Chapter 4

No matter how dodgy I was, or how fast I was, there was no way I could dodge the three beams that were moving at tremendous speed. All I had to do was try to swallow the attacks with my ability. So I almost at the last moment completely covered my hands in darkness and just put it out in the places where the attack should hit. However, no sooner had the rays reached me than Borsalino appeared from behind me and already roared another attack.

But in that time three beams had already reached me, and were swallowed up by the darkness. I have less than a second to think about it, so I tried covering my back in darkness for the first time and hoped that I could swallow the attack with my back and not my hands.

The beam comes off Borsalino's finger and immediately crashes into my back.

- So you can do that, too? - Borsalino asked in amazement. I wasn't sure I could swallow the attack with anything but my hands, though. I didn't hesitate, so I jumped up into the air and backhanded him. Borsalino was a few meters away from me. He didn't want to face me directly. I knelt down and touched the floor with my hands, a few seconds later darkness began to settle across the floor. I didn't stretch it too far, for I could have destroyed the bleachers with the spectators that way. The darkness itself, if used in this way, is safe for the objects on which it is located, but if something falls into it, then... I don't know if anyone will be able to get out.

Borsalino, guessing it's better not to step on the darkness, jumped up in the air and hovered there, but he didn't attack. I took the opportunity to spread the darkness throughout the arena.

- You know that my attacking fruit may not be the strongest. But it's one of the best at deterring my opponent. Elevation! - the next moment, beneath where Borsalino was, darkness quickly erupted from the ground as an unspeakable attack. Borsalino immediately walked away from where he was supposed to get hit, and appeared a few meters behind me, only to dodge the darkness again. Borsalino this blow I think would have just hurt him a little, but nothing dangerous would have happened to him.

He was still faster, however. When I first spotted him and gave him a hurricane, he managed to appear all over the room. At one point he just started shooting his lasers at me from his finger.

Still, those watching at this point were able to watch the awesome force of the two fruitcrackers. Even the higher-ups marveled at the show.

- That's enough of that! - Sengoku's shout rang through the hall, and I immediately stopped attacking and began to disperse all the darkness I had spread across the floor. Borsalino also stopped attacking and appeared next to me.

- That was pretty fun~.

- Hehehe, I was putting myself out there in full force and you were just having fun. I'm amazed at your strength.

- Well... maybe the day isn't far off when you'll be that strong too, my boy. - Tsuru came up to us and mussed my hair. It does not feel good. I pulled away from the old woman and looked at Sengoku.

- There is some truth in that. - Sengoku was quiet for a while before he pulled out a cloak from somewhere and handed it to me. - Welcome to the Marine. You are assigned the rank of Ensign, and you may wear this cloak at will.

- Thank you very much. - I quickly took the cloak from Sengoku and threw it over my shoulders. It fit me well, so where did he get a cloak in my size? Maybe he always carries a few with him? - Since you're Garp's apprentice, you're under his command now.

- I can choose my own style of dress, can't I? Where can I find a tailor.

- You can, but it costs money. Only standard sentinel uniforms are free.

- Э!? Garp, give me the money now, I'm not wearing this crap. - I looked at the spectators in the stands. Almost all of them were in standard sentinel uniforms. Fucking hell, they even dressed the old man in it.

- You're not getting anything from me. - Garp grinned at my face.

- How so. You're my teacher, you can't make me wear this. Hey, I'm a sentinel now, I'm supposed to have a paycheck. Can I write off the price of my future uniform from my salary?

- It's possible. - Sengoku's words made a weight fall off my shoulders.

- Great, is there anything else you need from me?

- Yes, I have some paperwork to do. It won't take long. Garp, take him to Human Resources.

- Why me? Garp looked at me sadly. - I wanted to go to my room and get some sleep.

- Do you know how much work you've accumulated in four months? Be thankful that I've given some of it to others.

- Thank you..." Garp scratched his head and walked out of the hall.

- Listen, Garp. We'll swim together now, won't we?

