Sabaody Archipelago  

"Hehehe, do you even know what you're facing? You think you'll actually win?" Bellamy licked his top teeth with his tongue, his expression mocking Zavia's confidence.

"Well, the facts are simply that you're the hyena Bellamy with a 55 million bounty." Zavia took out a wanted poster from his spatial bag, the image depicting Bellamy.

"Hmph, is that so? Way I see it, you just got lucky taking down Kalus. Nothing but a fortunate Navy pup." With that, Bellamy crouched down, his calves morphing into spring-like shapes that compressed with an audible creak.

"Spring Snipe!"

The next instant, Bellamy launched himself forward at blinding speed directly towards Zavia.

"How fitting you'll go to hell here!" Bellamy boasted arrogantly mid-flight.

Zavia just shook his head helplessly. Bellamy thought his speed blinding, but to Zavia's eyes it was sluggish - barely faster than a turtle's crawl.

(Well, may as well let him know the gap. See if it changes anything before Luffy oneshots him in two years.)

With that thought, Zavia raised his right fist, then slammed it down in front of himself a second later.

WHUMP!

The high-speed Bellamy took Zavia's punch full-force, crashing into the ground with bulging eyes, blood dribbling from his mouth, and a severely swollen left cheek.

"This...this...this..."

Watching from afar, Bellamy's crew could only stammer incoherently, utterly stunned into silence for a long while.

Having finished off Bellamy with a single punch, Zavia shook out his right hand before strolling towards the shoreline.

"Take that fool and go. I don't want to see him or any of you again."

Rather than kill or arrest Bellamy, Zavia simply glanced at Cricket to ensure his safety before fixing Sarquiss with an icy glare.

"!!!"

Sarquiss felt like he stood naked on a frozen tundra under Zavia's gaze, his face twisting with uncontrollable terror.

The crew hastily gathered up Bellamy's battered form and fled in disarray.

"Thank you, young marine." Saved from death, the old man tried to kneel in gratitude before Zavia stopped him.

"Don't thank me. If you must, thank the strawhat-wearing pirate two years from now - he's the one who truly saves you." Zavia's reason for helping wasn't the man's thanks, but because of his importance to Luffy later.

"But in that case..."

"Don't overthink it, old-timer. Unconditionally aiding civilians is a marine's duty." The old man wanted to say more, but Zavia firmly cut him off.

"Unconditionally, is it...My apologies then, and thank you again, young marine." Since Zavia insisted on duty, the old man relented. "At the very least, would you share your name with your benefactor?"

"...Zavia."

"Zavia my benefactor then. I'll remember it. Care for a cup of tea?"

"No need. I have business to attend to elsewhere. And just Zavia is fine - I dislike excessive formalities like 'benefactor.'" Leaving those words, Zavia turned and departed, leaving a dashing white silhouette.

(Zavia, huh...A benefactor I'll remember for life!)

The old man gazed after Zavia's retreating form, thoughts unvoiced before stripping his shirt to dive into the sea.

***

After leaving the shore, Zavia returned to the resort village - but this time, the atmosphere differed slightly.

Now, the surrounding pirates' looks held tints of fear and wariness rather than disdain or arrogance when they saw him.

Strength dictates all! An immutable rule of the pirate world - the weak can only grovel beneath the strong.

Recalling this, a faint smile crossed Zavia's lips as he remembered past humiliations. Now, others feared him instead.

One word described the feeling - satisfying.

"Well, I'll linger in this world for two more years then. I only know one route to Skypiea anyway - may as well return to Jaya once the time comes.

As for the Lightning Core, I'll explore Skypiea first before going after it. Hopefully its guardian can wait a while longer."

As he walked, Zavia decided to spend the next two years in the first half of the Grand Line - specifically the Sabaody Archipelago. But first, he needed an excuse to leave the Navy's service.

For while the Navy allowed faster, more systematic training, it came at the cost of Zavia's freedom - something he disliked.

Zavia didn't take well to restraints. He'd only joined the Navy for accelerated skills acquisition.

