The next morning, at dawn.
At the port of Marineford, several warships stood ready.
Carrying a simple bag, Aiden stepped onto Sakazuki's warship, where the atmosphere already felt cold and oppressive.
Today, he was wearing a pair of ordinary black-framed glasses, which gave his handsome face a more restrained look.
As soon as he stepped onto the deck, he saw a familiar figure struggling with a fallen suitcase.
The man bent down to pick it up, tripped over a rope, and fell flat on his back.
Aiden walked over and calmly held out a hand.
"Th-thank you! You're such a good person!"
Rosinante grabbed his hand and climbed back up, thanking him while dusting himself off.
Aiden said nothing.
Seeing no reaction, Rosinante looked up in confusion.
He studied the person in front of him and realized he didn't recognize him.
Aiden slowly took off his glasses.
"Ai... den?!"
Rosinante's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"When... when did you start wearing glasses? I didn't even recognize you just now!"
"I just got them. I'm not used to them yet," Aiden said casually.
Inside, he was very satisfied. As expected of a system item, the effect was excellent.
"By the way, what are you doing on Sakazuki's warship?"
"It was Sengoku..." Rosinante climbed back to his feet with a dejected look.
"He said my training wasn't harsh enough, so... he shoved me in here to let Sakazuki toughen me up..."
Looking at Rosinante's natural airheaded expression, Aiden had only one thought.
Sengoku... are you sending your foster son here to die?
Just then, a cold, raspy voice came from behind them.
"So you're the two recruits from Zephyr's camp."
The two of them turned around at once.
An extremely tall man was standing in front of them.
He wore a coat with the word "Justice" on it and had a cigar in his mouth. Under the coat, however, was a dark red floral shirt that looked strangely out of place.
His sharp-featured face carried a natural sense of harshness and violence.
It was Sakazuki.
Rosinante instantly froze and fumbled into a clumsy salute.
"S-sir!"
Aiden stood at attention calmly and saluted.
"Aiden! Reporting!"
Sakazuki's gaze swept over Rosinante, and his dark eyes showed undisguised disgust.
Then he turned to Aiden.
Under that scrutinizing gaze, it felt as if he were looking straight through Aiden's bones.
"I don't care what kind of soft-hearted justice you learned from Zephyr."
He spoke coldly. His voice was not loud, but it drowned out the sound of the waves.
"On my ship, there is only one definition of justice, and that is Absolute Justice."
"Even the slightest hesitation toward evil is a desecration of justice."
"What you need to do is rip evil out by the roots, leaving it no chance to rise again. Do you understand?!"
"Yes!!!" Rosinante shouted in terror.
Aiden remained calm.
"Yes."
Sakazuki gave Aiden a long look.
The calmness of this recruit surprised him more than Rosinante's panic.
Then, without saying anything more, he turned and looked out at the endless sea.
A thick cloud of smoke drifted from the corner of his mouth where the cigar rested.
"Set sail!"
Following Sakazuki's command, the steel beast roared and slowly sailed away from Marineford.
On the third day after the warship left Marineford, the weather in the first half of the Grand Line was as unpredictable as a child's mood.
One moment, it was clear for miles. The next, it could turn into a violent storm.
On Sakazuki's warship, the atmosphere was just like the worst weather on this sea: oppressive, heavy, and filled with killing intent.
This was completely different from the recruit camp.
All the Marines on the ship were expressionless, and their actions were as efficient as machines.
They rarely spoke to each other.
On the deck, there was no sound other than the waves and shouted commands.
As for Rosinante, he was simply a disaster on this ship.
His clumsy nature was magnified here.
He would trip on the flat deck and knock over water buckets.
When pouring coffee for the officers, his hands would shake, spilling the coffee onto himself. He would yelp in pain, drawing cold stares from everyone around him.
During training, he was even less able to adapt to the intensity on Sakazuki's ship.
In just three days, he had become a joke on the warship.
Sakazuki was too tired to even get angry at Rosinante's incompetence.
He simply treated Rosinante like thin air.
That kind of disregard and contempt hurt far more than direct insults.
Aiden was the complete opposite.
He didn't talk much, and he handled every chore carefully.
Every day during routine training, he gave it everything he had, perfectly portraying the image of an elite recruit from Zephyr's camp.
As for Rosinante's clumsiness, Aiden neither mocked him nor intentionally kept his distance.
On this ship, where everyone moved like a machine, Aiden had become almost the only person Rosinante could exchange a few words with.
During training breaks, Rosinante would clumsily lean over and hand Aiden a bottle of water.
Then he would whisper complaints about how bad the food on the ship was or how terrifying Sakazuki was.
Aiden mostly just listened calmly, occasionally giving an "Mhm" without saying much.
He knew very well that Rosinante didn't need a solution.
He just needed someone willing to listen.
On this cold ship, that was enough.
Aiden didn't mind being that listener.
Just like now, Aiden was doing push-ups while listening to Rosinante's muttering.
At the same time, he was calculating in his heart.
I wonder when I'll finally get to start working.
As if in response to that thought, right at that moment, a piercing alarm broke the silence on the deck.
Beep. Beep.
"Pirate ship spotted at three o'clock ahead!!"
"Confirmed! It's the Broken Finger Pirates! Bounty: 35 million Berries!"
Whoosh!
The deck, which had been lifeless a second ago, instantly sprang into action.
All the Marines entered battle mode.
That cold, murderous aura turned into a palpable killing intent, filling the air.
Rosinante's palms grew slick with sweat.
This was the first time he was truly heading into battle against pirates.
Aiden, on the other hand, sprang up from the ground.
His face showed the perfect mix of tension and excitement.
Finally.
A pirate crew with a 35 million bounty. There have to be at least dozens of people on that ship.
This wave should bring in a lot of rewards.
"Everyone, prepare for battle."
With a cigar in his mouth, Sakazuki slowly walked out of the cabin.
He wasn't even wearing his coat, only that dark red floral shirt.
He walked to the bow and looked at the pirate ship in the distance as it turned around.
Then he gave the order in that raspy voice.
"You two recruits, stay by my side. Get used to your first battle."
"Yes!"
The two of them quickly ran behind him.
At the same time, inside the cabin of the Broken Finger Pirates, a chaotic celebration was taking place.
This pirate crew was notorious for murdering civilians and looting villages.
Their captain, One-Eye, carried a bounty of 35 million Berries.
They seemed to have just looted a small town.
The ship was piled high with treasure, and faint cries from women could be heard from below.
"Boys! It's a Marine warship! Just one!"
One-Eye arrogantly held a wine bottle, planting one foot on a treasure chest as he laughed loudly.
"Brothers, kill these Marines and take their warship too! Our reputation will grow even more!"
"Turn the ship around and show them what we've got!"
Most pirates in the first half of the Grand Line were fools like this, people who had no idea how vast the world really was.