- Not always. If you're given an assignment, you can go alone, but as your teacher, I have the right to be there.

- Wow, you're so responsible..." As we talked, Garp and I got to the right place. Garp led me into some office where a beautiful girl was sitting. As soon as she saw Garp, she jumped up and saluted me.

- I need you to process this brat. - Garp put his huge fist on my head.

- X-okay. - The girl sat down in the chair. - Fill out these forms, and take this test. - I was handed five sheets.

It took me about half an hour to fill out all the forms. The whole time Garp was sitting next to me at the table, peeking at what I was writing. There were questions on the form, like what sea or place I was from, etc. There were questions on the test about what I would do in one case or another. For example, what would I do if I and my crew almost lost to the pirates, but the captain ordered me not to back down.

Soon, I finished the test and gave all the papers to the girl.

- By the way, I completely forgot. He was assigned the rank of Ensign.

- Oh, Ensign? H-okay. - The girl seemed a little surprised, but soon calmed down. She pulled out a dan mushi and asked me to stand near the wall. She pointed the snail in my direction and pressed a button that was on its shell. It's kind of like a camera. It's hard to get used to that...

Soon the girl handed me a little card with my picture, name and rank on it.

- It's faster than I thought.

- I was the one who asked me to get you processed faster. Normally you would get a sentinel card the next day.

- Not bad being a hero, huh? By the way, I need a new suit. It's not like I'm gonna be wearing civvies. - After the island, all my clothes were torn, and Garp wanted to slip me a crummy sentinel uniform, but I found some civilian clothes. Now I was wearing a cape, too.

- Well, I'm so tired, let's go out tomorrow, huh?

- ...All right. Since you helped me so much today, I'll give in.

- Someday I'll throw you out on the high seas with one board in your hands and make you swim all the way out to sea.

- That's not a funny joke. You better tell me where I'm going to sleep. - Soon Garp led me to a room with a blank sign next to it.

- Since you are an officer, albeit of the lowest rank, you are presented with a private room. - Garp opened the door and I was presented with a small room with a bed, closets, and a desk. - Even though it's a shitty room. Tomorrow they'll hang a sign with your name on it. Breakfast tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m., then you have to-" Garp started telling me tomorrow's schedule. This included both training with Garp and the work I had to do when I wasn't on patrol. Fortunately, since I'm a lower ranking officer, I have very little paperwork to do. Mostly, I have to spend most of my time at sea under someone else's command.

The next day, I got up especially early just to walk around Marinford. This place, the most protected in the world, who wouldn't want to just walk here?

When it was time for breakfast, I had to follow the other sentinels to find the dining hall. In the dining hall itself, as soon as I picked up my tray of food, I found a table where no one was present and ate in peace. Immediately afterwards, I went to Human Resources to pick up my ID card.

There wasn't a girl sitting at the table anymore, but a guy. He quickly found my ID card and hovered for a second as he looked at it.

- Garou, nice to meet you. - The guy handed me my ID card with a smile, and I walked out into the street. Next, I have to meet Garp at Sengoku's office.

On the way, I looked at the base itself from the inside again. A long corridor with many sentries walking around. Some are casting glances at me, some are just passing through. There aren't many guards here, so it's unlikely anyone would sneak in unnoticed.

Sengoku's office was on the very top floor of the tower, but luckily there were elevators. Once I got into one of the elevators, which had only two people in it, I stood against the wall and waited for the elevator to go up.

At that time, the two guys that were riding with me were discussing some kind of fight.

- And then he just blocked his attack. That was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. I wish I could have some strong fruit, too.

- You'd still be weak even with fruit. And that guy didn't stand a chance, even with his fruit. Why did they have to spar? And a fool could see that the kid would have lost.

After taking a closer look at these fools in bastard uniforms, I shook my head and just waited for me to get to the right floor.

- Boy, you're new here, aren't you? I know all the kids here, but this is the first time I've seen you, though you look familiar.

