Volume 2 Chapter 12

***One year later.

Various captains were assembled in rows outside the marine HQ on a training ground. amongst them were Captain Atlant, Dalmatian, Smoker, X, Onigumo, Hina, Strawberry, Comil, Momonga, Yamakaji, Doberman, Tbone, Sicily, Catacombo, Akehende, Yukimura...

It was time to listen to the speech of the vice-admiral before setting off to their assigned locations. Each captain apart from wearing their usual outfit was wearing a white marine commissioned officer coat with the words "Justice" on its back. The majority of the captains wore this coat like a cape, draping it over their shoulders with their arms, not in the sleeves.

A stage was placed in front of the officers, on this stage was a giant of a man, who towered over the majority of regular officers. His hair was curly and brown, he had a large bulbous chin. He wore a customised white commissioned officer coat, with yellow colourings, red borders, adding further details to his collar. He had his awarded medals fitted onto the coat on the left breast, signifying his important rank and status. He wore a traditional red bicorne hat with the Marine's symbol. Unlike some other commissioned Marines, he wore his marine coat with his arms in the sleeves only revealing an orange shirt beneath the coat. Slung over his shoulders was a katana that fit for his size.

He began his speech: "If anyone amongst you wants to run away do so now. This bastion of peace, weakness will not be tolerated especially in this pirate age! The public's weakness is not a sin! WE ARE JUSTICE! No matter the evil that lurks on the seas, we, Marines must drive it away by force! In the name of absolute justice.

Congratulations on being promoted to Captain." Vice Admiral John Giant gave a salute before stepping down from the stage, bringing the promotion assembly to a close.

"Hello Ezra, it has been a while since we saw each other. How have you been? Before I forget, why did you change your name from Poseidon to Atlant?" Dalmatian asked, He was curious about the sudden change.

"Nothing really, it's just that I learnt about the ancient weapons and I didn't want to raise any suspicion or misunderstandings you see. It's better to choose another name" Ezra replied.

"I thought as much, with talks of Ohara and what happens to White Smoke, I was actually going to advise you to change your alias so as to not draw unwanted attention to yourself since we all knew him," Dalmatian added

"Thanks," Ezra said honestly to his thoughtful friend. "I was assigned to West Blue, what area were you assigned to?" Ezra asked as they both found a quiet place to discuss their future plans.

"Me, I requested to be assigned to North Blue. I already heard about the report on your adventures in the north. My family is originally from Notice Island, I was sent to West Blue to handle some business but I ran away to join the Marines. Now at Captain rank, I have enough power to affect the ill-treatment of the people on that island." Dalmatian replied. This was the first time he had given any information on where he was from.

"I'm going to the West Blue, my plan this time is to cause chaos" Ezra was a bit emotional as he spoke. He also was now strong enough to start taking his plans forward. "Have you heard of Haki?" Ezra asked.

"Yes, I heard of it as a training instructor at the 80th Marine base. But I only encountered it when I was assigned to Vice-Admiral Garp's. I was beaten into a pulp every day for two years until I developed a basic stage of Armament Haki, that's why I got my recommendation." Dalmatian rubbed his head as he spoke as if remembering his ordeal with Garp.

"There are 3 known types of Haki currently:

Armament Haki: this allows the user to use their own spiritual energy as armour to defend against attacks, as well as make their own attacks more potent. A person can apply the armament to a section of their body, over their entire body, and even apply it to their weapons.

Observation Haki: this type of Haki grants its users a sixth sense of the world around them and limited precognitive abilities. Users of this Haki can sense people's presence, strength, emotions, and intentions.

Conqueror Haki: This is a rare form of Haki that only one in several million people are born with the ability to use. It grants the user the ability to overpower the will of others. This results in the victims being knocked unconscious or becoming temporarily subservient to the Haki user.

Each type of Haki has levels of usage, so even two proficient users might not be of equal strength. The first two can be achieved with training, while the last one is something that is very rare. You either have it or not. It is awoken in some people. It was said that the Pirate King Gol D. Roger possessed an extremely high mastery over the 3 Haki." Dalmatian added

"White Chaser, Smoker has the Moku Moku no Mi fruit now. From what I heard he is quite a hard worker. Hina is a captain also from the East Blue, she is the only one that somehow can communicate with him. I have no information on the rest, most of them popped up from nowhere. But everyone will be aiming to get into the elite training where only those who are either selected or have contributed greatly can attend" Dalmatian ended the conversation with a casual "Let's meet again".

Some of the captains were assigned to parts of the four seas while others were sent to marine strongholds in the Grand Line. 'My next steps should be cleaning up the west blue, training my soldiers, finding out information about Amagus, joining the elite training and then heading over to the Grand Line. If I stay put in the West Blue, I will be left behind.'

Looking at the assignment paper in his hands.

***

Captain Rose D. Ezra is to report to the West Blue academy.

A galleon and seamen personnel will be provided by the academy.

Mission: Coordinate with the 80th Marine Base to reduce the pirate menace in West Blue

Duration of Assignment: INDEFINITE!

***

On his way back to the West blue,

The News coo paper headlined two interesting stories.

**************** NEWS *********************

***Free in Death, Bloody Escape!

A failed escape of slaves from Mary Geosie was enough news to bring the world government out of its hibernation. It has now been confirmed that the ones who orchestrated the attack were ruthless fish-men of the Sun Pirate. We initially questioned why that pirate group refused to sail away from the archipelago, it seems these actions were something that stemmed from a long time of planning. A killed a lot of guards, a transport vessel was hijacked, these are the reports of an eyewitness who survived the sea onslaught. It was only due to the highly trained guards at Mary Geosie that this attempt was a failure as the escape ship was sunk.

***4th Warlord and SHE's a woman!

A new member has been added to the Warlord of the seas - Beautiful Kuja Empress Boa Hancock. Information from a secured source stated that her last raid gained her a bounty of 80,000,000 berries. With a bounty this high, it was only a matter of time for the invitation to be sent. The empress agreed to be a warlord provided her people and homeland remained protected.

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