Kane looked at the numbers on his system panel, the corners of his mouth curling up wildly.
This round was a massive win!
The two exchanged smiles, feeling the regret of not having met sooner as kindred spirits, continuing to enjoy their hard-won afternoon tea in the sea breeze.
Time passed minute by minute.
The sea breeze suddenly stopped, the air becoming unusually hot and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.
Yet beneath those two beach umbrellas, the two figures remained, chatting and laughing without any intention of moving.
Until—
That familiar, oppressive sound of footsteps came from the shore.
"Thud, thud, thud."
Zephyr, his face dark, draped in his Justice Coat, strode heavily up the gangway.
Having finished his official duties, he had come early to inspect.
He had expected to see two students exhausted like dogs, sweating profusely as they scrubbed the deck, or at least showing some sign of remorse.
But the moment he stepped onto the deck, the sight before him nearly gave him a stroke.
He saw those glaring beach umbrellas.
He saw the faint wisps of smoke rising.
And he smelled that familiar, uniquely pine-scented cigar smoke in the air, along with the aroma of expensive black tea.
Those were his special supply cigars!
That was the tea he had treasured for half a year, the black tea he was reluctant to finish!!
Crack—
The veins on Zephyr's temples bulged instantly.
"Kane—!!"
"Borsalino—!!"
The roar, infused with Haki, shook the entire warship slightly.
"Here!"
"Here~"
Two figures shot up from their deck chairs, standing at attention in perfect unison.
Zephyr stormed over, his gaze sharp as a blade, sweeping over their perfectly dry uniforms without a single drop of sweat, finally resting on the mop that hadn't even touched water.
"Is this the result of your afternoon of scrubbing?"
Zephyr pointed at the dusty, bird-dropping-covered deck, laughing in fury:
"Your clothes are dry, the mop is dry. And you're drinking my tea! Smoking my cigars!!"
"Good, very good! You've got guts!"
Boom!
Zephyr's famed "Black Arm" instantly hardened, the air around it seeming to tremble.
"If you don't want to scrub, then don't. I'll throw both of you into the sea right now, so you can learn what diligence means from the Sea Kings!"
Facing the enraged Admiral, Borsalino's eyes narrowed slightly behind his sunglasses, his body tensing instinctively. He was about to say something like "How terrifying, Teacher Zephyr is really angry," but Kane beat him to it.
"Reporting, Teacher!"
Kane suddenly shouted loudly, his face showing no trace of fear but rather a confident, in-control demeanor.
"The deck cleaning operation is fully prepared, awaiting only the final step! We weren't slacking off; we were waiting for the right moment!"
"Final step? The right moment?"
Zephyr sneered, the Haki around his fist intensifying, clearly on the verge of exploding.
"By flapping your lips?"
Kane said nothing.
He simply raised his wrist slowly, glanced at the time on his watch, and with such certainty, even Zephyr couldn't help but pause for a moment, his fist-wielding motion faltering slightly.
Kane watched the second hand tick.
His lips parted lightly as he began the countdown:
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
As the final number fell, Kane gently lowered his finger.
"Justice from the heavens!"
Boom—!!!
The moment his words ended, a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the sky, instantly illuminating the port in a stark, pale light.
Immediately after, the delayed thunderclap erupted, deafeningly loud.
Zephyr instinctively looked up at the sky.
Before he could react, the rain clouds that had been gathering all afternoon finally gave way.
"Whoosh—!!"
Raindrops the size of beans poured down like machine gun fire, as if the very heavens had overturned!
And the moment the thunder sounded, Kane and Borsalino, already prepared, stepped back in perfect unison, precisely taking shelter under the two massive sun umbrellas.
Pitter-patter!
Torrential rain poured down, and fierce winds howled.
Rainwater gushed across the deck like a high-pressure hose, swept up by the gale, instantly engulfing every corner of the warship.
The sea wind roared, churning waves several meters high that crashed against the ship's sides, merging with the downpour from above to form a powerful natural torrent.
The dust, grime, and bird droppings on the deck were instantly washed away by this overwhelming force of nature, converging into murky streams that rushed out through the drainage ports on either side of the ship.
In just over ten seconds.
The once dull, gray deck was now scrubbed clean, gleaming so brightly it could even reflect a person's shadow.
Far cleaner than any manual scrubbing could ever achieve!
As for Zephyr…
He stood in the pouring rain, completely exposed, letting the rainwater soak his purple short hair and trickle down his resolute face.
His coat was drenched, clinging tightly to his body, leaving him looking somewhat disheveled.
Zephyr opened his mouth slightly, taking in the scene before him.
For a moment, this battle-hardened Navy Admiral was actually at a loss.
Was this… meteorological observation?
Had this kid calculated that there would be a torrential downpour at this exact moment?
And with such precision down to the second?
This level of Navigation Skill perception… even the veteran navigators at headquarters with decades of experience couldn't achieve this, could they?! Was this some variant application of Observation Haki?
"What a truly… terrifying monster~"
Borsalino, huddled under the umbrella, watched Kane's back and felt, for the first time, a genuine sense of awe toward this fellow cadet who was always spouting nonsense.
Kane poked half his head out from under the umbrella and shouted to the drenched Zephyr in the rain, wearing an innocent, harmless smile:
"Teacher Zephyr! Look! Since the mission is successfully completed, can we go to the cafeteria to eat now?!"
"I heard there's special Sea Kings sashimi tonight! If we're late, it'll be gone!"
Zephyr took a deep breath, feeling a tightness in his chest.
He really wanted to punch that smug look right off this kid's face.
He really did.
But… the mission was indeed "completed." And it was done more thoroughly than any manual scrubbing could ever achieve.
This kind of wisdom—utilizing the environment and leveraging natural forces—was often more crucial on the ever-changing battlefield than sheer brute strength.
This was the makings of a rare tactical genius!
But still…
Zephyr lowered his head, staring at the overturned tea can on the ground—the precious leaves now scattered and soaked by the rain. His heart felt like it was bleeding.
That was my limited edition!!
"Get lost!!!"
The word tore from Zephyr's throat, hoarse and trembling.
"Right away! Borsalino, run! If we're late, Kuzan will snatch all the meat!"
"Coming~ Wait for me, Kane~"
Watching the two figures sprinting through the rain toward the cafeteria, Zephyr ripped off his rain-soaked sunglasses and hurled them furiously onto the deck.
He wiped the rainwater from his face, glaring at the spotlessly clean deck with a mix of rage and helplessness. Finally, a bitter laugh escaped him—a laugh tinged with a trace of imperceptible approval.
"Kane... Hah, what an unexpected brat!"
"But stealing my tea... I'll settle this score with you two properly later!"