Chapter 22

Nico Olvia. The woman who carried on the wish of her deceased husband. Soon enough, she would be caught by the Marine, and her fellow archaeologists would be killed. By retrieving their IDs, the Marine will learn that Olvia and her friends are from Ohara, thus beginning the investigation on the island, and eventually leading to the irreversible Buster Call.

...But, does it matter to me? I mean, what can I do to prevent that from happening? Even with knowledge at my hand, standing up for the Oharans will, without a doubt, serve as nothing but the struggle of a fly. Such a rash act equals throwing my life away for naught.

Portgas D. Ace. Nico Olvia. Nico Robin. The establishment of 'Freedom Army' by Monkey D. Dragon. Jaguar D. Saul hiding in Elbaf. Vegapunk's appearance, and the restoration of survived books in the lake—

My head was jumbled up. There were simply too many aspects to consider. The ambiguity within the people's mind, followed by the underlying danger of acting out of impulse—no matter how many times I've thought through, there was simply no way to prevent the incident.

And eventually, with me unable to sleep due to these concerning thoughts, the sun has risen again.

"Smoker,"

Staring off at the sea with a blank mind, I listened to Garp, whose face held a serious expression on his face,

"I've already told you yesterday, but I'll say it one more time," Garp's eyes narrowed as the two of us sighted another marine ship approaching us from the horizon, "I'll be going away for two years, and remaining here will hinder your growth. Therefore, today, you'll be meeting your new superior, however,"

Laying my eyes off the approaching marine ship, I gazed at Garp with an equally serious demeanour.

"prior to you doing so, an important announcement must be made." Garp motioned one of the marine soldiers at the back, who, in response, came up while holding... the white justice coat—something that only the Marine Officers are allowed to wear.

"Chore Boy Smoker. Your extraordinary feats have been recognized by the headquarter. Under the approval of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you hereby are granted the promotion to the rank of an Ensign." Personally draping the justice coat around me, Garp's expression softened, "Congratulations, and may you advance further."

I suppose that Garp purposely delayed my promotion for quite some time, in order to evade me from becoming 'arrogant' and 'blind-sighted' by my growth. After all, the number of pirates that I caught for the past year—by myself alone—was already reaching thousands in terms of number, and logically speaking, such a feat in the meritocratic society, was bound to be rewarded.

With a smile of my own, expressing my joy and gratitude, I bowed respectively at Garp, "Thank you, Vice Admiral Garp."

"...Holy," One of the marine soldiers, who stood at the back, muttered in disbelief, "Just what kind of promotion is that? All the way from Chore Boy to Ensign... how many ranks has Smoker skipped?"

"Forget about that," Another one commented with shock, "I've never seen a 13-year-old boy wearing a justice coat—"

"Shh!!" The third marine soldier, Gandalf, slapped their backs, "He's our superior now! Be respectful first and foremost!"

The fourth marine soldier looked at Gandalf plainly, "...Nah."

Just then, the horn blew from the approaching marine ship, which was now right in front of us. The lookout of our ship similarly blew the horn, returning their signal with our own.

"And here he comes," Garp commented with his arms crossed.

'Whether I end up getting myself involved in the Ohara incident, depends on who my new superior will be,' I thought with my gaze headed at the ship next to us, where the marine soldiers on deck waved their hands at us, 'and if that person is Jaguar D. Saul, I will have more option... heh, am I an idiot? Why am I still thinking of ways to prevent the incident, when it's evident that I won't be able to do so?'

And just then,

"Yo, Garp-san!" One very tall man with quite a slim build, having curly black hair flowing out of his dark-blue bandanna and the round sunglasses on his face, hopped out of his ship and greeted Garp brightly, "It's good to see you again!"

And what an extremely familiar man he was; I had to suppress my urge to jump in excitement, upon sighting him.

"Long time no see, Kuzan," Garp greeted the man with hospitality, "I've been hearing a lot about you recently. Fired up as always, huh?"

"Definitely!" Kuzan pumped his fist up with liveliness, much to my shock; his image was drastically different than that lazy man I've seen in the anime.

"Oh yeah, by the way, my division was just on our way after visiting the Marineford, right?" Kuzan, uncaring of the fact that Garp was barely paying any attention to him, busy picking his ear, said with excitement, "Apparently, Dr. Vegapunk recently discovered that the seastone is able to repel those Sea Kings! So I immediately pulled us there and got that new system established on my ship! You should probably do that as well, Garp-san!"

Garp pointed at his back with a grin, "Heh, Bogard will do that for me."

"Oh, Bogard-san! Long time no see!"

"Indeed, Vice Admiral Kuzan. It's good to see you," Bogard nodded slightly while holding onto the edge of his hat, returning Kuzan's greeting in a reserved manner.

Kuzan chuckled while looking around Garp's ship, before fixating his eyes on me. He crouched down and placed his hand on his chin, "Oho~ and you must be that Little Menace I've been hearing about! You single-handedly destroyed multiple pirate crews, eh?"

"Greetings to Vice Admiral Kuzan!" I saluted at the man strictly, before replying while standing still, "I believe that it was only possible for me to do so, thanks to the guidance of Vice Admiral Garp—GAH!"

"Bwahaha, relax, brat!" Garp, who burst into laughter, slapped me on the back, causing me to fall face-first.

