Chapter 64: Garp's Return
Once he was back aboard the warship, Axel finally had time to sort through everything that had happened.
This so called practical training had been ruined halfway through, and at the center of it all was Vergo.
If Axel had not gotten involved, Vergo probably would have stayed hidden until the exercise was nearly over. That would have been more in line with his usual caution. By then, after the recruits had already finished dealing with the pirates, Vergo likely would have only silenced the pirate captain, the one man who knew too much, and left it at that.
In other words, the massacre had happened earlier because Axel forced the situation.
From one angle, that made him partly responsible for those pirates' deaths.
But he did not regret it.
Back then, in that hut, there had been no room for hesitation. It was deceive Vergo or die. Besides, after seeing those pirates tear at each other over scraps of treasure like starving dogs, Axel found it hard to feel any guilt. They were vermin in human skin. The sea would not miss them.
After everyone had returned, Zephyr went through the numbers himself, counting each recruit one by one.
Real combat was a threshold every Marine had to cross. During training, Zephyr would not protect them. That was part of the lesson. But once the exercise ended, they were still his students, and making sure every last one of them came back alive was his responsibility.
Fortunately, because the others had found time to clash with different pirate groups before Vergo wiped the island clean, there were no casualties among the recruits. A few had gotten lost in the forest and wandered for a while before finding their way back, but that was the worst of it.
For a failed exercise, that was already a good outcome.
Zephyr seemed to think so too.
The purpose of this trip had only been to let them taste the real world ahead of time, not to throw them into a battlefield. And now that the sun was already sinking, he had no interest in scolding anyone.
"Get some rest," he told them.
Then he turned and went back to his own room alone.
The moment the door shut behind him, the color drained from his face.
It had nothing to do with Vergo ruining the training. Nor with the recruits.
It was something else.
A bad feeling had been clawing at him ever since they landed on that island. He had suspected from the start that this training being advanced was not a coincidence. He had hoped it was just his own paranoia. Now, that hope felt thinner than paper.
Still, Zephyr forced himself to calm down.
Speculation was useless. Once they returned to Marineford, the truth would come out soon enough.
The trip back was as dull as every sea voyage eventually became.
Days at sea sounded romantic to those who had never done it, but once the first novelty wore off, it was nothing more than endless blue water, rolling decks, and wind that never seemed to stop. Unless there was a fight or a party, sailing was boring enough to make a man question his life choices.
Axel slipped right back into his usual routine and buried himself in training his calculations.
The warship crossed the Calm Belt without incident.
Thanks to the Seastone lining in the hull, the ship blended into the sea like part of the water itself. To the Sea Kings below, it was just another patch of ocean. Unless one of them crashed into the hull by sheer chance, they would never notice the vessel at all.
By the time they reached Marineford again, Axel's patience was already running dry.
Zephyr dismissed everyone and gave them three days off before they had to report back to camp.
After saying goodbye to Ain and Binz, Axel headed straight for his room.
This whole outing had been a scam.
It was called practical combat training, but most of the time had been spent sailing. They had not even stayed on the island for a full day. The only real danger he encountered had been Vergo, which was less "training exercise" and more "sudden appearance of an endgame boss."
He was exhausted, irritated, and carrying more trouble than progress.
All he wanted now was to crawl into bed and sleep until his bones forgot the rocking of the ship.
When he reached his room, he pushed open the door.
Then he paused.
The door was new.
Brand new.
Before he could make sense of that, a huge fist came crashing down on his head.
Bang.
Pain exploded through his skull.
Axel grabbed his head and looked up furiously. "Old man, what the hell was that?!"
Inside the room stood Garp, grinning like a bandit who had just successfully ambushed someone.
"That?" Garp said cheerfully. "That was your grandfather's long overdue Fist of Love."
Before Axel could answer, another fist came down in the exact same spot.
Bang.
A second lump rose on his head, perfectly stacked on top of the first. He now looked less like a Marine recruit and more like some weird gourd shaped creature.
Axel sucked in a sharp breath and clenched his teeth.
Do not fight him.
Do not fight him.
That old bastard was a shameless monster. Picking a fight with him would only end with more pain.
He chose the wise path and tried to go around him toward the bed.
He managed two steps.
Then his feet left the ground.
Axel turned his head and found Garp holding him by the collar one handed like a cat caught stealing fish.
"Training just ended," Axel protested. "I need rest!"
"Oh?" Garp dragged the sound out lazily, his grin widening. "So you've started training now, have you? Who's teaching you?"
"Zephyr."
Garp rubbed his chin with his free hand, pretending to think seriously.
"That old guy, huh? He's good at teaching. Very good, actually. But…"
"But what?" Axel asked, already feeling the answer would be nonsense.
"But compared to me, he's still lacking."
Axel's face twitched.
Lacking?
This was the same man whose idea of training involved throwing children off cliffs, dumping them in jungles, and using boulders as educational tools. If Luffy had survived that madness, it was only because his body was made of rubber and sheer plot immunity.
Any normal child trained by Garp would turn into a smear on the rocks before they even learned the meaning of perseverance.
Garp narrowed his eyes when he saw Axel's expression.
"What? You questioning my methods?"
"It seems," he continued ominously, "I need to train you personally."
"Absolutely not," Axel said at once. Then, under Garp's gaze, he corrected himself. "I mean, absolutely not in the sense that I would never question your methods. In fact, from everything I've heard, your training is unmatched."
Garp stared at him for a second.
Then he roared, "Do you think I'm stupid?! We haven't even started and you're already praising it. That's obviously you trying to placate me!"
Before Axel could say another word, Garp turned and started walking out the door with him still dangling by the collar.
Meanwhile, far away from Marineford…
A Den Den Mushi rang in the air.
Vergo, still using Moon Walk, was moving through the sky with the dead Marine slung over one shoulder. He reached into his coat with his free hand and took out the snail phone.
The moment he answered, Doflamingo's laughter came through.
"Vergo. The Heavenly Gold has been taken. You can return to the fleet now. Everything went smoothly."
"Is that so?" Vergo said evenly. "Congratulations, Young Master. The family's strength will rise another step."
Then, after a pause, he added, "There's something else."
Doflamingo's laughter faded slightly. "What is it?"
Vergo's tone did not change.
"Young Master… did you place another infiltrator inside the Marines?"
There was a beat of silence on the other end.
Then Doflamingo asked, very slowly, "Why would you ask that?"
Vergo answered plainly, "Today I met a white haired brat with red eyes. He exposed my identity and claimed he was serving the family, hidden inside the Marines on your orders."
Silence.
This time, it lasted longer.
The temperature around the Den Den Mushi seemed to drop.
Even the little snail's expression stiffened. Sweat began to bead on its face as if it could feel the killing intent seeping through the line.
…..
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