Chapter 13

Although my day in G-4 began in quite a mess, upon Garp leaving with Bogard to discuss about whatever important matter it may be, the experience has quickly become enjoyable.

The delectable dishes produced by finest chefs, along with the opportunity to look around this large facility with Bastille as the tour guide, who knew ins and outs of this place. With my two closest colleagues, I got to take a nice rest for the day, free from the tiring duties of a Chore Boy.

And now, we stood at the top of the building, watching as the sun set by. Starting from tomorrow, we will be heading out of here to the Marineford, tagging along with Garp and Bogard. A funeral will be held—Hina and Bastille told me—the one for none other than Hina's only remaining family: her grandfather.

"What was your grandfather like?" Leaning onto the rail and gazing at the setting sun, I asked.

"He was loud, brash, and had a childish tendency. Many marines feared him, and called him the Red Devil who knows no mercy," Hina chuckled, as her eyes were filled with melancholy, "But to Hina, he was the best grandfather that I could ask for."

"...I see."

"And as a simplistic man that he was. He envisioned," Hina raised her hand up and reached up tot he sky, "the lawful justice. He believed in the good trait of humanity; that whoever is evil can be fixed by being locked behind bars."

Hina turned at me and smiled, "It's pretty dumb, isn't it?"

"Not necessarily," I suggested, "If I were to be imprisoned for the rest of my life, I'd rather appeal to the authority as having 'changed,' and hope for getting an early release—"

"...I don't think that's possible, Smoker-dara," Bastille cut off my words. Frankly, I too agreed with his words.

Yawning as the sun was now almost set, I asked the two of them, "What about you two then?"

The two of them looked at me.

"What goal? What ideal?" Out of curiosity, I asked, "What's the reason you joined the Marine?"

"Oh, that," Bastille pumped his fist up high with enthusiasm, "I still remember that very day-dara, when I first came across the story of 'Sora, Warrior of the Sea.' The cool transformation with a seagull, beating down all those bad Germa 66 villains—I immediately knew that Sora was who I had to become-dara."

'Sora?' I faintly remembered that it was a comic strip published in the World Economic Newspaper, 'Considering that Sanji and Law too read this comic in the canon, it surely was kept alive for a very long time.'

"So you want a robot seagull as your partner?" Hina rolled her eyes, to which Bastille immediately reacted with his eyes sparkling from beyond the metal masks,

"You read it too-dara?!"

"Of course," Hina huffed with her arms crossed, "The comic was based on the exploits of real-life marines. As the future Marine Officer, I can't overlook the feats that my seniors achieved."

"Oh... I didn't know that," Bastille exclaimed with a surprise, before continuing his statement, "But yeah. Just like Sora, my goal is to become so strong that even six Germa 66 dudes can't defeat me-dara."

"Only six?" I raised my eyebrow questioningly.

Bastille immediately reacted with a passion, "HEY! Even six is a lot! You know, there is this one dude in particular, known as Stealth Black, and he can freaking turn invisible-dara—"

"Alright alright," I conceded immediately, unable to handle Bastille's word bombardments, "My bad. Good luck on becoming Sora, you definitely got this—oho!"

I snapped my finger in realization, "There must be Human Human fruit, model: Sora, Warrior of the Sea, out there somewhere. You should eat it before anyone else."

"...Don't take me for an idiot, Smoker," Bastille jokingly attempted to slap the back of my head, but it simply phased through, as my head morphed into smoke. Annoyed by my smug face as it reformed from smoke, Bastille motioned his chin at Hina, "What about you-dara?"

Hina, as if she was waiting for this, spoke with conviction, "Hina believes that the classification of pirates into two groups, Morganeers and Peace-mains, is valid. However, since there are far too many pirates in this world, arrest all of them first."

"Impel Down won't be able to contain all of them-dara," Bastille immediately pointed out a possible fault.

"So sort them out." Hina immediately replied, "Immediately execute the Morganeers, and imprison all the Peace-mains, who may be able to reform."

"You aren't too different from your grandfather," I commented after hearing her words.

"...Hina supposes so."

I inwardly thought that her ideal was too inflexible, and that the classification into two types wasn't always accurate. However, I didn't say it out loud.

Now, the sun was gone from our sight, and along with the cold wind that breezed through us from the sea, the twinkling stars revealed themselves above, generating marvelous scenery.