Kuzan clapped, "Ohh, casually slapping your pupil like that! Hmhm, you're so cool as always, Garp-san!"

Garp puffed his chest out in pride. Pointing at Kuzan, he said to me, "See? Kuzan isn't the type to care about those formal stuffs!"

"Ehh?" Kuzan then exclaimed in surprise, "But I do, Garp-san!"

"What?!" Garp squinted his eyes and stared Kuzan intensely. Placing his hands on his waist, he said, "Last time, you told me that you don't!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Well," I muttered with my face still kissing the ground, as two Vice Admirals began a childish argument among themselves, "Glad to see that you're back to your usual self, Garp-sensei."

__________

"...I'm sure you've heard of the news." After the two of them finally calmed down, Garp said to Kuzan, "I am going to be away for a while."

Kuzan said solemnly, "I did hear that you've been fighting with Sengoku-san over something, but the news regarding your vacation remained unknown until you told me yesterday. Honestly speaking, I would've ignored the call if it wasn't you, Garp-san."

Garp momentarily stood without words after Kuzan's words. Then, he asked Kuzan, "Do you still believe that the World Government is right, Kuzan?"

Kuzan's expression darkened upon hearing Garp's question, "...I do admit, that there have been some conflicts between the higher-up's orders and my ideal. But if I were to answer your question, Garp-san, my answer would still be yes."

"...You haven't seen the worst yet, Kuzan," Garp frowned as he recollected an event in the past, "Those Celestial Dragons are cowering in their beds for now, thanks to the sudden surge in the number of pirates. However, it's only the matter of time before they return to their disgusting tendencies... back then, in the place named 'God Valley' that got destroyed during the fight against Xebec, the incidence of human trafficking and slavery, mediated by Celestial Dragons, was extremely common. Celestial Dragons, and World Government... they are the ones committing evil just as badly as the pirates."

Garp's grip on the railings tightened, "And due to the authority and strength that they got, their wrongdoings are termed 'for greater good'... how ridiculous!! That's what they call the justice?! They're always right, and whoever opposes them is always wrong?!"

Garp cut his words and breathed in, calming himself down. Then, he continued,

"Marine, from the past to the present, is naught but the World Government's puppet. I feel can feel the shackle tightening around my arms... more tightly than it ever has been."

"...That's quite a dangerous thought, ya know."

"Kuzan, you have no idea how much I've been thinking for the past year." Garp lowered his head in frustration, "In the future, there will be numerous pirates with the potential to become as strong as the three calamities: Whitebeard, Kaidou, and Big Mom. The value behind 'freedom' has skyrocketed, and the recruitment rate of talented ones to Marine has plummeted. At this rate, Marine will simply become yet another Cipher Pol, and the world will fall into chaos without a doubt."

As Kuzan silently listened to Garp, Garp shifted his eyes and looked at Smoker, who was mingling among many older-aged marine soldiers; all of them seemed busy feeling the texture of the justice coat that Smoker just received.

"And within this dread, I found a gem. A rough, unrefined diamond it was, but with the potential to become brighter than any other star." Garp said with certainty in his tone.

"You seem to think very highly of him, Garp-san."

Garp turned his head back and Kuzan and smiled, "A month ago, I asked him once, of what ideal he held. His motivation, his goal, the reason for him to become strong, I demanded those answers out of him. And guess what he said."

Taking a breath, Garp continued,

"He defied the very concept of 'justice.' He also defied the notion of saving the 'weak.' Nothing can be ascertained until he personally sees and experiences. Smoker told me, that he wants to become strong to live such a life—the life where he can save those he wants to save, whether they are civilians, marines, Celestial Dragons, or pirates even."

"...Saving pirates?" Kuzan's dazed off, deeply contemplating, "Saving... criminals?"

"If World Government isn't the absolute justice, then the pirates aren't the absolute evil either. I felt enlightened from his words, and through his answer, I could understand, the reason why his will didn't give up during my training; his goal required him to become the strongest in the whole world."

Kuzan looked at Garp, not understanding Garp's elation, "Uh..."

"...Bwahaha! My words got too lengthy, didn't they," Garp, relaxing his body and letting the grin return to his face, patted Kuzan's back, "Forget about it! Just make sure to treat Smoker as harshly as possible, alright? I'll leave him under your care for a while!"

"Harshly?" Kuzan, in the end, smiled, while adjusting the sunglasses on his eyes, "....You really care about him, don't you, Garp-san?"

__________

What a weird feeling that entered me, as I stepped out from Garp's ship, onto Kuzan's ship. With the unfamiliar justice coat on my back, I turned around to see those whom I spent the year with—Garp, Bogard, Harry, Percy, Gandalf, and many more.

Gazing as they grinned at me, I felt nothing but gratitude.

"I'm not going to say goodbye, brat, nor any of us here," Garp, with his arms crossed, stated, "because we are going to meet again in the future, right?"

I found a genuine smile on my face. Feeling warmth in my heart, I replied, "I'll see you again in the future, Garp-sensei and all of you."

"Have a fun trip, Smokey!"

"Stay safe, you got that?!"

Kuzan, who stood next to me, commented, "It seems like you got a nice family over there."

"Family huh," I chuckled as the ship I stood on top of, the marine ship under Kuzan's command, began to drift away from Garp's ship,

"I suppose."

Regardless of the upcoming conflicts, for this moment now, I felt happy to exist as 'Smoker' in this world.