Chapter 24

"Captain, can I ask you something?"

I look at Gion, who walks inside my office and nods my head.

"Sure. Take a seat and ask me a question."

"Thank you."

After she takes a seat in front of me, she says.

"Captain, a stamp?"

"A stamp? Oh! You mean this?"

I place my personal stamp on the table.

"That's right. Is what you said true?"

"Of course. This is my personal stamp. It will create a semi-permanent tattoo of the symbol on our flag. It is the same tattoo on my shoulder."

"C-Can I have it?"

"Pardon?"

"C-Can I also have it on my body?"

"Of course. Where do you want it?"

I see her blush a little before saying.

"Em, my left thigh."

"Alright."

I kneel next to Gion and touch her tight with my hand. My face gets hotter when I hear her moaning at my touch. She is doing this on purpose, isn't she? I quickly press the stamp on her left thigh and stand up.

"And done."

"Emmm, thank you, Captain."

Before I could say more, she quickly ran away from my room. What is her problem?

~A week later~

The stamp is incredibly popular like holy shit. In a matter of a week, all of my men already have a tattoo of my symbol on their bodies. Some of them place them on their forehead, and some of them place them on their forearms.

It also somehow became a tradition for a new crew member to get a tattoo with the symbol of our ship.

I also noticed something in the past seven days. I now can sense all of my crew. I know where they are in the range of a hundred kilometers. At first, I thought it was because my Observation Haki evolved, but it was not the case.

I still only have a hundred meters observation range and still only can predict a few seconds of other people attacking. However, I can now read people's emotions without actively using my observation haki.

Anyway, I notice that I only know the location of my crew, who take my symbol over their body. Anyone with my personal sigil will appear in my range, so I know where they are. I also notice that once they take my sigil as their own look at me in a different light.

That is weird.

I have done multiple experiments on the stamp and see nothing is wrong with it and the chemical on it. Nothing dangerous. Hell, I also sent them to the Marineford to ask them for permission to use my own sigil for the crew and to do a test in the lab for anything dangerous in the stamp.

The first one came positive. Fleet Admiral Sengoku gave me the pass and even encouraged me to promote the sigil, saying that it would increase our PR rating.

The second one is negative. There is nothing wrong with the stamp. It is good to use.

That only leaves me with nothing. Is it involved in the power that I get? Not the Devil Fruit's power but the White Mage's power. Urgh, whatever. I will think about it another day.

"Captain! We are attacked! A Sea King attacked our ship!"

Yeah, I cannot think about it at the moment because every day is busy work in this ocean. Countless creatures in the sea think of our ship as a snack, and they can't just leave us alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Sengoku - Golden Buddha of Marine|

I smile a little as the news about a benevolent marine healing as many people as he can in South Blue spread around the world. Giving Yuuji permission to put his own sigil under the Marine logo five months ago is the right choice.

People have started to change their views about the Marine, and many islands in South Blue are willing to cooperate with the Marine.

In the past, South Blue was the place with the least Marine supporters in the world. Hell, the New World has more Marine supporters than the South Blue, but now it has become the second highest Marine supporter, just behind East Blue.

Their only demand we cannot reject is to put Yuuji's personal sigil on their island under the Marine logo.

Of course, the Five Elder and I did not mind it. It was a simple demand and a harmless one at that.

Not only does it show how they support what Yuuji is doing, but it is also a sign that will prevent a pirate attack. Yuuji, the White Warrior, is a well-known Marine in South Blue, and hearing his name alone makes many pirates run away.

There is a reason why a single flag of Yonko makes a powerful pirate think twice before attacking that place. It was not worth it to attack a place protected by powerful people and then get killed the next time you meet the owner of that flag.

"He sure is a rising star, huh?"

"Bwahahahaha! Of course, Tsuru! He is my student after all, Bwahahahaha!"

I shake my head at Garp's attitude before saying.

"We need to use this opportunity to build a safe trade route in South Blue. With many islands agreeing to join us, we can build a Marine Base on an important island in South Blue. Garp, I need you to watch over the construction."

"Oh? I don't mind. It's been awhile since I visited Yuuji after all. I have visited Smoker and he is doing alright but still grumpy .He needs to smile more."

"This is a job, Garp. Take this more seriously."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Also, here"

I toss him a medal and a piece of paper.

"Oh? Commodore promotion? That fast? Are you sure? I'm proud of his progress and I know he deserves it but I don't think he will be promoted this fast. It's only been almost a year since he was promoted to captain after all."

"I'm sure. I already talked to the Commander-in-Chief Kong and the Fiver Elder, and they agree with my assessment. Therefore, Yuuji deserves his promotion."

"If you say so. Is that all? Do you need more things to be delivered to him?"

"At the moment? No. However, I have another job for you, Garp."

"What is it?"

"I need you to take Tsuru with you."

"What? Me taking care of this old lady?"

I sigh a little as Garp gets punched by the so-called old lady. She looks like an old lady, but her punch is as hard as the three Admirals. There are reasons why she is one of the stronger Marines in Marineford.

When they stop bickering, I continue.

"I need you to take Tsuru to test Yuuji's crew. The Grandline needs more doctors and I need to know if they are ready to be deployed to the Grandline."

"You want to take away his crew? He will be upset, you know? The captain's crew is their family."

"I know, but the need of many is more important. Too many marines were injured in battle in the Grandline and we need that medic in the field."

"... I guess you are right. I will not be the one telling him and his crew this news."

"Don't worry. I will take the blame."

"Well!" Garp got up from the couch and ate all of the Rice Cracker in a single bite. "I need to prepare for my vacation!"

"Oi! This is not a vacation! You have a job!"

I can only sigh as Garp gets out of the office while laughing loudly.