"But how to go about it? Leaving without earning the Navy's enmity, at least for a time..."

Deep in thought, Zavia arrived at the inn he'd booked earlier - a seven-meter high tavern. Upon entering, he found it occupied solely by Navy personnel with nary a pirate in sight.

(Seems someone rented out the whole place.)

Unsure how this world's economy functioned after half a year without using Beri much, Zavia handed the attendant a hefty sack of currency to be safe.

But he never expected that sum could rent the entire establishment, leaving him slightly surprised.

"Yo, Rear Admiral Zavia! Glad you made it - everyone's off enjoying themselves already." Holding a woman, a marine greeted Zavia warmly, clearly delighted by the shore leave.

"Mmh, you all have fun. I'll head to my room first - come find me if anything comes up. Enjoy yourselves today, we ship out tomorrow." Seeing the revelry, Zavia felt indifferent, simply responding perfunctorily before retiring to his room.

"Same as always with the Rear Admiral, huh?"

"Say, why do you talk to the Rear Admiral like that without him getting angry?" Overhearing their exchange, the woman curiously asked the marine. To her, no subordinate should address a superior officer so casually.

"Ah, you wouldn't know - Rear Admiral Zavia told us to act this way himself. Seems he dislikes military decorum, so we could only oblige."

"I see..."

***

Joyful times pass quickly. The marines' day of rest ended before long as the next morning arrived. After departing Jaya, their ship set sail for the Sabaody Archipelago.

Zavia sat atop the forward cannon deck, holding a permanent pose indicator with "JA YA" written on it.

He had purchased this from the island's secretive "market" using the favourable location and permanent nature to justify its steep cost.

Though after some "friendly negotiation" from Zavia, the seller accepted just 500 Beri.

"Who knows if that presence will suddenly vanish. This marker can serve as insurance for finding Jaya again." Storing the indicator in his spatial bag, Zavia laid back idly gazing skyward.

"Hmm, still two more years? I can't just waste that time - may as well plan how to leave the Navy and develop my abilities."

Sitting up with a yawn, Zavia began pondering as his own moniker gradually spread.

***

"Gehgehgehgeh, Zavia, is it? I see now."

In the New World's Dressrosa kingdom palace, a man in a pink feathered coat, sunglasses, Capri pants and pointed shoes sat by an open window, chuckling as he hung up a Transponder Snail.

"Hey, who is this 'Zavia' character?" Before the man, a grimy middle-aged individual over 50 asked in an odd tone.

"Gehgehgehgeh, Zavia, eh? Intelligence from Vergo stated a space ability genius appeared in the Navy with that name - he's already a Rear Admiral."

"A space ability user?! Isn't that an incredibly rare talent?" The middle-aged man's surprise was evident upon hearing of Zavia's ability.

"Indeed. I wonder if such a talent could prove useful to me. As for Bellamy, that waste was too weak - no surprise a real powerhouse defeated him." Mentioning Bellamy, the man's smirk faded to a displeased scowl.

"Shall we dispose of him then?" The middle-aged man probed tentatively.

"No, leave him be. He still has some use." But the man dismissed the notion as premature.

"Understood." Departing, the middle-aged man left the man alone.

"Gehgehgehgeh, Zavia, is it? How intriguing..." The man gazed out the window, an eerie grin crossing his features.

***

Uneventful days at sea eventually gave way to an anomaly during the second month en route to Saobody.

Midway through that month, Zavia's ship encountered a Sea King. This specimen stretched over 100 meters long, though mercifully not particularly wide in girth.

Zavia simply beheaded it with a sword stroke before using Dimensional Slice to sever the body into segments now stored in the hold's freezer.

Three months later, Zavia arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago - never mind how the Navy ship acquired such vast provisions; Zavia had purchased a five-month supply on Jaya in advance.

An affluent life bred such mundanity, Zavia mused wryly. As for the funds' origin - ask Sengoku, though his reasons involved magic's influence.

Docking at the Navy's assigned port, Zavia disembarked onto these islands. But what he saw left him utterly stunned...