Splash Splash—
Aokiji walked in casually, entering the bath and soaking in the water next to Hyaku.
"Rare to see you enjoying a bath too." Hyaku remarked.
"Times like today when we can relax are indeed few." Aokiji said with a shrug.
Afterward, the two fell into silence.
A moment later, Aokiji was the first to break it.
"Can you tell me why you joined the Marines?" He asked with his eyes closed, the question seemingly casual.
"No particular reason. If I had to say, I look down on pirates who burn, plunder, and loot. I prefer the justice of the Marines." Hyaku explained.
In his heart, pirates were just pirates. Unlike the Marines, which could stand proudly at the top of the world.
"Hahaha... That answer is quite to my liking." Aokiji laughed, "However, the Marines... isn't always completely right either."
{T/N: Just to help you understand Aokiji's moral compass, he follows "Lazy Justice", a philosophy where he believes justice rarely merits pursuit and should only be enforced with minimal effort. This is reflected in his apathetic attitude and reluctance to take action.}
Suddenly, his tone changed, his expression turning somewhat gloomy.
"By the way, let me ask you another question. If... the Pluton Blueprints were in your hands, how would you use them?"
Aokiji shifted topics, as if testing him with a sharp question.
Hearing this, Hyaku noticeably paused. After a moment's thought, he revealed his true feelings.
"If the Pluton Blueprints were in my hands, I would use them to end the pirate era. Of course, I would also use them to reach the highest position possible. If I were in that position, I would do my best to clean up all corruption and establish a truly irreproachable government of 'justice'."
He said this in one breath. In his forward-gazing eyes, a glimmer of hope seemed to flash.
"..." Hearing Hyaku's bold words, Aokiji immediately opened his eyes and looked at him. But he only saw unusual determination on that young man's face.
Smart as he was, Aokiji immediately understood the hidden meaning in those words.
Eliminate the pirate era… Overthrow the corrupt Marine system controlled by the Celestial Dragons.
Establish a Marine organization of absolute justice!
If these words got out, they would not only invite ridicule from countless people, but would also draw hatred from both the Marines and pirate factions!
"You... Why would you tell me these things? Aren't you afraid I'll arrest you right now?" Aokiji asked with surprise.
"You won't." Hyaku shook his head, "My intuition tells me you won't be my enemy. In fact... we'll be friends."
Familiar with the original story, he knew that Aokiji was different from Akainu and Kizaru. He was quite dissatisfied with the Celestial Dragons' control. Later, he would even leave the Marines due to his disagreement with Akainu's methods.
Knowing this in advance, Hyaku naturally intended to win this man over. Aokiji's strength was formidable, and with his help, the path ahead would be easier.
"Intuition... huh?" Hearing this, Aokiji was taken aback.
At this point, he had already begun to question some of the Marines' practices.
"Hahaha... You're truly an interesting fellow. So young, yet so mature."
Then, Aokiji burst into laughter.
The two tacitly agreed not to continue discussing this topic. This night was destined to be no ordinary one.
The relationship between Hyaku and Aokiji had planted a crucial seed at this moment. In the future, it would be because of this that the "Blue Pheasant" chose not to leave the Marines.
Of course, that's a story for another time.
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The next day.
Early in the morning, Hyaku took Coby and Helmeppo back to the battleship.
As for Aokiji, he seemed to have returned to Marine Headquarters ahead of them.
Having successfully obtained the Pluton Blueprints, Hyaku felt no need to stay any longer. To hide his identity, Franky wouldn't widely publicize the loss of the blueprints either.
Everything continued as if nothing had happened.
Under Hyaku's orders, the group set sail again, returning along their original route toward the 188th Branch.
Coo coo coo~
Shortly after the battleship departed, a News Coo flew over the ship, dropping a package from the sky.
Coby quickly ran forward, retrieved the package, and brought it to his Captain.
At this time, Hyaku was preparing to practice his swordsmanship. He gestured for Coby to open the package.
With his permission, the young Marine opened it, revealing two documents bearing the seal of the 188th Branch.
Coby unfolded the first document. His expression immediately changed.
"Captain Hyaku! The 188th Branch reports that Vice Admiral Garp wants us to proceed directly to our next mission location. We don't need to return to the branch." Coby hurriedly explained, "The document also mentions that Vice Admiral Garp isn't at the branch either. It says... he went to Marine Headquarters to demand an explanation regarding Captain Hyaku."
"This old man..." Hyaku chuckled.
Garp was always straightforward.
He had probably just learned about Kizaru's confrontation with his "disciple" and went to Marine Headquarters to settle accounts with Kizaru and the others.
Poor Borsalino would likely get a sound beating.
Garp's protection warmed Hyaku's heart.
"Let's see what the mission is." He gestured for Coby to open the other document.
The second document was sealed much more securely than the first.
Coby opened it, and Hyaku glanced over. Inside was a wanted poster accompanied by detailed mission text.
After reading the contents, Coby's expression immediately turned serious.
"Captain Hyaku. This mission is to capture a former Marine officer who defected. His name is... Gasparde!" As he spoke, he pulled out the wanted poster and handed it to Hyaku.
Gasparde?
Hearing this name, an image flashed through Hyaku's mind. He took the wanted poster from Coby and examined it.
'It really is him!' He thought to himself.
"General" Gasparde, former Marines Headquarters Commander. Current Captain of the Gasparde Pirates.
Bounty: ฿95,000,000!
Devil Fruit user of the Ame Ame no Mi (Candy-Candy Fruit)!
{T/N: I imagined he would be a Marine Commander because, first, General doesn't exist in the ranks, and second, it was shown that he organized a rebellion on the battleship he was on shortly after obtaining the Devil Fruit. So it doesn't make much sense for him to rebel against himself, so there should have been a Captain on the ship, and he's not weak either, so it's either this or a Lieutenant Commander. Anyway, I decided to go with a safer option.}
Hyaku clearly remembered that this Gasparde, who had defected from the Marines, was actually a character who appeared only in the fourth One Piece movie. He hadn't expected to encounter him now.
He then examined the mission intelligence document.
According to intelligence, Gasparde would participate in the annual Dead End Competition held in Hannabal while Hyaku was on his return route to the 188th Branch.
With the first prize amounting to ฿300,000,000, the Dead End Race attracted many pirates!
The mission assigned to Hyaku and his team by the 188th Branch was to infiltrate the race and capture their primary target, Gasparde!
Just as Hyaku finished reading the document, a system notification sounded in his mind.
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T/N: Favorite, comment and save to your library of best reads in the world, thank you for reading this far!
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