"And you?" Hina, who was gazing at the stars, asked, "We've told you ours, but you didn't."

"As for me..." As Bastille and I similarly looked up at the stars, I muttered, "Initially, I joined the Marine to survive."

"Survive?" Bastille said, "Huh, that's new-dara."

"Well, I was practically homeless after my entire hometown was burned away, and there was nothing remaining except for my very own grandfather's gravestone." Recalling back the memories that 'Smoker' left me before my transmigration, I stated, "So I sailed out of that hell, and almost drowned myself. When I miraculously woke up alive, I somehow was in Logue Town. In order not to die by starvation, I joined Marine."

My gaze lowered, now recalling the battle the three of us experienced against Mammoth pirates.

"But you know, our fight was the first time I've truly been exposed to the malicious nature of the pirates. I thought of what would've happened if we were powerless, if we were helpless beings without any training—and such thoughts surely did frighten me."

<Do you think being a marine is a joke?> That's what I said to those muscle trios back in Logue Town. But perhaps, I was saying that to myself, not to them.

"Now that I have strength, now that I am capable, I have a dream," In front of Hina and Bastille, I grinned while clenching my hands, "I want to save them—the helpless ones who are unable to do anything in front of ruthless power."

"...Isn't that a standard protocol of Marine?" Hina, who was listening to my words, said with deadpan, "Protect the weak from the pirates. You're just stating common sense."

"Not necessarily," I shook my head, "The root of Marine protocol is the ideal of 'justice.' And in truth, I don't believe in justice—at all."

"...Huh?" Bastille tilted his head, not understanding my statement.

"Justice is a set standard, which helps us to distinguish what is right and wrong. However, such standard is set by the victors." I said while thinking of the World Government, "The victors themselves may not necessarily be 'good.'"

Looking at Hina, I continued, "I don't seek to conform. Whether someone is right or wrong—I won't make any judgment until I get to experience that person personally. Sometimes, the pirates may be the innocent ones. Just like Barthur, there certainly exists the corrupted marines. Nothing is absolute in this world, and there always are exceptions."

Bastille scratched the back of his head, before saying, "Yeah, I don't get what you are saying."

Hina, however, seemed to have understood what I was saying, "...Are you saying that the World Government is in the wrong?"

Finding that speaking any further may be dangerous, I shrugged in the end, "That depends on how you interpret it."

Hina stayed silent for a while, before breaking out a smile, "You really are a trouble, Smoker-kun."

"...Kun?" Bastille raised his eyebrow.

Hina immediately turned red, and said in an embarrassment, "F-forget what I just said!"

__________

"Bwahaha! You three definitely look much better than when I first found you!"

Under the blue sky, full of white clouds, one huge Marine ship was ready to sail out. On top of its deck, we stood strictly on the deck, listening as Garp spoke with his signature grin.

On Garp's sign, Bogard, who stood with his beige hat covering his eyes, stated in a monotone, "But try to tone your excitement down, especially since we are going to attend the funeral soon."

"Sir," Hina said while looking at the front, "you can have that rest assured. It's the funeral of Hina's very own grandfather, after all."

Bogard nodded stoically and continued speaking,

"It will take about a week for us to arrive the Marineford. Garp-san decided to relieve your duties as the Chore Boys, so use your free time wisely. Understood?"

Suddenly, Garp, in my eyes, looked like an angel.

"""Sir, yes, sir!"""

The three of us answered simultaneously, barely managing to keep our joy suppressed. Satisfied, Bogard walked away to check up on the other marines, while Garp remained with us.

"Relax, you brats. Bogard isn't as uptight as you think!" Garp, lifting up a huge rice cracker with his right hand, took a crunchy bite out of it, before suddenly lifting me up by grabbing the back of my shirt, "And you will be with me, Smoker!"

"...Training, huh." Hanging up in the air, I said with a groan. All my plans for the week, which I was daydreaming of, instantly vanished into the thin air. I was too hopeful, wasn't I...

"You got it!"

"What about the other two?"

Garp turned to Hina and Bastille, and asked, "Do you want to join?"

The two of them shook their heads so fast that I thought they might break their necks. Garp turned back at me, "Just you, I suppose."

I squinted my eyes at the two. Hina returned my gaze by holding her tongue out, and Bastille rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

"Hehe," I ended up laughing warily at Garp, "Go easy on me, please?"

"Bwahaha! Of course!"