Then the elevator doors opened and I got out silently. It's not that I always ignore others, but these guys can't even tell who they're talking to.

- Hey, why is he wearing a cape? Isn't that something only officers can wear?

- I don't know, maybe he borrowed it from someone.

These idiots...

I walked a few meters and stood outside Sengoku's office, with two guards standing outside the office.

- Is Garp at Sengoku's office right now? - I turned to one of the guards

- Snotlout, what are you doing here? - My eyes immediately widened when I heard his words. Is everyone here such an idiot? Why, on the island, everyone treated me normally, and here they just call me a jerk. Can't anyone see the cape behind my back? Or does everyone here wear one whenever they want? I activated my surveillance will, and expanded it to Sengoku's office. I immediately saw that Sengoku and Garp were sitting there, talking.

- Garp asked me to meet him at Sengoku's office. Go get him.

The guard's face wrinkled, but he knocked on the door. - There's a boy here who says he's supposed to meet Garp.

- And Garou is already here, let him come in. - From the office came Garp's voice. The guard turned around with a not-so-surprised face and let me pass. What's wrong with the people at headquarters? Why aren't they taking me seriously? Are all the kids in Marinford treated this way? Even I was treated better in the gray terminal. This guy was genuinely freaking out when they let me in. I walked into Sengoku's office with a frown on my face.

- Why are you so frowny, don't you like the room? - Garp was sitting on the couch chewing with a smile. cracker.

- No, I just don't understand why I'm being slighted?

- Did you want something else? There are sentinel families living around here, and sometimes their kids come in here and often get in the way.

- Ah, I can see why these sentries are acting like they're about to be..." The irritation began to pour out of me, but when I decided the Fleet Admiral's office wasn't the best place to say that, I took a deep breath and calmed down. I've never been one for poise. - Shall we go now?

- A little later, Sengoku wanted to offer you something. - I tilted my head and looked at Sengoku. He pulled something out of a drawer and put it on the table.

- The ability of your fruit, allows you to capture very many people alive. Since you will meet many pirates in the future, including some of the worst generation, I suggest that you capture them all, and then report back to either me or Garp. We'll decide what to do with the pirates you capture. Of course, if there's a high reward for the pirates you capture, you'll move up the ranks faster. - Sengoku slid the folder closer to me. - Ever since the pirate era began, the reputation of the marine patrol began to fall rapidly, if dangerous pirates were publicly punished, it would increase the reputation of the patrol, and also warn others not to mess with the patrol. In the folder is the data where some of the pirates are now. They should be within your power.

I took the folder from my desk and opened it. It contained data on several pirates, including their whereabouts.

- If their whereabouts change, you'll get a call. - Sengoku pulled out and dan dan mushi.

- Sounds good to me. - I tucked the snail in my pocket.

- Glad to hear it. It can be difficult for sentries to capture pirates alive, and there are very few fruiterers capable of capturing them. You're free to go, preferably you get to work as soon as possible.

I nodded my head and Garp and I left the office and headed for the tailor.

- And how many sentries get such offers?

- Mostly just the ones whose devil fruit helps capture people. For example: Ori Ori nomi or Moku Moku no mi. Not all of them are really on the grand line. - Soon Garp took me to the tailor, where I told him what kind of suit I wanted and they took my measurements. The suit wouldn't cost much, so when the price was deducted from my wages, I should have something left over. Besides, there's a bonus for capturing pirates with a big reward.

Once the tailor took my measurements, he asked me to wait a few minutes.

- There's a man working here with the devil fruit ability, which allows him to sew anything. He's not badly paid. - Garp told me while we were standing there. It's an interesting ability, but it's not likely to be used in combat, though he must be making good money.

Soon a man came out of one of the rooms with my suit in his hands. I quickly ran into the fitting room and put on my black suit.

- Hey Garp, when do sentries get special nicknames? - I walked out of the fitting room with darkness on my hands. Combined with the suit, it looked cool.

- I could give you one right now. How about a little black one?

- Not funny.