Smoker had helped Bane by introducing him to Teacher Zephyr. But now, the situation just now had completely exceeded his expectations.
Speaking deeply when the relationship is shallow is the greatest taboo—even Smoker, this iron-headed fool, understood this principle very well. He had thought Bane knew it too, yet this guy had come out swinging with everything right from the start. It was simply speechless.
"Sigh, I hope nothing unpleasant comes of this," Smoker exhaled another puff of smoke and muttered to himself.
Just as Smoker was hesitating in the courtyard, some commotion came from behind him.
He turned around to see Zephyr, Bane, and Dr. Genos walking out of the house.
"I'll be free at headquarters during this period. Starting tomorrow morning, come report to me every day and bring your companions with you. I'll personally train you all, trying to improve your strength somewhat before this war begins," Zephyr walked shoulder to shoulder with Bane, instructing him.
"Yes, I understand, Foster Father," Bane replied very respectfully.
"Mm." Zephyr first nodded, then waved at Smoker. "Smoker, that courtyard next to mine is still empty. Go make arrangements to have Bane and his group stay there—it'll be more convenient."
However, after Zephyr finished speaking, he noticed that Smoker looked like he hadn't heard anything at all, wearing an expression of being shocked.
Smoker was completely dumbfounded now. Wait, what had he just heard?
Bane called Teacher Zephyr "Foster Father"?!
The key point was, Teacher Zephyr had agreed to it!?
Was this reasonable?!
If he remembered correctly—no, no, no, not "if he remembered correctly"—he was absolutely certain that Bane hadn't known Teacher Zephyr before. Today was definitely their first meeting, otherwise why would he need to introduce them?
When the two were talking in the house just now, there was still some unfamiliarity in their interaction. How did Bane become Teacher Zephyr's adopted son in just the time it took me to smoke a cigarette outside?
This news would absolutely shock the entire Marine Headquarters.
Teacher Zephyr was a top big shot among the Navy's high command. His influence within the Navy could only be matched by Fleet Admiral Sengoku. How many officers took pride in being Zephyr's disciples, yet now Bane had become the teacher's adopted son.
What did this mean?
Even Smoker, no matter how poor he was at adapting and understanding social dynamics, could understand that Bane was about to soar within the Navy.
Because he had a Navy big shot standing behind him, and from Teacher Zephyr's meaning, he intended to fully support Bane. Moreover, as Teacher Zephyr's adopted son, many high-ranking officers in the Navy, including Smoker himself, would have to take good care of Bane out of respect for their teacher.
At this moment, Bane had transformed from an unknown nobody in the Navy's eyes into a highly influential person, because he represented Teacher Zephyr.
After this, as long as Bane's performance wasn't too poor and could gain everyone's recognition, his rise to the Navy's high command was practically a foregone conclusion!
Smoker was even thinking—had Bane gotten the order of his visits to headquarters wrong? He should have visited Teacher Zephyr first, become the teacher's adopted son, and then met Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the others. Then Fleet Admiral Sengoku's promise wouldn't have been limited to a Captain's position—he could have at least gotten a Rear Admiral position, right?
That's right, Zephyr had exactly that kind of influence and clout.
"Smoker, my foster father is calling you. What are you spacing out about?" Bane saw Smoker standing there looking confused and quickly called out to him.
This shout finally snapped Smoker awake. He looked at Bane with extremely complex emotions, then looked uncertainly at Zephyr. "Teacher, what's going on between you and Bane?"
Zephyr laughed heartily and patted Bane's shoulder. "I hit it off with Bane immediately. Now that I'm getting older, I increasingly feel lonely being alone. I happened to find this young man agreeable, so I took him as my adopted son. From now on, he'll take care of me in my old age, and I can pass on all my knowledge to him."
Smoker said with a resentful expression, "I also want to take care of you in your old age, Teacher."
"You?" Zephyr looked at Smoker with disdain. "If you don't cause trouble for me, I'll already be grateful!"
Zephyr had once thought highly of Smoker, but this kid had stubbornly become a troublemaker at Marine Headquarters. Zephyr had cleaned up after him behind the scenes quite a bit.
Soon, Zephyr gave Smoker instructions on these matters, telling him to handle them and take good care of Bane, then waved them away.
Bane and the others left with Smoker.
After leaving the courtyard, before Smoker could ask how Bane had managed it, he heard Bane say to Dr. Genos beside him, "Then do as my father said. He also has some influence in the Science Unit. In a couple of days, once things are arranged, you'll join the Science Unit as a Marine Captain and head to Egghead to handle your own affairs first."
Zephyr's asthma was something Dr. Genos was very confident about handling. However, since Zephyr had congenital asthma, medications needed to be formulated based on Zephyr's genes. Dr. Genos hadn't had these genes before, but now he had them—he had just drawn a tube of blood from Zephyr.
After obtaining the genes, some equipment assistance was needed. Bane had brought a whole bunch of instruments before coming, all stored in his dark space. These could be given to Dr. Genos later, but obviously, this kind of research wasn't suitable to conduct at headquarters, since this place was about to become a battlefield.
So after understanding the situation, Zephyr waved his hand grandly and said he'd first arrange for Dr. Genos to go to Egghead, dispatching several warships to escort him there. Those instruments could all be loaded onto the warships. Once at Egghead, Dr. Genos could use these instruments to start building his own laboratory, first tackling the asthma, then setting up cultivation chambers. When Zephyr had time to visit, they could fix his arm disability and give his body a complete overhaul.
That's right, Dr. Genos was extremely capable. He possessed a technology that, if the World Government knew about it, would make him a "hot commodity" in Mary Geoise.
This technology was rejuvenation.
Don't let Dr. Genos's current appearance of a young man around thirty fool you—he was actually over seventy years old.
As he put it, his current physical condition was at its peak, so he wanted to maintain this age.
Later, when Zephyr had time to visit Egghead, he would also enjoy this technology and see if he could restore his condition to its prime.
If possible, he would truly regain complete mastery of his original Admiral-level strength.
"No problem," Dr. Genos nodded in agreement.
"Egghead is a great place. There's also a very capable scientist there called Vegapunk. You might get along well with him when you go. He has an impressive technology called Lineage Factor that's also related to genes—you might find it interesting," Bane reminded him with a chuckle.
Speaking of which, the current leader of the Science Unit was Admiral Borsalino. Although he was a disciple, this guy didn't actually have a particularly good relationship with his teacher Zephyr. Of course, this was due to ideological differences—emotionally, at least for now, there were no problems. This was why Zephyr could confidently arrange for Genos to go to Egghead.
Speaking of Egghead, Bane thought of Punk Hazard again. That place should already be secretly occupied by Doflamingo, with Caesar Clown conducting some inhumane secret experiments there.
But all of this had nothing to do with Bane. He had no interest in Caesar's experiments either. The only thing he was interested in was that, if he remembered correctly, there was still an artificial Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon fruit there.
According to the lore, this fruit was considered defective by Vegapunk and discarded. In reality, what he considered a "defect" was just the different color—everything else was completely identical to Kaido's ability.
'After this is over, I'll find time to visit Punk Hazard to execute justice.' Bane thought to himself.
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