19. Whitebeard personally departs. Ron’s Strength Improvement.

│3rd Person POV│

[Grand Line, New World, Sphinx Island, Moby Dick…]

'Good grief! There is such a thing as a batch of over a hundred Devil Fruits! This should be the Artificial Devil Fruits made by Doflamingo!'

Looking at the extremely excited people, Ron was thoughtful and surprised at this moment.

After all, there don't seem to be many Marines in the New World at this time, and the five bases of the Marines don't occupy much sea area.

Where did they get the guts to rob the Beasts Pirates?

The most important thing is that Doflamingo was now a Shichibukai.

Even if the supplies were sent to Beasts Pirates, the supplies would be protected under the banner of Shichibukai.

Under such circumstances, who would dare to ignore the rules of the World Government and take action against the Shichibukais? Going so far as to even confiscate their supplies!

"G5 base, who is responsible for guarding it?"

At this time, Whitebeard asked calmly.

It's not just Ron. Even Whitebeard also vaguely felt that something was wrong.

After all, this kind of behavior was selectively targeting one of the Four Emperors, Kaido. Confiscating a batch of more than a hundred Devil Fruits was enough to make Kaido and Beasts Pirates crazy mad.

And if this news got out like it did, it would not only be them who would be crazy, but even the other big pirates in the New World would try to fish in troubled waters.

If someone secretly ignites a spark, then a huge battle may break out in the blink of an eye.

When the time comes, the Marines and pirates involved would likely pay an extremely heavy price.

"Pops, it seems to be the former Marine Admiral Zephyr!"

At this time, Marco stepped forward and said with a solemn expression, "According to the information I got, Zephyr is not only guarding the G5 base but he is also leading a group of newly graduated Marine Headquarters elites to conduct some trials.

"The capture of the ship this time was probably because Zephyr encountered it and decided to intercept the cargo of Beasts Pirates.

"It's just that they probably didn't know what was in it at the beginning, which is why they didn't keep it a secret, and the news leaked out."

As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately recognized the person mentioned.

As Marco said, if the former Marine Admiral had known that there were more than a hundred Devil Fruits in the captured ship, there would have been no way he would have allowed the news of its capture to be spread.

Instead, he would have blocked it as soon as possible and even moved the ship back to Naval Headquarters by now.

"Zephyr?"

After pondering for a while, Whitebeard slowly said: "Old friends! In that case, let's go! I want to see for myself what this old rival is going to do.

"Perhaps, the other old rivals will also appear this time."

Speaking of this, Whitebeard's eyes were full of nostalgia, without any hostility or fighting spirit.

At this stage, very few of his opponents from his youth are alive, and even fewer of his peers could have a direct confrontation with him.

Zephyr was one such opponent from his youth.

Although he was a Marine, they were hostile to each other most of the time but to be honest, he was still something like an old friend and so, Whitebeard wanted to appear at such a gathering.

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

"Let's go!"

Hearing this, the Division Commanders all expressed their agreement.

Since Whitebeard wanted to go there in person, they naturally had to follow.

After a short discussion, the Commanders of each division relegated the responsibility of guarding their designated area to their respective Vice-Commanders, while they themselves followed Whitebeard and set off on the Moby-Dick.

Teach immediately chose to stay behind as expected, but Ron was asked to go with them before he could refuse.

In just over half an hour, the Mobydick's supplies were completely loaded, and then the huge ship left the base camp and began to drive rapidly towards the G5 base.

=+=+=+=< Scene Break >=+=+=+=

[Grand Line, New World, Moby Dick, on the way to G5 Marine Base…]

"Commander Thatch, I'm so weak, I won't be of any help if I follow you guys!"

On the deck, Ron looked helplessly at Thatch next to him and said.

When Teach disembarked and stayed behind, Ron was originally going to follow him.

After all, it was evident to anyone with common sense that the upcoming battle would be leagues above that of Partridge Island's battle.

Given his strength not even reaching the level of a Lieutenant Commander, it would be extremely dangerous for him to be present there.

However, to Ron's surprise, Thatch had already proposed to take him along even before he had the chance to speak. Whitebeard and others didn't object either, leaving Ron with no room for refusal.

Internally, Ron felt a sense of frustration.

With most of his weakness having been eliminated with the acquisition of the Devil Fruit in the last two weeks or so, he could have been diligently training at the base camp to enhance his strength right now.

Yet, Thatch seemed determined to have him along the ride.

"Don't worry," Thatch chuckled, observing Ron's dejected expression. He patted Ron on the shoulder and reassured him, "Pops will be there with us, so there won't be any significant problems.

"You're the future pillar of our Fourth Division, so you need to see more of the world. And I am stronger than before, so, I'll protect you if anything happens."

Ron couldn't help the twitch of his mouth at the notion of being protected by Thatch, who might struggle in a major conflict or battle despite Whitebeard's strength.

"Then, I am in your care, Commander Thatch," Ron conceded, acknowledging the futility of whining at this time.

With no option to disembark and return to guard the base camp, all he could do right now was follow Thatch's arrangement.

"That's the spirit," Thatch said, pleased that Ron's mood had improved.

He patted Ron on the shoulder and added, "Okay, then you have a good rest. We still have some time before reaching the G5 base. I'm going to grab a drink."

Ron sighed, knowing that he couldn't rest or he might die from overthinking things that could go wrong.

After Thatch left, he resumed practicing the enhanced version of the Marines Six Styles.

"Flash Step!"

"Flash Step!!"

With each repetition, Ron's proficiency and understanding of Flash Step rapidly improved.

Three days later, Ron successfully mastered the Flash Step skill to the Beginner-Level. As a result, its stamina consumption decreased.

After that, he started practicing the Sea Moonwalk technique.

In just a week, he was able to use the Sea Moonwalk skill with Entry-Level mastery.

Twelve days after Moby Dick departed from the base camp, Ron's Sea Moonwalk reached the Beginner-Level.

=+=+=+=< Scene Break >=+=+=+=

Early one morning, Ron stood at the ship's bow, raised his hand, aimed ahead, and threw a punch.

*Bang—*

The air in front of him exploded with a bang.

Right after, Ron revealed with satisfaction, feeling the strength increment of his body.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

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